(To read more on the multifamily market, click here.)

BETHESDA, MD-JBM Realty Advisors, a Florida-based broker that broke into the ranks of the top 15 brokers nationwide last year, just opened an office here. It is JBM's first office outside of Florida, which has locations in Miami, Tampa and Naples.

Jamie May, founder of JBM Realty, tells GlobeSt.com that the company plans to open 10 offices throughout the country during the next few years. "Our next opening will be somewhere in the Carolinas, and/or Nashville. Then we will move into Albuquerque, Seattle, Laguna Beach and Phoenix." From the Bethesda office, he says, he expects to close about $850 million to $1 billion in volume during the next 15 months.

JBM Realty works exclusively with multifamily product. In the Washington, DC area it plans to focus on A-minus to B product, May says. Robin Williams, the new senior director in the Bethesda office, tells GlobeSt.com that there are new opportunities available in the Washington market for multifamily that he expects to target.

"We have seen a significant pullback in the condo conversion side of marketplace over last six to eight months," he says. "Cap rates on projects that had been designed and built as condos and are now converting to rentals are low and aggressive, in the 4% range." In many cases, he says, these cap rates are due to the properties' location. When they are well located, investors are willing to pay low cap rates in the belief the property will deliver a strong rental stream, he says.

Another trend Williams sees graining traction in the DC multifamily market is a strong interest in submarkets, such as Suitland, Md., that have been viewed in the past as challenging from an operational standpoint.

The Bethesda office, which has only been open for business for a few days, is already working on deals, Williams says. But there is nothing tangible in the pipeline yet.

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Erika Morphy

Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.