"I think the next year or two is going to be a make-or-break time for a number of TIC sponsors," Lunine says. "I think the largest sponsors that are well-financed and have a large pipeline will continue to do well, but I think you are going to see a number of smaller sponsors leave the industry. It wouldn't surprise me if we are down to 30 or 40 in a year or two."

The changing economic and credit market conditions represent a mixed bag for TIC investors, according to Lunine. "There is much more inventory available for them now than there was a year ago," he says, but on the other hand, "It's a lot tougher to get deals closed." He explains that demand remains strong from 1031 exchange buyers who want to invest in TICs, but financing can be a challenge because "not all lenders want to do a TIC deal where they have 30 different investors on the note."

TIC deals look attractive to investors who have sold properties and are looking for a 1031 exchange because those 1031 buyers today typically have between $1 million and $10 million of equity to invest, Lunine notes, compared with an average of $250,000 to $350,000 in the early days of the TIC industry. Most exchange buyers today "either want to upgrade the type of property they own or they just want to get away from the management headaches, and there are very few options for them to get into right now," that are as attractive as TIC investments, Lunine explains.

Lunine, who spent almost 10 years with Sperry Van Ness before his nearly four years with SCI, says that the contacts he built within the brokerage industry at his SVN and SCI posts should stand him in good stead as he works to build the new T.R. Winston network. Winston, which maintains a retail brokerage and institutional sales team that focuses exclusively on servicing sophisticated investors, is also the exclusive placement agent of tenant-in-common investments sponsored by locally based FORT Properties.