There will be so many opportunities in the next 18 months that "this will be the first time in many years we will raise capital outside the company," the chairman and founder of locally based Hall Financial Group tells GlobeSt.com. "I view the opportunities that are coming up as better than any we've seen since the mid-1980s." Hall says the plan is to amass capital from US investors to buy bricks and mortar, notes, mortgages and fund companies that need help. And, he's got financial institutions squarely in his sights to cherry-pick their debt.

Hall made his fortune mining the apartment market in the 1980s. This time, his favorite target will be high-end residential, specifically unfinished condos caught up in "complicated messes," he says. "We are going to focus on things that play to our strengths and historical nature. We are replaying a lot of things that we hoped would never happen again." But, his marching orders for the team are to stay flexible on property type.

Hall says his company is even more prepared this time than it was in the 1980s to seize market opportunities. "We're really in a mode of trying to take advantage of the opportunities. It will be challenging and fun and hopefully very profitable," he says. "I am confident it will be an advantage for us. At the same time, I'm sorry these problems are here for the people who are going to be hurt."