NEW YORK CITY—Brooklyn guru David Behin, partner and president of the investment sales and advisory division at MNS—along with a team of industry professionals—launched a NYC-centric real estate crowdfunding platform in June; an effort that the company says is the first of its kind.
So why is this busy, experienced team of executives taking on this project? Behin explains the effort, called CityFunders, in this EXCLUSIVE chat with GlobeSt.com.
NEW YORK CITY—GlobeSt.com: Why did you start this platform at this time?
David Behin: Many people I know wanted to invest in real estate but they didn't know how. I realized I have more investors than projects, I know the NYC real estate market extremely well and I could be a good manager of people's capital so I developed a business plan for what's now CityFunders.
GlobeSt.com: Crowdfunding is a big CRE trend at the moment. What makes you different from your competitors?
Behin: At last count, there are about 200 real estate crowdfunding companies. But we're the first one started by experienced real estate professionals. Across our team, we've transacted $85 billion and we have 90 years of experience, including one guy who's been doing for over 40 years; Jerry Swartz. (Swartz is a principal at HKS Capital Partners).
Also, we realized we have to be able to fund these deals ourselves before going to the crowd so we're working with high net folks. Developers present deals to us and if the committee approves, we commit—meaning we show up with a check at closing. If the committee doesn't approve, the deal doesn't go on the platform.
GlobeSt.com: What do you see ahead for CityFunders?
Behin: This is a chance for people to invest in their own city. Someone can invest for as little as $10,000, that's unique. In a year or two I hope to raise the whole deal from the crowd.
GlobeSt.com: What's ahead for CRE crowdfunding generally?
Behin: As these opportunities are democratized, there are going to be more investors putting more of their portfolio toward quality product, and crowdfunding is the only way to do that. Yes you can do a REIT but it's going into a basket of real estate and you have no idea what's in that basket whereas with us, you're putting equity behind a developer or project you like.
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
