LEM, like other class B investors, focuses on properties seen as “value-add” opportunities.

“People are very willing to pay for good quality apartments,” he says. “We're buying properties that are 10-30 years old and generally spending between $10 and $15,000 a unit, opening up the apartment so they have a more contemporary design.”

LEM also creates newer amenities in older properties, including modern fitness centers, he says, or opening up a clubhouse, new furniture schemes, updates to pools and outdoor recreation and grill areas.

“We're able to increase rents, because people want that kind of lifestyle,” he says. “Clearly it's not going to be the same as a newly constructed property, but we want to give them a class A feel at a price that's much more affordable.”

LEM is mainly focused on markets in the Southeast and Southwest, and the Denver market. The firm has interest in Sacramento, Seattle, Minneapolis, and Chicago, but deal flows are lower, Eisner says.

“They're all places that are projected to have good population and job growth,” he says. “We look for cities where there are very diverse job drivers, good highway access, good school systems, good retail, just generally good places for people to live.”

LEM's tenants earn between $35,000-$70,000 a year, a typical range for what Eisner calls the “blue- to grey-collar workforce.”