A. Yoni Miller
Mainly because he was not a good student, getting only C's and D's in high school, A. Yoni Miller learned to be an underdog. But it turned out to be good training for his first company that made loans to Realtors prior to their getting commission checks and for his second company that basically buys minority interests in real estate partnerships.
“I stumbled across the idea and didn't understand what liquidity meant or partnerships or anything. I knew nothing, I admit it. But I spent the next three to six months spending every second reading and learning about liquidity and non-controlling partners,” Miller, principal of QuickLiquidity, tells GlobeSt.com.
Only 24 years old, Miller's Boca Raton-based company specializes in a small niche: purchasing and/or selling minority interest positions in existing commercial real estate partnerships.
Miller, who says he quickly decided he was not college material after high school, believes his mediocre grades gave him a winning attitude to strive harder for success in his entrepreneurial efforts.
He has found that limited partners want to sell for a variety of reasons. These could include a cash-flow pinch, partners' disagreeing or falling out of sync with each other or an effort to simplify tax returns or estate planning.
The company's investment strategies include first mortgage bridge loans, second mortgages, mezzanine financing, and providing liquidity to minority interest owners in real estate partnerships through either purchasing or lending against their ownership interest.
Not As Easy As It May Sound
If it sounds too simple, Miller says there are many risks and uncertainties. It's also not easy to find each individual deal. Miller says there are not many companies that have this particular niche. That's partly because of the uncertainty and the lack of control in being minority partners.
“I spend 90 percent of my day searching for new deals or figuring out whether existing deals are good or not. We'll go through 50 to 75 deals before we find one we want to close on. Most people don't realize the degree of risk,” he says. The company was recognized this year as among “the very best in real estate innovation” by CreditDonkey, a personal finance website.
Their reason: “They are a direct buyer, purchasing LLC, LP, TIC, and DST interests in all 50 states, in any town. All you have to do is contact QuickLiquidity and fill out their online form; they'll then request and review the partnership documents and underwrite the real estate, normally presenting an offer in 1-2 days and closing in 2-3 weeks.”
One recent deal for a 424-unit luxury apartment community in Michigan illustrates how the company works. One of the original real estate syndicate partnership investors died. His two sons as executors of the estate wanted immediate liquidity. They received an offer from QuickLiquidity within a few days. The company then worked with the brothers and the general partner to ensure the transfer was done in full compliance with the partnership agreement.
Instead of competitors vying against them for the business, the company's main obstacles are often other partners who compete with them in a buyout. That sometimes ends favorably for sellers who can get better prices because of the competition.
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David Wilkening
David Wilkening began his long journalism career as a police reporter for Chicago-area newspapers. He became a writer-editor for major newspapers in Chicago, Washington, Detroit and Florida. He has been a business editor, political editor and travel editor for newspapers and magazines. He tried for a while to be a political operative but did better as an adjunct college professor teaching English and journalism. He is the author of several books, both ghost-written and under his own name. He is also a widely published freelance writer who currently lives in Orlando.
