‘Just Get Started’: How One Woman Of Influence Recommends Woman-Led Ventures Secure Capital In A Crowded Marketplace

Beth Azor now owns and manages five shopping centers valued at more than $80 million – but says the road to get there wasn’t necessarily a direct one.

“I was asked by my boss to invest as a limited partner many times before I actually did,” Azor, founder and CEO of Azor Advisory Services, a leading CRE advisory and investment firm based in Weston, Fla., tells GlobeSt exclusively.  “I was scared and really unfamiliar with investing in shopping centers. I thought since I invested in mutual funds and my 401K I was doing enough. I think I felt that way because I didn’t know any women that invested in commercial real estate.”

Her boss took Azor and her then-husband to a bank and co-signed a $40,000 loan for us to invest the minimum of $50,000 required for her first asset. Her parents loaned her the other $10,000. And that investment, Azor says, was “wildly successful.”

“It started me on the path I’m on today,” she says. “I believe after speaking to hundreds of women about this, that women don’t see other women investing in CRE – and therefore they aren’t really aware it’s a possibility. Which is why I now have the Women’s Real Estate Investment Summit — to present women on stage who Aare investing in CRE to show others that it is possible, that you don’t need millions of dollars to do it and that it’s not too complicated.”

Azor will tackle what’s required for women to invest confidently into the future of commercial real estate in a panel devoted to securing capital for women-led ventures at this year’s upcoming GlobeSt ELITE Women of Influence conference in Lake Tahoe.  She says the barriers to woman-led ventures seeking or securing capital are “mostly in our own minds,” and encourages women to save some money to invest – at least $25,000, she says – “that they can afford to lose.”

“Investing is risky — just like the stock market, you can lose your money so I recommend you only invest what won’t change your life if you lose the money you invested,” she tells GlobeSt.com.  “I know that sounds scary but it’s true…Having a hard real estate asset as collateral for your investments makes it easier to justify but it’s still a risk. So never invest what I would call  ‘stretch’ money.”

Azor encourages those considering CRE investment to start talking about it and ask as many questions as they can of sponsors.

“Lending right now is tricky but it’s all about the real estate, much more so than the person borrowing the money,” she says. “If the deal is a great deal, you will be able to get financing.”

As a final word of advice, Azor recommends starting with one deal: “Buy that duplex, buy an outparcel with a bunch of friends, be a limited partner in others’ deals,” she says. “I was a limited partner seven times before I went out and became a sponsor or general partner on my own. Just get started! Your family’s wealth will grow.”

Check back soon for more insights from Beth Azor and other speakers at this year’s GlobeSt ELITE Women of Influence conference in Lake Tahoe.