Together with the immoebs, the Alumi Association of IREBS and Hogan Lovells, Prime Invest has organized a lecture series multi family and Students Housing in the USA. In just three days, the information events were held in five cities: Dusseldorf, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Berlin. Two key speakers came from the USA, Lee Samuelson, partner of Hogan Lovells, from New York and Cecil Phillips, Developer for Students Housing, from Atlanta. Many thanks to the two who took the burden. There was not much time to sleep at those 3 days, and they had to fight with jet-lag.
Hogan Lovells made the premises available to us at 4 locations and also covered the costs for the catering. Many thanks to Hogan Lovells and to the working groups of the immoebs.
The kick-off event for the lecture series Multi Family and Student Housing took place in the impressive conference hall of Hogan Lovells in Dusseldorf.
Multifamily, an overview
At the start to the lecture series multi family and student housing, Mr. Berndt W. Goßlau gave a first overview of Real Estate Investment in the USA. The US real estate markets are very different from those in Europe. Mr. Goßlau emphasized the special features and explained the unique selling points of Clubdeal Multifamily and Student Housing in the USA. These sub-markets offer the most attractive real estate investments, but they require special knowledge. They differ significantly from investments in residential real estate in Germany. Handling for Clubdeal Multifamily and Studentshousing is highly professional. Particularly noteworthy is the ongoing management of the residential complexes: with a rental period of about 9 to 12 months and about 300 apartments per condominium, there is a fluctuation of 10 to 20 apartments per month. But this also helps to constantly adjust the rents to the current rent level. The on-site management team handles this task and takes care of the tenants’ most diverse needs. Many institutional investors specialize exclusively in multifamily and student housing.
Legal matters
Lee Samuelson, partner of Hogan Lovells came from New York specifically to give us a first impression of real estate related law in the US. A seemingly impossible task, given the variety of issues, but nevertheless the lecture was very informative. However, the complexity of this area of law requires an individual consideration of the respective case to be assessed or designed. This applies in particular to the USA, because not only the states have different regulations, but also the different regional authorities differ in their regulations.
Tax specifics
Dr. Schönhaus devoted himself to the taxation of real estate investments in the USA. Exhausting, important and yet something for professionals. Nevertheless, the basic understanding of these issues for a real estate investor who wants to invest in the US, is of essential importance. Fundamental questions of international tax law under consideration of the respective DBA (double taxation agreement) should be known to every investor.
Students Housing
Mr. Cecil Phillips, a student housing developer came to us from Atlanta to give us an insight into his interesting work. The number of students is increasing and universities can not provide enough accommodation for their students. This makes student housing very interesting for real estate investors. Months before the semester starts, the apartments are full. Fluctuation only takes place at the end of the semester and the students prolong their lease for the next semester. Lease agreements are made separately for each bedroom, so depending on the size of an apartment is secured with two to three leases. The parents are liable for the lease and any damage. The administration goes through every room on a monthly basis and bills the parents for possible damages.
The whole studenthousing concept is optimally adapted to the needs of the students. In addition to facilities that make contact with companies, the behavior of the students is also addressed:
We were astonished that Cecil told us that they even designed furniture designed especially for the needs of students: in the evening the roommate usually sits on the back of your friend’s armchair and cuddles against him, watching TV. So a chair was designed for one and a half person.
Resumée
After three days, all keyspeakers were exhausted, but satisfied. Nearly 150 professionals from the real estate industry came to our lecture series multi family and Students Housing. The questions during the lectures and the following networking show the great interest in Multifamly in the USA.
If you want to know more about Residential in the US or Clubdeal Multifamily, Prime Invest will be happy to answer any further questions.
