Mike Aiken, Fogelman Senior Vice President of Investment, recently spoke with the National Apartment Association (NAA) about the current financial environment facing the multifamily property management industry.
Aiken commented on the importance of proactive communication with one’s lending organization for operators anticipating a turbulent path forward.
“The best way [banks] can support the borrowers is having open lines of communication,” Aiken says. “That’s incumbent upon the borrower, more so than the bank. Reaching out and creating a plan before it gets tenuous, is the key.”
A segment of borrowers has not had those conversations yet, and Aiken believes those in the deepest trouble generally tend to be on the lower-priced end of the housing spectrum. “Those are the borrowers who are not having those conversations early enough in the process,” he says. “I highly encourage anyone who can look into their forecasting for the year, if it looks like you’re getting into a break-even or negative cash-flow situation, have those conversations now—don’t wait.”
To read the full article, visit NAAhq.org: https://www.naahq.org/facing-cash-crunch
