"Most of my success in life has come from consistency, disciple and grit. Moving forward, my new choice is intention and inspired action." I ask myself daily "How am I moving through the world?"- Sharon Riddle

Hello I'm Sharon. I've taken different road in life. I quickly grew out of being a free labor kid for my construction worker dad. Dad always had an infinite number of home improvement projects.  Still...never enough money!

I worked my way through college (BAAS and MBA). Many of you have done this too!

I build companies and I am a self-made multi-millionaire. I'm so passionate about getting the most out of my life!  Travelling to unique destinations, continuously experiencing life-long learning, attending the Dallas opera, giving back to select charities, becoming a podcaster later in 2025, and having fun too! I want more investors to create and touch their own dreams!

_> Blog: Website www.excalibretexas.com

-> LinkedIn Posts: Winer Hours Daily @ 9:00 AM CST 
-> LinkedIn Newsletter: TBD

In February I will also be in Phoenix, AZ with RaiseMasters! I look forward to my luxury accommodations in Salt Lake City coming soon!  Brad Sumrok will join our Millionaire Multifamily Mastermind there.

I am frequently in the company of other committed high energy individuals this includes my family. My expectations and goals are high! 

Investors Only -> Money for Life Calls: Send me a message on LinkedIn to book your call today. (15 - 30 Minutes) This will give more clarity to your investment decisions. I also bring my energy and passion to multifamily investors in person, by cell phone, Zoom Meetings or on podcasts.  I show up 100%+! 

_______________________________
Podcasters or Stage Brokers -> Speaking Opportunities (Podcast or Live Stage): Send me a message on LinkedIn or email riddledsn@verizon.net (Speakers Kit and Headshot Available Upon Request) and book a guest appearance on your podcast or live stage.  I am a proven podcast guest on her 33rd podcast.

Want a unique storyteller, full of energy and passion?  I'm ready to transfer energy and passion into some unique stories for my podcasters and their audiences. I also offer immediate actionable takeaways and gifts. Be assured that I'll show up 100%+ for you and/or your audiences. 

Editing an eBook now. Completing multi-author book June Launch Party!
_____________________________
Stay in Touch, 

Sharon Riddle

Partner 
Excalibre Investments of Texas, LLC.
www.excalibretexas.com

Sharon Riddle

I partner with established, multi-cycle commercial real estate sponsors to provide strategic vision and execute capital formation systems that grow investor reach and scale equity capital raises.

-> Who I Work With

I work exclusively with seasoned, elite CRE professionals who:

• Have real operating track records
• Raise capital regularly or plan to
• Want predictable investor pipelines instead of constant networking
• Are done experimenting with generic marketing vendors

If you are early-stage, unfocused, or looking for shortcuts, this is not a fit.

-> What Makes This Different

We are a capital formation advisory and systems firm built specifically for private real estate.

Everything we design is informed by decades of real capital markets experience, advanced marketing theory, and hands-on work implementing best practices with top-tier commercial real estate sponsors.

Tools do not raise capital.
Strategy, sequencing, and investor psychology do.
Technology and AI are used deliberately to support those fundamentals, not replace them.

-> What We Actually Build

Every engagement centers on a complete Investor Acquisition System, which we provide either end-to-end or on a modular, ad hoc basis, including:

•  Direct strategic advisory from me
•  Investor relations management 
•  Investor education and nurture infrastructure 
•  Ongoing paid and unpaid marketing campaigns
•  Authority-building content tied to your investment thesis 
•  Pitch decks, podcast marketing and production, deal memos
•  LinkedIn distribution engineered for high-quality investor reach
•  Integration with your investor management and compliance stack
•  High converting deal-launch systems when you are actively raising
•  Automated, compliant email systems designed for trust and deliverability
•  A capital-formation audit of your website, LinkedIn, and investor materials

This is infrastructure, not salesy promotion.

-> Results

These systems work quietly in the background so that when you raise capital:

• Investors already know you
• Conversations start further along the decision curve
• Raises become smoother, faster, and more predictable

To date, these systems have helped clients who have in excess of $45bn of AUM raise nearly $1 billion in equity with minimums as low as $25,000.

-> Bottom Line

If you want one-size-fits-all tactics, tools, or hype, there are plenty of other firms to call.
If you want a serious, experience-backed approach to scaling equity capital, let’s talk.

GowerCrowd.com
Adam@GowerCrowd.com
https://gowercrowd.com/subscribe
213-761-1000

Adam Gower Ph.D.

If you are still debating whether to raise equity capital from retail investors online, you are already falling behind.

𝘐𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧: 𝘙𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥.

In 2025 alone, retail investors put over $300 billion into U.S. equities, accounting for roughly 20–25% of total trading volume, with peaks approaching one-third of daily volume. This is not episodic behavior, it's structural.

That same retailization is now moving into private markets, including commercial real estate, enabled by Rule 506(c) and reinforced by a generation of investors that is comfortable allocating capital digitally.

Senior leaders across global finance have been explicit about this shift to retail:

Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock: “The next generation for markets, the next generation for securities, will be... broader access to private markets.”

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase: “Retail investors are not going away. They are a permanent force in markets now.”

And in a conversation I had with him, Tim Bodner, Partner and Global Real Estate Deals Leader at PwC, described what he is seeing as a “complete restructuring of the real estate capital markets,” noting that growth in retail capital is now making CRE increasingly reliant on the retail channel.  He even said that some major private capital firms are expecting 85% of their AUM to come from retail sources by 2030 - and are investing billions to capitalize on this secular shift. (Yes, Billions).

But you don't need to spend billions to win your share of the retail pie and you don't need to become a hype machine either.

Building disciplined infrastructure for retail investors that establishes credibility before any direct contact and that predisposes them to investing with you can be extremely cost effective. 

Bottom line: build credible online infrastructure now so you can tap retail equity at scale as it moves into private real estate, instead of watching it flow to more visible sponsors.

***

I advise experienced sponsors with few, if any, legacy constraints on how to engage retail capital deliberately and discreetly using best-practice capital formation infrastructure. If you want to understand how this could apply to your firm, feel free to DM me here on LinkedIn or email me using the address in the About section of my profile.

Real estate equity capital formation expert | Strategy & execution | 30+ years experience | $1+ billion raised | Subscribe to newsletter ​>​>

Many real estate sponsors believe the equity capital formation market is ‘frozen.’
It isn’t.
It’s sorting.
Downturns don’t eliminate capital; they redistribute it from weak hands to disciplined ones.
Today’s investor sentiment is doing exactly that.
Investors are:
• moving toward predictability
• rewarding conservative leverage
• prioritizing track record depth
• avoiding sponsors who over-promised last cycle
• funding operators who communicate clearly and operate tightly
This shouldn’t be surprising.
It’s what happens in every cycle.
But this time, there’s a difference:
Investors now evaluate sponsors with institutional criteria.
They compare discipline.
They compare judgment.
They compare how sponsors behaved when the world became difficult.
So when you see some sponsors claiming ‘no one is investing,’ that’s not market commentary.
It’s a mirror.
For those operating at a higher standard, this environment isn’t a challenge.
It’s an advantage.
Investor sentiment isn’t the obstacle.
It’s the sorting mechanism that reveals who has earned the right to raise capital in the first place.

***

If you’re reassessing your investor-relations strategy and want senior-level leadership grounded in multi-cycle experience, I take on a limited number of Investor Relations mandates each year. If you’d like to discuss what that could look like, reach out privately.

Most people looking for opportunistic deals are staring at the wrong thing.

They’re watching pricing.
They’re watching distress lists.
They’re watching lender memos and CMBS reports.

But the best operators I know aren’t hunting for distress.
They’re hunting for competence gaps.

Income-producing real estate rarely collapses because of macro factors alone.

It collapses because someone:

• overpaid
• overlevered
• ignored unit-level data
• outsourced operations
• didn’t control expenses
• mismanaged renovations
• hired the wrong property manager
• sent investors quarterly memos instead of real reporting

These aren’t distressed assets.
They’re orphaned assets; buildings held by operators who weren't equipped to run them efficiently.

And that is where the true opportunity lies in this cycle.

Not in buying at a discount.
In buying where the previous operator left value on the table simply because they didn’t know how to extract it.

Elite operators treat these buildings as a moral obligation:

“Give me the asset.
I’ll give it a better life.”

The upside comes not from timing the market but from fixing what wasn’t done properly the first time.

Operational alpha isn’t glamorous.
But it’s the most predictable form of opportunism there is.

*** 

If you’re evaluating how to strengthen investor communication and capital formation at the executive level, I partner with a small number of platforms each year to refine and lead their IR function. Message me directly if you’d like a confidential conversation.

My guest this week, Jeremy Roll, is a full-time professional passive investor with more than two decades of experience allocating capital across multiple real estate cycles. He is relentlessly data-driven, deeply immersed in macro and capital markets, and unapologetically conservative in how he thinks about risk.

That combination matters right now.

Jeremy is not trying to predict the next rate cut or headline shift. He is focused on something far more useful: where we actually are in the cycle, which assumptions quietly failed in 2025, and why capital remains sidelined despite constant talk of opportunity. His view of the market heading into 2026 is sober, unsentimental, and grounded in how cycles really work.

The overarching thesis of our conversation is simple: predictability broke, patience was rewarded, and many investors learned the wrong lesson.

We discuss questions that serious investors and sponsors should be asking themselves now, including:

• Why did “survive till 25” fail so completely?
• Why have interest rates stayed higher than most expected?
• If there is so much capital on the sidelines, why isn’t it moving?
• Why hasn’t price discovery fully happened yet?
• Where does real opportunity actually come from in a slow-moving reset?
• What was the real mistake behind floating-rate, value-add deals?
• How should investors evaluate sponsors after the last three years?

Jeremy also draws a sharp distinction between heavy value-add investors, who are already active, and value-oriented investors, who face the very real risk of being too early. He frames today as closer to late 2009 or 2010 than 2011: the light is visible, but the reset is not complete.

This is not a conversation about hype, shortcuts, or timing the exact bottom. It is about discipline, incentives, and understanding why doing nothing for long stretches is sometimes the most rational strategy.

If you invest in commercial real estate or allocate capital to those who do, this episode will help you think more clearly about what actually matters heading into 2026.

What do the most disciplined investors in real estate have in common right now?

They’re not chasing themes, they’re not waiting for perfect headlines - they're buying when pricing resets and protecting capital at all costs.

That’s why my podcast conversation with Onic Palandjian, partner at Group RMC, is worth your time.

Onic helps steward a family office platform that has grown from $500 million to $2.5 billion in AUM by doing something increasingly rare in CRE: investing with patience, low leverage, and long-duration discipline. Their model is built on loss aversion, contrarian entry points, and a refusal to take operating risk without an exceptional basis.

We covered a wide range of themes shaping 2026:

* the rise of family offices as agile allocators, 
* the return of deep-value acquisitions, and 
* the appeal of ground leases.

Here are five questions we discussed:

1. Why are family offices so well positioned for today’s distressed pricing?
2. How do ground leases deliver seniority, inflation linkage, and zero operating exposure?
3. What makes a low-basis acquisition fundamentally different from a thematic bet?
4. How does discipline with leverage create multi-cycle durability?
5. Which opportunities are emerging as zoning, refinancing pressures, and capital scarcity converge?

Onic’s is pragmatic: you only make money when you buy, and you only buy when the basis protects you.

In an environment defined by volatility, scarcity of liquidity, and fractured sentiment, this mindset is as conservative as it is strategic.

If you want to understand how patient capital is positioning for the next phase of the market, tune in and learn from one of the most successful family office groups in the nation.

The irony of my business is that the sponsors who come to me for guidance on raising capital from retail investors, are generally experienced, seasoned professionals who have typically already spent much of their careers raising capital successfully. 

What they are looking for are alternative capital pipelines, scale, or replenishment of existing, tapped out networks. 

𝘐𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧: 𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 '𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦' 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 - 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 - 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵.

The old, one-on-one approach to capital formation worked well in the past but no longer supports the volume, speed, or control they now require yet most seasoned sponsors already have hundreds, sometimes thousands, of existing relationships.

But many of those people do not actually know what the sponsor does, or that there is an opportunity to invest alongside them. These connections sit dormant not because of disinterest, but because there is no clear, efficient, professional system educating them and inviting participation.

Here is an actual example of what happens when the right systems are put in place. I recently managed the full investment process for a client on a relatively small $4MM equity raise. The offering filled in under three weeks.

When the raise closed, I got on a call with my client. His first question was simple:

“Who invested?”

That moment is instructive. The sponsor had not interacted directly with most investors because the system (workflow) we built handled communication, education, and execution end-to-end.

On a screen-share, I walked him through the investor list. One name stood out immediately because it was someone he had known since grade school. Yet:

•  That investor had not called
•  Had not asked for a meeting
•  Had not exchanged a single one-on-one message

He had simply begun receiving clear, professional communications, attended the deal launch webinar, followed the investment workflow we built, and decided to invest.

That outcome is not unusual.

Sponsors work with us because we provide a strategic roadmap and implement practical systems that allow them to communicate clearly and professionally at scale, without hype, activating connections who already know, like, and trust them.


***

If you are an experienced sponsor looking to scale equity capital without adding friction, reach out. I will walk you through what this looks like in practice and where it applies to you.

Every real estate cycle has a moment where prices reset faster than sentiment can adjust.

We are living in that moment.

Serious operators are doing three things right now:

1. Preparing to raise equity capital
Not because they expect distress,
but because they expect selective, high-quality dislocation.

2. Strengthening operations
The firms with the tightest operational control can buy assets others can’t touch because they can run them properly from day one.

3. Positioning for institutional withdrawal
When large allocators freeze, they leave a vacuum.
Best-in-class sponsors step into that gap, one acquisition at a time, at stress-case pricing.

These operators aren’t betting on luck.
They’re preparing for opportunity.

The next 12–24 months may define the next decade for operators who have the discipline to act while the rest of the market recalibrates.

They won't chase capital.
Capital will come to them.

***

If your platform needs institutional-grade investor communications, disciplined reporting, and a credible voice in front of sophisticated capital, I occasionally work with select firms in a senior Investor Relations and capital formation capacity. Send a note if you’d like to explore the fit.

Much of the conversation around housing stress still misses the real issue.

The economy is increasingly K-shaped with the top of the income distribution doing fine while large segments below it are not. That divide shows up clearly in housing, but not in the way most headlines suggest.

In-place renters in Class A and B properties are generally stable. The stress is not obvious at the tenant level.

The real problem is that distress is largely hidden.

Sponsors do not talk about it. They are still raising capital, extending funds, or pitching recapitalizations. Publicly acknowledging problems works against that objective.

Lenders do not advertise it either. Banks and credit funds have no incentive to signal portfolio weakness to shareholders, depositors, or the market. Silence is rational.

LPs are often the least informed. Many know something is wrong but do not know who to speak to, how widespread the issue is, or whether their experience is isolated. Those who raise concerns publicly often face legal pressure from sponsors more focused on preserving fees and appearances than transparency.

The result is a market that looks calm on the surface while stress accumulates beneath it.

This is typically how opportunity cycles form. Not through visible panic, but through quiet fatigue. Owners managing legacy leverage, refinancing cliffs, and operational strain become reactive. They stop playing offense.

For seasoned operators with no legacy problems, patient capital, and the ability to move decisively, this environment is often when real acquisition opportunities begin to emerge.

Not because tenants are failing.
Because balance sheets are.

***

If you are a seasoned operator with limited legacy issues and are planning to grow in 2026 but need deeper, more reliable equity capital pipelines, feel free to reach out. I work with a small group of experienced sponsors to help them source equity capital in environments where others are struggling.

You invisible list is the group of people who read everything you publish and never like, comment, or share. Yet they know exactly who you are and what you do.

Most people still think reach equals engagement or impressions. It doesn’t. A large share of real influence lives off the dashboard.

Your content gets passed around in private conversations, DMs, emails. It gets skimmed and mentally filed away without ever showing up in analytics yet your brand and value prop are reinforced in prospects' minds every time they see you post or comment.

The same thing happens with newsletters. Even an unopened email reminds recipients who you and what you do

This matters because most inbound business doesn’t come from loud engagers. It comes from quiet observers. Decision-makers don’t engage on social but they do remember patterns.

That’s why the invisible list is your real list.

If you want to rise above the noise of AI generated content, build your list intentionally by writing authentically and for recognition, not reaction. Assume most people won’t engage and focus on candor, clarity, and consistency. You'll attract like minded people who will become predisposed to investing with you. 

If your content is honest, useful, and focused, the impact is happening even when the dashboard is quiet. It may seem like you are getting nowhere, but your invisible list is watching and on first contact with your next prospect they'll tell you they see your stuff all the time and they like what you have to say.

***

But you cannot have an invisible list unless you also have a visible one and that's how I can help you.

If you are a seasoned professional with few if any legacy issues and are planning to grow in ’26 but need deeper, more reliable equity capital pipelines, let me know.

I work with a small group of elite sponsors to help them source equity capital successfully, even when others are finding it difficult.

One of the clearest signals of sponsor sophistication is when they choose not to buy.

𝘐𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦-𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴. 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘭.

The seasoned pros we like to work with could not make sense of the numbers during the final years of the ZIRP era, resisting the temptation to stretch assumptions or chase activity just to stay busy or worse (gasp), because they needed fees to stay afloat.

That decision was not passive. It required resisting visible momentum, peer activity, and FOMO. In at least one case, our clients realized that prices had become so disconnected from fundamentals that the only rational move was portfolio divestment.

Those same sponsors are now back in the market, cautiously and selectively, acquiring assets at substantial discounts, either from institutional sellers rebalancing portfolios or novice sponsors who have now run out of refi runways.

This is not about market timing bravado. It is about underwriting discipline, cycle awareness, and the willingness to be inactive when the math stops working.

In every cycle, the sponsors worth backing are the ones willing to sit out when the numbers stop making sense. 

These are the sponsors I work with.

***

If this sounds familiar, you are probably already doing most things right. Reach out if you want an outside perspective on how other disciplined sponsors are scaling capital formation as we enter next phase of the cycle.

One of the biggest myths in today’s market is that 'equity capital has dried up.'
It hasn’t.
It's shifted.

Capital is avoiding:

• fairy-tale exit caps
• over-levered deals
• silence during volatility
• aggressive rent-growth stories
• sponsors with thin track records
• PM outsourced to the lowest bidder

And it is gravitating, very deliberately, toward operators who demonstrate:

• transparency
• liquidity discipline
• operational control
• downside modeling
• multi-cycle judgment
• conservative leverage

Capital isn’t hiding.
It’s screening.

And the screen has never been clearer.

This cycle is not eliminating opportunity.
It is revealing who has earned the right to act on it.

***

If your organization needs a seasoned voice to elevate investor reporting, manage sentiment, guide communications, and assist in raising more capital through this cycle, I selectively advise and lead investor relations teams. Happy to discuss whether your platform is the right fit.

For the past three years, most commentary on real estate has focused on macro forces - rates, cap rates, valuations, transaction volume. That framing is accurate, but incomplete.

What really changed during this cycle was not the asset class. It was investor trust - and for those of you who follow me, you'll know this is something I have been talking about a lot recently.

Well, I had the pleasure of recently writing an article for RealAssets Adviser (IREI), examining how accredited investors actually experienced the recent downturn, and why advisers (IREI's audience) have quietly become the credibility firewall between private wealth capital and the next real estate cycle. 

A few questions the piece addresses:

-> Why did accredited investors experience this cycle very differently from institutions?
-> Why capital has not left private real estate, but is now far more selective
-> What investors are really screening for after sponsor failures, delays, and weak communication
-> How the adviser’s role has expanded from allocator to credibility filter
-> Why sponsor behavior during 2022–2024 now matters more than strategy narratives
-> What distinguishes operators attracting capital today from those still struggling

Heading into what may be a once-per-generation buying window in 2026 (all geopolitical machinations aside), the limiting factor for private wealth investors is no longer fear of real estate. It is uncertainty about sponsor quality.

This is a cycle that will reward discipline over momentum, judgment over storytelling, and stewardship over marketing.

If you advise private clients or work closely with them, this shift is already shaping how capital will move in 2026 and beyond.

If you want the full framework, including how advisers can navigate this moment without repeating the mistakes of the last cycle, check out the full article in IREI - I'll post a link in the comments.

***

If you are a seasoned sponsor with an eye to expansion that wants a best of class investor relations function to raise all the equity capital you need, let me know.  I'll show you what's working today and provide a roadmap for capital formation in '26.

Most of us will spend a disproportionate amount of our lives at work, which makes learning how to think, decide, and operate effectively feel less like a hobby and more like basic risk management.

When the goal is better judgment, sharper strategy, or simply understanding why organizations behave the way they do, we tend to reach for business books written by people who claim to have figured it out.

Below is a short business reading list that skips the usual bestsellers and focuses instead on material that quietly improves how you think, negotiate, and lead in the real world.

-> Calvin and Hobbes for philosophy
Teaches first-principles thinking, incentive misalignment, and why most strategic errors begin with flawed assumptions.

-> Asterix the Gaul for cultural anthropology
Required for understanding why global strategies fail locally, and why culture eats centralized planning every time.

-> The Piranha Club for business strategy and tactics
A realistic treatment of competitive dynamics, informal power, and how classic marketing is done properly.

-> Bertie Wooster & Jeeves for executive decision-making
A case study in solving complex problems when authority and intelligence are not aligned, which is most organizations.

-> Rumpole of the Bailey for negotiation tactics
Demonstrates how framing, timing, and narrative routinely matter more than formal leverage.

-> James Herriot collection for leadership and professional judgment
Covers accountability, resilience, and operating under real-world constraints without excuses.

If nothing else, these books will leave you with a smile which suggests you may have learned the most important lesson of all: perspective.

Have a good weekend.

There are three very different ways AI is showing up in commercial real estate.

First is the obvious layer: ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini.
Useful, impressive, but mostly incremental, unstructured, and on the margins.

Second is a wave of CRE tech startups using AI to fill CRE industry gaps.
Some look great on the surface, promise the world, and are still too early to matter for serious operators.

Then there is a much smaller group.

These companies have identified real choke points in the sponsor workflow and eliminated them.

This is where real competitive advantage is already being created.

For leaders in CRE who are not chasing marginal productivity gains, but who are using tools (or wanting to) that compress timelines, reduce decision risk, and let small teams operate at institutional scale, this group of AI companies warrant your attention.

Starting next Wednesday, my new podcast and YouTube series, Demo Day, will introduce you to best of class CRE/AI shops.

The how has a simple format:

• You'll learn what does the platform actually in the first minute.
• You'll discover how you benefit in the next minute.
• And then you'll learn in a recorded live demo exactly how easy it is to use the tool.

No theory. No hype. Just immediate, actionable. real results that will give you a true competitive edge, leveraging some of the most advanced AI tech in the industry today.

First episode out next Wednesday.

Subscribe to my newsletter and be among the first to gain access. Link at the top of my profile here on LinkedIn Adam Gower Ph.D.

Last week I wrote about using AI to attract investors and the response was far stronger than I expected. Today I’m outlining a practical path to implementing it, so you show up when investors are asking AI tools where to find opportunities.

If it’s of interest, check the link in the newsletter and book a call. I’ll give you clear guidance on how to improve your capital formation efforts using AI where it actually helps, plus I'll give you some tips based on your current online presence that you can implement immediately.

Have a good weekend.

Morning, Last week, I showed you exactly how AI decides which sponsors get cited and which ones never show up. That wasn’t theory. That was the playbo

Open article: Get found in AI when investors are looking by Adam Gower Ph.D. • 5 min read

Get found in AI when investors are looking

Did you see this? POTUS is signalling a ban on Wall Street buying single family homes.

According to a report in Reuters just now, the President says his administration is moving to ban Wall Street firms from purchasing single-family homes, arguing that corporate ownership has pushed the American Dream out of reach for many households.

Institutional investors like Blackstone and American Homes 4 Rent currently own roughly 3 percent of U.S. single-family rental homes, though firms dispute claims they are driving price inflation. Markets have reacted quickly, apparently, with housing and landlord stocks falling on the news.

Details are still unclear, including the legal authority to act unilaterally, but the move reflects rising political pressure around housing affordability as price growth slows and supply constraints remain the dominant issue - especially ahead of the midterms later this year.

Worth watching closely if you care about housing policy, capital flows, or the future of single-family rental investing.

Full article here:

Open article: Trump threatens to ban Wall Street investments in single-family homes by reuters.com

A for sale sign is shown for a residential home in Encinitas, California, U.S. July 25, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

Trump threatens to ban Wall Street investments in single-family homes

In this week’s episode, I spoke with Lisa Knee, Managing Partner of Real Estate Services at EisnerAmper, one of the largest tax and advisory firms serving institutional owners, funds, developers, and family offices across the country.

Lisa works with clients who “touch dirt, own dirt, work with dirt” and her view is clear: the tax landscape has stopped moving, but the real estate market hasn’t found its footing.

She breaks down what the One Big Beautiful Bill actually settled (199A permanence, 100 percent bonus depreciation, renewed Opportunity Zone rules), and why none of it has thawed capital or clarified pricing. Capital is cautious, lenders prefer extend-and-amend, and investors still don’t trust projected rents, expenses, or cap rates enough to lean in.

We discuss topics that matter to serious operators, including:

1. Why adaptive reuse is a specialist’s game, not a market-wide solution for office.
2. How Opportunity Zones 2.0 works and what the 2026 “blackout” means.
3. Why B and C assets are under the most pressure vs. A and D properties.
4. Which tax provisions now permanently shape deal economics. 
5. How extend-and-amend is shaping distress.

If you’re underwriting deals, raising capital, or making hold-sell decisions, this conversation gives you a clear, steady framework for understanding how tax incentives, lender behavior, and pricing uncertainty are interacting right now.

Most of our clients already know how to raise equity capital.
They come to us because their current capital stack is quietly becoming a constraint.

𝘐𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 - 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬.

Three common profiles we see:

1. Multi-generation family offices

Often managing $500MM to $1B+ AUM.
Their investor base was inherited, not built.

The problem:

• LPs are aging out
• Capital is loyal but not replenishing
• Growth slows unless the next generation of investors is intentionally cultivated

What we do:

We help them systematically build a new, durable investor base for now and for the next generation to complement existing legacy relationships.

2. Institutionally dependent sponsors

These firms rely heavily on pensions, endowments, or sovereign capital.

The problem:

• When markets turn, institutions pause
• Allocations freeze
• Optionality disappears at the worst time – when opportunistic deal flow peaks.

What we do:
We help sponsors build parallel, sponsor-controlled capital channels with retail investors so they stop being dependent on single capital sources.

3. Sponsors who want control back

Programmatic institutional capital scales fast, but it comes with strings.

The problem:

• Decision rights creep in
• Investment committees dictate timing, leverage, exits
• Founders end up running businesses by committee

What we do:
We help sponsors regain strategic control by building independent retail investor demand that gives them leverage in every capital conversation.

What ties all of this together

We design and implement investor acquisition systems that:

• Expand who knows you
• Is discrete and professional
• Create consistently repeatable equity capital access

***

This is not one-size-fits-all marketing for beginners - it's infrastructure built for professionals who understand the real challenges of raising equity capital.

***

If you are a seasoned sponsor looking to expand your investor base and regain control over your capital strategy, reach out. Our first conversation will include a review of your online presence and specific, implementable guidance you can use immediately, regardless of whether we work together.

Want to be found by AI when someone asks about real estate investing?  Today's newsletter walks you through best practices.

I have something different for you today to kick off the new year. I am going to show you how to optimize your website for AI searches so that investo

Open article: How to find investors with AI search results  by Adam Gower Ph.D. • 5 min read

How to find investors with AI search results

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