Reviews

“I’m Carlos Yepes and I’m the co-owner of Belleair Development Group, a development firm operating throughout the southeastern United States. We have been developing properties since 1980 and have never encountered such a great mortgage broker such as Randy Efron. Skylatus raised debt and equity for two of our build-to-rent deals.

I think highly of Skylatus because the people at their firm and my firm have similar work ethics. On both deals, Skylatus went over and above what a capital broker typically does. They truly function like a “right hand man.” Skylatus introduced us to capital sources that we didn’t have relationships with at the time. They negotiated favorable capital terms, such as receiving disproportionally favorable distributions relative to my equity contributions and they also gave me surety of execution. Additionally, Skylatus guided us through the complex models and lender requests, to make sure that we understood the programs that were offered by the lenders or the private equity groups.

Skylatus is great at communication. They take complex concepts and analytics and boil them down to easy-to-understand conclusions and recommendations. Time is valuable and Skylatus’ professionalism and accessibility allowed me to put my trust in them while I focused my time elsewhere. They always return my call or assist in financial models, or any questions that we may have, even after our deals closed.

I highly recommend working with Randy Efron and the team at Skylatus Property Capital for your capital raising needs.”

Carlos Yepes – President and CEO of Belleair Development Group, Inc.

“I’m Christian Yepes and I’m the co-owner of Belleair Development Group, a development firm with over 50 properties throughout the southeastern United States. Skylatus raised $12.5mm of debt and $6mm of LP equity for our first build-to-rent project during Covid which was a challenging time to raise capital in.

What I like about Skylatus is how in-depth and involved they get on deals. While most capital brokers simply make introductions to lenders and investors and then offload the work back onto their clients, Skylatus does the work themselves which frees up a lot of my time. Skylatus knows how to present deals in ways that yield success since Skylatus’ principals used to approve and reject investments when they sat on investment and lending committee meetings before becoming brokers.

For our first build-to-rent project, Skylatus structured a waterfall with an LP that contained the following favorable characteristics among others: (i) Fee income derived from multiple sources; (ii) no preferred return which mitigated the economic impact of project delays; and (iii) payments for implied land equity.

For our loan agreement, some of the favorable characteristics that Skylatus negotiated among others were: (i) bonding subcontractors rather than the GC which saved us money on bonding costs; (ii) staged equity contributions which increased our IRR; and (iii) releasing retainage at the completion of project phases rather than final completion which allowed subcontractors to get paid faster.

Those are just a few of the ways that Skylatus added value to my deal.

I highly recommend working with Skylatus.”

Christian Yepes – Co-Owner of Belleair Development Group

“I’m Jay Mize and I’m the founder a Mize Capital, a real estate holding company with approximately $350mm of projects under development. Skylatus raised approximately $40mm of debt and $25mm of equity for two of our build to rent deals.

After working with Skylatus on one deal, I rehired them for a second deal because they got me great capital terms and brought me surety of execution. I can leverage Skylatus more than other capital brokers because their team is comprised of former investors and lenders. They function like an offshoot of my team and I can depend upon them which allows me to focus my energy on other deals.

On our last deal, some of the things that were notable about the debt that Skylatus raised were: (i) most lenders were putting construction loan moratoriums in place yet Skylatus got our loan closed, (ii) the lender used land value rather than cost in their LTC calculation which increased our leverage, (iii) Skylatus structured guarantee burnoffs and eliminated the need for reserves, and (iv) Skylatus meticulously read every page of our loan docs and redlined them to make sure we were protected.

Some of the things that were notable about the equity that Skylatus raised were: (i) Skylatus negotiated out a preferred return and eliminated some of the equity multiple hurdles that the LP wanted, (ii) Skylatus negotiated a high promote tier and a catch up for implied land equity, and (iii) Skylatus went over and above in conducting market tours with LPs, both by helicopter and passenger van.

Mid capital raise, my partners and I decided to change the GC for the project. When we made that decision, Skylatus proactively obtained bids from multiple GCs across Florida and organized the bids into a spreadsheet to compare them line by line. The new GC that we wanted to use was rejected by the LP but Skylatus wrote the LP an 11 page memo which outlined the reasons why they should reconsider. Skylatus’ memo convinced the LP to learn more about the GC and Skylatus subsequently flew the LP to the GC’s office for a meeting and project tours in a van that Skylatus drove. At the end, Skylatus convinced the LP and lender to approve the GC and then negotiated an acceptable GC agreement for all parties. Skylatus also convinced the LP and lender to allow us to use a more cost-effective Cost Plus contract rather than GMP. Additionally, Skylatus helped negotiate the elimination of bonding which saved us money.

With Skylatus, capital raising takes less of my time and the market that they create results in better capital terms.

I plan on working on many more projects with Skylatus and you should consider doing the same if you want to grow your real estate business.”

Jay Mize – Founder of Mize Capital

“I’ve been working with Skylatus for two and a half years and they’ve closed over 45 loans for me during that time. At this point, Skylatus handles nearly all of our financing and they are like my right hand man.

One transaction that stands out for me is when Skylatus obtained three loans totaling $65mm. Two of the loans were acquisition loans to acquire a hotel and a management company. The third loan was a cash out refi on another hotel which gave me the cash that I needed to complete the acquisitions without any outside equity partners. Skylatus helped facilitate the transaction by meeting with the seller of the hotel at his home to review financials. Skylatus also worked with appraisers to get the values that we needed to make the deal work (over $1mm per key on independent, exterior corridors, 1970’s hotels which is more than 4 times what I’ve seen them usually appraise for).

Another memorable deal was when Skylatus rolled up 10 scattered properties into 1 hotel loan that included a $7mm earn out for me. My own CFO at the time couldn’t get the loan done but Skylatus succeeded. That was a $30mm loan for Skylatus.

On another occasion, Skylatus helped me obtain sub 5% debt for a mobile home park.

A few years ago, Skylatus helped me acquire my first marina by writing a business plan for me. Skylatus created an underwriting model that allowed us to raise all of the capital for the deal. Skylatus obtained a $14mm loan from an attractively priced lender that didn’t require an appraisal.

Last but not least, we recently closed a $20mm hotel loan which was $3.5mm more than what one of my main bankers offered me. The financial covenants, amortization and prepayment provisions were better too.

Skylatus is an integral part of my team and I highly recommend working with them.”

Shawn Kaleta – Founder of Prime Vacations,
a Real Estate Investment, Development & Management Firm with over 1,400 properties in its portfolio

“I’m Dan Sefair and I’m the founder of Sefair Investments, a real estate holding company with approximately $350mm of projects under development. Skylatus raised debt and equity for two of my construction projects.

I initially chose to work with Skylatus because I wanted to take my development business to the next level and Skylatus came highly recommended from someone I trust. Prior to working with Skylatus, I had capitalized all my deals with family and friends capital. Since I wanted to start doing larger scale projects, I needed access to larger pools of funding. I knew that Skylatus had access to capital sources that were could assist in funding my developments.

My first engagement with Skylatus worked out really well. Skylatus introduced us to real estate private equity and GP / LP structures, which isn’t how we previously capitalized our deals. Skylatus “held our hand” throughout the process, always being there for us when needed. Skylatus also made sure that we were protected in all the negotiations and agreements that we entered into. Skylatus functioned like a member of my team rather than an external consultant. After doing my first Skylatus deal, I am now on a path that I couldn’t have achieved with family and friends capital.

If you are trying to get to the next level, I highly recommend engaging Skylatus as your capital advisor. Their fees are industry-typical but the value they add is beyond anything that I’ve heard of in the industry. They are the hardest working group of people that I know and they will make sure that your capital raising process is a success.”

Dan Sefair- Founder of Sefair Investments

“Randy Efron and I first worked together in 2017. One of the first investments in our commercial real estate fund was a ground-up self-storage development for which Randy provided the underwriting. In spite of its challenges through construction and lease up (a hurricane and a pandemic) that investment returned an IRR of roughly 20% to our investors over 5 years. Through that experience and subsequent transactions, I developed a deep respect for the thorough, fundamental approach to financial underwriting that Skylatus brings to its deals.

More recently, we invested in a $25M residential development project that had been thoroughly vetted and underwritten by Skylatus. Their backgrounds and expertise as investment bankers, investors, operators and brokers make the Skylatus principals uniquely qualified to evaluate deals and match them with the right capital sources.

Skylatus investments will always receive strong consideration, but beyond their professional acumen, it is their integrity and character which really makes them stand out in our industry. I look forward to working with Skylatus again soon and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to a friend or partner.”

Darren Wilson – LP Equity Investor

“My name is Jeff Woodin and I’m a Senior Vice President at a regional bank in Florida. I’ve been working on deals with Skylatus for over 3 years.

From my experience, what makes Skylatus different is that they are not transactional. They form deep relationships with their clients and advise them in ways that I’ve never seen a capital broker do before. Skylatus functions like a CFO for their clients rather than a broker.

Skylatus’ offering memorandums and underwritings are the best that I’ve seen throughout my career. In fact, executive management at the bank has echoed those thoughts. We’ve actually used Skylatus’ un-edited offering memorandum in a loan committee meeting which is something that I’ve never seen before.

Since Skylatus’ principals have lending backgrounds, they know how to present deals in ways that attract attention. It’s unique to find a capital broker that’s worked for real estate private equity firms that’s made both debt and equity investments.

If you’re a lender and you don’t typically work with brokers, you should definitely reconsider that position when it comes to Skylatus.

When Skylatus loans come across my desk, I will continue to give them a high degree of attention and I look forward to closing many more deals with Skylatus in the future.”

Jeff Woodin – Senior Vice President at a Regional Bank

“Skylatus helped me finance 5 of my projects, including a partially constructed build-to-rent community.

For the build-to-rent deal, Skylatus obtained a $5mm loan from a community bank that allowed me to pay off an expensive hard money loan and complete the construction of the project. Lenders don’t usually want to step into partially constructed projects but Skylatus convinced a lender to do so.

Skylatus excels at getting difficult deals done and I highly recommend them to other real estate developers.”

Larry Vargas – Founder of Flagler Plant Properties, a Florida development firm

“I own two industrial buildings in Jacksonville that I operate my business out of and Skylatus helped me finance both of them in two separate transactions.

When I first approached Skylatus, numerous lenders told me that my business financials would not support the loan amount that I wanted. However, rather than give up on me, Skylatus worked with me for over a year until my financials were suitable for the loan. Skylatus’ principals have backgrounds in accounting, and as a result, they were able to offer advice that most capital brokers can’t.

After overcoming the accounting issue, my business was hit with a frivolous lawsuit. Once again, rather than giving up on me, Skylatus came up with a strategy to prove to lenders that the lawsuit had no merit.

Skylatus went over and above in the services that they performed and they ultimately got me the financing that I needed. They spent innumerable hours recasting our earnings, doing comps and contacting close to 100 lenders to get the deal done. Randy told me he was going to get the deal done and was going to work the deal until he got it done. Any mere mortal would have given up, but not Randy, he dug and accomplished the impossible. I was so pleased with them that I hired them for a second transaction.

Randy is the hardest working, most ethical business person I have ever worked with. He will get the job done or die trying.

I highly recommend working with Skylatus. ”

Michael Murphy – Founder, Eco Relics

“My name is George Stellas and I’m a VP of Investments at the real estate investing arm of a multinational holding company.

When I worked at my predecessor real estate investment management firm, I led a deal team that closed a $17 million LP equity investment for one of Skylatus’ build-to-rent deals.

While many capital brokers simply facilitate introductions to equity investors, Skylatus plays a much more active role. They effectively function as an agent capable of handling nearly all aspects of a transaction for clients. In doing so, Skylatus exhibits a rare work ethic.

Skylatus’ offering memorandums and underwriting models are among the most professional I’ve come across from a boutique brokerage. They are meticulous in their analysis and their deliverables are detailed and accurate. It is clear that Skylatus takes great pride in their work product.

From an expertise standpoint, it is less common to find a capital broker with both private investing and lending knowledge. Skylatus has sat at both sides of the table, affording their clients a well-rounded approach to each transaction.

Skylatus is also capable of managing multiple parties in a complex transaction. I witnessed Skylatus assist with legal documentation, tax and insurance consultants, and GCs relationship-building and contract negotiation. Skylatus’ market tours were well-planned and efficient. Skylatus is extremely hands-on and adds an immense amount of value.

Overall, Skylatus’ involvement in the referenced build-to-rent deal was absolutely essential to its successful closing.

I highly endorse Skylatus. They source strong opportunities for LP equity funding.”

George Stellas – VP of the real estate arm of a multinational holding company