First National’s Darryl Bellwood is our guest in this episode. He is best known for working with some of the biggest borrowers in the country, as well as having a major presence in Ottawa.
Darryl gives an overview of how multi-unit properties have performed throughout the pandemic along with different strategies used by private versus public companies. He explains why Ottawa is such a great market for real estate and the type of growth he expects to continue there as we exit the pandemic.
Topics covered include:
- Reasons why publics and privates are buying right now.
- Using capex to adjust investment strategies.
- Why compressed cap rates and increased value requires less leverage to be used.
- The changes Ottawa has undergone in the past few decades.
- The advantages of REITs using shares in an acquisition.
- Buying criteria for the large borrowers.
- Tax advantages that public companies can have over private ones.
- What happened in Ottawa during the pandemic, including why some areas were unaffected.
- Intensification areas and the effects of higher construction material costs.
- How Darryl became focused on the Ottawa market.
- Fear at the beginning of the pandemic surrounding tenants not being able to pay.
- Why the apartment market has stayed active throughout COVID-19.
- The tight-knit real estate market in Ottawa.
- The growth that Darryl believes will continue in the nation’s capital.
More about our guest…
Darryl Bellwood has over 20 years of experience in the commercial real estate sector and currently holds the position of Assistant Vice President with First National Financial, Canada’s largest non-bank lender. He has extensive experience in the multi-family sector and has funded more than $8 billion in commercial mortgages. A graduate of the University of Toronto, Mr. Bellwood is a member of the Mortgage Professionals of Canada, holds a mortgage agent’s license with FISCO and has written a number of articles for various industry publications.
The CRE Podcast is powered by First National.
In partnership with Canadian Real Estate Forums.
Join the REF Club and get access to all of the amazing events the CRE Podcast is hosting on the platform in 2021.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download