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WHAT WE DO

Apt Market Research provides market studies and consulting services to developers, lenders and government agencies on all types of apartment projects:

We cover:

acquisition/rehab as well as new construction
market rate as well as affordable
general occupancy/”family” as well as senior/55+ (age-restricted)

We can supply market research/consulting at any point in the development process:

prior to site acquisition/control (a “green light” analysis before commitment)
when applying for approvals (to assure cities that a project is viable)
before starting detailed design work (so your architect can design a project with hard data on optimal unit mix, sizing, parking and a thousand other product considerations)
in conjunction with seeking financing (to satisfy lenders’ requirements on market depth and market feasibility)

Specific services provided by Apt Market Research include:

full lender market studies
“go/no go” recommendations & due diligence research
detailed product & pricing recommendations for use in the project pro forma and design stages
Section 42 [Low Income Housing Tax Credit] market studies for state agencies, syndicators and investors
repositioning & turnaround analyses of troubled properties
property management/marketing assessments and recommendations
portfolio analysis for acquisition disposition or bottom line improvements
peer review/re-dos of questionable or inadequate market studies

WHAT WE’RE KNOWN FOR

Every study is prepared by analysts with 25+ years of experience. We’re intentionally structured along team lines, to take full advantage of analysts’ varying backgrounds (development, planning, finance and economics) and to leverage our experience analyzing real estate developments.
We don’t just analyze whether a project will work or not. We provide clear, detailed, actionable product and positioning recommendations to make projects work even better. That includes exhaustively researching pending/proposed competitive supply and evaluating the possible effects of other new apartment communities in the same market.
Concentrating exclusively on apartment analysis helps us stay in front of the newest trends. We produced nearly 500 apartment studies between 1998 and 2005, in 108 different California submarkets and 25 other states. The total valuation of those projects that are now built or under construction exceeds $2.5 billion dollars.
We’re nationally recognized for the pioneering research we’ve done on senior (age-restricted) apartments. The studies we do today draw on extensive post-occupancy analysis, project tracking and consumer research dating back to the mid 1980s. Our custom database covers detailed information on more than 500 senior apartment projects – including unit mix, sizing, features/amenities, parking ratios and costs, tenant profiles, rent trending, absorption history, concessions, premiums, policies and nearly 100 other data fields. Images of many projects have been preserved digitally. Extensive research on 20 55+ projects built since 2000 helps make sure that clients’ planned 55+ projects will succeed in today’s changing market.
We always compile data from the ground up (rather than relying on Internet searches or someone else’s canned database), to identify and physically audit projects that are truly comparable. We believer there’s no substitute for physically spending time in a given submarket, getting a grasp of local issues and characteristics (not just project data) – and learning insider information from on-site leasing and management people that they would never divulge in a telephone inquiry.

WHAT WE CAN HELP PREVENT

Good market research early in the process can save a lot of expense and time at a fraction of the cost of the deal. (Many studies we do cost less than $100 per door.) Don’t let any of these pitfalls caused by no or shoddy market research happen to you:

Learning only after you’ve already invested in a deal that achievable rents are hundreds of dollars lower than pro forma rents.
Building too-small or improperly amenitized units in a submarket that demands bigger, better product − and then paying the price in slow lease-up and higher carrying costs.
Having your out-of-town, prospective lender literally drive past properties that weren’t addressed in the market study on the way to your site, raising questions about the validity of the study (and even the project itself).
Learning only after you’re under construction that four other new projects have also broken ground – all in better locations and with better product than you’re offering.

OUR REPUTATION

We’re the market research company lenders make referrals to.
We’re the market research company hired to tear apart and re-do faulty market studies.
We’re the market research company developers and lenders come to when projects are challenging, pioneering, potentially high risk, or high profile.

HISTORY

After nearly seven years at Eliant (formerly National Survey Systems), Annie Gerard and Joyce Hummel started Apt Market Research in December 2004. Eliant allowed us to take with us the custom database we’d built; originals and electronic files for all studies and consulting assignments we’d done while at Eliant; and all other records and back-up material relating to Eliant’s Apartment Research Division, formed in 1998.

Printable Version of Qualifications

RESUMES

Annie Gerard has prepared hundreds of market studies − conventional as well as affordable − ranging from high-end complexes (Teresina at Lomas Verde, Fountain Park in Playa Vista) to preservation rehab projects (Jeffrey-Lynne; Los Altos Apartments on Wilshire Boulevard; El Rancho Verde in San Jose). Read More...

Joyce Hummel's experience in apartment research exceeds 20 years, encompassing a broad range of rental types: income-restricted (LIHTC/Bond/RDA) and market rate developments, new construction and substantial rehab of older complexes. Read More...