About Multifamily Acquisition Advisors
What We Do
Multifamily Acquisition Advisors is a premier real estate investment firm, specializing in the U.S. multifamily sector. Our primary focus, through joint ventures with passive and semi-passive capital, is acquiring and operating multifamily assets with a value-add overlay. We deploy and manage capital using best practices and an attention to detail that traces its origins to founder Chris Thomson’s 1999 MIT Master’s Thesis, which focused on lowering risk by more accurately determining the precise incremental risk and revenue associated with the presence, addition or upgrade of various property attributes.
We also offer partnership terms and fees that enable our investor partners to net higher returns than they would in most promoted structures and yet reap the benefits of entrusting their investment funds to an exceptionally successful and experienced sponsor.
A secondary focus of MAA is acquisition advisory and asset management services to other multifamily investors, levering our skill set and platform to assist clients in sourcing, evaluating, negotiating, closing, optimizing and executing apartment transactions meeting their designated investment criteria. These assignments are accepted only on a case-by-case basis.
CHRISTOPHER THOMSON
MANAGING PRINCIPAL
Christopher Thomson serves as Managing Principal of Multifamily Acquisition Advisors, LLC.
Christopher formerly served as head of acquisitions and head of multifamily investments for private equity firm Eighteen Capital Group (ECG) and its predecessor entities, sourcing and overseeing the acquisition of 29 significant multifamily properties during his tenure and remains a partner in ECG ownership entities holding 19 individual properties with an estimated current market value of just under $375 million. This level of activity has enabled Chris to develop and maintain extensive relationships with current multifamily market participants, a sourcing advantage in one of the most competitive real estate sectors in the world. Additionally, as a former Managing Director with the largest multifamily real estate brokerage firm in the U.S., he has credibility with and speaks the language of the industry’s “gatekeepers” – the multifamily brokerage community – also a sourcing advantage in today’s market.
Including previous partnerships, as of August 2023, Chris and partners have purchased forty-six substantial multifamily assets in 23 U.S. markets totaling 8,460 units with financial partners that include pension funds, life companies and some of America’s most prominent family offices.
Christopher received his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from The Warrington College of Business Administration at The University of Florida; and earned a Master of Science degree from the Sloan School of Management and the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT where he authored his Master’s Thesis entitled “Pricing Apartment Attributes: A Hedonic Analysis of the Dallas/Fort Worth Multifamily Market”.
Track Record
Since MAA was formed in January 2018, MAA and its investors have completed multifamily acquisitions with a total purchase price of $182. 5 million. Beginning in late 2022, properties representing $164.8 million total purchase price were sold for a total price of $182.1 million. These sales were initiated outside of the original business plan to either lock in profits or as a risk-mitigation action to reduce exposure to variable rate debt in a volatile, highly inflationary environment. As of the June 2023 reporting period, remaining properties in which MAA principal(s) have an ownership or operating interest total 3,672 units. These properties were acquired at a total cost including renovation and soft costs of $160.3 million, have a current estimated or appraised value of $394.3 million, generate annualized Net Operating Income of $16.4 million and Net Cash Flow of $7.1 million. Total Debt Acquired exceeds Total Cost by $31.1 million, meaning in the aggregate, an amount equal to all original equity plus $31.1 million has been distributed to partners and investors.
Prospective Clients and Partners
Prospective clients and partners of MAA include providers of real estate debt and equity capital, short-term rental operators, high-net-worth individuals, institutions, family offices, regional multifamily operators and other foreign and U.S. investment entities seeking to make direct investments in multifamily.