Draper and Kramer Names Todd Bancroft President and CEO

Todd Bancroft

                                                                                                      

CHICAGO, IL – Draper and Kramer, Inc. announced its Board of Directors has appointed Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel Todd Bancroft as the firm’s next president and chief executive officer.

Bancroft, who has been serving as interim president and CEO of the real estate services firm for the last three months, succeeds Forrest D. Bailey, who was Draper and Kramer’s president and CEO for 20 years until stepping into a new role as vice chair and CEO emeritus in August. 

Forrest D. Bailey

“Draper and Kramer has a legacy of impactful, visionary leaders who have made this company what it is today, beginning with its founders 125 years ago, and Todd very much carries on that tradition,” said Stephen P. Miller, board chairman for Draper and Kramer, a fifth-generation family-owned company.

“As the Board searched for the right candidate to bridge the company’s 125-year history with its next chapter, we unanimously identified Todd as the right individual to guide the firm.

"He is a talented and trusted leader, with a deep understanding and appreciation for the company’s heritage as a family-owned business, as well as the ability to plan for the future and capitalize on new opportunities that align with Draper and Kramer’s broader investment strategy.”

Bancroft joined Draper and Kramer in 2012 as chief administrative officer, senior vice president and general counsel responsible for mortgage and cash management operations.

In 2014, he was promoted to COO and general counsel, overseeing operations across all four of Draper and Kramer’s divisions including acquisitions and development, commercial finance and residential management as well as the firm’s residential mortgage services group, Draper and Kramer Mortgage Corp.

“I am honored to be appointed as Draper and Kramer’s next leader and thank the Board for its confidence and trust in me,” said Bancroft. “It is especially meaningful to be entrusted with this role as we mark Draper and Kramer’s 125^th anniversary later this month.

"As we celebrate that milestone, I’m eager to work alongside our team to identify ways we can build on Draper and Kramer’s legacy – one that continues to differentiate us within the broader commercial real estate landscape.”

Stephen P. Miller

Previously, Bancroft was a founding partner with Bancroft, Richman & Goldberg LLC, a Chicago-area law firm focused on real estate and commercial transactions.

Bancroft has a B.S. in accounting from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and J.D. from the University of Florida.

He is a licensed real estate managing broker in the state of Illinois and a licensed real estate broker in the state of Michigan.

CONTACTS: 

Sarah Lyons, slyons@taylorjohnson.com, (312) 267-4520

Abe Tekippe, atekippe@taylorjohnson.com, (312) 267-4528

www.draperandkramer.com.

Apartment Guide Cites The Good, The Bad and the Ugly of Renting in America Today

Ellen Sirull

ATLANTA, GA -- Freelance business news writer Ellen Sirull notes a lot has changed in the last 30 years for renters – some for the better and some still leaving much to be desired.

 The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University released its 30th anniversary State of the Nation's Housing report this year and it provides an opportunity to reflect on how housing market conditions in the U.S. have evolved over time, looks at current trends and reveals how we still have progress to make when it comes to all Americans having decent, affordable homes.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the study:

Most people are paying more of their income towards rent

Many renters now are cost-burdened, meaning they use more than 30 percent of their income to pay for housing and may have trouble paying for other necessities such as food, clothes, transportation and medical care.

This is mostly due to massive increases in housing costs, with the national median rent rising 20 percent faster than overall inflation from 1990 to 2016. (Homeowners aren't immune either as the median home price rose 41 percent faster than inflation in the same timeframe.)

Quality of housing has improved some, but the main cause is the increased expenses involved in housing construction and land. If you're a renter, you may be thinking, “Yeah, no kidding." But this just means that budgeting well, saving what you can and researching all your options are critical to not spending any more money than you need to on renting your home.

There is a slight shift to more people buying (vs. renting)

After 10 years of rental demand growing, Americans are starting to get back into the homebuyer market. From 2005 – 2015, the number of U.S. households renting grew by an average of 850,000 each year, yet from 2015 – 2017 rental households grew only 220,000 annually.

It's still a bit early to qualify as a rebound in home buying, but the U.S. homeownership rate does look to be stabilizing.

Deciding whether to own or rent involves weighing many factors, including how long you plan on staying in one place, relative costs, your ability to tolerate financial risk and the benefits you see with each option.

Many Americans are still opting to rent because it makes sense for them. Down payments require a solid savings, especially in markets with expensive housing markets.

Many millennials are waiting to buy homes later than the older generations (Generation X and Baby Boomers) according to another study by the Urban Institute in 2018.

There are differences based on income as well – the number of high-income renters is growing while the supply of rentals those with the lowest incomes can afford continues to shrink.

Rental housing demand remains positive

While growth in rentals may have slowed, the overall demand is still positive. Millennials still often rent before buying when they move or combine households, and many older households are making the switch from owning to renting in order to reduce upkeep and downsize.

There is also a huge demand for affordable rental housing, with 15.5 million households having very low- and extremely low-incomes as well as the increase in cost-burdened households mentioned previously.

Renters are moving less

Renters historically move more often than homeowners, yet their mobility rate (how frequently they move) has dropped substantially.

The decrease in renters moving is likely because of a variety of trends, including the increased likelihood that adult children live with their parents, rising student loan debt that makes it more difficult for young adults to move out on their own and the scarcity of low-cost rentals in some areas which may mean tenants stay in one rental longer even if it's not the ideal place for them.

Also, while many older Americans do downsize, a growing number of older renters are staying in their homes longer than previous generations.

Though rental growth rates rent inflation and the percent people pay towards renting may change, there will always be a need for many Americans to rent homes.

Thus, it's important to understand the details of your market and weigh the amenities and features you want (and need) against the availability and cost of the rental.

Read more here about what renters say is most important to them when looking to rent a home.

For more information, visit the  Apartment Guide Blog.

CONTACT:

Ann Noder 
CEO/President

Ann@PitchPublicRelations.com 
480.263.1557 
 www.PitchPublicRelations.com

RECI finds floating-rate bank loans are still popular with borrowers for development and repositioning projects.

John Oharenko

CHICAGO, IL - Chicago-based Real Estate Capital Institute notes the US Dollar dropped from record

levels of the past year and a half.  Moreover, the most recent domestic job

report shows the lowest levels of unemployment in nearly fifty years. Such

news helped minimize treasury volatility during the past month, fluctuating

by about 15 basis points.  Short-term indices -- namely LIBOR - inched

upward by only a few basis points.  As expected, ten-year treasuries moved

to nearly the same levels as the beginning of October, In the end, benchmark

rates behaved predictably, given the Fed's desire to gradually raise rates

over the next few quarters.

 John Oharenko, director of The Real Estate Capital Institute's(r),

states, "Under very competitive realty funding conditions, creative capital

stack solutions are the norm, not the exception. Commercial real estate is

no longer a step-child investment class on Wall Street."

Lenders worry about potential market corrections mainly based on interest

rate hikes, oversupply and economic slowdowns. They flock to quality deals

via lower spreads and less leverage as the main underwriting defenses.  With

lower leverage and favorable debt pricing offerings at hand, borrowers focus

on raising more cash on deals. For much of this decade, the capital stack

trend continues for generating more equity from yield-hungry investors, so

raising money is less challenging than finding good investment

opportunities.

As expected, mortgage rate ranges are priced very tightly due to strong

demand for investing in realty capital markets.  Shorter term, fixed-rate

debt offerings (e.g., five years) are priced nearly identical to ten-year

debt, encouraging borrowers to take on longer debt mainly via agency, life

company, conduit and debt fund sources.  Seven-year maturities, are slightly

better priced, about ten basis points inside of ten-year debt.  However even

as short-term debt pricing is less favorable compared to permanent loans,

floating-rate bank loans are still popular with borrowers for development

and repositioning projects.  In these instances, flexibility is more

important than pricing.

Fixed-rate permanent debt starts at 4.5% for low-leverage LifeCo offerings,

climbing to the six percent range for 80% conduit/debt fund loans.

Otherwise, most commonly priced loans are within 4.75% to 5%.

The Real Estate Capital Institute(r) is a volunteer-based research

organization that tracks realty rates data for debt and equity yields.  The

Institute posts daily and historical benchmark rates including treasuries,

bank prime and LIBOR.  

CONTACT:

The  Real Estate Capital Institute(r)

3517 West Arthington Street

Chicago, Illinois USA 60624

John Oharenko, Executive Director

director@reci.com

http://www.reci.com

www.reci.com