• SLIB’s Red-Hot Start to May

    Senior Living Investment Brokerage shot out of the gates in May, announcing six separate closings within just a couple of days. The closings included a couple of portfolios, two seniors housing asset sales and two skilled nursing deals. SLIB is on track for another record-breaking year. The largest deal was an eight-property seniors housing... Read More »
  • Independent Living Asset Near Breakeven Changes Hands

    Blueprint handled the sale of a 60-unit independent living community located just outside of Cleveland, Ohio. At the time of sale, the property was operating around breakeven and offered the opportunity for upside. The option to transition the community to an assisted living waiver model was presented, but the incoming regional owner/operator... Read More »
  • National Health Investors Leans Further Into SHOP Growth

    National Health Investors is continuing to lean into its SHOP segment, having invested $742.5 million into the strategy throughout the first quarter, a 106% increase from the prior year period. Year-to-date, the REIT has announced $212.4 million of investments, and is continuing to evaluate additional opportunities, focusing on private pay... Read More »
  • Senior Care Portfolio Secures Refinancing

    T7 Capital, a boutique seniors housing and healthcare advisory firm founded by industry veterans Ari Adlerstein and Josh Simpson, recently arranged a large bank refinancing for a portfolio of seniors housing and skilled nursing assets in Massachusetts. Working on behalf of a New York-based family office, T7 secured a $57.979 million loan from... Read More »
  • Regional Bank Provides Financing for MC Community

    Jeremy Warren of Montgomery Intermediary Group arranged a refinancing for a client’s 48-unit memory care community in Merrillville, Indiana. Originally built in 2016, the community was stabilized and had an approaching debt maturity. The owner sought to retire both the existing bank debt and an outstanding seller note from the initial... Read More »
First Quarter Occupancy Down Again

First Quarter Occupancy Down Again

Seniors housing occupancy levels dropped both sequentially and year over year, but new development continues. While it did not come as much of a surprise, the recently reported occupancy trends from NIC MAP were certainly disheartening. For occupancy at stabilized assisted living communities in the top 100 markets to drop 70 basis points from the previous quarter, and 117 basis points from the year-ago quarter, to 87.9%, it just makes us wonder why there is still so much new development in the ground, and in planning.   Everyone thinks they have a better mouse trap, that their building is better, their staff will be better, the programs better….I could go on. The reality, however, is that... Read More »
First Quarter Occupancy Down Again

Buying and Selling “A” and “B” Seniors Housing Communities

There are many differences beyond values between “A and “B” communities, including NOI per unit, operating margin and cap rate. In 2017, the range in prices paid for seniors housing communities was from $20,000 to over $700,000 per unit. There are many reasons for this rather wide range, and many people divide the market between “A” and “B” properties. Have you ever wondered what differentiates an “A” community from a “B”? You don’t hear much about those “B” communities, because no one ever markets a “B” property. It just doesn’t sound very, well, marketable. Tomorrow, we are hosting a webinar where we will present our 2017 “A” vs “B” pricing statistics, and the panelists... Read More »
First Quarter Occupancy Down Again

Opportunities and Challenges in Seniors Housing and Care

Conferences abound with opportunities in seniors housing and care, but challenges exist as well. So, I have been in New York City the past two days at a new conference being put on by iiBIG, formerly known as the International Institute of Business Information & Growth. I believe this is the first seniors housing and care-dedicated conference in New York City for several years, which is surprising given the large number of providers and properties within a 200-mile radius. I moderated one panel and spoke on another, and while the title of the conference is “Opportunities in Senior Housing & Care,” there are also a lot of challenges in today’s market. Just look at what has been... Read More »
First Quarter Occupancy Down Again

Immigration and Labor

The seniors housing and care industry needs more low-skill immigrants, but is that really the best long-term solution? The New York Times ran a full-page story Monday on why a constant flow of low-skill immigrants is important for the seniors housing and care industry. Apparently, it is getting increasingly difficult to find locals to fill the growing need for caregivers. I have two conclusions about what’s going on. First, many immigrants come from countries where there is a different attitude towards the elderly, call it more respect and more compassion. That is why they often make excellent caregivers. On the flip side, I think there is more ageism in this country than people are... Read More »
MedPAC Margin Myopia

MedPAC Margin Myopia

Too much focus on Medicare margins results in MedPAC’s recommendations ignored every year. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) does a lot of worthwhile research as it relates to health care and Medicare. But the commissioners must get tired of banging their heads against the wall year after year when it comes to their recommendations to Congress for Medicare payments to SNFs. For years, they have believed Medicare payments to nursing facilities were too high, and every year recommend cuts or no increases. This year was no different. MedPAC recommended no increase in SNF payment rates for two years. This was partly because they believe Medicare margins are too high, and... Read More »
MedPAC Margin Myopia

Thoughts On NIC Dallas

The recent spring NIC conference in Dallas was a little more sober than recent conferences. Coming right after Brookdale Senior Living’s various announcements and stock plunge, plus the bankruptcy filing of HCR ManorCare, some people were a bit more circumspect about how the sector was doing. I did continue my poll of private company CEOs and the impact of the flu season on operations. Still batting 1,000, as everyone I asked said the flu was having minimal, if any, impact on census. It was the other factors we highlighted in the March issue. There was something else we noticed. The traditional sessions on things like private equity investing or lending to the senior care market were... Read More »