Save the Deal or Hand Back the Keys? Mark Kenney - Think Multifamily

In this episode of Deal Flow Friday, David Moghavem sits down with Mark Kenney, co-founder and CEO of Think Multifamily, a multifamily syndication firm whose track record includes more than 120 deals, 18,000 units, and over $1 billion in closed transactions across 15 states.

Mark grew up in Michigan and started buying two- to four-unit properties with his identical twin brother while still in college. He went on to work as a CPA at a Big Four firm, in management consulting, and running his own IT company before he began raising capital for his own syndications in 2015. Think Multifamily focused on heavy value-add deals, some bought at zero to 30 percent occupancy and financed with bridge loans covering 70 to 80 percent of the purchase price plus CapEx. Today Mark coaches and advises operators working through deal-level problems, and he has written a book on the lessons he learned in the downturn.

The conversation centers on one of the hardest decisions in multifamily right now: when to keep funding a struggling deal and when to hand back the keys. Mark walks through how floating-rate debt went from the 4 percent range to 10 to 12 percent while rents stalled, collections fell, and insurance and property taxes climbed, including one South Texas insurance bill that jumped from $1.2 million to $3.6 million in a year. He explains how he put too much of his own money into deals while waiting for the market to turn, why loan modifications with 12- to 24-month terms are now resurfacing as problems, how broker opinions of value lost touch with actual offers, and what he learned from exiting 30 deals between 2024 and 2025.

David and Mark also discuss the distressed agency debt situations Mark is now being called about, why county-level diligence on evictions, property taxes, and insurance matters, and why a deal should cash flow from day one on actual collections. They cover the depreciation recapture taxes that can hit investors and GPs even on a loss, the trade-offs between fixed and floating debt, prepayment penalties and rate caps, the case for longer holds, and the value of self-managing and outperforming your comps. Mark closes with candid thoughts on the personal toll of failed deals, setting boundaries on personal capital, and his next chapter advising operators and pursuing distressed opportunities.

Chapters:

00:00 From College Rentals to 120 Multifamily Syndications

04:05 How Bridge Debt and Floating Rates Drained Reserves

06:47 When Saving a Deal Becomes Good Money After Bad

11:38 Insurance Spikes and the Gap Between Broker Values and Real Offers

14:33 Seller Capitulation and Distressed Agency Debt Opportunities

16:57 Why County-Level Diligence on Taxes, Evictions and Insurance Matters

19:49 Stepping In at the Loan Amount and Underwriting Day-One Cash Flow

23:29 The Depreciation Recapture Tax Surprise on a Losing Deal

25:39 Rethinking Short Holds, Promotes and Long-Term Ownership

29:01 Fixed vs. Floating Debt and the True Cost of Prepayment Penalties

33:47 What Struggling Operators Are Calling Him About Today

40:21 The Personal Toll of Failed Deals and Putting Life in Perspective

43:37 Taking Emotion Out and Setting Boundaries on Personal Capital

46:27 What's Next for Mark Kenney and Think Multifamily

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