Oct 21, 2026

We Bought 352 Units for $88K a Door. Here Is What We Walked Away With 5 Years Later

The headlines in mid-2018 were about tariffs, border policy, rising interest rates, and a Fed tightening cycle pushing mortgage rates higher.

Sound familiar?

In this episode of Lessons the Hard Way, Brian and Sam do the full deal autopsy on Parc at 1875: Two Waters Capital's largest acquisition to date. 352 units. Purchased for $31 million in June 2018 at $88,000 per door. Held for 5.3 years through COVID, through a refinance that the lender cut nearly in half at the last minute, and through every market shift the environment could throw at them.

They still delivered. 23% annualized return versus the S&P's 12.1% in the same window.

And the reason they are buying again right now in 2026? They just closed on a property at $93k per door in the same neighborhood. Almost the exact same price as 2018. The last time they bought at $88k per door, they nearly doubled the S&P.

The window looks the same. They are moving.

In this episode:

• Parc at 1875: 352 units, $31M purchase, $88,000 per door, June 2018

• What was in the headlines in mid-2018: tariffs, border policy, rate hikes — and why none of it mattered

• S&P 500 returned 12.1% annualized from June 2018 to November 2023. Two Waters returned 23%.

• Two Waters' sweet spot: 100 to 300 units, and why anything over 300 is too much

• $31 million was the biggest deal TWC had done at the time

• Hold time of 5.3 years, underwritten to a 5 to 7 year hold

• Proforma rent growth of 2% vs. actual rent growth of 6.5%

• Always underwrite between 1 and 3% rent growth

• How Two Waters built over 500 investors on consistency

• The CapEx transformation: a dilapidated leasing office turned into pool, gym, coffee bar, and community hub

• One of the biggest and best property transformations in Two Waters Capital history

• NOI proforma of $1.925M vs. actual $2.315M at sale

• Cap rate compressed from 6.25 to 5.5 at exit

• The refinance: the bank promised $10M cash out and cut it to less than half at the last minute

• When lenders change the rules: the hard lesson every operator eventually learns

• Proforma exit at $42.2M at year 7. Actual exit at $42.9M after 5.3 years.

• The four-year break from acquiring: mid-2021 to late 2025 and exactly why

• Deals started working again when they could be conservatively underwritten: the only reason to buy

• Right now in 2026: buying at $93k per door in the same area where they bought at $88k per door in 2018

• Consistency and patience: why delivering in a tough environment shows the most character

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Two Waters Capital: 2waterscapital.com

Text DEAL to 404-500-6876

invest@2waterscapital.com

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0:43 Intro

1:05 Today we break down Parc at 1875

1:29 What was in the headlines in mid-2018: tariffs, rate hikes, border policy

2:07 Wait, is this 2018 or 2026? The parallel that started this conversation

2:57 Parc at 1875: purchased June 2018, sold November 2023

3:21 S&P 500 returned 12.1% annualized in that same window

3:47 Two Waters returned 23% annualized in the same period

4:09 352 units: the largest Two Waters deal at the time

4:29 The sweet spot: 100 to 300 units and why anything larger is too much

5:24 $31 million at $88,000 per door: the biggest deal Brian had done at the time

5:43 It is just extra zeros: how Two Waters approaches capital at any scale

6:32 Now transacted over half a billion: $31 million sounds small today

7:11 Always underwrite long: the most conservative and capital-protective approach

8:24 Proforma rent growth: 2% year over year

9:33 Under promise and overdeliver: the principle behind 500-plus investors

10:13 Actual rent growth: 6.5%, more than triple the proforma

11:28 One of the biggest and best property transformations in company history

11:47 Delivering for investors and residents at the same time

12:14 We want to be the best value, not the top of the market

13:21 What differentiates Two Waters from the noise in the investment space

15:06 Same price nearly a decade later: the market indicator that brought them back

17:50 Why they stopped: deals could not clear their conservative underwriting

18:28 Deals started working again in late 2025: the only reason to start buying again

19:38 NOI proforma $1.925M. Actual at sale: $2.315M.

20:19 Sale proforma $42.2M at year 7. Actual: $42.9M at 5.3 years.

21:01 The bank cut the promised cash-out to less than half

22:06 Still a successful cash-out refi and capital returned to investors

23:01 Cap rate: proforma exit at 6.25. Actual exit at 5.5.

24:04 Conservative cap rate underwriting: enter and exit at the same rate, no hope