JF 4029: Build-to-Rent Momentum, Fund-of-Funds Partnerships and The Waco Playbook ft. Ryan Watts

The Best Ever CRE Show

Best Ever CRE

Investing, Entrepreneurship, Business

4.7 • 996 Ratings

🗓️ 15 September 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this week’s episode of Unlimited Capital, Richard McGirr interviews Ryan Watts. Ryan shares how he co-founded Red River Development and scaled a Build-to-Rent platform to 1,900 units and $600M AUM by leaning on RIAs, family offices, high net worth investors, and a robust fund-manager channel. He explains why they prioritize prerecorded webinars, turnkey deal rooms, and third-party experts to help fund managers raise faster with more credibility. Ryan also previews their 206-home Waco, Texas BTR project, outlining a conservative 65% LTC capital stack, a merchant-build strategy targeting 2x equity, and why Texas demand makes the story compelling. Ryan WattsCurrent role: Co-Founder, Red River DevelopmentBased in: Dallas, TexasSay hi to them at: https://redriverdevelopment.com/ | LinkedIn This is a limited time offer, so head over to aspenfunds.us/bestever to download the investor deck—or grab their quick-start guide if you’re brand new to oil and gas investing. Visit investwithsunrise.com to learn more about investment opportunities. Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com with code BESTEVER Get a 4-week trial, free postage, and a digital scale at ⁠https://www.stamps.com/cre⁠. Thanks to Stamps.com for sponsoring the show! Join the Best Ever Community The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It’s free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria. Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at ⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You've probably noticed this. Despite all the headlines about record investment in renewables,
0:04.8	the world still runs on oil. In fact, demand keeps climbing. But here's what most investors don't
0:10.8	realize. A lot of institutional capital has actually pulled back from oil and gas because of
0:15.8	ESG mandates and political pressure. That's created a huge gap in production and a big opportunity for
0:22.1	individual investors. That's where Aspen's oil and gas fund comes in. Their last fund has
0:27.4	delivered six straight quarters of 15% annualized cash yield from producing oil wells. With their
0:33.3	current fund, they're targeting 29% cash on cash returns in over 10 years and 8.83 times equity
0:39.9	multiple. I've personally been impressed with the way Aspen approaches a space balancing the
0:45.1	stability of producing wells with the upside of carefully selected drilling projects. And here's a
0:50.7	bonus for best ever listeners. Aspen has lowered their minimum investment from $150,000
0:55.8	down to $100,000. One of their investors, Terry, put it best. We were new to oil and gas
1:02.1	investing and quickly found Aspen's approach sound. We've been very satisfied with the experience
1:07.6	and delighted with the returns. This is a limited time offer, so head over to
1:11.9	Aspenfunds.us. us forward slash best ever to download the investor deck or grab their
1:17.7	quick start guide if you're brand new to oil and gas investing. Hey, best ever listeners, welcome back to
1:23.9	unlimited capital on the best ever CRE network. I'm your host, Richard McGur.
1:28.3	So today we're talking about fund to funds, except not from the typical angle that we usually talk on the show.
1:34.3	As you guys know, I'm a fund of funds manager.
1:36.3	I've built a pretty large business as a fund of funds manager, raising, you know, like over $70 million over the past three years through fund of fund structures.
1:45.7	But that's not what we're talking about today.
1:47.0	What we're talking about today is from the lead sponsors point of view, how do you work with fund of funds managers?
1:53.4	And what do I mean by that?
	...

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