The Baker Program in Real Estate is proud to begin its 2015-16 Distinguished Speaker Series with Brad Thomas. Thomas currently writes the Intelligent REIT Investor newsletter in addition to a weekly column on REITs for Forbes.com and Forbes magazine. In addition, Thomas publishes several articles per week on Seeking Alpha, the largest financial commentary website on the internet, in which he is the #1 rated commentator for the Real Estate and Financial categories in addition to being the #1 overall commentator on the website in terms of article views. More recently he has been regularly featured on Fox Business News to speak about REITs.
Real estate is by nature a transaction-driven business in which individuals make things happen. Developers do this by taking an average piece of land that no one thought much of and turn it into a success. Brokers build their businesses by building contacts so they can bring together parties to transact. Opportunistic investors transform disasters into successes by repositioning and refinancing. Each of these individuals has a vision, but often overlooked is the sheer work required to see these to fruition. After a successful career in other areas of the real estate business, Brad Thomas has achieved perhaps his greatest success in educating others about real estate. He has built his own brand of commentary from scratch, and shows no sign of slowing down.
Like many in real estate, Thomas has not always been focused on one area. He began his research and writing career after nearly two decades of real estate investment and development with a focus on retail centers. During that time, he developed over $500 million in free-standing and multi-tenant retail centers throughout the Southeastern United States. His extensive experience with retail leasing and the solid, long-term returns that can be unlocked through triple net lease investments led him to begin writing and submitting articles about REITs to Seeking Alpha in 2010. In less than 5 years, he has published more than 400 articles that have covered every type of REIT, from Data Center and Telecommunications REITs to Self-Storage and large Class A Office focused REITs. Based on current statistics, Thomas drives more traffic to the website than any other commentator.
Thomas says that “it all gets easier as you build your brand. Once my name was out there, CEOs and Investment Officers at REITs gradually became more accessible. I look at every conversation I have with industry executives and analysts as an opportunity to get my next topic, in addition to garnering useful information and keeping up to date with developments in every corner of the sector.” The quality and sheer volume of Thomas’s articles has been subsequently picked up by Forbes, and he has regularly been called upon by numerous media outlets whenever they need a word or two on REITs. As REITs continue their rise in popularity for reasons ranging from dividends to their relative investment safety, expect to continue to hear some of the best insights about REITs and the broader real estate sector from Brad Thomas.
