💰 How CRE Is Reshaping Retirement Planning

Resilient Returns Make CRE a Top Choice

Author

Anne Morgan
August 13, 2025

In partnership with

Learn from this investor’s $100m mistake

In 2010, a Grammy-winning artist passed on investing $200K in an emerging real estate disruptor. That stake could be worth $100+ million today.

One year later, another real estate disruptor, Zillow, went public. This time, everyday investors had regrets, missing pre-IPO gains.

Now, a new real estate innovator, Pacaso – founded by a former Zillow exec – is disrupting a $1.3T market. And unlike the others, you can invest in Pacaso as a private company.

Pacaso’s co-ownership model has generated $1B+ in luxury home sales and service fees, earned $110M+ in gross profits to date, and received backing from the same VCs behind Uber, Venmo, and eBay. They even reserved the Nasdaq ticker PCSO.

Paid advertisement for Pacaso’s Regulation A offering. Read the offering circular at invest.pacaso.com. Reserving a ticker symbol is not a guarantee that the company will go public. Listing on the NASDAQ is subject to approvals.

Hello, Commercial Real Estate Pros! 🏢

In this issue, we’re spotlighting how income-producing real estate isn’t just surviving—it’s outperforming traditional retirement vehicles like 401(k)s and IRAs by delivering steady cash flow, long-term appreciation, and resilience against inflation—even in turbulent markets.

📰 Upcoming in this issue

  • 🏠 Real Estate Outperforms Traditional Retirement Vehicles

  • 🏦 CRE Lending Rebound Continues, CBRE Finds

  • 🧾 Leasecake LIFT: AI Lease Risk Scoring for Multi-Location Brands

🏠 Real Estate Outperforms Traditional Retirement Vehicles

Income-producing property is positioned as a stronger retirement pillar in today’s economy, blending inflation-hedging equity growth with steady cash flow.

Key Takeaways:

  • 📈 Dual-Engine Returns: Appreciation plus rental income compounds over time, often outperforming stock-heavy portfolios through cycles.

  • 🛡️ Inflation & Volatility Buffer: Lease resets and lower correlation to equities can smooth income and protect purchasing power.

  • 🧾 After-Tax Advantages: Tools like depreciation and interest deductibility can lift real, after-tax yields compared with many traditional vehicles.

  • 🧰 Access with Discipline: REITs, syndications, and fractional platforms expand access, but prudent leverage, vacancy risk control, and rate sensitivity analysis remain essential.

🏦 CRE Lending Rebound Continues, CBRE Finds

CBRE’s Q2 read shows lending momentum strengthening, with its Lending Momentum Index up 45% year over year and investment volumes up 13%—setting the stage for a steadier H2 even as underwriting stays tight.

Key Takeaways:

  • 📈 Momentum Builds: Financing activity is rising as lenders and borrowers re-engage and spreads continue to normalize.

  • 🏢 Leaders Emerge: Multifamily and industrial see the most consistent liquidity, with improving deal flow and pricing clarity.

  • 🏦 More Debt Channels Open: Banks, agencies, and securitization markets are more active, giving borrowers additional execution paths.

  • ⚠️ Selectivity Persists: Office headwinds and rate volatility keep leverage conservative and underwriting disciplined

🧾 Leasecake LIFT: AI Lease Risk Scoring for Multi-Location Brands

Leasecake’s new LIFT (Lease Intelligence & Favorability Tracker) scans leases, flags risky clauses, and delivers a clear LIFT Score so operators avoid costly surprises and move faster.

Key Takeaways:

  • 🤖 AI-Driven Risk Analysis: LIFT parses obligations, restrictions, and hidden pitfalls, then quantifies favorability with a simple score.

  • 🏪 Portfolio-Wide Clarity: Multi-location teams get a consolidated view to prevent oversights and make better site and renewal decisions.

  • ⏱️ Faster Openings, Lower Friction: Decoding dense lease language upfront reduces expense and accelerates getting new stores online.

  • 📈 PropTech with Impact: Turning complex lease data into actionable insights strengthens growth planning and reduces financial exposure.

Why It Matters

If your retirement strategy still leans heavily on stocks and mutual funds, it might be time to consider an asset class that earns while it appreciates—and doesn’t entirely bend to market swings.

Anne Morgan
Editor-in-Chief
Commercial Real Estate Weekly

How was today's edition?

Rate this newsletter.

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.