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Investment Strategy

Discipline is the whole strategy.

We didn’t start with a thesis and go looking for markets to fit it. We started by buying rental properties in our first market, learning what actually drives occupancy and rent growth at the unit level, and then looked for markets where the same playbook would work at a larger scale.

3.8M
U.S. housing unit shortage
44M
Renter households nationwide
7-9%
YoY rent growth, target markets
$39.5T
Total U.S. Residential Real Estate Market
Investment Philosophy

We invest where demand is durable.

The U.S. is short something like 3.8 million housing units against 44 million renter households. That gap isn't closing next year, or probably next decade — new construction has lagged demand for most of the last six years running. We're not trying to time that; we're trying to own property in the metros where the gap is widest and the rent growth shows it.

How We Think

Three principles that shape every thesis

Nothing here is unique to us – it’s just what we actually hold ourselves to.

Downside First

Every underwrite begins with the downside case — what happens if rents stall, occupancy slips, or exit timing is wrong. Capital preservation comes before capital appreciation, not after it.

Cash-Flow Anchored

We buy assets that pay us to hold them. Every property in the current portfolio is underwritten on rent it's already collecting, not rent we're hoping to collect someday.

The Long Horizon

Our target hold period is 5–7 years — long enough for a renovation to season and rents to catch up to market, short enough that investors aren't waiting a decade to find out if we were right.

How We Deploy Capital

Three commitments that shape every deal

How capital actually moves once we’ve decided to invest.

Selective Leverage

Leverage is sized to the deal, not maximized against it. Our target acquisition leverage sits at 70–75% loan-to-value — enough to make the returns work, not so much that a rent dip becomes a default risk.

In-House Execution

The same team that underwrites a deal closes it and manages it afterward. Nothing gets handed off to a department that wasn't in the room when the numbers were built.

Disciplined Deal Size

We target deals in the $5–7M range — sized to what our team can genuinely underwrite and manage ourselves, not scaled up for the sake of looking bigger.

Investment Process

The value-add playbook

It's not complicated, and we think that's a feature.

At close01
$5–7M
Deal size

Bought with 70–75% loan-to-value — leverage sized to the deal, not maximised.

While we hold02
6–8%
Cash-on-cash yield

Paid every year from year 1 — the asset pays us to hold it.

Value creation03
16–18%
Targeted equity IRR

Illustrative path: renovation seasons, rents catch up to market.

Target exit04
1.7–2.2x
Equity multiple

A planned exit window at 5–7 yrs — not investor pressure.

Targeted equity IRR
16–18%
Year-1 cash-on-cash
6–8%
Target hold period
5–7 yrs
Deal size range
$5–7M
Target equity multiple
1.7–2.2x
LTV at acquisition
70–75%

Targets are based on our underwriting model, not a guarantee of future performance. See the disclaimer at the bottom of this page.

Pre-close

01Source

Proprietary deal flow through regional operators, brokers, and local relationships built over a decade.

Pre-close

02Underwrite

Rigorous, downside-first modeling stress-tested against three independent macro scenarios.

At close

03Execute

Disciplined pricing, structured financing, and coordinated closing with legal, tax, and lender teams.

Years 1–5

04Manage

Hands-on asset management, operational improvement, and quarterly performance reviews against thesis.

Years 5–7

05Exit

Pre-planned exit windows aligned to fund life, tax efficiency, and market timing — not investor pressure.

Where we are active

One proven market, and one we are underwriting hard right now.

Active today

Cleveland, Ohio

Occupancy
92.6%
YoY rent growth
+2.8%
U.S. rental rank
#7

Where the current rental portfolio lives — single-family and duplex, bought for cash flow rather than appreciation. It's the 7th fastest-growing rental market among the top 50 U.S. cities, on a metro of 2.17 million people.

Next chapter

Charlotte, North Carolina

Occupancy
91%
YoY rent growth
+9.1%
U.S. rental rank
#5

Arguably the stronger case on paper — a metro adding jobs faster than almost anywhere in the Southeast. We're also looking at Raleigh and Durham for multifamily and mixed-use opportunities on the same trend.

YoY rent growth
N. Carolina
+7–9%
S. Carolina
+5–6%
Atlanta, GA
+3–4%
Net in-migration
N. Carolina
157/day
S. Carolina
92/day
Atlanta, GA
120/day
Renter households
N. Carolina
52%
S. Carolina
37%
Atlanta, GA
54%
Avg. monthly rent
N. Carolina
$1,659
S. Carolina
$1,350
Atlanta, GA
$1,603

Avg. cap rate: 5.8–6.2% in all three markets.

MetricNorth CarolinaSouth CarolinaAtlanta, GA
YoY rent growth+7–9%+5–6%+3–4%
Net in-migration157/day92/day120/day
Renter households52%37%54%
Avg. monthly rent$1,659$1,350$1,603
Avg. cap rate5.8–6.2%5.8–6.2%5.8–6.2%

Source: Zillow Research, CoStar, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Apartment List, Yardi Matrix, Marcus & Millichap, 2024–2026.

See it in practice

Our strategy is easiest to understand through the assets it produces.

Explore the properties in our portfolio, each shaped by the same underwriting discipline outlined here.

View the Portfolio →

This page is for informational purposes only and describes how One Proxima Capital approaches underwriting — it is not an offer to sell, or a solicitation to buy, any security. All investments carry risk, including loss of principal; past performance does not guarantee future results.