Mandri Capital

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the president of Metros Capital, an opportunistic real estate and investment development firm here in Los Angeles. We have projects and properties in Southern California, L.A., San Diego, Atlanta, and parts of the southeast.

What challenge were you trying to address with Mandri Capital?

We were looking at Mandri Capital to help us source debt for our projects, including apartment and construction loans. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Mandri Capital is a capital markets brokerage firm that helps us secure financing for various real estate projects. 

Typically, we use Mandri Capital if we need a loan for a project or need additional equity investments to fund a project. Mandri Capital’s team helps secure a loan from a lender and find additional investors if necessary.

To acquire a loan, their team collects reams of data and information about a property, as well as the people behind the deals. This includes tax returns and the personal financials of me and my partner. 

I’ve worked with Mandri Capital since their beginning, and over the years they’ve done a lot of loans for me. The loans for our projects depend on the strategy we’re using, and if we’re building to rent or sell. They’ve helped with everything from private market loans and bridge acquisitions to implementing small balance Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae loans. They’ve also helped with longer-term, more permanent financing for apartment buildings, construction projects, and even some for our development projects in Los Angeles. 

What is the team composition?

In the beginning, I only worked with Max (Founder & CEO). Now, I still mostly interface with Max, but I know he has a team of 1–2 individuals that work with him behind the scenes to put together loan packages. 

How did you come to work with Mandri Capital?

I’ve known Max since before he started Mandri Capital; I had worked with him in a similar capacity at his previous firm — I may have even been Mandri Capital’s first client. 

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve invested about $500,000 with Mandri Capital. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in March 2015 and the partnership is ongoing. 

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

They’ve secured maybe a dozen or more loans for me. Every time I work with Max I’ve had a great outcome and gotten a bank to give me a loan or a fund — their hit rate is 100%. 

How did Mandri Capital perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is great. Mandri Capital has put together an easy-to-navigate system to collect all the information needed to acquire a loan. All of our information is kept up to date in Dropbox folders and it is very seamless from our side — we just have to continue to send them updated financial information via email. 

Their system is very nice because, for a company like mine with 20–30 different entities, tax returns are complicated and hard to keep track of, but Max and his team have figured out how to do it.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

Max is a rare bird and Mandri Capital is a rare company in this business because of the integrity and care they bring to the table every day. They understand the business — they know the high pressure and high stakes nature of it. 

There isn’t much time to pull loans together and they feel that stress personally — they’re feeling the stress as much as we are and they care about the outcome. The fact that they have that nature makes them a special kind of company. They treat each deal as if it were their own and take responsibility and make it happen — that’s why their success ratio is so high. 

Mandri Capital is good at what they do and they have good contacts in the lending and investing community — they’re able to call individuals at banks and funds that they’ve done business with before. They have a track record of success. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I haven’t had any bad experiences with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would tell potential customers to give Mandri Capital a shot. I’ve referred a lot of people to them over the last few years because I know I can trust them and that they’ll do a good job. Mandri Capital will do what they can to give customers what they need in this complicated business we are in.