First National Realty Partners Review | Real Estate Private Equity Firm

What Is First National Realty Partners?

First National Realty Partners is a real estate investing platform launched in 2015 and based in Red Bank, New Jersey. First National Realty Partners, also known as FNRP, focuses on essential needs properties like grocery stores and, as of early 2023, offers dozens of different options for investors.

First National Realty Partners is exclusive to accredited investors, and it has a relatively prohibitive minimum investment of $50,000. However, it makes up for it with very high annual returns ranging from 12%-18%. First National Realty Partner has more than 2,000 active investors, $1.3 billion in asset value, and more than 56 properties.

In this quick First National Realty Partners summary, I will go over all the best features of this platform. If you want to read a more in-depth analysis, check out our full First National Realty Partners review.

History of First National Realty Partners

So, let’s travel back to 2015 in Red Bank, New Jersey. That’s when Anthony Grosso and Christopher Palermo joined forces to start First National Realty Partners.

Jared Feldman, now the Chief Investment Officer, had quite an impressive background, having deployed over $100 million in equity capital before joining the firm.

Fast forward a bit, and now First National Realty Partners has grown to include 1,445 investors and boasts more than $914 million in commercial assets. The company has seen an average historical return of around 12% to 18%.

Remember that First National Realty Partners isn’t a REIT, meaning you’re not just buying shares in a big investment portfolio.

Instead, they take a more tailored approach, focusing on fractional investment in individual retail and commercial properties, with the bonus of having a nationally recognized tenant anchoring the deal.

First National Realty Partners has made a name for itself by zeroing in on under-valued assets or those with significant growth potential.

This strategy enables them to provide investors with both passive quarterly income and the chance for capital appreciation.

Best For

First National Realty Partners is an ideal choice for everyday accredited investors who are looking for institutional-quality investments that achieve exceptional, risk-adjusted returns. FNRP comes in at a high minimum investment, but for the quality of investments they offer, this is one of the best ways to diversify your portfolio into commercial real estate.

Pros

Clear and consistent property acquisition criteria
Tenant relationships with major retail and grocery chains
Fund option for simple diversification

Cons

Website can be confusing to navigate
High minimum investment
Only open to accredited investors

Types of investments First National Realty Partners offers

First National Realty Partners offers commercial real estate investments in retail shopping centers, primarily ones that are anchored by a major grocery chain such as Whole Foods, Kroger, and Shop-Rite.

FNRP also offers an Opportunity Fund providing access to all of their offerings. The fund has a target hold time of 3-7 years.

Once you’ve registered with FNRP and have verified your accreditation status, you can review details of each prospective investment, as well as see limited information about prior offerings. (It would be nice if FNRP reported actual performance on those prior offerings.)

How Does First National Realty Partners Choose Properties?

First National Realty Partners has a very thorough vetting process before acquiring a new property. First of all,l they have a very strong focus on grocery-anchored retail properties. All properties listed are located in population-dense areas with growth potential; here are some other metrics they consider:

Population density (at least 100,000)
Minimum deal size ($15 million)
Minimum average combined household income ($65,000)

For all these metrics, expert investors at First National Realty Partners consider a 5-mile radius – the optimal distance between grocery stores and households – and pick only the best-positioned properties. As of early 2023, First National Realty Partners holds 56 high-quality properties.

What do you get when investing with First National Realty Partners?

When you invest through , as with many real estate crowdfunding investment platforms, what you actually receive is a membership interest in what’s known as a special purpose entity, typically an LLC created specifically for the investment. The LLC in turn is what actually holds the equity, preferred equity, or debt interest in the property. For each investment you make with , you’ll receive a separate K1 at tax time to report your share of the income received by the LLC.

Features of First National Realty Partners

Knowing the benefits or offering you should expect during your time with them is great if you’re looking into investing with First National Realty Partners. So, let’s have a look at those.

1. Triple Net Leases

FNRP focuses on these, which means they can pass costs to tenants about 99% of the time. How does this work?

Well, triple net charges get added to the base rent tenants pay, keeping FNRP operating costs low. And as an investor, you’ll be happy to know this practice leads to fewer fees for you.

2. Live Deal Webinars

When you spot an investment opportunity that catches your eye, FNRP offers the chance to participate in a live webinar with professional investors.

These webinars include a 20-30 minute presentation about the project’s potential, followed by a Q&A session where you can ask any burning questions.

3. Tenant-Centric Approach

FNRP’s Tenant-Centric Approach is worth mentioning. Their focus on building and maintaining relationships with key executives at major national businesses gives them an edge.

Thanks to these connections, FNRP can often explore, and close business opportunities before other private firms even get a chance.

How does First National Realty Partners make money?

First National Realty Partners does not charge any direct fees to investors to invest on the platform. FNRP does collect various fees associated with each offering, such as an acquisition fee, a property management fee, and a disposition fee when the property is sold or re-financed (each fee is typically 1%, though may vary so investors should review the offering documents). Target and historic returns are shown net of all fees.

What Makes FNRP Unique?

FNRP is unlike most CRE private equity firms in that they operate completely in-house, or as they call it, FNRP 360. This gives them a very cohesive process for delivering deal information, and really helps them drive such strong results. This not only removes extraneous costs from the investor, this also lets them act on deals and value-add opportunities extremely quickly.

FNRP is always rolling out new investment opportunities, all of which seem to be in very high demand as they haven’t had one deal yet that wasn’t fully subscribed.

This is likely due to their Dragnet Acquisitions Model, a rigorous investment criteria that they use to assess the potential of every deal, which should give investors confidence that every deal has been fully vetted.

Their unparalleled relationships with top-tier national brand tenants is a real differentiator too. Brands like Whole Foods, Aldi, and Kroger allow FNRP to gain unmatched market knowledge and insight into the best property locations. This is a win-win for everyone, the tenants and investors.

Looking to get access to these institutional-quality investment opportunities? Register for a free account to grow your wealth with grocery-anchored commercial real estate.

Breadth of offerings on First National Realty Partners

According to FNRP, they have funded 32 properties across Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Iowa, Illinois, and Georgia.

As of this writing, only 3 projects are currently live for investment – two single-property investments and their Opportunity Fund.

Each available offering includes detailed financial models and information about the property, including photos, site plans, and tenant profiles.

How Much Can You Make With First National Realty Partners

Since its launch in 2015, First National Realty Partners has grown at an incredible pace, amassing more than $1.3 billion in assets, 56 properties, and more than 2,000 active investors. In that same period, First National Realty Partners averaged 12%-18% annual returns since launch, outperforming the S&P 500 index. First National Realty Partners pays out dividends quarterly.

You can fund your First National Realty Partner account via wire transfer, checks, or through a retirement account like a self-directed IRA. The customer support at First National Realty Partners will help every step of the way; the only requirement to join is that you’re an accredited investor.

If you’re not an accredited investor, we recommend looking into platforms like Fundrise.

Is First National Realty Partners Worth it?

Well, you’re probably wondering if First National Realty Partners is worth the 50K investment, right?

Their high bar to entry indeed means it’s not for everyone. But if you meet their minimum requirements, FNRP can be a fantastic option to help grow your wealth.

By choosing FNRP, you’ll gain access to both on- and off-market, top-quality institutional and commercial real estate investment opportunities.

What sets them apart is that they go head-to-head with big institutions, leveraging their strong connections with national brand tenants to offer deals that can generate impressive passive returns.

Now, the success of your investment will mostly depend on the property (or properties) you decide to invest in. The good news is that FNRP offers plenty of information about each real estate option, so you can make an informed decision and set yourself up for success from the beginning.

Click here to sign up with First National Realty Partners and diversify your portfolio.

First National Realty Partners Review | Real Estate Private Equity Firm

What Is First National Realty Partners?