Post Investment principal Jack Ehrman tells GlobeSt.com that he'd had an eye on the 16-year-old Vista del Lago at 9191 Garland Rd. for awhile. What Post Investment didn't like, however, was the $105,000 per door Chicago-based Equity was asking for the property. "When it first came out, I loved the asset and loved the price, but they were still looking for institutional dollars," Erhman explains.

A year later, however, in attempts to shore up its balance sheet, Equity was willing to "get out of the deal at a price point that better matches the market," Erhman says. That price point, he comments, was no where near the approximately $31 million ask. Though Erhman declined to discuss the sales price, the Dallas Central Appraisal District values Vista del Lago at $19.5 million.

But it wasn't only the price point that appealed. Though Equity Residential renovated Vista del Lago's exteriors and did an excellent job of maintaining the asset, Erhman says the REIT left enough upside on the table for the deal to make sense to Post Investment. The White Rock Lake submarket where the complex is located is a terrific one, he comments. With capital put into interior renovations, a bump-up in rents is also in Vista del Lago's future.

Vista del Lago has a mix of one- and two-bedroom units, ranging from 658 square feet to 1,222 square feet. The complex is 95% occupied. Brian O'Boyle with the Dallas office of Apartment Realty Advisors led the brokerage team that negotiated the transaction, while Arbor Capital arranged the acquisition loan.

Post Investment's acquisition of Vista del Lago is the company's first in more than a year. Ehrman says this is a good time for an opportunistic company that is well-capitalized to pick up some serious real estate investments. The company has, in fact, already closed another deal in the Dallas area, and Ehrman says deals on that transaction will be forthcoming.

"We're looking to actively acquire," he adds. "Financing is no problem for us."