In private real estate investing, risks are rarely static—construction costs shift, market conditions change, or delays happen that spreadsheets don’t predict.
In many cases, the most important safeguards show up long before capital is deployed: how deals are assessed, how sponsors are evaluated, and how teams plan for the unplanned.
For investors considering private real estate funds that deploy capital across multiple real estate projects, asset types, and markets, understanding how decisions are made behind the scenes can be just as important as evaluating the opportunity itself.
Asking the right questions is key:
What is a deal breaker for a new sponsor relationship?
How do you mitigate risk before it happens?
What happens when a loan defaults?
What keeps you up at night?
During a recent live Q&A webinar, DLP Capital senior leaders answered these questions and more, giving investors a firsthand look at how experienced lenders and operators think about risk and responsibility.
Question: What are the biggest factors in risk mitigation as a lender?
“Looking into the sponsor is probably the biggest risk mitigant that we can apply here—not just their depth of experience, but their character. Who we lend to is just as important as what we're lending against. In the evaluation of a sponsor, we want to make sure they have experience completing similar projects, have their own capital invested in the project ahead of us, and have liquidity to weather changes in the market environment. The same team that's evaluating our own construction projects also evaluates the budget and scope for construction that we're lending on. The level and depth of review for the projects that we're completing ourselves is also applied to the loans that we originate.”
- Nick Lanni, Managing Director of Lending
Question: What about how you've structured your company and your
books' exposure keeps you up at night?
“Every time we've had a serious defaulted loan, we've stepped in and taken responsibility for it and have made sure we haven't written off a dollar of principal or interest on a single loan of investor money ever. We look at every investment as if we're putting our money at risk, not [investor’s] money, and that’s a huge responsibility.”
- Don Wenner, DLP Capital Founder & CEO
When firms approach underwriting through the lens of real estate operators and developers—considering construction budgets, timelines, and execution risk—sponsored real estate funds like DLP Capital’s can manage risk proactively, long before investor capital is committed.
Want to hear more? Watch the full live Q&A to continue exploring how DLP Capital approaches risk, evaluates opportunities, and makes investment decisions with discipline and accountability.