William C. Rudin, president of Rudin Management Company, will speak at the B'nai B'rith Real Estate luncheon on Wednesday, May 3, at the Cornell Club, 6 East 44th Street.

Rudin's topic will be "Bucking The Trend: The Long-Term Approach to Real Estate Investing," according to Joel Breitkopf, president of B'nai B'rith Real Estate.

"Bill Rudin represents three generations of excellence in New York real estate," said Breitkopf. "His decision to revitalize Downtown Manhattan by investing in smart buildings continues a tradition of wise, visionary thinking."

Representing the third generation of the Rudin family involved in real estate in New York City, Rudin joined the firm in 1977, carrying on the tradition of hands-on personal management begun by his grandfather, Samuel Rudin, and passed down through his father, Lewis, and his uncle, Jack Rudin.

In December 1993 the Rudin torch was officially passed to William when he was appointed president of Rudin Management Company, Inc.

William Rudin has put his own personal mark on the family business by championing the resurgence of Lower Manhattan, giving new life to old properties, both residential and commercial, through converting them into technologically 'smart' buildings.

Rudin serves as a member of the board and executive committee of the Alliance for Downtown New York, chairman of the board for the Historic Battery Park Conservancy, vice chairman of the Real Estate Board of New York and an executive committee member of the New York Hall of Science. In addition, Rudin serves as a director or board member of many other institutions, including The National Realty Committee, NYU Downtown Hospital, The New York City Marathon Committee, Chemical Bank's Regional Advisory Board, and the Young Men's/Women's Real Estate Association.

Rudin graduated from New York University's School of Business and Public Administration in 1979 with a bachelor of science degree and currently lectures at various schools and many industry functions. Rudin lives in Manhattan with his wife, Ophelia, his son Michael and his daughter Samantha.

William Rudin has put his own personal mark on the family business by championing the resurgence of Lower Manhattan, giving new life to old properties, both residential and commercial, through converting them into technologically 'smart' buildings.

Rudin serves as a member of the board and executive committee of the Alliance for Downtown New York, chairman of the board for the Historic Battery Park Conservancy, vice chairman of the Real Estate Board of New York and an executive committee member of the New York Hall of Science. In addition, Rudin serves as a director or board member of many other institutions, including The National Realty Committee, NYU Downtown Hospital, The New York City Marathon Committee, Chemical Bank's Regional Advisory Board, and the Young Men's/Women's Real Estate Association.

Rudin graduated from New York University's School of Business and Public Administration in 1979 with a bachelor of science degree and currently lectures at various schools and many industry functions. Rudin lives in Manhattan with his wife, Ophelia, his son Michael and his daughter Samantha.

With more investors--whether institutional or individual--seeking alternative forms of investment, commercial real estate has proven to be an increasingly attractive option.

Commercial real estate offers opportunities along the risk spectrum that investors can tailor to specific return objectives and risk tolerance levels. Investors can further fine-tune their goals with respect to current returns, capital appreciation and preservation of capital.

Commercial real estate investment opportunities range from the lowest yielding, lowest risk core investments to the highest yielding, highest risk opportunistic investments, with each different category offering a unique risk-reward mix that meets a variety of investor goals.

Core investments appeal to long term, passive institutional or individual investors seeking a secure return, largely generated from property cash flow.

Classic core investments include properties with long term net leases to strong credit tenants; first class or "trophy" office buildings in major urban markets, such as New York and Washington, D.C.; premier multi-tenant buildings with limited lease rollovers; and assets with a modest level of leverage (40 percent to 50 percent) relative to value. While overall returns or IRRs in the core category can range from 7 percent to 10 percent in the current market, it's still offering an attractive premium relative to other asset classes, like stocks and bonds.

The core plus market is a variation on core investing, offering slightly higher returns of 9 percent to 11 percent overall due to slightly less current cash flow versus residual value, somewhat more releasing and/or tenant credit risk, or slightly higher leverage (50 percent to 60 percent).

Investments in the value added category offer institutional or individual investors opportunities for a balanced mix of current cash flow and future appreciation.

These properties may be located in recovering markets such as Atlanta and San Francisco, or secondary markets, like St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Minneapolis, and may offer some re-leasing risk when existing rents are at below-market levels.

Value added assets can potentially benefit from a change in marketing, operating or leasing strategy, as well as a new capital structure.

Moderate leverage (60 percent to 70 percent of value) can enhance yield while still allowing for healthy debt service coverage. Investing with experienced local operators that can closely manage the asset also mitigates risk associated with this type of investment. Overall value added returns are currently in the 11 percent to 15 percent IRR range.

This type of investment appeals to savvy investors who seek an enhanced return in exchange for a somewhat higher level of operating risk.

Opportunistic investments tend to be growth and development oriented, with high overall returns (IRRs in the high teens and above), with a significant portion of the equity return typically achieved upon sale or refinancing.

Opportunistic investments often involve assets or operating entities that offer "turn around" potential resulting from a new strategic direction, new or innovative product types, new development, or entry into unproven or international markets such as Korea, China, or Eastern Europe.

Players in this market sector tend to be large, sophisticated, and well-capitalized real estate opportunity funds, hedge funds, and others who have a high-risk tolerance and are comfortable with high levels of leverage.

Opportunistic investors can make significant bets on broad market trends and are often able to spread their investment risk across a pool of investments and use hedging techniques and derivatives to mitigate risk.

Investors who can clearly define their investment objectives can pursue highly individual investment strategies in the current real estate marketplace.

I'm a 25-year-old, single parent who works 45-plus hours a week at my day job.

Within the past six months I've developed a great passion for learning about and investing in real estate.

My long-term goal is to become a consultant and motivational speaker for first-time home buyers. Presently, I don't have the extra time or resources to attend night classes to begin my studies. What books or magazines do you suggest? Should I begin reading in the evening until I can enroll in courses?

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Congratulations on setting goals and taking steps toward achieving them, despite the demanding--though necessary--distractions of your job and your responsibilities as a young, single parent. A good first book to read is Investing in Real Estate by Andrew McLean and Gary W. Eldred (John Wiley & Sons; $19.95). This book covers everything from buying property for little or no money down to the best ways to finance your purchases.

To begin developing your public speaking and presentation skills, you should join a local chapter of Toastmasters International, the organization dedicated to helping its members become effective communicators. You can learn more about Toastmasters by visiting its Website at www.toastmasters.org.

It rarely pays to postpone the pursuit of your passion. Your attitude of doing what you can do until you can do what you really want to do will benefit you tremendously in the long run. By the time you are ready to enroll in classes to further your studies, you'll be able to hit the ground running.