Why Proven Value-Add Strategies Protect Your Downside with Will Matheson

On Accredited Investors Only, host Peter Neill sits down with Will Matheson, co-founder of Matheson Capital, to unpack how he and his twin brother scaled from buying duplexes in their mid-20s to operating a growing multifamily platform across the Southeast. Will lays out the practical playbook they used to survive shifting markets, sharpen underwriting, and build investor confidence—without taking unnecessary risk.

From brokerage to ownership: the learning curve that mattered

Will’s first job out of college was in brokerage at Marcus & Millichap. That cold-calling, rejection-heavy environment taught two durable skills: resilience and sales discipline. He and his brother Evan left brokerage to attend Columbia University’s Master in Real Estate Development program, where they put classroom theory directly to work—buying a property while in school and flipping another two months later for a striking IRR.

Those early, small-scale deals (2–32 units) became a testing ground: mistakes were expected, lessons were absorbed fast, and the duo used the low-dollar exposure to iterate their underwriting and operational playbook.

Buy box: start where you know, scale with intent

Matheson Capital’s initial buy box was simple and intentional:

• Geography: Southeast-focused markets—North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama—with familiarity driving early market choices.
• Size: Small multifamily assets at first, because early-stage operators have limited capital raising ability and small deals are less efficient (greater opportunity).
• Strategy: Short hold periods (typically one to three years). Will summarized their pitch to investors as:
  

  “Date me. I don’t want you to marry me.”

That buy box evolved. Today, they typically target 100+ units—assets that can support a staff and a repeatable value-add program—though exceptions exist for compelling build-to-rent (BTR) opportunities.

Proven value-add beats reinventing the wheel

When evaluating renovation upside, Will favors strategies with demonstrated templates. If a meaningful share of units are already renovated and showing rent uplifts, the underwriting is safer because there’s a proven blueprint to follow.

Preference hierarchy for improvements

• Interiors first—kitchens, baths, finishes—because they directly drive rent.
• Operational improvements—lease-up processes, amenity programming, resident retention plans.
• Exterior and major capital items only when necessary, and with a clear plan and budget.

Their early outsourcing of property management taught them the limits of third-party ops on small assets but also highlighted the inefficiency they could exploit when competitors were mom-and-pop owners uninterested in active asset management.

Deal sourcing: brokers, relationships, and serendipity

Will value brokers as primary sources of deals. Brokers do the heavy lifting of owner outreach and provide a filter—if a broker brings a deal, there’s often meaningful seller intent. Matheson Capital supplements broker relationships with a mix of outreach channels:

• LinkedIn and cold outreach
• Referrals and repeat partners
• Unexpected sources—networking, charity events, and yes, even dating apps

Consistency in outreach matters more than perfection. Matheson’s fundraising and JV relationships grew organically through multiple touchpoints rather than a single formula.

Financing discipline: fixed-rate debt as a cornerstone

One of Matheson Capital’s signature practices is conservative financing. Since inception, they have preferred fixed-rate bank debt with minimal prepayment restrictions. The logic is simple: debt is the company’s largest controllable expense, and certainty there preserves upside and reduces downside risk.

Key financing lessons:

• Prefer fixed-rate bank loans: predictable payments through the hold period.
• Use bridge or floating loans sparingly: typically only to win short, time-sensitive acquisitions.
• Loan assumptions: an effective tool used selectively in 2023 and 2024 to acquire assets with attractive terms.

Market selection: growth plus barriers to entry

Market selection was both personal and strategic. Will invested where he knew the submarkets—the Carolinas and nearby Southeast markets—which conveniently matched regional population and job growth trends. Matheson looks for:

• Population and job growth
• Barriers to entry—geographic constraints, political or land-use limits
• Proximity to economic drivers such as ports and manufacturing (battery plants were highlighted as catalytic)

Supply pressure is real, but it’s market-specific. Charlotte has absorbed a lot of new supply, while Charleston and Savannah have shown better absorption rates thanks to geographic constraints and strong demand dynamics.

Distress today: mostly in the capital stack

Will observes that the current distress cycle is primarily a capital stack problem: overlevered owners, expired loan extensions, and lenders pulling back. Property-level distress exists but is less common. The broader lending environment—bridge lenders and banks pulling back in 2025—creates buying opportunities for disciplined, capital-ready operators.

Practical implication: look for opportunities where sellers face financing pressure or where loan terms have created a mismatch between income and required debt service.

Insurance, insurance costs, and timing

Rising insurance costs have hurt some owners—especially those who underwrote old insurance numbers and now face much higher premiums. Matheson largely avoided that trap by selling much of their portfolio before the insurance spike, and underwriting increased insurance costs on newer acquisitions. The key: underwrite conservatively from the outset.

Growth with discipline: the road to scale

Will’s target is to scale significantly—ambitiously aiming for a billion dollars under management by mid-30s—but the emphasis remains on disciplined growth. The playbook is opportunistic buying during distress, maintaining underwriting rigor, and scaling investor relationships without sacrificing operational control.

How Matheson grows investor relationships

• Active presence on LinkedIn and professional networks
• Repeat deals with trusted partners
• Cold outreach to institutional and private equity partners when strategic
• Occasional public marketing for live 506(c) offers

Five practical takeaways

1. Use small deals to learn: early mistakes are tuition—start where the capital and operational risk are manageable.
2. Underwrite conservatively: debt and insurance are not line items to hope away—build realistic stress tests into pro formas.
3. Proven value-add is lower risk: follow a repeatable renovation blueprint that has already demonstrated rent uplift.
4. Leverage brokers: they filter seller intent and save time better spent growing the portfolio and investor base.
5. Distress is an advantage if you are capital-ready: most opportunity today stems from capital stack issues, not property fundamentals.

Where to learn more or connect

To connect with Will Matheson or learn about Matheson Capital, visit mathcap.com or find him on LinkedIn. The firm continues to source Southeast multifamily opportunities focused on disciplined underwriting, fixed-rate financing, and repeatable value-add execution.

Those building a multifamily platform or allocating capital into the space should prioritize financing certainty, proven operational playbooks, and market selection that pairs growth with barriers to supply. That combination is the best defense against downside—and the clearest path to scalable returns.