Real Estate Finance in Focus: Q&A with Michael Franco

SitusAMC Chief Executive Michael Franco recently spoke with Andy Garrett, Senior Director and Head of Marketing and Communications, about his expectations for commercial and residential real estate finance in the year ahead, and how SitusAMC is helping market players navigate key challenges and opportunities.  

“We’re helping clients work through the uncertainty they face in their business,” Franco said. “Our teams have been working actively with clients to mitigate risk so they can pivot to deploying capital, and we’ve seen many of our clients make that turn.” 

In this wide-ranging interview, Franco discussed a range of topics and trends, including how alternative lenders can scale nimbly and adapt to market change without the associated cost of building out large platforms.   

"Newer, private credit-type players, which have the ability to draw in a lot of capital, typically have less existing infrastructure than traditional lending institutions,” he said. "SitusAMC can be a strategic partner in helping them grow the business.” While non-banks tend to focus on servicing and asset management support, they can also utilize SitusAMC for loan origination and underwriting, through both staffing platforms or transactional work, as well as valuations. 

Franco also addressed the growing opportunity for funds to tap into defined contribution capital, and the implications for valuation practices. “We’ve seen the opening up of opportunities for private credit players, with defined contribution plans able to invest in new asset classes,” he said. “As the nature of those investments change, we see the need for daily valuations becoming increasingly important.”   

SitusAMC has leading valuation practices on both the commercial and residential sides of the business, providing best-in-class valuation management, daily valuation, appraisals and more. 

In addition, Franco discussed how residential secondary market opportunities have shifted in recent years toward non-QM, leased product and second liens, among other alternative products. “When someone is looking to launch a new program, we can help them understand how to underwrite those assets, and they can leveraged our knowledge process outsourcing services, loan fulfillment services or licensed underwriting,” he said.

SitusAMC touched more than 280,000 loan files in 2024, both seasoned and new origination, he added. “If we were a lender we’d be the third largest lender in the U.S. That gives us a lot of expertise.” 

Meanwhile, both commercial and residential market players are increasingly focused on data to better understand assets, benchmark performance and identify market opportunities. SitusAMC offers a range of technologies to organize and optimize data, supported by professional services.   

“We are in a unique place in the market but also in history,” Franco said. “I think the next five years will be about human and technology interactions, and how to drive efficiency, speed and better outcomes leveraging that symbiotic relationship.” 

Watch the video above.