05/13/2026
Sam Zell made a fortune buying real estate from people who got margined out at the bottom.
Dwight Dunton just made sure Bonaventure was never on the other side of that trade.
In this clip with Jay Parsons on The Rent Roll with Jay Parsons, Dwight breaks down the discipline that has carried us through three liquidity cycles without a forced sale, a margin call, or a refi we couldn't roll:
"I used to watch Alan Greenspan testify on Capitol Hill for three hours — and walk out with no idea which way rates were going. So we said: if he doesn't know and it's his job, let's just take it off the table. Go fixed."
The trade-off: gave up a little upside in the good times.
The payoff: no one calling us for $10M at the worst possible moment.
That same discipline sits inside BMIT today — 98% fixed-rate debt, 17-year average term, 3.8% weighted rate.
Boring on the way up. Decisive on the way down.
Full episode in the comments. 👇