If you're skilled at evaluating startups and have access to capital, owning real estate is a waste of time. This isn't an arbitrage opportunity. At best it's

If you're skilled at evaluating startups and have access to capital, owning real estate is a waste of time. This isn't an arbitrage opportunity. At best it's just borrowing short to lend long: the liabilities of the spot lease firms are in long-term leases and debt owed against owned real estate; the assets are short-term and demand leases on that property. This is no different from what gets overextended banks in big trouble when a bust occurs. In fact, we can even go a little farther: the banks that think they're the best at managing subprime credit risk (i.e., have the most underwriting skill) tend to take the biggest hit, because that skill is almost never real.