What We Do
At East Light Investments, we partner with passive investors to acquire value-add apartment buildings. We take care of everything from finding the multifamily property to doing upgrades after the acquisition, to managing all day-to-day operations, and eventually to selling it once it reaches our target date. Our passive investors receive all the benefits of real estate ownership (cash flow, appreciation, tax benefits, etc) without any of the management headaches. Our investors never have to worry about personally guaranteeing loans, dealing with tenants, or fixing leaky toilets. Instead, they partner with us, and we take care of it all!
The Team
As Principal of East Light Investments, Karen oversees acquisitions and investor relations.
Karen has been managing multi-million dollar portfolios for over 25 years. Prior to launching East Light Investments, she managed over $150 million in fixed income assets for Hart Capital Management, Inc. while also juggling the role of Chief Compliance Officer.
Karen began her career as an institutional salesperson for S.G. Warburg in Boston before moving into investment management at Wellington Management Company. While an MBA student at F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College, Karen was the lead portfolio manager for a $4 million portion of the Babson College Endowment Fund, producing a 33% return under her leadership. While at Rhumbline Advisors, Karen designed, marketed, and raised over $10 million for a structured Internet Fund. Her international experience includes co-managing a $250 million emerging markets fund and relocating an institutional asset management practice from Switzerland to London.
As a serial entrepreneur, Karen has launched and successfully sold several communications businesses, including a boutique investor relations company, Ripple Effect Communications, which continues to thrive as full-service public relations firm. She later headed Ashton Partners’ east coast practice, where she was responsible for developing new business and providing strategic counsel to investor relations clients.
Karen was a Board Member of the CFA Society of South Carolina and Leader of the Women’s Initiative and Scholarships until she relocated to Oregon in 2023.
On a personal note, Karen’s life dramatically changed in 2015 when she nearly died from a toxic combination of colon cancer and Lyme disease. Ever since, she has dedicated her life to healthy living and helping others her community. She is particularly passionate about addressing the suicide epidemic in this country. In her free time, Karen loves spending time with her teenage sons, being in the outdoors, and volunteering at her church. She recently became a Licensed Minister of Dance and enjoys teaching others this lost art form.
David Hodges
The Million Dollar Maintenance Man
Bradley Cole
Bradley has dreamed of working within real estate since he was a kid. Whether observing buildings from a passenger seat or exploring towns and cities in over 40 states or while leading teams into community service projects. His joy is finding potential in all buildings and it’s community.
As a Brand Ambassador and Docent Supervisor, Bradley represented elite companies (i.e., ADOBE, DWELL, Salesforce) and their product as an informant. He marketed brands via public engagement/speaking at private events, educating via trainings.
Bradley also brings over 7 years of quick-witted media development skills as a producer, writer, and manager, building diverse creative teams to complete projects of various budgets.While producing, in Hollywood, Bradley got to utilize his passion for properties and development of community on a project in San Pedro, CA. Before filming, he would scout countless properties.
Personally, he invested hours into the community before requesting the community’s support to film this project on their street. Earning the trust of those residents, Bradley saved the project from quadrupling the budget by establishing relationships involving the business community. Keeping his word to not disrupt their flow of business; they allowed him to do what no other producer had done—film for free. This experience among many solidified his focus on real estate and developing communities through property management.
His vision is to build healthy multicultural communities that inwardly grow and thrive for generations to come. Bradley lives by the words invested by his mentor when he was a young man, “I’ll never purpose to use people to build buildings but will forever use buildings to build people”.
