BREIT 2017 Annual Report

37 Risks Related to Debt Financing We will incur mortgage indebtedness and other borrowings, which may increase our business risks, could hinder our ability to make distributions and could decrease the value of your investment. The acquisition of investment properties may be financed in substantial part by borrowing, which increases our exposure to loss. Under our charter, we have a limitation that precludes us from borrowing in excess of 300% of our net assets, which approximates borrowing 75% of the cost of our investments (unless a majority of our independent directors approves any borrowing in excess of the limit and we disclose the justification for doing so to our stockholders), but such restriction does not restrict the amount of indebtedness we may incur with respect to any single investment. Our target leverage ratio is in the range of 60% of our gross real estate assets (measured using the greater of fair market value and cost of gross real estate assets, including equity in our securities portfolio), inclusive of property-level and entity-level debt net of cash, but excluding debt on our securities portfolio. The use of leverage involves a high degree of financial risk and will increase the exposure of the investments to adverse economic factors such as rising interest rates, downturns in the economy or deteriorations in the condition of the investments. Principal and interest payments on indebtedness (including mortgages having “balloon” payments) will have to be made regardless of the sufficiency of cash flow from the properties. Our investments will be impaired by a smaller decline in the value of the properties than is the case where properties are owned with a proportionately smaller amount of debt. We may incur or increase our mortgage debt by obtaining loans secured by a portfolio of some or all of the real estate properties acquired and may borrow under mortgages on properties after they are acquired. Depending on the level of leverage and decline in value, if mortgage payments are not made when due, one or more of the properties may be lost (and our investment therein rendered valueless) as a result of foreclosure by the mortgagee(s). A foreclosure may also have substantial adverse tax consequences for us. Many of these same issues also apply to credit facilities which are expected to be in place at various times as well. For example, the loan documents for such facilities may include various coverage ratios, the continued compliance with which may not be completely within our control. If such coverage ratios are not met, the lenders under such credit facilities may declare any unfunded commitments to be terminated and declare any amounts outstanding to be due and payable. We may also rely on short-term financing that would be especially exposed to changes in availability. Although borrowings by us have the potential to enhance overall returns that exceed our cost of funds, they will further diminish returns (or increase losses on capital) to the extent overall returns are less than our cost of funds. As a result, the possibilities of profit and loss are increased. Borrowing money to purchase properties provides us with the advantages of leverage, but exposes us to greater market risks and higher current expenses. If we draw on a line of credit to fund repurchases or for any other reason, our financial leverage ratio could increase beyond our target. We have lines of credits with financial institutions secured by certain of our assets as well as an uncommitted line of credit from an affiliate of Blackstone and we may seek to obtain additional lines of credit in an effort to provide for a ready source of liquidity for any business purpose, including to fund repurchases of shares of our common stock in the event that repurchase requests exceed our operating cash flow and/or net proceeds from our continuous offering. There can be no assurances that we will be able to borrow under or maintain our existing lines of credit or obtain additional lines of credit on financially reasonable terms. In addition, we may not be able to obtain lines of credit of an appropriate size for our business. If we borrow under a line of credit to fund repurchases of shares of our common stock, our financial leverage will increase and may exceed our target leverage ratio. Our leverage may remain at the higher level until we receive additional net proceeds from our continuous offering or generate sufficient operating cash flow or proceeds from asset sales to repay outstanding indebtedness. In connection with a line of credit, distributions may be subordinated to payments required in connection with any indebtedness contemplated thereby. We may utilize a line of credit for the benefit of Other Blackstone Accounts which may invest alongside us in one or more investments. In such circumstances, we generally intend to disclose such arrangements as part of our reporting and enter into arrangements to cause any Other Blackstone Accounts to bear (or reimburse us for) their pro rata share of any costs and expenses (including interest payments) allocable to such extensions of credit. Increases in interest rates could increase the amount of our loan payments and adversely affect our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. Interest we pay on our loan obligations will reduce cash available for distributions. We have and will likely in the future obtain variable rate loans, and as a result, increases in interest rates could increase our interest costs, which could reduce our cash flows and our ability to make distributions to you. In addition, if we need to repay existing loans during periods of rising interest rates, we could be required to liquidate one or more of our investments at times that may not permit realization of the maximum return on such investments. While we cannot predict factors which may or may not affect interest rates, during the year ended December 31, 2017, a 10% increase or decrease in the one-month U.S. denominated LIBOR rate would have resulted in an increase or decrease to income from real estate-related securities of $1.6 million.