Fair Value Measurements

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (an exit price). The three levels of fair value defined in ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements, are as follows:


•	Level 1—Valuations based on quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the reporting entity has the ability to access.


•	Level 2—Valuations based on quoted market prices for similar assets or liabilities, quoted market prices in markets that are not active, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.


•	Level 3—Valuations based on inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities, which are typically based on the reporting entity’s own assumptions.

Companies are required to disclose the estimated fair values of all financial instruments, even if they are not carried at their fair value. The fair values of financial instruments are estimates based upon market conditions and perceived risks as of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013. These estimates require management’s judgment and may not be indicative of the future fair values of the assets and liabilities.

Our financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents, acquisition deposits, rents and other receivables, due from related party and accounts payable and accrued expenses. The carrying amount of these instruments approximates fair value because of their short-term nature.

Our mortgage financings, the Credit Facility and the Notes are also financial instruments, and we estimated their fair value based on market quotes for comparable instruments or discounted cash flow analysis using estimates of the amount and timing of future cash flows, market rates and credit spreads. The estimated fair values of the Credit Facility using Level 2 assumptions approximate the carrying amounts. The estimated fair values of our mortgage financing receivables using Level 3 assumptions approximate the carrying amounts.

The fair value of our Notes using Level 2 assumptions is as follows (amounts in thousands):



	March 31, 2014
	Fair Value		Carrying Value
Exchangeable senior notes	$	122,044	$	115,000

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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