Ex. 99.1

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Media Contacts:
Friedman, Billings, Ramsey
Bob Leahy 703-312-9745 or bleahy@fbr.com
Bill Dixon 703-469-1092 or bdixon@fbr.com

American Financial Realty Trust
Sonya Huffman 215-887-2280 or shuffman@afrg.com


          Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Announces Pricing of $400 Million
        144A Institutional Placement for American Financial Realty Trust
                    40,263,441 Million Common Shares Offered

ARLINGTON,  Va.,  September 5, 2002 - Friedman,  Billings,  Ramsey  Group,  Inc.
(NYSE: FBR) today announced that its subsidiary,  Friedman,  Billings,  Ramsey &
Co., Inc., priced a $400 million 144A institutional offering of common shares of
American Financial Realty Trust (American Financial), a newly organized Maryland
real estate investment trust (REIT)  headquartered in Jenkintown,  Pa., a suburb
of Philadelphia.  American Financial, which will include the acquired assets and
mentities,  will be led by newly appointed chairman Lewis S. Ranieri,  and chief
executive officer Nicholas S. Schorsch.

The placement, expected to settle September 10, 2002, consists of an offering of
40,263,441 million common shares.  Qualified investors' shares will trade in the
PortalSM System.

FBR is the sole  placement  agent for this  transaction.  This is FBR's 19th and
largest  lead-managed  equity  transaction in 2002. To date, these  transactions
have raised a total of $1.71 billion.

"FBR's  successful   execution  of  this  transaction  will  permit  significant
expansion of American Financial's  investment portfolio," said Lewis Ranieri. "I
am pleased to be personally involved in American Financial's management."

"This  offering  is  yet  another  in  a  series  of  creative  capital  raising
transactions  that FBR has executed under challenging  market  conditions," said
Eric F. Billings,  Vice Chairman and Co-Chief  Executive Officer of FBR. "We are
pleased to assist American  Financial's  management in funding procurement of an
initial  portfolio  that  includes  87 bank  branch  properties  and six  office
buildings as well as property  management,  real estate  brokerage,  leasing and
project   management   services.   Our   understanding  of  and  access  to  the
institutional capital markets,  coupled with our financial institutions and REIT
expertise, were critical factors in making this deal possible."

Through  the  first  eight  months  of  2002,  FBR  ranked  first in  number  of
lead-managed  equity  underwritings  (IPOs and secondaries  only), and second in
dollar volume,  for financial  services  transactions  (includes mortgage REITs)
according to CommScan EquiDesk.

"We are pleased to be associated  with FBR and look forward to the leadership of
Lewis  Ranieri.  This $400 million of investment  capital is the  culmination of
four years of intense and challenging work by American  Financial's  outstanding
management team" said Nicholas Schorsch.

American Financial Realty Trust is a newly organized, self administered and self
managed Maryland real estate  investment trust formed to acquire corporate owned
real estate  assets,  primarily  single-tenant  bank  branches and  multi-tenant
office buildings,  from financial institutions.  The company will own and manage
these assets under long-term triple net leases, primarily with banks.

Friedman,  Billings,  Ramsey Group, Inc., headquartered in Arlington,  Va., is a
financial  holding  company for  businesses  that  provide  investment  banking,
institutional  brokerage,  specialized  asset  management,  and  private  client
services.  FBR focuses capital and financial  expertise on six industry sectors:
financial services, real estate, technology, energy, healthcare, and diversified
industries.  FBR also has  offices  in  Atlanta,  Bethesda,  Boston,  Charlotte,
Chicago,  Cleveland,  Dallas,  Denver,  Irvine,  London, New York, Portland, San
Francisco,  Seattle,  and Vienna.  Bank products and services are offered by FBR
National  Bank &  Trust,  member  FDIC  and an Equal  Housing  Lender.  For more
information, see http://www.fbr.com.

                                     # # #

The  securities  described in this press  release have been offered in a private
placement  transaction on a confidential basis to eligible purchasers only, have
not been  registered  with the U.S.  Securities and Exchange  Commission and are
restricted.  Resales of the securities will not be permitted  except pursuant to
an effective  registration  statement or pursuant to a valid  exemption from the
registration  requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  This
press release  shall not  constitute  an offer to sell or a  solicitation  of an
offer to buy these securities.