Thread by @US_CRE_Finance

Some new followers thanks to engagement from some very generous #CRETwit pros. Here is a little about me.

I am a Dallas Apartment guy.

Dallas born/raised. Awesome wife and 6yo daughter. SMU BBA & MBA. Sober since 2003. About to turn 40. Like golf, skiing, scuba, and hiking

The "Sober since 2003" part is paramount. I quit drinking 4/28/2003 because I had a problem and my life was going nowhere.

I got help and continue to do so. I am glad to help others.

By continuing to choose sobriety I am able to have a great family, business, and relationships

I started dating my wife after I got sober once I transferred to SMU. We dated for a long time before we got married and then had an amazing wedding in the Cayman Islands in 2009.

Our only daughter was born in 2015 and she is incredibly smart and gets lots of attention

I started my CRE career with a small balance mortgage brokerage in 2005. I was an analyst first. I worked on hotels (SBA 7a/504), Apartments, and NNN deals.

I learned a ton while working for some seasoned folks. They made tons of commission 2005-2007

With the same firm, I became a commission only mortgage broker in late 2007. I was going to specialize in DFW Apartments and conquer the niche.

The world fell apart. I stayed in the game but I made $40k in 08-09 combined. Good thing I wasn't married yet

In 2010 things got interesting for me.

1. Newly married and needed $$
2. Deals were happening again
3. A lot of the 30-45 year olds who previously would've competed against me had left the industry. They couldn't live on $20k/year

I also started a part-time MBA program

PTMBA was tough. Required juggling a job, school, and marriage while feeling like none of them were getting adequate attention.

Really learned how to manage my time/business but especially how to look at & structure real estate deals.

Matt Cypher and Tony Dana were great profs

When I graduated PTMBA it felt like I had all the time in the world and I took advantage.

I started my own mortgage brokerage firm focused on TX Apartments.

I bought my first building...value add 8-unit in Oak Lawn area. Mother-in-law was the equity and I'll always remember

I continued the mortgage brokerage. My wife quit her job and ran the construction/property management. Talk about supportive!!

We sold and doubled our money. Now we had some ammo then did it again on 13 units, then 65, then 116...

Along with a few partners we have now done +/-1,000 units of very heavy value add ($15-80k/unit rehab) over the past 10 years.

We still own half of them and are looking for more.

Have done HTC, OZ, and looking at LIHTC next. Everything has been Dallas MF value-add

I am spending very little time as a mortgage broker now. My largest client has become my business partner in value-add mf development.

My background in arranging debt/equity for others and getting to see the guts of the deals allowed me to advance quickly as a deal sponsor

We have primarily been backed by friends/family for the 1,000 units we have done so far (except for one larger deal we did with family office money). As we find new deals we have always passed the hat among existing investors and with few exceptions been fully subscribed.

It has been very rewarding to be trusted with significant money by people who very likely wrote me off 20 years ago.

I feel a burden to re-earn that trust every time I accept a check and that probably has held me back from expanding faster. I am ok with it