ryan pg 32,33,34,35,36,37.qxp_Layout 1 12/11/25 3:08 PM Page 1
R
yan Terrell is a Managing Director with Greystar, responsible for approximately a third of the Houston portfolio – a little over 65,000 units in Greystar’s third-party portfolio. He is also responsible for new business development and client relations activities. ABODE sat down with Ryan to learn more about his career, his passions (Fore!), the people who have inspired him along the way and what he hopes to achieve as he takes his swing as HAA’s leader for the coming year. Tell us more about yourself, where are you from, what was your childhood like, what were your formative years like? I’m originally from Sugar Land, born and raised in First Colony. My childhood was wonderful. I grew up doing anything and everything outside, whether that was playing football, baseball, basketball – my true passion has always been golf, and it remains that way to this day. Then I ended up spending the best four years I barely remember in Austin at the University of Texas, then immediately moved back to Houston to take a job working in the real estate industry. Tell us a little bit about your parents. Dad was a football coach then got into administration. Mom was a basketball, softball and volleyball coach. So, the discipline and hard work was instilled in me at a very young age. I can still hear my dad’s words echoing in my head, “If you’re earlier you’re on time, if you’re on time you’re late, and if you’re late, don’t show up.” So how did you start your career path? When I graduated from college, it was the end of the dotcom bust, and I thought I was going to be using my degree in government. I thought I was going to be a lawyer. I went to work for a law firm while I was still in college, hated it and realized, “Hey, I’ve got decent ‘BS’ skills and I’m pretty good at math, so maybe real estate is good for me.” But I also love golf, which means that residential real estate was out because they work weekends, and I didn’t want to work on weekends. So, I endeavored to try and find a career selling commercial real estate. I have family in the industry – many of you may or may not know that Stacy Hunt is my mom’s brother, my uncle. He was kind enough to set me up with a bunch of interviews and I eventually landed with a company called Hendricks & Partners working as an assistant, then as an analyst, and then eventually, a producer. What led you to Greystar? Well, necessity, the mother of invention. I was in investment sales with Hendricks & Partners, which is now Berkadia, for a little over six years, until the GFC (Global Financial Crisis). At the end of the day –when there was no liquidity, no debt, no capital to buy, sell, build or anything – for somebody who was 100% commission, that was not good. I was recently married and had a lot of bills to pay and had a lot of commitments and responsibilities, and, quite frankly, my wife told me I wasn’t making enough
32
ABODE
January 2026
www.haaonline.org