Could you define for our readers what you do?
I am a commercial real estate investment adviser. There are many
ways you can be in commercial real estate business. Some people rep-
Do most of your individual clients want to invest in projects that do not require hands-on involvement?
That depends on the age of the client. You typically find younger
resent sellers, some represent buyers, some do only apartment sales,
and middle-aged people looking to still put some sweat equity into
looking to invest $500,000 to $2 million into properties valued be-
older clients, however, tell us that they don’t want to deal with over-
etc. I tend to work with small private capital clients, people who are
tween $1M to $6M. I have done a number of things in commercial
the property in the hope of getting higher returns. A number of
sight and management. So, we move their assets into single-tenant,
real estate, including managing a real estate firm that had an appraisal
long-term leases. Then they don't have to make monthly decisions
I eventually realized that I needed to stop that and do what I really
the lease expires.
department, property management department, as well as a brokerage. love, which is what I do now. I can’t tell you how happy I’ve been since.
Why is it more satisfying than running a company or making huge institutional sales?
I like working with individuals who really need advice and guidance
to make sure they are doing the right thing…. Every single transaction is different. When clients come to me, I ask them things like: What is
your risk tolerance? What sector are you familiar with? Why do you want this investment? Is it ego? If so, you may want to buy a high-rise
office building, or maybe you want a high return and you don’t care
what the property looks like. In that case, an industrial park may be
right for you. Also, do you want something that doesn’t come with
and look at reports. They simply get a check from the tenant until
Is San Antonio an active market?
Yes, active, but a tight market. There isn’t that much to buy. San
Antonio is growing and is doing great and it’s projected to continue to
grow and do well. So, if you have a property here, why sell it? We would
love to buy more industrial properties here and we approach owners all the time. When a property becomes available, the transaction is usually quick.
What personality traits must a broker/adviser like you have to succeed?
Persistence. It's a huge component of this business. There's a lot
management hassles whatsoever? So, it's a process and it takes time. A
of psychological warfare. You are battling with yourself and everybody
come in. For instance, we had a gentleman from Mexico who had $1M
to March without closing a single deal. But you just have to keep on
lot of people don’t really know what they want to buy when they first
to invest. We spent almost two years working with him on pros and
cons of different types of property. To me, developing a relationship
and helping somebody buy something that they really want, feels good.
What did the Mexican buyer opt for in the end?
He ended up buying a multi-tenant industrial property because that
fit the parameters of what he was looking for – higher returns, low maintenance since the tenants take care of their own businesses.
What are some crucial things that investors should know before buying?
Different types of properties have different risks associated with
them. An industrial facility is totally different from, say, a retail one. If
else. I've been doing this for 34 years, yet I went from last November working. Now we are going to have several closings in June in July.
What do you do when you are not working on a deal?
I run a couple of interesting groups. One is called Dive Bar Ban-
dits. Most members are in commercial real estate in some way,
lenders, title companies, service providers, landscaping companies, etc. We go to a different dive bar every month. It’s part of network-
ing, which is very important. The more networking you can do, the
better. I am also on the board of CCIM Institute’s San Antonio
chapter. CCIM certification is considered to be the Ph.D. of real es-
tate. And I am a member of other organizations, too, including
CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) and RECSA (Real Estate
the investors don’t know that, they can make a huge mistake. Retail
Council of San Antonio).
borhood, signage, available parking, tenant mix. What’s important for
How do you recharge your personal batteries?
height, and such. The owner deals with completely different tenants
ing, scuba diving, and bungee jumping to hunting, fishing and bird
tenants operate on demographics, traffic, gentrification of the neighan industrial property is power, dock heights, the warehouse clear and he is making the decisions about which tenants to let in.
Can you mention some properties that you are dealing with right now?
Right now we have an office building under contract in San Anto-
nio, two industrial buildings in Houston, and another one in Dallas, as
well as an office building in Laredo, a retail center in Sequin and others. Our work is really state-wide.
I am an avid outdoorsman. I have done everything from parachut-
watching. My wife and I are both avid bird watchers. We are going to
Scotland this summer and we have already bought the bird book about
the birds in Scotland. We do that everywhere we go. When you go
somewhere and focus on something specific like bird watching, you pay a lot more attention to the entire environment. It’s eye-opening to me. Here in Texas, I spend at least three weekends a month away
from the city, even if just clearing brush on the family ranch. I am try-
ing to learn all about the trees, grasses, and flowers we have.
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