Gerry Ranglas: Industry Achievement Award

When did you first start out in the industry? I started out in the industry in 1971 when I went to work for a property management company owned by a local law firm here in San Diego. I was a junior attending San Diego State University, majoring in Real Estate, and was looking through the help-wanted ads to find a part-time job in my field as I was working my way through college. I ran across an ad seeking a part-time position for a college student majoring in Real Estate to assist in the law firm’s property management division. I applied and got the job at the age of 21 while still attending college and my real estate career was officially on its way! Little did I know at the time, this would become a lifetime career and that I would be where I am at today, still going strong 48 years later.

What led you to get involved? While in college, I took a personality test to help me decide what I should major in and I scored highest in Real Estate, Marketing and Law. I decided between these three choices that I would major in Real Estate and that is how I chose my career field.

Where do you see the industry heading in the next three to five years? Since we specialize in the apartment sector of Real Estate locally which includes management, development, and investments, I am more familiar and can speak more about this particular sector. I am generally optimistic about our industry over the next three to five years. There is a shortage of apartments based on our population growth and I think we will stay in the 94% to 95% occupancy level. Of course, if there is a recession it normally leads to job losses and potentially a corresponding increase in vacancy as some people may need to double up to save money. However, I think any recession will be mild and should not significantly impact our occupancy. The Federal Reserve appears to be proactively setting policies that are conducive to a soft landing in the event of a recession, as evidenced by the recent reductions in interest rates.

What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the industry? In my opinion, the biggest challenges facing the industry have to do with the government’s interference and regulation of our industry. Instead of letting market forces determine the course of our industry, which is a very efficient way of doing things, we are subject to politicians telling us how to run our business, when they have no experience with our industry and are not on the front lines. I think a lot of the safety net regulations that the government adopts have to do with protecting the consumers against unscrupulous or irresponsible landlords, which are a minority in our industry, in my opinion. I would like to see the local apartment associations be empowered to self-police our industry so that residents can email their complaints and the association can address them. Of course, this may result in higher costs for members due to more staff, but I think it’s a better alternative than government intervention. Another challenge is finding people to work in our industry as there is a labor shortage with the current low unemployment rate and it is becoming increasingly more difficult to find qualified people with experience, to fill open positions.

Who are local peers that you admire and have helped you grow? My local peers that have helped me grow and whom I admire greatly, are my early mentors that assisted me along the way when I first started in this industry. They are now deceased but have left lasting impressions. My boss who hired me at the law firm where I had my first job in 1971, was Gene Hanken, who also was the seller of the first apartment building we syndicated with my partner in 1973. Gene formed a company called Hanken Cono and Assad, Co., a real estate management and investment company similar to R&V Management which is still around today under the able leadership of Al Assad, a good friend and business mentor whom I have had a 40-year relationship with. Also, my deceased business partner, A. “Laki” Vassiliadis, who passed away in 2002, was a very positive mentor and influence in my business career and personal life, as we started R & V Management together in 1979 and established the platform on which the company was built and under which it flourishes. In addition, there are a lot of industry peers too numerous to list that I have met throughout the years that have had a positive influence on my development. There is no shortage of innovative, energetic and creative professionals in our business. The individuals who work for our company currently and in the past, have also been a source of inspiration for me as well.

Tell us about some of your leadership innovations, responsibilities, and accomplishments. I think throughout the years our industry has evolved to keep up with the advances of the technological revolution. Starting in property management in 1971, I would have never envisioned that residents could lease apartments, pay their rent, submit maintenance requests, and communicate with the rental offices, all online. I am proud of the fact that we, at R&V Management, have kept up with the latest technology in our business and have implemented these advances in our company. In addition, I have always believed that it is important to be close to what you own so you can touch and feel your assets and accordingly, we have the vast majority of our holdings in San Diego. We manage said assets in a very efficient manner, employing regional property supervisors to manage projects that are in close proximity to one another in order to cut down travel time and increase property visits as well as be able to shuffle staff between properties when there are employee shortages at neighboring communities. The proximity of separate projects clustered close to one another allows our regionals to do a more efficient job of managing more projects than would be the case if they were located far from one another in different counties or states. Finally, in the recent years, R&V Management has been involved in development projects throughout the county and have collaborated with numerous top San Diego developers in order to provide Class A multifamily projects which we build and keep for the longterm.

What accomplishment makes you most proud? The accomplishment that makes me the proudest, is the growth of the company over the last 40 years. We started from scratch and are now the largest apartment ownership group in San Diego County with close to 11,000 units locally and another 2,000 outside of the county. We started with smaller projects in size from 10 to 50 units to the average size now being approximately 250 units per location. Also, early on we were capital constrained and were limited in the size and quality of the properties we could purchase. Throughout the years, we have exchanged these projects into bigger and better locations and upgraded the portfolio. In addition, we started developing apartment projects from the ground up about 10 years ago to hold long-term and incorporate into our portfolio. We developed or are developing, 10 projects totaling around 2,000 units which are part of our portfolio. These newer assets are top of the line with all “Best in Class” amenities. It is rewarding to develop newer assets at a value wholesale and then enjoy the retail value upon completion. Early on in my career, we used to look at these newer assets with envy and knew they were cost prohibitive and now to be able to build and own them, is a very rewarding accomplishment. We are also buying newly built assets at advantageous pricing to the point where we have greatly reduced the overall age of the portfolio which bodes well for the future. Another very rewarding aspect of my career is the company culture we have fostered in order to promote long-term employment and advancement. We have a vast number of employees who have been with us for many years and consider the company a place to work for the remainder of their business career until retirement. This is a benefit for us as it provides longterm continuity and stability for property operations. The fact that we have employees that are happy and content and want to work for us long term until retirement, gives me great satisfaction.

What motivates you to come back every day, ready to do more? What motivates me to come back every day is that we have now established the company as a leader in the local industry in terms of acquisitions and management. This has enabled us to have an infrastructure of lenders, investors and brokers which has made the difficult become easier. Not to oversimplify, but the hard years of work to build up the company has now created an easier path of travel moving forward to where it’s a pleasure to see the fruits of one’s labor. Coming from Greece as an immigrant at the age of 5 ½ years old with my parents, starting from nothing and being where I am today, is the epitome of the American dream.