Aug 31, 2021
Standout Quotes:
"My mantra for 2021 is to just be very intentional with my time and my decision making” - [Kent]
"I wanted to actively syndicate somewhere down the road, but I was self-aware enough to know there's a lot that I didn't know" - [Kent]
"There's a lot of asset price inflation. We're seeing cap rates coming down, but I think there's still quite a bit of room to run"- [Kent]
“I think that we will see a lot of asset price inflation over the next few years.” – [Kent]
“Relatively speaking, interest rates have crept up a little bit but relatively speaking historically, they're still very low” – [Kent]
“There's a huge disparity in unemployment rates as you look at level of education and type of jobs” – [Kent]
“I think you get a lot out of people. And I think that it just really goes a long way” – [Kent]
Key Takeaways:
- Kent describes himself in one word as "Intentional".
- I've done that pretty well throughout my career. I think that's why I've been able to take advantage of some of the opportunities.
- I started my career out of college as a management consultant.
- About seven years into that career, myself and several of my coworkers left to start our own firm.
- We started a boutique management consulting firm. We were based out of Chicago, grew that to about 95 employees and 30 million in annual revenue.
- In 2015, we decided to sell that business and that was really what kicked off my real estate career.
- I started looking at alternative assets to invest in and found real estate, fell in love with real estate.
- I joined Birge & Held, Birge & Held existed prior to me. One of my mentors is founder there.
- A primary market would be somewhere like New York or San Francisco.
- We just don't have enough affordable housing in the US.
- You have negative yields there on bonds where you're paying money to hold it.
- So in a low cap rate environment, you just have to adjust your strategy.
- The banks and Freddie and Fannie learned from 2008.
- I personally believe that taking old rundown properties and making them nice and clean and new again, still at an affordable price is in some ways a social service.
- We have under contract right now a 72 unit property that was built in 73.
- We have several community programs that we implement, especially in our more C class properties.
- And so I think property management first off is going to make or break. You gotta have a strong property manager.
- You got to make sure you don't win the deal at the detriment to yourself.
Episode Timeline:
[02:12] I'm really excited about my guest today, Kent Ritter.
[03:32] Kent describes himself as Intentional.
[04:35] Kent shares his backstory.
[05:31 He talks about Boutique management consulting firm.
[09:02] You've got your primary market, your secondary market and your tertiary market, which you mentioned. Can you just explain those?
[11:32] And then when you dive into commercial and the different buckets, what's your biggest takeaway from the multifamily sector today?
[13:13] When you talk about a four cap, it’s like, where the heck can this market go, Kent?
[20:00] But what do you guys do either by property or as a company on a whole, for any type of social impact to the communities, to the surrounding state stakeholders?
[22:50] How do you feel that you manage from an ethical standpoint your business operations, the team you lead and everything you do on a daily basis?
[26:16] How do you make high-stake decisions for yourself?
[27:50] Kent talks about the best players around him.
[32:05] Kent tells what they are working right now.
[32:51] Tell me about your favorite tourist attraction?
[34:27] How about favorite restaurant?
[33:43] What's the best book you ever read?
“Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill.
[23:30] How to contact Kent
Website: www.kentritter.com
Podcast: “Ritter on Real Estate”