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”