What We Do
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, real estate is just like gardening. When you first start a garden, a lot of times you are just trying to make a plant survive. You don’t have a bulletproof strategy or every step mapped out, but you have your principles (water, sunlight, and maybe plant food). Our real estate portfolio grew in the same manner: buy houses, maintain them, and get good tenants.
Now that our garden has grown, we’ve become more deliberate about where we plant our trees, how we plant our trees, and why we plant our trees…
Location
We buy near Army bases in the U.S. because military renters are amazing tenants with moderate turnover rates. My mentors have harped on investing in your community, but I moved seven times in my 6 years in the Army so I had to stop thinking about community in the geographic sense. Instead, my community is similar service members who frequently move and make their home wherever the Army tells them. If you are confused, just watch the last 20 minutes of Thor: Ragnarok.
Asset Classes
We buy single-family and multifamily properties. Again, our business aims to serve the military community so we can’t pigeonhole ourselves into one asset class. Military movers come in all shapes and sizes from the single enlisted soldier moving out of the barracks to the career officer with adult children. By purchasing both asset classes, we ensure that we can provide to our community throughout their military career.
Rental Strategies
Our core strategy is long-term rentals (LTR), and we partner with other operators for short-term rentals (STRs) and medium-term rentals (MTRs). Again (this time for the people in the back), our business serves the housing needs of the military community, which varies. Focusing on long-term rentals ensures conservative underwriting and has a low operational intensity. However, there is a need for STRs and MTRs in military communities. PCS, TDY, geo-bachelors, and pre/post-deployment housing are all examples of situations where STRs and MTRs are needed.
