Giving Thanks for Things in 2023
New faces and their impact at Auben…
2023 was a very active year for the Auben ecosystem, as we welcomed in a lot of new leaders and new strategic partners.
Like many of the SFR managers and aggregators we talked to and interacted with in 2023, overall restrictive deal flow meant increased focus on our foundations and operations. The overwhelming theme for 2023 was undoubtedly, policy, structure and organization.
In last month’s newsletter, I talked about how 2024’s theme is about responsible growth and about building on our foundation. I also discussed how the act of looking backwards, and more specifically regret, can propel us forward.
One of my biggest regrets of 2024 has been my inconsistency with this newsletter. I am someone who believes we are all defined by the consistency of our actions. And yet, after several years of consistently sharing my thoughts on business weekly, I fell off track.
Many reasons…
And many excuses……
Raising capital takes a lot of time.
I was sick.
Life got in the way.
But as a long-time physical trainer of mine says, we can always control the controllables and prioritize the priority.
That didn’t happen.
But as my trainer also says, the best next step is always jumping back on the horse, lacing up the shoes, and getting back at it. So, as we reignite the consistency of this newsletter (and my fitness!), I wanted to take a moment to give thanks and gratitude for some great things in 2023 that we definitely do not regret.
- #1 on the gratitude list is undoubtedly new Internal Leadership. We welcomed a lot of key additions to the team. To highlight just a couple:
Auben Realty President Donald Caster brought 30 years of multi-family and new construction operational fluency to a much needed revamp of core Auben Realty operations.
Augusta and Charlotte Market Director, Erica Barraza, brought decades of institutional single family and multifamily property management experience to the table and immediately brought leadership guidance, direction, and definition to Auben Realty’s market director role.
Auben Capital Partners senior adviser Thom Liggett brought a deep understanding of capital markets and M&A deal flow to the table and has been instrumental in assisting Auben Capital Partners build out our asset management structure, team and functions.
Over the coming weeks and months, several of our team members will be guest-writing to offer their perspective on specific parts of the SFR business. We have got some great folks with a lot to share, and I am excited about being able to offer some more detailed and focused content.
Here are some other things we are thankful for from 2023:
- Strong asset classes in strong markets. We are very fortunate to be in residential housing in markets like Augusta, Columbia, Chattanooga with strong foundations and solid growth prospects.
- New Markets like Atlanta, Greenville, Charlotte and Jacksonville continue to provide solid market fundamentals while also providing many larger new opportunities typical of primary markets
- Great local and regional lending partners like:
- Phyllis Salazar at First Community Bank
- Marsha Easter at Pinnacle Bank
- Don Skinner at First State
- And also lenders who we hope to work with in 2024, like Dennis Spivey at Corevest, Paul Farrington and the folks at Lending One, and Debbie Buckland with Pinnacle Jacksonville.
- Old and new strategic partners who continue to look at housing differently like:
- Our new connection with Synergy Steel who are utilizing technology and manufacturing to offer better solutions to building
- Our long-term business partner, Tiny Life Homes, who is exploring the possibilities of tiny home living and its many uses
- New connections and new (old) markets
- As we closed 2023 and begin 2024, we are extremely excited to announce a recent acquisition of a large property management company that will continue to give us a greater platform for impact. Look for an announcement on Monday and additional thoughts in next week’s newsletter. We are very excited about the new team members we are welcoming into the Auben family.
Thank you for your continued reading.
You can always reach me at tschuetze@aubenrealty.com