Having an experienced advisor by your side can be a valuable resource early in the growth of your multifamily operation. That’s exactly what Michael Davalos, owner of Equity Real Estate Management (Equity REM), found out after creating the company.

Davalos started his career in multifamily properties by getting his mortgage broker and real estate license soon after high school. Shortly thereafter, he started his own brokerage firm until 2009. After working for a few companies as a broker in the 2010s, he eventually launched Davalos Capital, a real estate investment firm in 2022.

Davalos felt it was important to self-manage the acquired properties and created what is now, Equity Real Estate Management.  

I met Michael a year before he started his firm. A year later, Davalos was considering whether he should hire individuals to manage his books or outsource.

By outsourcing, Davalos’ team of 50 employees were able to focus and grow to more than 1,700 units in two short years. Today they have properties in Texas, Oklahoma and South Dakota. Instead of worrying if the back office was being handled correctly early on, the team had a boost of confidence, thanks to the partnership with Ascent.

Davalos’ first two acquired properties--both located in Rapid City, South Dakota--include a 278 multifamily unit property and a hotel. “Each property is performing ahead of schedule with Ascent’s help and with our ability to focus on fundamentals,” said Davalos.

Ascent’s services also assist businesses by simplifying management and office operations, an area that Davalos said can be one of the hardest parts of building a business. In his experience, finding the right deals to take over management, along with tough economic times--currently with inflation--has been his biggest challenge.

He also said that there’s no remote or hybrid options when it comes to managing the properties, and that you must not only be onsite, but you must be happy to be onsite.

“If you’re not passionate about multifamily management in particular, it will chew you up and spit you out,” said Davalos.

At Ascent, we can tailor solutions for accounting management and property management, letting you focus on the growth of your company and not on the daily operations of properties.

For owners looking to self-manage their properties, Davalos suggested looking at the top fivepeople in your market and working with them to find a mentor. He also recommended three books to read: “The Ideal Team Player” by Patrick Lencioni; “Taking Flight” by Merrick Rosenberg and Daniel Silvert and “Objections” by Jeb Blount.

For more details on outsourcing back-office functions and scaling operations with Ascent's assistance, contact Mike at 702-467-0789 or mike@ascentmfa.com.

To hear more about my conversation with Davalos on my latest podcast, check out the full Multifamily Management Excellence podcast episode on YouTube.

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