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MASTER INVESTOR — Christopher Urso, URS Capital Partners

November December 2014 . Personal Real Estate Investor www.PersonalRealEstateInvestorMag.com22

MASTER INVESTOR

By SuSan ThomaS Springer

It’s been a good year for Chris Urso. The company he founded — URS Capital Part-ners — closed on three properties worth about $25 million, bringing the total number of units owned to more than 1,000. Also, the company is expanding into a new office in Huntington, New York. The icing on the cake is that his fam-ily, which includes two “amazing” preschoolers, recently moved into a new house. “So much has gone on in 12 months alone, that it is pretty amazing,” says Urso, managing partner of URS Capital Partners. “It’s a wild ride as an entrepreneur, and you tend to be always gunning for the next thing, but it’s very impor-tant to step back and celebrate all wins.” Like most successful journeys, there have been a few bumps along the way. However, Urso has prospered, thanks to his laser focus, ability to learn and change direction when necessary and his passion for finding the right people to grow the company.

IN THE BEGINNING After college, Urso joined friends at a Man-hattan start-up doing litigation support where he helped grow the company from 10 to more than 300 employees in six years. His wife, Lisa

Urso, began her career on Wall Street at the New York Federal Reserve Bank, where she was a Credit Risk Specialist. In 2001, when the two were only 21 years old, they bought their first property. For the next five years, the couple worked their day jobs while continuing to buy single-family homes and do smaller deals. Then Chris faced a career crossroads; his company was sold and he needed to decide whether to head into corporate America or pur-sue his newly found passion for real estate. “We opted to take a stab (at real estate) and jumped in,” says Urso. So in 2008 the Ursos opened URS Capital Partners, originally named National REIS (Real Estate Investment Solutions). “It’s been a winding road, since neither one of us had real estate backgrounds prior to our first property,” says Urso. However, it’s a road they’ve navigated admirably and one for which they were well equipped since they share an entrepreneurial spirit and work ethic. For example, when the couple became engaged, Chris spent two sum-mers in a mobile detailing business to save money to buy Lisa’s wedding ring. “From a young age both of us were geared toward trying to find ways to create our own destiny,” says Urso.

Growing up, Urso saw his father commute one-and-a-half hours each way to the same company for 40 years. That was a “big driving force” for him to wonder if there was a better way. Also, the experience of seeing the start-up he had worked for sell for $20 million provided motivation. “We saw what the power of being an entre-preneur can really do,” says Urso. “I didn’t want to just be part of a large company where I was basically punching a clock and collecting a W2.” The Ursos appreciate that real estate is some-thing tangible where you have control and can create results: “If we put the work in and put the time in, you can physically see the results of your efforts.” Today, URS Capital Partners actively in-vests in multifamily properties including raising capital for those acquisitions. In addition, the company offers Elite Apartment Coaching, a private coaching program for individual inves-tors who want to acquire their own multifamily property.

THE ROAD TO MULTI-FAMILY The company started out investing in single family. They bought 60 houses the first two years, then realized all that hard work was not in line with what they wanted to accomplish

BIG or SMALL? A MULTIFAMILY ENTREPRENEUR’S JOURNEY

long-term. “I felt like a hamster in a wheel,” says Urso. Having put everything into the business

“to keep our lights on,” the stakes were high. They sought advice from a business coach who asked what their goals were. When they answered “a $100 million company,” it was clear single-family houses wouldn’t get them there. “You need to play a bigger game,” ad-vised the coach. So the Ursos changed their business plan to multifamily, which meant buy-ing out a partner and selling houses in a declin-ing market. “We had to take losses, but all of that was an investment because we believed in the end game. Within a matter of six months we bought our first apartment deal, and we have not looked back since,” says Urso. That experience provided memorable les-sons – listen to sound advice, change course if necessary, develop a clear business plan, and work hard to accomplish goals you truly believe in, even if it involves taking risks. “You’re going to fail – and you’re going to fail multiple times,” says Urso. “It’s the people who can get up, dust themselves off and put one foot back in front of the other and keep moving forward toward the end game who are going to be successful.” With the new plan in place, URS Capital Partners looked beyond its home state be-cause investing in large properties in New York requires a huge backing. They have now built

“an extensive network” across seven states in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast.

TOP-DOWN MARKET TARGETING “We take a top-down approach,” says Urso. “We typically target areas first that show signs of population growth and employ-ment growth and we get to understand those markets. We understand what’s driving the economic growth in those areas. We build our relationships. Then we start looking at deals.” “We see a tremendous amount of deal flow, but it took us time – four years of straight dedication to building that business and estab-lishing professional relationships and perform-ing. We’re very excited to continue to grow to that side of our business,” says Urso.URS Capital Partners has obtained financing from “every major institutional lender.” “The financing actually gets a little bit easier as you get into bigger deals,” says Urso.

“Believe it or not, once you get over about a $1 million loan balance, the commercial financing market is very aggressive. You have to obvi-ously have a good track record and history be-hind you.” One current deal is a $12.7 million pur-chase with a $9.8 million loan at a 5.1 percent interest rate with three years of interest only, fixed for seven years and amortized over 30 years. “It’s a fantastic environment for financing. You have to be very cautious – we don’t over-leverage our deals. You can’t get too aggres-sive – that’s how people got hurt in the past,” says Urso. The company brings in private investors for the down payment on these deals.

COACHING OTHERS Four times a year, URS Capital Partners offers a three-day training event for the pub-lic. The purpose is to educate people that they don’t have to start small – they need to start smart. Urso wants potential investors to avoid risks by knowing the basics such as how to an-alyze properties and understand the expenses of operating a property. In those three days, he gives a “true roadmap” showing real life experi-ences of owning 20 to over 280 units. “We’re very reality-based,” says Urso. “At our events, there’s no fluff. No $100 bills get-ting thrown in the air. There are no pictures of me sitting on a Bentley. It’s just straight-up. Un-derstand the power behind it, whether you’re just getting started or you’re the most sophisti-cated investor.” The next step is the Elite Apartment Coaching, a year-long, intensive training to guide investors to acquire the right property for their personal portfolio. However, you can’t simply pay $30,000 and join the program. In-stead, Urso and team want to make sure par-ticipants have the right stuff – and that doesn’t necessarily mean money. They look for the commitment and motivation to be successful in multifamily real estate investing. The team re-views candidates and all must agree that given their support for one year, the candidate can get into the right deal. “We’re very diligent on upfront screen-ing on who we take on as a coaching client,” says Urso, who adds they provide clients every tool, resource and connection possible to steer them toward success.

DEMOGRAPHICS OF SUCCESS This select community numbers 77, rang-es in age from 26 to 65 and tends to fall into four groups. The twenty-somethings typically work full time, have saved up money from childhood and see the value of starting early. They plan to contin-ue working for the next 10 to 15 years and buy one or more properties when they can to avoid their parents’ generation work model. A second group of people in mid career see retirement ahead but aren’t confident that they can rely on their current investments to last the next 30 years. So they want to diversify by acquiring a couple properties so they have an asset building equity and producing cash flow to fund a more comfortable retirement. A third type of investor has been success-ful in his or her career and has accumulated significant net worth but has never invested in real estate. These investors, who can allocate $1 million to their first deal, look at real estate

“as a shortcut” to get them to retirement faster. Lastly, there are active investors who fix and flip and already have a rental portfolio yet need guidance to move up to the next level. The No. 1 fear of coaching clients is their ability to raise capital from friends, family and colleagues. Urso, who has personally raised $15 million, explains the process. “Most of the time the worries are over-come by education, because that then builds confidence,” says Urso. He adds they “front-load” the education for the first 90 days, including identifying markets, analyzing deals, building management teams and understanding property management. So by the time clients are engaged in talking to potential investors, brokers and lenders, they know have a full, intensive crash course on the entire process and know the lingo. “It takes time and we tell people that up front. It’s a marathon,” says Urso. “You might get your first deal done in three months, it might take 18 months but just remember the end game is there. Would you rather do one 50-unit building in two years or 10 single-family houses?” “So we essentially syndicate our deals, and we open them up to our network of inves-tors to participate passively in the projects that we put together. And we run the entire process and truly make it a passive investment for the individual investor,”

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November December 2014 . Personal Real Estate Investor www.PersonalRealEstateInvestorMag.com24

MASTER INVESTOR

IT TAKES FOCUS & PLANNING Urso advises investors to focus on their goals and have a plan for the next three, six, and nine months to a year. While people can get excited about investing and want to jump in, he recommends first getting “laser focused” on why you’re investing your time, energy and money in real estate and what is the end goal so every move is in sync with that end goal. “Don’t worry about a 50-page business plan and 10-year projections – focus on near-term goals and knock them out one at a time,” says Urso. Based on his experience, he knows investors don’t need to start with a single, then a duplex, then four and slowly move up. “Focus your energy and efforts on buying one 20-unit building in the next 12 months,” says Urso. “The re-sults it’s going to create for you and your family are going to be that much greater than buying that one single-family house for $50,000.” A successful plan includes building the right team. That’s something Urso is passionate about, after having been in charge of a staff of 300 and getting them to per-form at levels they never thought they could in his role as director of operations in the startup. “I love the management side – I love people,” says Urso. “People are everything in this business. I have an amazing support system behind me.” Whether you’re going to be a passive investor or an active one, invest the time in people and resources to know what you’re getting into. Go in with eyes wide open. “Really being focused is probably one of the most important things – being focused and nimble at the same time, but not being a ‘shiny object ‘chaser,” says Urso.

MOVING FORWARD URS Capital Partners has a clear and specific goal for the future. “We want to have $100 million of assets under our company’s control by the end of 2015,” says Urso. “By November of 2014 we’ll be at $47 million so we’re just about halfway there.” There’s no lack of energy to reach that goal. “My wife and I are runners – we go, go,” says Urso.

“We close a deal; we want to make that deal great and get the next one.” Ironically, the man who helps others retire early says,

“I never want to retire.” However, he does want to reach the point where he can make choices without having to

“think about any financial recourse.” So, his future will probably include doing “development at some point in my life.” “I don’t know if you’re ever at the end game as an entrepreneur,” says Urso.

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NAME: Christopher Urso

COMPANY: URS Capital Partners

POSITION: Co-founder

WEBSITES: www.multifamilycoaching.com and www.urscapitalpartners.com

EMAIL: info@multifamilycoaching.com

OFFICE PHONE: 631-683-5176

HOMETOWN: Huntington, New York

EDUCATION: Manhattan College

FIRST REAL ESTATE DEAL: A two-family property in Paterson, New Jersey

GUIDING PRINCIPLES: “Your true worth is determined by how much more you

give in value than you take in payment.”

WHAT MAKES YOU GET UP EVERY MORNING: My amazing wife and two

beautiful children

WHEN YOU’RE NOT WORKING: I enjoy spending time with the family, cooking

and vacationing.

BEST ADVICE EVER RECEIVED: Any problem that can be solved with money

is not really a problem.

TECHNOLOGY YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: iPhone and Dropbox

WHAT MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU: My favorite place in the

world is Montalcino, Italy.

ON COMPETITION: We pay close attention to our markets and our competition

but the beauty of our business is that we don’t need to close 10+ deals in a

year, and if you stay true to your strategy and take consistent action you will

find the right deal in any market.

IF YOU HAD IT TO DO ALL OVER AGAIN: I would have found the right coach

and started buying larger deals earlier on in my career.

MOST IMPACTFUL BOOK: “The Go-Giver,” by Bob Burg and John David Mann

FAVORITE QUOTE: “Work like there is someone working 24 hours a day to

take it away from you.” — Mark Cuban

— Compiled by Susan Thomas Springer