Jim Tatum
When Jon Krebbs was in college, a friend recommended he read Robert Kiyosaki’s book, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad.” It was a revelation, he said.
“The book inspired me to study business,” he said. “I started taking business and finance courses, and it ultimately led me to commercial real estate.”
He acquired his first multifamily asset, a quadraplex building, in 2005, and became a full-time broker in 2013. Now, as founder and managing partner of the Multifamily Group, a Dallas-based commercial real estate firm that focuses solely on selling multifamily properties, Krebbs continues to build a successful career in his chosen field. In the past 12 months alone, he’s been involved in 15 transactions totaling 2,320 units with a total worth of $206 million.
Krebbs, who specializes in asset valuation, marketing coordination, property tours and contract negotiations for sellers, said he especially enjoys the sheer variety of his business. Persistence, flexibility, creativity and honesty are key factors to success in this field, but the possibilities are, in fact, unlimited, he said.
“Commercial real estate is one of those places you can really make stuff happen,” Krebbs said. “You can do all kinds of things to connect the dots, put deals together, see who’s buying, who’s selling, see where the opportunities are. Sometimes it’s hard to get in contact with property owners, so it’s fun to try to find them and find ways to connect with them.”
Krebbs said he wants to see his firm continue to grow and believes his team is well-positioned for even greater success.
“I would like to get to maybe $10 million in gross fees (this year),” he said. “Last year, we did $6.5 million, so I want to increase that by close to 50%.”
While growth and profit are obviously very important, they’re not the only motivators for Krebbs.
Ever since he acquired his first property in 2005, he said he has always been interested in adding to his real estate assets. Another facet of the business Krebbs said is important to him is the ability to help others. Indeed, the Multifamily Group’s success gives him the ability to create good, solid, high-paying long-term job opportunities. Krebbs said commercial real estate is not for everyone, but for those who persevere, the rewards are quite lucrative.
“I’ve hired five or six people right out of school. They’ve been in it for a few years, and they are now making six-figures,” Krebbs said. “You have to put in the time – it takes a couple of years. I tell people who are thinking about getting into the business they probably need at least 18 months of savings to fall back on — and they need to hit the ground running.”
Krebbs remains optimistic about the market, especially the Texas market. Rising interest rates are causing some challenges, but the demand for commercial real estate — especially multifamily — is strong and will be for some time, he said. In fact, of the top 10 fastest growing metro markets in the country, four are in Texas, he said.
“COVID exacerbated a run-up in prices, interest rates came way down, demand shot way up,” Krebbs said. “Last year was personally my biggest year and the firm’s biggest year. These days, deals are a little more challenging, they take a little longer, and you have to look a little harder to find them, but, that said, I think the market will go up even higher than we’ve seen, just because of net migration. If you look at where people are moving, Texas is one of the biggest destinations.”
The Crittenden Report magazine recently named Krebbs one of 10 Movers & Shakers in commercial real estate. See the story here.
