How Steven Ogier Builds Ground-Up Multifamily With Values, Leadership & Integrity

Steven Ogier (00:00)

relationship,

romantic business, sports, in your church. It doesn’t matter we’re humans, we will have conflict in every relationship.

And the question is, well, what do do when you have that conflict? Well, the answer to that is it depends what your values are. What’s important to you on how you’re going to respond. So with our company, we also have values and we hire a lot of subcontractors and vendors to execute the work with us. And I even put in our contracts and exhibit to the contracts what our values are, because 99 % of the time when there’s conflict, that party is violating a company value.

Quentin Edmonds (02:07)

Hello everyone. Welcome to the real estate pros podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds. Super excited to be here with you today. Excited about my guest. He’s a specialist in the multifamily room. He deals with development for multifamily new construction. What I’m excited about and hopefully he’ll touch on is that he has something he calls the invasion of the I-3, which I find very fascinating and I believe.

that he’ll probably naturally go into that. But I am super excited to introduce you to, and I’ve been practicing this y’all, Mr. Steven Ogier How did I do, Mr. Steven? Perfect. Yes, sir. I appreciate you. How are you doing today,

Steven Ogier (02:49)

Doing great. Thank you for having me.

Quentin Edmonds (02:51)

Absolutely,

Excited to have you here excited I know the nuggets and the the vantage point your perspective is going to be very very good for our audience And so I’ll be honest with you. I want to dive in mr Steven I would love for you just to take us into your world Tell us like what your main focus is these days if you want to give us a little bit of an origin story of how you got to where you are now we love origin stories and then also tell them what markers you’re operating then where you’re from so

Mrs. Steven, sir, you have the floor.

Steven Ogier (03:21)

Great, well, I appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Yeah, so the name of our company is Contravest and we are a specialist in the multifamily space. We only do ⁓ market rate multifamily, typically an institutional type of product.

Which means one, we don’t do tax credit properties, we don’t do student housing, we don’t do senior housing. And many of those assets look a lot similar to what we do, but from a financing and operations standpoint, they’re not.

And so we’ve just been focused historically on ⁓ ground up multifamily development, construction, and property management. I happen to be a second generation in the company. My dad started it almost 40 years ago. I did have a previous life well before this. ⁓ After finishing college, ⁓ I spent ⁓ basically five years on active duty in the military and then ⁓ transitioned into ⁓

actually a medical sales job. Then I was in financial services for another two and a half or three years. And then finally decided to come work with the family business after basically 10 years of ⁓ graduating from college. So it wasn’t like I grew up in this business ⁓ and, you know, I had an opportunity to work, started out. ⁓ Like I said, I was in sales before coming here with hung up my wool suits and Allen Edmonds shoes for

put on my army boots and blue jeans and a hard hat, went out to the field ⁓ breathing fire and cussing like a sailor. ⁓ So did really learn the business from the ground up, spending about three years in the field, looking at concrete and two by fours and sheetrock. So ⁓ eventually moved in to greater responsibility.

and didn’t really become a partner in the company until about five years in. So it wasn’t like, fate had completed. There was already existing partners in the company with my father. So it was a little crowded around here, eventually my dad ended up retiring and I bought out my last two partners the last couple of years. So I’m currently the 100 % owner ⁓ of the company, but I’ve had… ⁓

many good mentors and partners in the past. I like to say I’m standing on the shoulders of giants. So like it’s been a great opportunity to learn from my previous partners. So kind of who we are. ⁓

Quentin Edmonds (05:59)

Steven,

thank you so much for the journey. Thank you for telling me how, know, the way you had to work the process, right? You had to put on your hard hat, go out there, in your own words, cuss like a sailor, but you know, pay in your own way and how you came in, there was other partners and how you was able to position yourself to be able to be the 100 % owner. And thank you for mentioning your dad. I always love to hear men talk about their dad and the influence.

that they had on them. And so I appreciate that. I think legacy and generations is so important. And so I’m glad you gave us a little, a little picture of that. Um, and I’ll be honest with you. want to pick your brain a little bit about some of your strategies and I’m going to ask this question and I would love if you would answer it two ways. If you’re okay with that, I would love to know some business strategy called business strategies that you have identified that really helped you.

But I would also like to know some personal strategies that you have identified that has helped you throughout your life, throughout your business life. Strategies that maybe center you, that could kind of bring you back to your why, like why I do what I do. So I would love to know business strategies and personal strategies to help you as a businessman.

Steven Ogier (08:01)

Yeah, well, first of all, if you’re not growing, you’re dying, right? And that’s not just personal, it’s with organizations as well. Organizations get stagnant in what they’re doing.

I think the biggest component or driver of that is leadership. I did get some great leadership training in the military. It’s not the only place to get it. There’s a lot of great places, ⁓ especially with the access to social media and YouTube and coaching and the like that there’s a lot of great leaders and mentors out there. ⁓

Of I’m a big advocate of the military and service, but that is a big component to what we do in any organization and people, product and process, which we’re being organized and having a vision on how you want each function of the business to operate. We’re a pretty.

⁓ broad organization. Meaning there’s three components to a real estate development operation, whether it be a multifamily, a retail or office or any type of development is you have the developer, which is really the one who ties up the land and does a lot of the entitlements. You have the construction, which is obviously the vertical piece and probably the most dynamic and exciting piece is the execution of construction. And then you have the property management, which is the managing of the asset. Each one of those

functions, which we have all three of them here, requires process and people and leadership. so understanding and not ignoring each level of that, I think is very important. That’s where the leadership component comes in. There are people in our industry that are maybe just developers. They don’t want to mess with the construction. They don’t want to mess with the property management. They hire that out.

Our company, ⁓ we do some third party construction work. Right now I have one project underway that’s third party. We used to do third party property management. I just sold the property management company literally three weeks ago. But ⁓ the setting goals internally for each one of those organizations and understanding that there’s communication that has to happen between those different functions is critical. Again, back to leadership.

And ⁓ I think that’s a really important part of operationally what we do. Because what we are is we have investors that come in and we are recognized and obligated and expected to execute. And that process is what helps ⁓ our execution in the field. And obviously, we can’t do it without people. So that’s big part of what we do as a company. Absolutely.

Quentin Edmonds (10:48)

I’ll miss it.

Steven Ogier (10:49)

Yeah, I mean, personally, obviously, I have some personal goals, know, income goals, have a set of family goals, spiritual goals. You know, certainly post COVID, my new mantra, and I did get COVID and it hit me pretty hard. But and I’ve always been very healthy, right? I’ve always been very healthy and active. And it was very humbling and kind of my new mantra is health as well. And

successful you are if you don’t have your health, that money is not going to help you at all. And for me personally and for my family, we’re very focused on health and fitness, diet. So obviously, you can’t be a good business person or leader if I’m not fit and healthy and able to function properly. So that’s a big part of my ⁓ personal life.

is, you know, obviously we have financial goals too, but we want to stay healthy. you know, I involved in a health program and try to eat well. And, you know, again, was humbled not too many years ago during that COVID cycle. Yeah. Yeah. Mrs. Dean.

Quentin Edmonds (11:54)

Thank

you so much. you for walking us through those strategies. mean, amazing core strategies. I mean, you talked about people, product, process, health is wealth. You talked about, you know, hitting all your goals, spiritual goals, financial goals, family goals. And I heard something, I guess now, man, I guess it was maybe seven to 10, 10, seven to 10 years ago. ⁓

something that I heard that really has helped me and continue to shape me. I heard somebody say, when you know who you are, you know what to do. And so when you’re sure about who you are, being somebody to take care of your financial health, your physical health, knowing that your family is important to you, knowing that you put people, product and process in that order. When you know who you are, you know what to do in every situation, every facet of your life.

Like you have a clear vision of what’s going to power you forward, how to make changes, how to adjust. So when you know who you are, you know what to do. And as I listened to you talk, that’s what I heard is that you sound like a man and know who you are. And therefore, you know how everything else is built upon and how to go about doing the next step that you need to do in any situation. That’s what it sounds like to

Steven Ogier (13:42)

Yeah, and you know the first part of knowing and again this applies to an organization as well as individual is knowing what your values are and clearly defining those going through. I’ve read a number of books that continue to emphasize that and with my coach, which I do have a personal coach that I’ve used for

been in coaching programs for almost 27 years now, but being able to deliberately write down what your values are, one as an organization and personally, we have family values with my family. We sit down with me and my two daughters and my wife and, you know, like ours is love, ⁓ relationships, responsibility and forgiveness. And so.

Quentin Edmonds (14:28)

Ooh!

Steven Ogier (14:31)

We don’t want to, a little bit on value. really something, oh, what are values? Well, it’s what is valuable to you or valuable to your organization. So the leader needs to clearly define those because like, okay, what’s the issue with the value? Why do you need values? Well, in every relationship, we are going to have conflict.

Quentin Edmonds (14:51)

Yeah, come on,

Steven Ogier (14:53)

relationship,

romantic business, sports, in your church. It doesn’t matter we’re humans, we will have conflict in every relationship.

And the question is, well, what do do when you have that conflict? Well, the answer to that is it depends what your values are. What’s important to you on how you’re going to respond. So with our company, we also have values and we hire a lot of subcontractors and vendors to execute the work with us. And I even put in our contracts and exhibit to the contracts what our values are, because 99 % of the time when there’s conflict, that party is violating a company value.

and ours is integrity, responsibility, accountability, culture, discipline, and then new ideas and personal growth, and then profitability. So in many cases, there’s an obligation that’s not being honored, somebody’s not being truthful. So in knowing who you are and who you are as an organization, you need to clearly define those values and be able to articulate them. In our company, I have been

website, you’re on our lobby when you come in, they’re in my conference room, they’re posted in the construction trailers, they’re on the back of ⁓ my business card right here.

Quentin Edmonds (16:07)

look at that. ⁓ look at that! Yes sir.

Steven Ogier (16:09)

You know,

Quentin Edmonds (16:13)

Yes, sir.

Steven Ogier (16:14)

So there’s no question about who we are as an organization. being able to clearly define that, I go back to leadership, right? That’s what the leaders need to do to direct the ship. so, again, back to the personal life, which obviously is a lot of interaction with personal and business, but with my family, with my children, we explain what our values are as a family because…

you only want to do business or align with people in your personal life where you have an alignment of values. Because if you don’t have an alignment of values, there’s going to be conflict and it’s not going to end well. So we’re not saying avoid conflict because that obviously is part of life, but only associate with and understand what that opposing party or your new relationship or new friend, whether again, whether it be romantic, sports teams, know, church, social events.

you want to spend time with those people that align and value. So back to the who you are for me and for our organization, it all starts with the values and going through a deliberate exercise in a quiet room with a cup of coffee or tea and actually literally just journaling about it, it will come out. Once you get clarity on that, it’s freedom.

Because it’s freedom to say no. That’s the other thing. You know what I mean? In business, same thing. I’m interacting with somebody. I know that I don’t trust them or going to compromise. I know that, hey, this guy’s not going to hold his responsibility or this person isn’t. It’s easy to say no.

Quentin Edmonds (18:24)

This is Steven. So you said so many incredible things, man. Thanks, sir. Thank you for every last drop of what you said, because it was really good. And last thing I’ll say when it comes to this, because you talked about leadership and you really just nailed it home. And I heard a saying that there’s a, there’s a difference between a leader and a manager, right? A manager, they make sure that you have the ladder, but the leader makes sure it’s a ladder is against the right building.

And so the manager makes sure it can make sure you have all the tools, but the leader makes sure that it’s going in the right direction that it needs to go. And everything you just said was well said about showing effective leadership in your home, with your family, with yourself, but also within your business. So I thank you for everything you just said. It was really, really good. Really, really good. Really.

Steven Ogier (19:13)

Leadership part again, I can’t emphasize how critical that is in every aspect of life. But obviously with work, it’s, you know, inspiring, definitely inspiring others to accomplish the mission or task. So, yeah, you got the right ladder and on the right building, but can the guy get up the ladder? know, so you got to be able to motivate and inspire. And I like to use our influence is the other term that’s that’s used many times influencing others.

Because really at the end of the day, that’s what it is. mean, they’re not running a jail here. not, you know, it’s not dictatorship and dictatorship only works marginally. is effective to a certain, but you’re not going to get the gains that you would from a leadership position. So leadership’s.

Quentin Edmonds (19:58)

Yes, sir. Absolutely. So, Mr. Steven, what’s the next real goal for ContraVest? Like, what are you guys looking to scale or do next? What’s the next real goal for you,

Steven Ogier (20:08)

Well, you know, we’re in a lull right now in the industry with regard to new development, which is again, this is my third cycle being through this. And it’s a little bit of a challenge, always getting to the other side with regard to overhead. You know, we’re going to continue. You know, my personal goal is to, you know, build a portfolio of income producing real estate, you know, and I have a certain numeric goal. And so, you know, currently our

What happens is our company produces the assets and then they get they’re held in a different ⁓ joint venture or limited liability company. So I’m a part owner in eight of those right now. And so to be able to get my income to where I need to be.

Probably need another eight or nine of those, maybe 10 to give me to where I need to be. So, ⁓ you know, again, it’s the, we’re starting with the end in mind of income. And right now part of the challenge is, and you and I talked about earlier, was this invasion of I-3, you know, the metrics, which obviously create the yield and the yield is why anyone invest. And real start is.

money in and money out, right? The money out is the yield. Hopefully it’s higher than what you put in. You don’t want a negative yield. ⁓ And we are seeing a little bit of that now in the real estate business because of some of the metrics. The yields are down and the yields are not what they were before. And so we’re just trying to stay in position with regard to where the markets are.

We have pulled back a little bit on some land holdings that we typically will put land under contract and then develop it at end of that contract term. We were not able to negotiate extensions and we weren’t willing to sink a large amount of capital into those lands. So right now we’re in a kind of wait and see and we are fielding a lot of opportunities and underwriting a lot of opportunities. So when the yield goes from here and it goes to there,

then we know that’s the time to strike. So we’re really in a ⁓ kind of monitoring where the market is right now and preserving the capital so we can strike ⁓ when those opportunities come up to get us back to the yield that we were solving for. Absolutely.

Quentin Edmonds (22:18)

I’m understand

it. Listen, before we get out of here, I do want to get your perspective on relationships quickly because you talked about leadership. mean, everything you said makes me as a person feel like I can trust you as a leader. Makes me feel like I can trust Mr. Steven if I had to partner up with him. And so I want to talk about how important or I believe they’re important. I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but has relationships really impacted you?

in a positive or in a negative way? What kind of difference has relationships made for you?

Steven Ogier (22:50)

It’s game changer. I relationships are everything, know, networking, but I go back to values because you want to have relationships with those people that you align your values align with. yeah, I mean, I call it, you know, jumping from lily pad to lily pad. And many times, ⁓ you know, we hire even internally, we put out to our people, hey, you know, some of our best employees have come from our employees.

Meaning referrals, know, relationships that we have with our current employees. have relationships with people and if they align with us, typically those relationships that they have outside of work align with us as well. ⁓ you know, referrals where somebody has a piece of land that’s multifamily, but maybe they’re either a broker or they’re a industrial developer, but they got a piece of multifamily they know.

know me, they know us, our company. So those relationships and maintaining ⁓ integrity. Integrity is probably the number one. It is our number one company value is integrity ⁓ because that’s really all that matters at the end of the day is can you mention trust? You said, hey, Steven, I feel like I can trust you. And it’s not just.

whether I’m going to steal or not, right? Like that’s kind of implied that we’re not stealing. But I like to say integrity really is about your word. Like does your word have integrity? Like, hey, I’m going to be, I can be there tomorrow. Well, is he really going to be there tomorrow? Really like at the very end of the day tomorrow, but it is tomorrow. what I mean? Like sometimes there’s like that gray area that people like to walk the thin line. So for me that relationships and I hope that I’ve

to my friends in relationships in the business that they can pick up the phone. If I tell them it’s not good, they believe me. And if I tell them it’s good, they’re going to believe me. And it’s not just put your money where your mouth is. It’s, you know, many of those relationships, they just want my opinion and I’m happy to give it. you know, maybe it’s right most of the time. I don’t know. But at least if I believe it’s right, then, you know, I’m not, you know, selling them a song.

Quentin Edmonds (24:51)

Yeah, the advice you’re giving is at least from a place of integrity. Like it’s not like I’m just giving you just because this is what I really believe will work. If it’s going to work, we’ll see. It’s interesting because you talked about spirituality, right? So Jesus said that wisdom, that a prism is proven right by his results. So if I give you this advice, the wisdom is going to be, we’ll see how the result is. And then we’ll know if it was right, but it’s coming from an integral place, right?

Steven Ogier (25:19)

Yeah, and praying for wisdom. That’s that’s a great prayer. know we age obviously and experience, but I wish I never have enough wisdom for sure.

Quentin Edmonds (25:28)

Yeah, you

got that right. Absolutely. Mrs. Steven, this has been phenomenal. I thank you so much. If someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, how can they get in contact with you, sir?

Steven Ogier (25:40)

Yeah, so for example, our website is contravest.com. That’s C-O-N-T-R-A-V-E-S-T dot com. I have an email. It’s S and then my last name O-G-I-E-R ⁓ at contravest.com. Somebody wants to reach out. Happy to have a discussion. Somebody’s got either land.

Development opportunities they want to either co-develop work on happy to do that and then obviously we’re always interested in investors as well. So typically we them, know, we do have a capital fund that we have put the wheels on it. We have not collected any money at this point just because where we are in the cycle, but the minimums, you know, it’s $250,000 our minimum. So, you know, $10,000 investors, unfortunately.

doesn’t typically work for us, but happy to even discuss something with a $10,000 investor that’s looking for advice or whatever, just happy to help.

Quentin Edmonds (26:35)

Well, listen, Mr. Steven, sir, and I say this sincerely, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for your story. Definitely thank you for your perspective, the way you think. I am starting to put a higher, a high premium on not what people do, but the way people think. And I love the way you think. And so thank you so much for sharing your perspective. I really believe someone listening to this will have a mind shift in the most positive way. And so.

I thank you so much for being here today,

Steven Ogier (27:04)

Thank you. I need to spend more time talking to you. You make me feel good.

Quentin Edmonds (27:07)

Well, listen, that’s good, but I value you I’ve put a high value on you sir and a high value on this conversation Even before I knew who you were and so now I not only did I get a return on my investment I believe I got an abundant return on my investment. So I’m thank you so much. Mr. Steven. I appreciate you

Steven Ogier (27:25)

Sir. All right. Well, thank you. Appreciate the time.

Quentin Edmonds (27:28)

Absolutely. Well, listen, y’all heard Mr. Steven, you got the value like I got the value. I want to make sure you can come back and continue to get value from these incredible people that we’re going to bring on. So go ahead and make sure you subscribe that way you don’t miss out. Mr. Steven, I thank you again. And to everyone else, we will see you on the next time.