June 5, 2025 • 20 mins
Kent Roers, co-founder of Roers Companies, has 25 years of experience in real estate and finance. Since its founding in 2012, Roers Companies has become a leading developer in the Twin Cities, recognized for its significant contributions to the local real estate market. The company has achieved remarkable growth, being named the top developer in the region. Roers Companies is known for its strong workplace culture, innovative development strategies, and commitment to quality housing. It's a company worth paying attention to due to its consistent success and positive impact on the community.
Download this podcast to learn more about real estate in the Twin Cities and how Roers is helping improve our community!
Download this podcast to learn more about real estate in the Twin Cities and how Roers is helping improve our community!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Adam West was CEO's issue know here with Kent
Rors from Rhors Companies. Tell me about Rhors Companies.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Rors Companies is a multifamily apartment builder and developer. So
in house we have a development company, we have a
construction company, we have a management and lease up company,
and we have an asset management company. So we do
all facets of the multifamily or apartment world.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
And are your properties here in the Twin Cities.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Yes, they're actually here in the Twin Cities and nationally
so we're in fourteen different states. We've really expanded in
the last four years to accomplish those, but before that
we were primarily in the Midwest.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Here are you a Minnesota native?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
I am so.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
I grew up down in Marshall, Minnesota, my brother Brian
and I who owned the firm, and grew up on
the farm and moved up to the Twin Cities and
went into different careers after that.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
So you and Brian started the company in twenty twelve,
that's christ said, And what inspired you to crank up?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
So my parents were entrepreneurs. So growing up, my dad
ran a small grain elevator and other sideline businesses that
we always enjoyed, and my mother ran our long care business.
So I grew up as an entrepreneur and very early
on started our own businesses, but really enjoyed growing those
businesses and being a part of something smaller that we
could really make an impact.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
So every company seems to have challenges. What are some
of the challenges you faced?
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yeah, faced growing and creating what we have. Yeah, okay, yeah,
So I think our biggest story that we tell people
about is a start. It's challenging to start a company,
and you know, it was something where I grew up
in the financial services. I had a CFP certified Financial planner.
My brother Brian was a CPA so certified public accountant,
(01:41):
and we were both successful in our own careers and
most people would keep doing that. We just always had
a passion for real estate. So when we got into
the real estate business, we didn't know anything about it.
So had never built a property, had never managed a
property of this magnitude and size, and so we had
to learn a lot there. That's probably number one. Number two.
The second thing was in twenty fifteen, after we had
(02:03):
been in business for about three years, we had nine
properties they're all located out in the bach in so
western North Dakota housing oil workers. And that's the year
that oil went from one hundred and ten bucks of
barrow in a six month time frame to thirty. So
all of a sudden, all of our buildings vacated and
everybody needed less rents, and we thought.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
We were gonna go broke.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
So we actually told our families that we're going to
lose our houses, We're going to lose our companies. We
brought in a workout specialist who even was like, good
luck you guys will come up with another idea in
ten years from now, but your toast on this one.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, And so the only thing and.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
The option we had was to outgrow our issues and problems,
and so that's what we did. But it was really
with our backs against the wall, and we grew faster
than anybody and had to do more than anybody's ever done.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
You started with this interest, were you? Are you one
of those people that's always looking at real estate listings
and seeing what the market's doing, or even before you
were into this, So you use people who love to
do that.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yeah, it's so funny.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
My wife tells the story we were in Paris a
couple of years ago, and she would say, you know,
the snow was lightly falling. It was really romantic, and
she thought I was going to say something really impressive,
as I've seemed deep in thought, and she said, what
are you thinking about? She expected me to say something different,
and I said, well, I'm wondering if that pentose up
on the top floor up there, how big that is
and how many floors that encompasses. So, yeah, I'm always
(03:18):
looking at real estate. I've always loved it. It's always
been something I've been interested in.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
You have a fully integrated model. How does that set
you apart from the other part of the multi family
real estate community.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
I mean we ourselves used to be just a developer first,
and then we saw quickly how much advantage you could
have if you added a management company to that, because
it's a business that tends to overpromise and under deliver
because it's very tight margins. So what we've done, and
we are different in that way, is we have fully
encompassed all aspects of the apartment building and living process.
(03:54):
So we have a development company that finds the land
and designs the building. We have a construction company that
builds the apartments, and then we have a management leasing
team that fills the buildings up and manages them. And
then we have an asset management team that watches over
them like owners and really looks out for our investors
that invest in each of these buildings.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
You want a positive reputation as you go into these communities, right,
So how do you ensure that you're positively impacting the
community that you're going into.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Yeah, that's something important, right, and we just always tended
to have to, you know, just keep our minds in
the right spot and what we're doing and what we're
providing and what we're able to do, you know. And
so we're building nice apartments that are good quality. You know,
we hear stories from people where they don't know I'm
Roarers from Roorers companies, and they'll say, oh, I'm looking
at apartments. One of the companies I've really been focusing
(04:45):
on because I noticed their reputation and their genuine care
that they treat their people and how they build their products.
But I'm looking at some of the Roers company properties
around town. So that's been fun to hear. And then
three years ago we made a major investment and a
bet to get into affordable housing. So we started to
bring on developers that had affordable experience. And so what
(05:06):
we do in these high demand communities is we bring
in apartments that we get tax credits from the FEDS
and the state. It takes three to four years to
put these together. They're extremely challenging and tons of paperwork
and stuff. But what we're able to do is have
these apartments that are more affordable for people that are
making forty percent of median income or sixty percent or
(05:27):
eighty percent. In a lot of communities, this can be
the teachers, the firefighters, the police officers. So we're making
a major impact on those communities by providing really nice
quality housing with all the normal amenities and nice things,
but it's more affordable.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Tell me about the lease up phase and that, well
what does that mean?
Speaker 3 (05:48):
First of all, Yeah, a lease a phase is you know,
once the apartment is done being built, we have to
fill it, right, we have to move residents in and
so it's something that takes a lot of marketing. It
takes tremendous amount of staff that are you know, caring
and nice and treat people with a lot of respect.
And find the best suited apartment for them. So it's
(06:09):
really just filling up the apartments.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
And so I mean, what what can residents expect from that?
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Yeah, so from that they're going to find that, you know,
as they call, we're going to truly dive into you know,
the common question an interested tenant as is you know
how much per unit? What's the cost? And you know,
we want to find out. You know, hey, where are
you moving from? So what kind of experiences do you have?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Now?
Speaker 3 (06:32):
You know, what type of amenities do you look for
or want in a new property. You know, where do
you work and what are you looking at for a location?
Because you know, if somebody is at a property and
they've maybe called our Victoria property, maybe they're closer to
Apple Valley, they just didn't know we had a property
over there. So we're able to really take care of
them and put them in the place that best suits them.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Before I even knew you're coming in, I saw some
building going up and I think it was in Bloomington somewhere.
I was getting kind of excited, like, you know, what's
that all about? Who's going to live there and stuff?
What are some of the properties you have around the
Twin Cities that you're kind of pumped about that, yeah,
that you're maybe you're looking to fill or yeah you
have a lot of demand for.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah, no, you know, we we've been through some interesting times.
Demand has been really consistent. You know, right now, there's
a stat out there that three point four million units
short are we of housing in the US. And you know,
to add to that, just like an underlying fact is
like fifty percent of the people between ages nineteen and
twenty eight live in their parents's basements. Right, So you're
(07:30):
seeing an ultimate demand that we've you know, never seen.
You're also seeing demographic changes of those young adults. You know,
they don't want to come into the office like I
do and brag about raking leaves all week and or
mowing the lawn or doing the gardens, right, they want
to talk about hanging out with their friends at the
pool and hitting golf balls at our simulator and playing
pick a ball and so on. So that's kind of
(07:52):
the people and what we're going for. As it relates
to the properties that we're most excited about. You know,
an interesting one is we have a property called the
Espen over an Oakdale and what that is is it
has a two hundred unit apartment on there, much like
our other properties, but in addition to that and different,
we have town homes. We have around ninety town homes
(08:13):
on that property. And so what allows people to do
is come into the apartment. Maybe they start with a
one bedroom, and then they move in a roommate or
they have somebody live with them, and they get a
two bedroom or a three bedroom. And then after that
they might want a type of property that they live
in that they can walk in their own front door,
they can walk out with their dog and let them
play in the yard, and so they can live in
(08:33):
our town home. And after that they might be in
a spot where they're more settled and know where they
want to live and they can buy their own home
at that point. But that's kind of something interesting and different.
That's one product. The other product is, you know, we
had experience about five years ago in senior living, so
we built out five properties that were assisted memory care
(08:54):
and independent living all in one building, and we sold those.
In fact, we made our investors about an eighty percent
rate to return in about two.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
And a half years.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
But then what we got into is active living. So
we have fifty five plus properties. We have five of those,
and those properties are for people who are still working.
But they may have a cabin up north, they might
have a house in Florida. They don't want to take
care of another home and another yard and all the
maintenance and the stress.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Here.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
They just lock the door when they're leaving, right, And
they might leave for a weekend, they might leave for
two months.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Right.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
But it's also a community where people are active. So
we have pickleball courts where people have pickleball clubs. They
have pools where they're doing aerobics. You know, I was
walking through our Blaine Riser is the brand property here
like a month ago, with my kids, and there's thirty
people just hanging out having lunch.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
And this was on.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
President's weekend day, So my kids and I were checking
out properties and they were just hanging out and they
were just talking. And the friendships they develop, I mean,
they'll have sixty people down in our pub and bar
areas for Super Bowl parties and so it's very active
communities and it's something that's gotten us a lot of attention,
and it started to build up a really nice reputation
(10:07):
here in town.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
You mentioned it sometimes takes three or four years to
really develop things.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
And of course we went through an interesting period of
time four or five years ago. So how do you
stay ahead of that curve and where the trends are going.
I mean, yeah, it's changed a lot.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Yeah it has, and you know, it's just something we
watch and we monitor at all times. So you know,
we every six months go through and come up with
a list as to what are the top ten communities
in the US that we want to be building in
and we want presence in, you know, and we started
that about four years ago. So we set up an
office in Tampa, Florida. So we're building in Tampa and
(10:41):
in Naples. You know, a lot of our investors are
the six months in a day type investors.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
In Florida.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
We're building in Austin, Texas, in Dallas, we're building in Phoenix, Arizona.
We're moving into the Carolinas. Those are the places that
need housing the most. They're high demand areas and they're
areas that are changing and need more howp. So that's
what we watch. The other part is is just the
future trends. I mean, for instance, right now, you know
we brought on the most amount of units in twenty
(11:10):
twenty four that's ever been brought on. So it's been
a challenging market. Yeah, leasing up over the last twelve months.
And the joke out there is floor in twenty four
and Thrive and twenty five because what we've seen with
interest rates now is there's a there's a sixty percent
drop in new apartment construction starts.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
So we already know that come a.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Year or two years or three years, we're gonna be
short on housing again. We're going to be in a
major pinch and need more housing. And so that's why
we're continuing to drive through these high interest rate times
right now. Looking forward and ahead, you're just like you're
sitting in a car. You're looking out the front of
the car window versus your rear view mirror behind you.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
And that's what we're really focused on.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Talking to cant Rors is it CEO.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Of Yes Companies YEP, co CEO and co founder with
my brother Brian Rhns.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Excellent. So I think you mentioned before you have about
four hundred employees or so. Do what's your leadership style
and how does that shape the culture, At least from
what you can see from your vantage points.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Yeah, yeah, you know, I think it lands a lot
into what the values are of our company and what
we want, you know, the personality of our company to be,
and so we go through our values. It's passion, right,
and so I have a lot of passion, my brother
Brian does, and we seek out people and I think
they get a lot of passion by working with us
as well.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
But you got to be passionate about what.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
You're doing, you know, your particular job and spot in
the company to overall help us succeed and do what
we want to do. And then secondly, it's ownership mindset,
so it's thinking like an owner, whether that's on the
revenue side, like how can I you know, think like
an owner and create more margin for the company, But
then also how can you cut costs and how can
(12:49):
you take care of our residents and other employees like
an owner needs to and wants to.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
And then probably the third one.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
Is is is uh.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Is work ethic?
Speaker 3 (12:58):
And that would we get to some questions on and
people scratching their head and looking for clarity because it's
really popular nowadays to talk about how maybe little you
have to work or how much flexibility there is, and
we believe in the work, hard, play art and so
when you're in just be one hundred percent engaged, dialed
in and charging ahead and doing what you have to
do to get your job done.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
So how does that translate to the culture in the
company there?
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Yeah, it's it's just something that embodies all of us,
and it's something that's expected and it's not for everybody,
you know. And I think that the better part was
when we really came up with those values and we
became very verbal and clear with them, like, this is
the company we want, and this is the type of
people we want. And what we've been surprised by is
the amount of people that have come over and said
(13:44):
this is what I.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Want to be a part of.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
I mean, for instance, we didn't go to working from home.
We weren't virtual and it was amazing seventy percent of
the people that were calling in to look at our
job postings and wanted to get interviewed. We're not liking
working from home.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Right, wow.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
And again there are people who like that and that's fine,
that's just not our culture. So we work from home
on Wednesdays, but we're in the office Monday Tuesday and Thursday, Friday,
and that's okay, That's that's what we wanted to embody
and develop and become.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Have you changed a little bit over the years in
what you do or how you approach things?
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Yeah, that's a great question. You know, when it was
just Brian and I, right, we both did everything right
from janetial to CEO, to raising money, to fill in apartments,
to do in management to everything.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Day right, yeah, yeah, and we came up with a
system that really helped us to design and prevent us
from running around with our heads cut off. And what
really changed the company and accelerated our growth the most
was when you know, we probably got to about four
to five years in existence and our reputation was.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Starting to grow.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
We were starting to get more well known. But we
started hiring people that they went to school for development
and they had five or six years of experience in that,
or they went to school and had ten years of
experience in property management and or development, or accounting, or
you name the position. And when we started to bring
those people on, that's when the company really accelerated and
(15:10):
took off because we were able to put those people
who were better than that specific role than Brian and
I and they just were able to absolutely run and
we were able to provide the things that they weren't
getting maybe at their other companies that they were so
excited about. And I have to give those people a
lot of credit. They took a lot of risk.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
They would come.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
From well known, big firms to this little company. I
mean we were in the back of a bank building
in Long Lake for five years. Right, that's when it right,
they got real and you know now, I mean we've
got a twenty two thousand square foot office and you know,
like you said, we have four hundred employees and we're nationwide,
so it's different.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Was there a specific moment where you went, whoa, like,
look look what we did.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
So in our ten year anniversary, we had had the
goal into and twelve we were supposed to hit. We
started some planning in twenty and seventeen. We said, gosh,
one day, we'd love to be at ten thousand units.
We'd like to be at a billion dollars in real estate,
and we would love to have raised, you know, three
hundred million and be at two hundred employees. Well, that
(16:16):
was a goal that we set to occur in two
thousand and twenty five, and so it was a seven
year goal that we started in two thousand and seventeen
or eighteen, and we hit that in year ten. So
that was in twenty and twenty two.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
We hit those goals.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
So we had ten thousand units that we had developed,
we hit a billion dollars in real estate, and we
had raised three hundred million from our investors. And what's
crazy is as things multiply and grow, you know, from
that that timeframe, just really three years ago, we've now
gotten to three and a half billion in real estate
that we've you know, developed, and we've done close to
eighteen thousand units, and we've raised over six hundred and
(16:55):
fifty million from our just friends and family investors.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Wow, congrats. Anything you'd like to see either by the
end of the year, maybe in five years or i
mean beyond yeah, from what you can forecast right now.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Yeah, I mean our focus is right now is really
leasing up our properties. So we made a major push
and expanded our development team about four years ago, and
so we went from really two people to fifteen people. Well,
that was the big kind of the front side of
the wave that we created because as they found more
properties and they put more projects together than we had
(17:27):
to build more of those, and then we had to
manage more of those. So you know, really our development
firm expanded two years or excuse me, four years ago.
Our construction company started three years ago, so you know,
we've got now one hundred and fifteen people in our
construction company, and then our management team really hit where
they had some expansion opportunities last year as these properties
(17:49):
all started to come on, so they're at about two
hundred employees now as well.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
What advice would you give to somebody who wants to
start a real estate company or if you don't want
to get too specific with that, I mean, just start
any company like this.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Yeah, I mean, we used to have some phrases on
our website that I love and that kind of ring
true to me that I think leads to that, and
one is dream big, start small, and scale fast.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Right.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
So you know, so many people have dreams out there
and they put them aside, or they crush them, or
you know, and I had many people who were naysayers
when I said I'm going to start rows companies, and
even some family that were like, you know, just keep
doing what you're doing may not be what you've dreamed
about and always wanted to do, but you got to
take care of your family. You got to think of them,
and you just got to grind it out. And so
(18:37):
I was in a spot and had been smart with
my finances that I was able to start the company.
I didn't have much debt and I was able to
really accelerate that.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
So I was able to dream big. You had to
start small.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
You know, a lot of people can dream big and
then they think they have to start big or they
don't know how to get there. And we just again,
and we started in one of my bedrooms in my house.
And so it was Brian and I brothers, and we
had to start small where we were doing everything.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
It wasn't glorious. And then we had to scale fast
and we had to grow fast.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Do you guys ever have disagreements?
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Yeah, but not many.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
It's surprising, you know, I mean, first off, we spent
our whole lives together. We worked at our parents as
businesses together for years. And then you know, when he
was an accountant and I was in the financial services world,
we were doing homes and and and apartments and stuff
that we had started to manage together as well, so
we had a lot of experience. You know, I would
say every you know, probably three years we have a
(19:29):
disagreement over something.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
And how about that time. Yeah, exactly, exactly is Rose.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Companies hiring Rose Companies is always hiring nice so you know,
it's Rosecompanies dot com.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
My last name is R. O. E. R. S's and Sam.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Yeah, we're always looking for talented individuals and so we're
you know, I think we hired one hundred people last year,
and we hired one hundred people the year before, and
you know, again, as we continue to grow and get
to be a larger company, we continue to need different
skill sets in different areas. So yeah, we're always looking
for talented people.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
All right, Kent Roorers Co CEO Roorers Companies, thanks for
stopping in.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Yeah, thank you so much for having me in.
It's Adam West was CEO's issue know here with Kent
Rors from Rhors Companies. Tell me about Rhors Companies.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Rors Companies is a multifamily apartment builder and developer. So
in house we have a development company, we have a
construction company, we have a management and lease up company,
and we have an asset management company. So we do
all facets of the multifamily or apartment world.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
And are your properties here in the Twin Cities.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Yes, they're actually here in the Twin Cities and nationally
so we're in fourteen different states. We've really expanded in
the last four years to accomplish those, but before that
we were primarily in the Midwest.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Here are you a Minnesota native?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
I am so.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
I grew up down in Marshall, Minnesota, my brother Brian
and I who owned the firm, and grew up on
the farm and moved up to the Twin Cities and
went into different careers after that.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
So you and Brian started the company in twenty twelve,
that's christ said, And what inspired you to crank up?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
So my parents were entrepreneurs. So growing up, my dad
ran a small grain elevator and other sideline businesses that
we always enjoyed, and my mother ran our long care business.
So I grew up as an entrepreneur and very early
on started our own businesses, but really enjoyed growing those
businesses and being a part of something smaller that we
could really make an impact.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
So every company seems to have challenges. What are some
of the challenges you faced?
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yeah, faced growing and creating what we have. Yeah, okay, yeah,
So I think our biggest story that we tell people
about is a start. It's challenging to start a company,
and you know, it was something where I grew up
in the financial services. I had a CFP certified Financial planner.
My brother Brian was a CPA so certified public accountant,
(01:41):
and we were both successful in our own careers and
most people would keep doing that. We just always had
a passion for real estate. So when we got into
the real estate business, we didn't know anything about it.
So had never built a property, had never managed a
property of this magnitude and size, and so we had
to learn a lot there. That's probably number one. Number two.
The second thing was in twenty fifteen, after we had
(02:03):
been in business for about three years, we had nine
properties they're all located out in the bach in so
western North Dakota housing oil workers. And that's the year
that oil went from one hundred and ten bucks of
barrow in a six month time frame to thirty. So
all of a sudden, all of our buildings vacated and
everybody needed less rents, and we thought.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
We were gonna go broke.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
So we actually told our families that we're going to
lose our houses, We're going to lose our companies. We
brought in a workout specialist who even was like, good
luck you guys will come up with another idea in
ten years from now, but your toast on this one.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, And so the only thing and.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
The option we had was to outgrow our issues and problems,
and so that's what we did. But it was really
with our backs against the wall, and we grew faster
than anybody and had to do more than anybody's ever done.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
You started with this interest, were you? Are you one
of those people that's always looking at real estate listings
and seeing what the market's doing, or even before you
were into this, So you use people who love to
do that.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yeah, it's so funny.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
My wife tells the story we were in Paris a
couple of years ago, and she would say, you know,
the snow was lightly falling. It was really romantic, and
she thought I was going to say something really impressive,
as I've seemed deep in thought, and she said, what
are you thinking about? She expected me to say something different,
and I said, well, I'm wondering if that pentose up
on the top floor up there, how big that is
and how many floors that encompasses. So, yeah, I'm always
(03:18):
looking at real estate. I've always loved it. It's always
been something I've been interested in.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
You have a fully integrated model. How does that set
you apart from the other part of the multi family
real estate community.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
I mean we ourselves used to be just a developer first,
and then we saw quickly how much advantage you could
have if you added a management company to that, because
it's a business that tends to overpromise and under deliver
because it's very tight margins. So what we've done, and
we are different in that way, is we have fully
encompassed all aspects of the apartment building and living process.
(03:54):
So we have a development company that finds the land
and designs the building. We have a construction company that
builds the apartments, and then we have a management leasing
team that fills the buildings up and manages them. And
then we have an asset management team that watches over
them like owners and really looks out for our investors
that invest in each of these buildings.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
You want a positive reputation as you go into these communities, right,
So how do you ensure that you're positively impacting the
community that you're going into.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Yeah, that's something important, right, and we just always tended
to have to, you know, just keep our minds in
the right spot and what we're doing and what we're
providing and what we're able to do, you know. And
so we're building nice apartments that are good quality. You know,
we hear stories from people where they don't know I'm
Roarers from Roorers companies, and they'll say, oh, I'm looking
at apartments. One of the companies I've really been focusing
(04:45):
on because I noticed their reputation and their genuine care
that they treat their people and how they build their products.
But I'm looking at some of the Roers company properties
around town. So that's been fun to hear. And then
three years ago we made a major investment and a
bet to get into affordable housing. So we started to
bring on developers that had affordable experience. And so what
(05:06):
we do in these high demand communities is we bring
in apartments that we get tax credits from the FEDS
and the state. It takes three to four years to
put these together. They're extremely challenging and tons of paperwork
and stuff. But what we're able to do is have
these apartments that are more affordable for people that are
making forty percent of median income or sixty percent or
(05:27):
eighty percent. In a lot of communities, this can be
the teachers, the firefighters, the police officers. So we're making
a major impact on those communities by providing really nice
quality housing with all the normal amenities and nice things,
but it's more affordable.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Tell me about the lease up phase and that, well
what does that mean?
Speaker 3 (05:48):
First of all, Yeah, a lease a phase is you know,
once the apartment is done being built, we have to
fill it, right, we have to move residents in and
so it's something that takes a lot of marketing. It
takes tremendous amount of staff that are you know, caring
and nice and treat people with a lot of respect.
And find the best suited apartment for them. So it's
(06:09):
really just filling up the apartments.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
And so I mean, what what can residents expect from that?
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Yeah, so from that they're going to find that, you know,
as they call, we're going to truly dive into you know,
the common question an interested tenant as is you know
how much per unit? What's the cost? And you know,
we want to find out. You know, hey, where are
you moving from? So what kind of experiences do you have?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Now?
Speaker 3 (06:32):
You know, what type of amenities do you look for
or want in a new property. You know, where do
you work and what are you looking at for a location?
Because you know, if somebody is at a property and
they've maybe called our Victoria property, maybe they're closer to
Apple Valley, they just didn't know we had a property
over there. So we're able to really take care of
them and put them in the place that best suits them.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Before I even knew you're coming in, I saw some
building going up and I think it was in Bloomington somewhere.
I was getting kind of excited, like, you know, what's
that all about? Who's going to live there and stuff?
What are some of the properties you have around the
Twin Cities that you're kind of pumped about that, yeah,
that you're maybe you're looking to fill or yeah you
have a lot of demand for.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah, no, you know, we we've been through some interesting times.
Demand has been really consistent. You know, right now, there's
a stat out there that three point four million units
short are we of housing in the US. And you know,
to add to that, just like an underlying fact is
like fifty percent of the people between ages nineteen and
twenty eight live in their parents's basements. Right, So you're
(07:30):
seeing an ultimate demand that we've you know, never seen.
You're also seeing demographic changes of those young adults. You know,
they don't want to come into the office like I
do and brag about raking leaves all week and or
mowing the lawn or doing the gardens, right, they want
to talk about hanging out with their friends at the
pool and hitting golf balls at our simulator and playing
pick a ball and so on. So that's kind of
(07:52):
the people and what we're going for. As it relates
to the properties that we're most excited about. You know,
an interesting one is we have a property called the
Espen over an Oakdale and what that is is it
has a two hundred unit apartment on there, much like
our other properties, but in addition to that and different,
we have town homes. We have around ninety town homes
(08:13):
on that property. And so what allows people to do
is come into the apartment. Maybe they start with a
one bedroom, and then they move in a roommate or
they have somebody live with them, and they get a
two bedroom or a three bedroom. And then after that
they might want a type of property that they live
in that they can walk in their own front door,
they can walk out with their dog and let them
play in the yard, and so they can live in
(08:33):
our town home. And after that they might be in
a spot where they're more settled and know where they
want to live and they can buy their own home
at that point. But that's kind of something interesting and different.
That's one product. The other product is, you know, we
had experience about five years ago in senior living, so
we built out five properties that were assisted memory care
(08:54):
and independent living all in one building, and we sold those.
In fact, we made our investors about an eighty percent
rate to return in about two.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
And a half years.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
But then what we got into is active living. So
we have fifty five plus properties. We have five of those,
and those properties are for people who are still working.
But they may have a cabin up north, they might
have a house in Florida. They don't want to take
care of another home and another yard and all the
maintenance and the stress.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Here.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
They just lock the door when they're leaving, right, And
they might leave for a weekend, they might leave for
two months.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Right.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
But it's also a community where people are active. So
we have pickleball courts where people have pickleball clubs. They
have pools where they're doing aerobics. You know, I was
walking through our Blaine Riser is the brand property here
like a month ago, with my kids, and there's thirty
people just hanging out having lunch.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
And this was on.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
President's weekend day, So my kids and I were checking
out properties and they were just hanging out and they
were just talking. And the friendships they develop, I mean,
they'll have sixty people down in our pub and bar
areas for Super Bowl parties and so it's very active
communities and it's something that's gotten us a lot of attention,
and it started to build up a really nice reputation
(10:07):
here in town.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
You mentioned it sometimes takes three or four years to
really develop things.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
And of course we went through an interesting period of
time four or five years ago. So how do you
stay ahead of that curve and where the trends are going.
I mean, yeah, it's changed a lot.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Yeah it has, and you know, it's just something we
watch and we monitor at all times. So you know,
we every six months go through and come up with
a list as to what are the top ten communities
in the US that we want to be building in
and we want presence in, you know, and we started
that about four years ago. So we set up an
office in Tampa, Florida. So we're building in Tampa and
(10:41):
in Naples. You know, a lot of our investors are
the six months in a day type investors.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
In Florida.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
We're building in Austin, Texas, in Dallas, we're building in Phoenix, Arizona.
We're moving into the Carolinas. Those are the places that
need housing the most. They're high demand areas and they're
areas that are changing and need more howp. So that's
what we watch. The other part is is just the
future trends. I mean, for instance, right now, you know
we brought on the most amount of units in twenty
(11:10):
twenty four that's ever been brought on. So it's been
a challenging market. Yeah, leasing up over the last twelve months.
And the joke out there is floor in twenty four
and Thrive and twenty five because what we've seen with
interest rates now is there's a there's a sixty percent
drop in new apartment construction starts.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
So we already know that come a.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Year or two years or three years, we're gonna be
short on housing again. We're going to be in a
major pinch and need more housing. And so that's why
we're continuing to drive through these high interest rate times
right now. Looking forward and ahead, you're just like you're
sitting in a car. You're looking out the front of
the car window versus your rear view mirror behind you.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
And that's what we're really focused on.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Talking to cant Rors is it CEO.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Of Yes Companies YEP, co CEO and co founder with
my brother Brian Rhns.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Excellent. So I think you mentioned before you have about
four hundred employees or so. Do what's your leadership style
and how does that shape the culture, At least from
what you can see from your vantage points.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Yeah, yeah, you know, I think it lands a lot
into what the values are of our company and what
we want, you know, the personality of our company to be,
and so we go through our values. It's passion, right,
and so I have a lot of passion, my brother
Brian does, and we seek out people and I think
they get a lot of passion by working with us
as well.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
But you got to be passionate about what.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
You're doing, you know, your particular job and spot in
the company to overall help us succeed and do what
we want to do. And then secondly, it's ownership mindset,
so it's thinking like an owner, whether that's on the
revenue side, like how can I you know, think like
an owner and create more margin for the company, But
then also how can you cut costs and how can
(12:49):
you take care of our residents and other employees like
an owner needs to and wants to.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
And then probably the third one.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
Is is is uh.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Is work ethic?
Speaker 3 (12:58):
And that would we get to some questions on and
people scratching their head and looking for clarity because it's
really popular nowadays to talk about how maybe little you
have to work or how much flexibility there is, and
we believe in the work, hard, play art and so
when you're in just be one hundred percent engaged, dialed
in and charging ahead and doing what you have to
do to get your job done.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
So how does that translate to the culture in the
company there?
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Yeah, it's it's just something that embodies all of us,
and it's something that's expected and it's not for everybody,
you know. And I think that the better part was
when we really came up with those values and we
became very verbal and clear with them, like, this is
the company we want, and this is the type of
people we want. And what we've been surprised by is
the amount of people that have come over and said
(13:44):
this is what I.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Want to be a part of.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
I mean, for instance, we didn't go to working from home.
We weren't virtual and it was amazing seventy percent of
the people that were calling in to look at our
job postings and wanted to get interviewed. We're not liking
working from home.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Right, wow.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
And again there are people who like that and that's fine,
that's just not our culture. So we work from home
on Wednesdays, but we're in the office Monday Tuesday and Thursday, Friday,
and that's okay, That's that's what we wanted to embody
and develop and become.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Have you changed a little bit over the years in
what you do or how you approach things?
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Yeah, that's a great question. You know, when it was
just Brian and I, right, we both did everything right
from janetial to CEO, to raising money, to fill in apartments,
to do in management to everything.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Day right, yeah, yeah, and we came up with a
system that really helped us to design and prevent us
from running around with our heads cut off. And what
really changed the company and accelerated our growth the most
was when you know, we probably got to about four
to five years in existence and our reputation was.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Starting to grow.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
We were starting to get more well known. But we
started hiring people that they went to school for development
and they had five or six years of experience in that,
or they went to school and had ten years of
experience in property management and or development, or accounting, or
you name the position. And when we started to bring
those people on, that's when the company really accelerated and
(15:10):
took off because we were able to put those people
who were better than that specific role than Brian and
I and they just were able to absolutely run and
we were able to provide the things that they weren't
getting maybe at their other companies that they were so
excited about. And I have to give those people a
lot of credit. They took a lot of risk.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
They would come.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
From well known, big firms to this little company. I
mean we were in the back of a bank building
in Long Lake for five years. Right, that's when it right,
they got real and you know now, I mean we've
got a twenty two thousand square foot office and you know,
like you said, we have four hundred employees and we're nationwide,
so it's different.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Was there a specific moment where you went, whoa, like,
look look what we did.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
So in our ten year anniversary, we had had the
goal into and twelve we were supposed to hit. We
started some planning in twenty and seventeen. We said, gosh,
one day, we'd love to be at ten thousand units.
We'd like to be at a billion dollars in real estate,
and we would love to have raised, you know, three
hundred million and be at two hundred employees. Well, that
(16:16):
was a goal that we set to occur in two
thousand and twenty five, and so it was a seven
year goal that we started in two thousand and seventeen
or eighteen, and we hit that in year ten. So
that was in twenty and twenty two.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
We hit those goals.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
So we had ten thousand units that we had developed,
we hit a billion dollars in real estate, and we
had raised three hundred million from our investors. And what's
crazy is as things multiply and grow, you know, from
that that timeframe, just really three years ago, we've now
gotten to three and a half billion in real estate
that we've you know, developed, and we've done close to
eighteen thousand units, and we've raised over six hundred and
(16:55):
fifty million from our just friends and family investors.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Wow, congrats. Anything you'd like to see either by the
end of the year, maybe in five years or i
mean beyond yeah, from what you can forecast right now.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Yeah, I mean our focus is right now is really
leasing up our properties. So we made a major push
and expanded our development team about four years ago, and
so we went from really two people to fifteen people. Well,
that was the big kind of the front side of
the wave that we created because as they found more
properties and they put more projects together than we had
(17:27):
to build more of those, and then we had to
manage more of those. So you know, really our development
firm expanded two years or excuse me, four years ago.
Our construction company started three years ago, so you know,
we've got now one hundred and fifteen people in our
construction company, and then our management team really hit where
they had some expansion opportunities last year as these properties
(17:49):
all started to come on, so they're at about two
hundred employees now as well.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
What advice would you give to somebody who wants to
start a real estate company or if you don't want
to get too specific with that, I mean, just start
any company like this.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Yeah, I mean, we used to have some phrases on
our website that I love and that kind of ring
true to me that I think leads to that, and
one is dream big, start small, and scale fast.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Right.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
So you know, so many people have dreams out there
and they put them aside, or they crush them, or
you know, and I had many people who were naysayers
when I said I'm going to start rows companies, and
even some family that were like, you know, just keep
doing what you're doing may not be what you've dreamed
about and always wanted to do, but you got to
take care of your family. You got to think of them,
and you just got to grind it out. And so
(18:37):
I was in a spot and had been smart with
my finances that I was able to start the company.
I didn't have much debt and I was able to
really accelerate that.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
So I was able to dream big. You had to
start small.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
You know, a lot of people can dream big and
then they think they have to start big or they
don't know how to get there. And we just again,
and we started in one of my bedrooms in my house.
And so it was Brian and I brothers, and we
had to start small where we were doing everything.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
It wasn't glorious. And then we had to scale fast
and we had to grow fast.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Do you guys ever have disagreements?
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Yeah, but not many.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
It's surprising, you know, I mean, first off, we spent
our whole lives together. We worked at our parents as
businesses together for years. And then you know, when he
was an accountant and I was in the financial services world,
we were doing homes and and and apartments and stuff
that we had started to manage together as well, so
we had a lot of experience. You know, I would
say every you know, probably three years we have a
(19:29):
disagreement over something.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
And how about that time. Yeah, exactly, exactly is Rose.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Companies hiring Rose Companies is always hiring nice so you know,
it's Rosecompanies dot com.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
My last name is R. O. E. R. S's and Sam.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Yeah, we're always looking for talented individuals and so we're
you know, I think we hired one hundred people last year,
and we hired one hundred people the year before, and
you know, again, as we continue to grow and get
to be a larger company, we continue to need different
skill sets in different areas. So yeah, we're always looking
for talented people.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
All right, Kent Roorers Co CEO Roorers Companies, thanks for
stopping in.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Yeah, thank you so much for having me in.
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