Pay It Forward: "The Human Side of the Business is Always More Important"

Co-founder of Camino Verde Group, Mike Ballard has 30 years of experience in all facets of real estate operations. Ballard has been involved in the development and/or renovation of multifamily, retail and office properties, as well as data centers. Ballard is currently involved in the development of more than $100 million of multifamily or mixed-use real estate in California, Nevada and Utah.

Titles: Co-founder, Camino Verde Group; Partner, Ascent Multifamily Accounting

Area of expertise or focus: Multifamily investment, development, and accounting.

What has been the biggest challenge in your particular role? How have you overcome those obstacles?  One of my biggest challenges is remaining disciplined when trying to identify a deal that’s undervalued. The second would be bringing in good partners that align with our values and goals. We have formed several strategic partnerships to help us overcome obstacles for specific types of deals, including our partnership with Elk Development in Los Angeles and Rise Residential in Nevada and Texas.

What about your current role/position at the company are you most happy with?  I’m happy and surprised at how genuine people are willing to support each other and work together, and it’s not as competitive as I expected. Of course, it’s competitive to find and price the right deal, but once you have the deal, people are generous with their advice and support. From personal experience, people in this industry have an abundance mentality where they are willing to be helpful. There is plenty to go around.

What is the best piece of advice you have received that has helped you succeed in your industry? Also, do you have any advice specifically for the next generation? I’ve noticed some people that entered the industry around the same time as I did tend to overanalyze things and find any excuse to not do a deal or they’re too greedy. To the younger generation, find a way to do your first deal and don’t try and make it a home run. Singles and doubles. There are a lot of investors out there that just want a better return than 6-10 percent of what they are getting out of more traditional investments. Put together a deal and make it happen. Where there is a will, there is a way.

Would you advise any younger person to begin a career in CRE? Absolutely! I wish I had started 25 years earlier. Real estate has intrinsic value, and there is opportunity.

Please share with us the best lessons learned or a surprising component of your unique journey. It’s going to go back to partnering. We’ve made it by partnering with others, allowing us to be the junior GP in other developments. As we received mentorship to aid our successes, we hold ourselves responsible to pass the knowledge on. We are now mentoring and helping other groups in the same way. We’ve served as key principal or a loan guarantor on several deals to  get the first or second deals done and to jump start careers and businesses, and diversify portfolios.

In your opinion, what takeaways did we learn from the COVID-19 crisis?  How to be resourceful. There were a lot of silver linings in the dark clouds of COVID. One was how to deploy technology to remove contact. At Ascent Multifamily Accounting, we helped our clients benefit from outsourced services and accounting more than ever before because of staffing shortages and closures. Automation and outsourcing have prevailed due to the pandemic, and have changed our industry forever. People also learned to have deeper relationships with fewer people that were important to them. That’s more personal than business, but we have deepened connections with fewer people who are important to us both in and out of business.

What term would you use to describe your work mindset? Our mindset is to work with SWANs—people who are Smart, Work hard, are Ambitious and Nice. Life is too short not to work with nice people. I think the human side of the business is always more important. Helping to find ways to lift our tenants and other people in the business. One of my major goals in life is to be an influence for good in the communities I work in, and to find ways to alleviate suffering. I’m committed to that.