DiscoverDiscover why Stewart Heath, a CPA for 35- years kept returning to real estate investments as the investment of choice, even after two brutal downturns. 

From bean counter to power player, this CPA is sold on real estate. Stewart's tale is one of resilience.  He explains that as his 1st year as a CPA, President Ronald Regan passed the 1986 Tax Reform Act which devastated several sectors of commercial real estate since there was a whole industry called The Tax Shelter Industry.  The new laws eliminated many shelters retroactively.  It was inacted in October 1986 and retroactive to the beginning of the year and so a lot of properties go on the market at the same time. His initial thoughts were ‘real estate is bad’ at that time. Banks even said they did not lend on real estate anymore at one point. 

After some years in practice, and had been making good money, one late night while working, Stewart had an epiphany.  He realized he could work hours on end and not build anything.  Once the tax returns were billed out, the customer could walk away.  As he tells it, then this late-night infomercial came on TV (Carlton Sheets).  He bought the book and later  realized there was something to it.  Within a few months,  he bought his first duplex.  Within a few more months, he bought 14 duplexes.  He knew he needed income streams. Real estate was the most obvious answer since it is real, it is durable and it is powerful in the tax world, so he climbed the ‘equity ladder’ and refinanced assets to buy more and more.

In 2008, he had a personal net worth over $15M and values were all based on appraisals; good, honest, recent appraisals.  Some banks had already failed, but it was not until a few months later that he was ‘underwater’ on all the property.  The world had stopped.  He quotes Warren Buffet as saying ‘Now we will see who is swimming without their trunks’ and that was him.  He did not have the cash to carry the properties and had to give them all back, but he emphasizes, he did not blame real estate.

Stewart Heath founded the Harvard Grace Corporation in 2010, and went back to working more as a CPA again, but continued to love real estate. In 2022, after joining Raisemasters, he bought an office building and now have 4 transactions closed with storage facilities and one medical office conversion.  

Stewart’s team feels strongly they need to personally do the property management to be sure they maintain control, but it was acknowledged their assets are not as laborious as multifamily properties. 

They invest mainly in the areas south of Nashville to northern Alabama.  He says Huntsville is like Nashville 30-years ago.

Harvard Grace Corporation still provides fractional C-level executive services to clients as well as general business consulting, including fractional CFO positions. Stewart holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Auburn University. He now runs Harvard Grace Capital, an idea that’s been close to his heart for a long time, to provide stability for investors and engage in his community. 

Stewart’s pivotal event was formulating the investing philosophy they use today to have more reserves and strategies to deal with the unexpected.

Reach out to Stewart at:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stewartoheath/

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Connect with Ginny Bolling on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginnybolling

Pivot to Prosperity is a podcast that is sponsored by Pivotal Real Estate Investments, which focuses on helping investors build wealth and income through commercial real estate that improves communities. To learn more, visit www.PivotalRealEstateInvestments.com/contact-us

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