On this week’s episode, I interview my friend and client Scott Zwilling who is co-founder of Spirit Investment Partners. Scott focuses on acquisitions, equity and debt relationships, and firm wide strategy. Spirit has completed over $1 billion in transactions including 34 assets totaling 5,676 multifamily units across 11 states.

I know you will get a lot out of this interview. I am calling it the Differentiator as Scott not only talks about not following the herd when investing, but also developing your own approach. In the case of Spirit, it was investing in the Midwest when no one else was looking there. He also wanted to have the best design in their product and materials. He was certainly ahead of the curve. Scott then speaks about how to choose the right institutional partner and how to cultivate relationships. This starts with getting to know them first as opposed to just rushing into a deal. He also talks about the importance of having great deal flow, as opposed to just having a good investment pedigree.

Prior Scott was the director of northeast acquisitions for JPI, a national multi-family developer and an acquisition manager with Crescent Heights where he was responsible for over $1.0 billion of property located throughout the northeast. In addition, he served as adjunct professor of real estate finance at Columbia University. Prior to JPI and Crescent Heights, Scott was a real estate investment banker at Wells Hill Partners, Ltd., where he participated in numerous assignments, including residential, hotel and office assets and as a consultant in the real estate audit groups of Arthur Andersen and Ernst and Young. Scott is a former certified public accountant who graduated from The Ohio State University and received a Masters in Real Estate Development from Columbia University.

Lastly, Scott spoke about the importance of working with great mentors and knowing yourself! He talks about why he knew he could go off on his own and start his own investment platform.  You can find out more about Scott and his company at: https://spiritinvestmentpartners.com/.