Introducing Grant, and a Special Offer

The new year brings a new face to the 7DS Associates family, and since he’ll also be joining the World of Notorious, I figure it’s a good time for an introduction. Grant McCandless has joined 7DS Associates as a Senior Associate, and I’ll let him introduce himself below. To celebrate, and for a win-win situation, we’re going to make a special offer available so do read to the end.

So let me just let the man speak for himself. What follows is from Grant himself.

-rsh

Hey, who’s the new guy?

Dear Notorious readers,

In the coming weeks and months you’re going to see an unfamiliar name around this here blog. The demand for his insights and time has grown to a point where it’s even too much for the Notorious R.O.B. to handle on his own, so I feel very fortunate to have made his acquaintance a little over a year ago. Rob and I met while watching the Harvard/Yale game where we effortlessly overcame our differences on team colors and focused on our mutual interest in business, finance, and real estate. [Rob: If I remember correctly, my team won that game….]

As the new guy around here, let me start by saying it’s a pleasure to be doing research and writing to support this “trade publication,” as the DOJ recently called it. Rob asked me to share a bit about my background and some new services we’re offering, so here goes…

About Me

Since moving to Vegas in 2018, I have been writing a monthly blog on REIT investing and doing “highest and best use” market research studies, both for a local economist. I moved here from Atlanta where I did strategic planning for Habitat for Humanity International before attending business school.

During business school I dabbled in residential rentals and development. Between 2016 and ’19, I purchased, renovated, rented, and sold my personal residence and two single-family homes. While earning my MBA, I specialized in Real Estate Finance, REIT investing, and entrepreneurship. Before Habitat, I studied nonprofit finance and strategy at Harvard. And before that I did accounting for PricewaterhouseCoopers [one of the Big 4 accounting/consulting firms in the world, where my clients included Pepsi, Mercedes-Benz, and Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL)].

My expertise is in finance, nonprofit management, and performance measurement, and I look forward to bringing my skills and talents to the real estate industry.

On the personal side, I’m the father of a clever 3-year-old boy who keeps me young and ambitious. With music I tend toward indie rock and smart country, so Rob’s hip-hop sensibilities are lost on me.

A Win-Win Special Offer

I’ve set a goal to familiarize myself as quickly as possible with the complexities of residential real estate. I’m no stranger to the housing industry or commercial real estate, and I’ve even flipped a home I renovated myself. But I’ve never had the opportunity to work directly with brokerages, real estate franchises, MLSs and Associations, or technology companies in the residential real estate space. And I’ve never been a broker or agent before.

One way to learn the nuances of how all of you do what you do is to read and anthologize virtually everything that Rob has ever written. So I’m doing that. While I’m at it, I think there’s some gold to be mined in the archives of Notorious ROB, so keep an eye out for some valuable compilations and revised editions of those writings in The Red Dot section of the website.

Another way that Rob and I decided would help me get up to speed on the industry is to offer my skills to you on a pro bono basis. So here’s the win-win special offer:

I’m going to give the first seven people who raise their hands a few hours of my expertise and knowledge of financial strategy at no charge. What I will get out of that is an intimate knowledge of how the financial side of various real estate companies work, since spreadsheets tell a story all their own. In exchange for letting me pour through your financials, you get one free hour of consulting via phone or Zoom, with no strings attached. Win-win!

For the first seven people who email me at gmccandless@7DSassociates.com, we are offering a free hour of financial consultation. Here’s how it works:

1. You email me and let me know you’re interested.
2. I let you know what documents I need from you and ask what you’d like to get out of the free engagement.
3. I look those documents over and do some analysis (ratios, growth, simple Activity Based Costing, etc.) and ask Rob for his input as well.
4. I send you a report on that analysis and do an hour consultation by phone or Zoom to answer any questions you might have.

Sound interesting? Then send me an email by January 15th.

This offer is limited to seven companies, as Rob apparently has other tasks for me as well [ha ha].

Rob said this is like going to get your haircut from a student at a cosmetology school. I’m glad that I’m not actually still in school, but, yeah, I am still a student when it comes to residential real estate. We see this as a great way for me to gain a more in-depth understanding of the industry as well as a way to reward some of our loyal readers who can’t normally afford our consulting fees.

I look forward to working with as many of you as possible and helping 2021 be a pivotal year for your business.

Grant “G. Diddy” McCandless
Senior Associate