Previous Speakers
Notes from most of the speeches are at the end of each bio.
Matt Gehr
Prime Lending
Matt is an experienced loan officer with Mann Mortgage. He has been in the banking industry for over 11 years and has worked in mortgage for eight. Matt is especially skilled working with complex income and asset structures, as well as self-employed borrowers. He gave insight into the current market, and what home buyers and investors can do to get a loan that fits their needs. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Megan Robson
Affari Real Estate
Megan is a high performing Supervising Broker at Affari Real Estate. She has a deep understanding of the Missoula Market, as well as comprehensive knowledge about development in the Missoula Valley. She will share the consequences of the real real estate lawsuits, give an update on the market, and answer questions. Notes from her talk can be found here.
Scott Falagan
Farmer's State Bank
Scott is the Senior Vice President at Farmer's State Bank, as well as the Chief Retail Banking Officer overseeing deposits and residential lending. Scott has 25 years of banking experience and brings a wealth of experience and expertise in all facets of banking. He looks forward to sharing a brief overview of community banking, solutions for multi-million dollar FDIC insurance, as well as exploring creative options within the Farmers State Bank portfolio loan program. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Connor McMahon
Sterling CRE
Connor has extensive experience as a Commercial Real Estate Agent, and Sterling CRE does a great job of gathering current data. He shared updated data on the Missoula market across all asset classes, with a particular focus on retail. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Jared Kuehn
First Security Bank
A highly recommended commercial lender with First Security Bank, Jared knows the ins and outs of securing loans. He shared common issues investors run into, and identified successful strategies in this unique market. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Sarah Kassem
Consultant and Investor
Sarah is a coastal and river engineer with over 10 years of experience in flooding analysis and mapping. She discussed flood hazard and climate change considerations for real estate investing and development, gave an overview of the FEMA flood insurance program and how to access and read flood maps. She also went over flooding issues specific to Missoula and talked about things to look for when assessing flood risk at your property. Notes from her talk can be found here.
Tyler Gernant
Missoula County Clerk & Recorder/Treasurer
Tyler is the current Missoula County Clerk and Recorder/Treasurer. He shared his insight on property taxes and how to challenge them if you would like to. In addition, he shared extensive information on the development pipeline in Missoula County, and shared what is coming in the near future. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Josh Plum
Point 6 Realty and Plum Property Management
Josh Plum is a Broker and owner of Point 6 Real Estate, as well as a co-owner of Plum Property Management, one of Missoula's largest property management companies. As both a Broker and a property manager, he has an excellent sense of the current state of the market. He also puts together the annual Housing Report for MOR and shared the report's information on current vacancies, market rents, etc., in Missoula County. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Tim Netzley
Inspect Montana
Tim Netzley is the lead inspector at Inspect Montana. He is a Certified Master Inspector (CMI) through InterNACHI for both Residential Home Inspections and Commercial Inspections. Tim has specialized in property inspections since 2001. He discussed when a phase one inspection should be ordered, typical issues that investors come across. In addition, Tim is an investor himself, and discussed what he has invested in, the lessons he learned, and takeaways for the group. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Zach Backes
IX Blessings
Zack is a successful investor whose company has acquired well over a hundred units in the last three years. He explained how he got his start, what strategies he's seen successful in Western Montana, and what opportunities he's seeing in the current market. He also answered questions from the audience. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Colin Rimel
Main Street Realty
Colin is a successful investor, agent, and developer. He shared his insight into the current state of the market in Missoula, as well as the investing strategies that he is seeing be successful. He also answered questions from the audience. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Nicole Rieker
JCCS Services
Nicole is a highly recommended CPA that works with a variety of real estate clients. She discussed common issues that she sees real estate investors facing, cover the details of 1031 exchanges, and answered questions from the audience. Notes and video from her presentation can be found here.
Alan McCormick
Garlington, Lohn & Robinson
Alan is arguably the best land attorney in Montana. He will speak about the Legislature’s efforts at addressing the housing crisis, including the land use/subdivision bills he worked on, some of the bills the Legislature passed, as well as some of the ideas that did not get approved by the legislature. It will be a fun way to understand how laws make their way through the system, and how it is possible for someone to have a significant impact on the process. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Scott Lucier
Envoy Mortgage
Scott is the branch manager at Envoy Mortgage, and is a longtime Mortgage Broker. He will speak about common issues that trip investors up, and how current market conditions in the mortgage market are affecting acquisition strategies. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Megan Robson
Affari Real Estate
Megan is a high performing Supervising Broker at Affari Real Estate. She has a deep understanding of the Missoula Market, as well as comprehensive knowledge about development in the Missoula Valley. She is also on the city advisory committee for code reform and gathered input from our group as the City begins its code reform process. She give an update on the current state of the real estate market in Missoula. Notes from her talk can be found here.
Allan Frankle
Dick Anderson Construction
Allan is the Vice President at Dick Anderson Construction. He summarized what he's seeing in the current real estate market, and look forward at the next 6-12 months. He also did a deep dive into Dick Anderson's first two projects, to give us insight into some specific deals. There was time for Q&A at the end of his presentation. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Claire Matten
Sterling CRE
Claire is a advisor at Sterling CRE focused on Commercial Real Estate. She is one of only a handful of women endorsed as a CCIM in the state of Montana, which is the gold standard for commercial real estate professionals. Claire gave an update on multifamily housing and vacancy, as well as an overview of the current market in commercial real estate. Notes from her talk can be found here.
Mike Nugent
City Counselor and Broker
Mike is a managing Broker at Berkshire Hathaway. He is also a City Councilman, and was two votes away from being elected Mayor of Missoula last year. He is involved with the real estate industry at every level, including serving as Montana's representative to the NAR Multiple Listing Service Issues and Policies Committee, and previously served on the NAR Risk Management committee. He was the founding President of the Montana Regional MLS and is a past President of the Missoula Organization of Realtors. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Paul Burow
Professional Property Management
Paul is the General Manager of Professional Property Management, one of Missoula's largest property management companies. Paul has a long history managing construction, and has experience in very large construction projects. As a property manager, he has an excellent sense of the current state of the market. But more importantly, he puts together the annual Housing Report for MOR and shared that report's information on current vacancies, market rents, etc. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Rob Erickson
Rhoades and Erickson
Rob has been a practicing Lawyer since 2003 and in Missoula since 2009. Real Estate is one of his areas of expertise, and he spoke about the importance of structuring your investment to maximize both profit as well as protecting yourself and your assets. He covered the importance of contracts, and some particular provisions important to real estate deals. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Jessie Eagan
Eagan Real Estate
Jessie has been involved in both the residential and commercial side of the Missoula Real Estate Market for over 28 years. He owns and operates his own brokerage, Eagan Real Estate. He explained what syndications are, how they allow for passive investing, and how they can be structured to purchase larger properties like apartment projects. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Matthew Gehr
Mann Mortgage
Matt is an experienced loan officer with Mann Mortgage. He has been in the banking industry for over 10 years and has worked in mortgage for seven. Matt is especially skilled working with complex income and asset structures, as well as self-employed borrowers. He gave insight into the current market, and what home buyers and investors can do to get a loan that fits their needs. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Ryan Frey
Saddle Mountain Construction
The experience owner of Saddle Mountain Construction, as well as the co-owner of the Continuum Building Group, Ryan has a wealth of experience in the building industry. He is an experienced developer, and has both a incredible amount of knowledge and connections in the building industry in Missoula. His specific focus for this talk was on development, including both small, backyard development, and larger development projects. He also spent a significant portion of his time answering questions from the group. Notes from his talk can be found here.
John Strong
Edward Jones
John is a Financial Advisor at Edward Jones, as well as a investor both in Missoula and out of state. He explained how to protect our assets from potential lawsuits, as well as the different types of business structures investors can use to maximize profits and minimize taxes and liability. This is the kind of crucial information too many investors put off until "next year", but is putting you at risk this year. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Jim Schafer
Straightedge Construction and Continuum Building Group
Jim has owned and operated his construction company for the past 14 years, and has specialized in home improvement and remodeling with a yearly $1,500,000.00 sales volume. He spoke to us about the current challenges of building in Missoula, what he's seeing in the market, and how investors are minimizing risk and maximizing returns. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Austin Richardson
Summit Housing Group
Austin Richardson is a Director of Development at Summit Housing Group, which is a national developer, owner, and manager of multi-family properties, communities, and mixed use developments. He spoke about how our local market is changing due to costs, inflation, and the increasing interest rates. He gave his opinion on what he sees happening over the next 5 years for developers and investors in the real estate sector. Notes from his talk can be found here.
KC Hart
Keller Williams
KC Hart is a broker with Keller Williams and has 25 years experience. He has done his own small infill developments and helped many clients and shared those strategies. KC fully recognizes the "small" private investors/developers can have a huge role in helping with the housing crisis, and shared his favorite strategies for doing so.
Andrew Hagemeier
Missoula County Community & Planning Services
Andrew is a Senior Planner with Missoula County's Community & Planning Services. He has been intimately involved with the rewriting of the county's zoning code, and talked about what changes the new code will bring. The new codes are far more permissive about building multifamily as well as other types of "Missing Middle Housing", and he helped explain these changes. Notes from his talk can be found here.
David Kesler
Clearwater Credit Union
David is a Commercial Loan Officer with years of experience working with investors. He spoke to us about small multifamily properties, and pulled back the curtains on the application and underwriting process. He also covered the common issues investors face getting approved for commercial loans and how to overcome them, and what he was seeing in the current market. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Connor McMahon
Sterling CRE
Connor has extensive experience as a Commercial Real Estate Agent, and Sterling CRE does an excellent job of gathering current data. He shared updated data on the Missoula market across all asset classes, with a particular focus on multifamily.
Josh Plum
Point 6 Realty and Plum Property Management
Josh is the experienced Broker / Owner of Point 6 Real Estate and Business Development Director for Plum Property Management, which is owned by Jennifer Plum. He spoke to us about the current Missoula market, the strategies he's seeing that are successful, and the pitfalls to avoid that can wipe out your profitability as an investor.
Megan Robson
Sotheby's International Realty
Megan is a high performing agent at Sotheby's, with a deep understanding of the Missoula Market. She shared what she's seeing in the Missoula Market, how zoning should affect the analysis of a property, and how she's seen investors add density. Notes from her talk can be found here.
Paul Burow
Professional Property Management
Paul is the General Manager of Professional Property Management, one of Missoula's largest property management companies. Paul has a long history managing construction, and has experience in very large construction projects. As a property manager, he has an excellent sense of the current state of the market, and shared information on data around vacancies, market rents, etc. Notes from his talk can be found here.
Jared Kuehn
First Security Bank
A commercial lender with First Security Bank, Jared knows the ins and outs of securing loans. He will share common issues investors run into, and identify successful strategies in this unique market.
Leslie Laird
Juniper Capital
Vice President at Juniper Capital, a lender in Missoula that offers a variety of different loans, including hard money. She is experienced in lending and gave us a unique perspective on the current state of the lending industry.
Ryan Frey
Saddle Mountain Construction
As the experience owner of Saddle Mountain Construction, as well as the co-owner of the Continuum Building Group, Ryan has a wealth of experience in the building industry. He is currently building several large projects in Missoula, and discussed the current state of the Missoula market, with a particular focus on construction.
Keith Miller
Real Estate Investor
He discussed an effective strategy in the current Missoula market, building backyard ADUs. ADU stands for Accessory Dwelling Unit, and these backyard units are growing in popularity nationwide. He explained why they're a good fit for the Missoula market, how the recent changes to their regulations make them more investor friendly, and lessons he learned while he built his. His handout detailing his ADU strategy is shared in the Blog section, look in the top right corner.
Brady Potts
TSI (Title Services Incorporated)
He discussed best practices for buying and selling in the Missoula Market, what to pay attention to, and red flags to keep an eye out for.
Courtney McFadden
Agent
An investor-focused agent, she shared with us the current state of the market, what types of deals she's seen be successful lately, and answered a ton of questions about her successful Airbnbs.
Kevin Jones
Jones and Associates
Kevin has been practicing in Montana since 1992. He leads Jones & Associates, who specialize in real estate transactions. He gave specific helpful information about how to structure a seller-financed deal.
Matt Mellott
Founder of Sterling CRE
Matt Mellott shared some really interesting data about the current Missoula market and what's coming down the pipeline.