Jonathan Krebbs graduated from the Rawls College with his B.B.A. in Finance in Aug. 2008 and MBA in May 2012. He serves as an executive director for the SVN Investment Sales Group in Dallas, a full service commercial real estate brokerage firm.
Krebbs specializes in selling “B and C” class multifamily apartment complexes in Texas and Oklahoma. He deals with asset valuation, coordination of the marketing process, property tours and contract negotiations. Krebbs has personally sold nearly $200 million worth of property in the last four years.
Krebbs had personal ties to Texas Tech, having grown up in a house close to campus and having grandparents who were both professors at the university. After transferring to Texas Tech from the University of Texas, he joined the Rawls College.
“I chose finance after reading the book Rich Dad Poor Dad,” he said. “It taught me the differences between an asset and a liability and I decided I wanted to try to acquire real estate assets because it seemed like a challenging thing to do.”
While at Texas Tech, Krebbs was involved in the Real Estate Organization (REO). He said the most valuable part of the organization was touring projects in Lubbock and gaining insight into how deals are made. He learned a lot through touring a specific student apartment complex across from campus. At the time he toured, the complex’s new owner had completed a large scale renovation that had gone over budget. Krebbs found it beneficial to see the challenges the developers faced in the project and how they overcame them.
“We toured the UP on Main and University (now called ULofts),” he said. “I have always thought the big winner in that deal was the modest retail property to the south. They picked up One Guy from Italy and Subway during the renovation, who I believe are still their tenants today.”
In addition to being involved in the organization, he said his experiences with professors in the college were valuable. They were always willing to help him any way they could and they taught him theories he still uses today, like the resource advantage theory from Dr. Shelby Hunt, professor of marketing and supply chain management. He also credits help he received from Rawls College Dean Emeritus Paul Goebel in securing an internship that helped start his career.
“When you start out in the brokerage business, you constantly cold-call to find clients, which requires you to tell your story and listen to others’ stories,” Krebbs said. “The internship that Dr. Goebel helped me secure gave me experiences to talk about.”
Krebbs’ advice to students and recent graduates looking for jobs in real estate is to learn how to handle rejection and not get discouraged about the internships, jobs, properties, listings that they do not get.
“The brokerage business is like baseball,” he said. “They put guys in the Hall of Fame that bat .300. There is a significant amount of failure and rejection. A lot of times not getting what you want works out for the best. If you are being authentic and honest and doing the best you can, things will work out.”
Krebbs will speak at the REO meeting on Nov. 30 at 6:30 p.m., which is open to anyone interested in attending.
