Award-winning HAA IROP member talks shop

Ramon M. Nunez didn’t always know where his journey would lead him, but he did know he was going to work hard to get there. Ramon has lived in Houston his entire life, so it was no surprise that this local was a proud Cougar at the University of Houston in 1997. It was in college that Ramon started on his journey into this industry.

From moving to Iraq to perform FOB project management and regional operations that supported the U.S. Department of Defense, State Department and Special Forces, to meeting his wife in 2009 and getting married in Europe, to 2014 where he and his wife took a leap of faith to become entrepreneurs.

Ramon then got his start in this industry in 2015 when he joined the Houston Apartment Association and has been an Independent Rental Owner since 2019. Since 2019 Ramon and his team has been named HAA Independent Owner of the Year, Property of the Year, Maintenance Technician of the Year, NAA Independent Owner of the Year and TAA Independent Owner of the Year. He holds several certifications within HAA and continues to be involved on a local, state, and national level. With his work experience and education he has gained over the years and an amazing team behind him, he has turned the American dream into his reality.

What is your name, job title, company?

Ramon M. Nunez, CEO and Managing Director of Bravo Capital Management LLC

How many years have you been in the multifamily industry?

Since 2015

How many years have you been an Independent Rental Owner (IROP)?

Since 2019

What made you want to get involved in this industry?

In 2015, my wife and I discovered a real estate group in Houston called Lifestyles Unlimited. In this organization, we learned how to purchase single-family and multifamily properties. We started our journey to build a real estate business and leave a legacy for our future family.

There are so many appealing traits to real estate. Whether you were getting started with singlefamily homes or apartment communities, real estate has less barriers of entry to start by using leverage to purchase properties, plus we could control our financial outcomes with increasing the NOI over time in correlation with market appreciation. Furthermore, many successful members in our real estate group were active members of the Houston Apartment Association for many reasons.

How and when did you find HAA and what did HAA do for you and your company?

Since many successful members in our real estate group were active members of HAA, this was a perfect partnership for us to build our business. HAA helps close the learning curve for new and seasoned IROPs with updated laws, local guidelines, national initiatives and many news updates. HAA had additional in-depth education regarding fair housing guidelines, Leasing 101 process, political advocacy, credential programs, IROC programs, supplier’s connections, professional development and endless industry knowledge at the tip of our fingers. HAA had leadership conferences and expos to attend as well as opportunities to get involved with the Texas and National Associations. If you are eager to learn the rental business, HAA has numerous resources to help anyone progress as a business leader.

HAA taught me that we all need to work together as a unified group for the success of our industry. That includes local, state and national associations working side by side to address issues that can negatively impact our business and industry. I attended the TAA Day at the Capitol in Austin in 2015, 2017 and 2023. Being involved with our Political Action Committee opened my eyes to the great work our associations accomplish for us daily. The HAA PAC also participates in local and state political campaigns, helping candidates who support the apartment industry and its supplier businesses.

HAA gave our company added confidence to perform our daily operations successfully. The training, networking, and leadership development help our team excel to the next level of professionalism. As a result, we earned local, state, and national recognition for our team’s hard work.

What came before becoming an IROP, tell me about your work before?

I graduated from the University of Houston with an Information Technology major and minor in Business Management from C.T. Bauer College of Business in 2004. I worked for one of the largest global title insurance companies and underwriters in the industry called Stewart Title for twelve years in operations and business development.

From 2009 to 2012, I was a United States Government Contractor for Kellogg Brown & Root - KBR (sister company of Halliburton) in Mosul, Iraq (During “Operation Iraqi Freedom”) performing project management and regional operations supporting the Department of Defense, State Department, and Special Forces. We basically oversaw operating Military Bases. Working alongside our US military in a war zone and traveling the world has certainly expanded my mind in so many ways. My amazing wife and I met on project in Iraq and got married years later in Europe. Currently, we are happily married with an amazing 6-year-old son Leo and Benjamin which is now 3 years old.

Entrepreneurship was always in our blood. I always wanted to be a business owner, entrepreneur and executive leading the charge in my own company. Our family instilled in us an entrepreneurial mindset and skills throughout our lives. When those skills were combined with our past work history, we found an industry that complemented our mission, talents, and abilities to be successful.

How did you feel when you heard that you won IROP of the year?

I felt excited and grateful for this team’s win. We live in the best country on earth that stands for freedom, entrepreneurship, family values, love of country, and a hard work ethic. I strongly believe, if anyone has the will power and fortitude to be successful in life, America is the land of opportunity for success.

In April, at the Texas Apartment Association Awards Dinner in Fort Worth, I sat with Anzer Gul Afghan. Anzer was a translator for the US Military from Afghanistan. He brought his family to America in 2016 and is now embracing our industry education, leadership skills and opportunities for the betterment of his family. He was awarded the TAA Maintenance Professional of the Year for his hard work and dedication to his profession. This is a prime example that the American Dream is still alive if you do the hard work, stay focused, earn your stripes and persevere to your goals.

Success is all about having a good team surrounding you. This is a team sport and assoon as you realize this important truth, your outlook on operations and leadership changes for the betterment of the team. Being recognized for doing a good job is a reflection on our team’s commitment to our mission. Everything was earned not given to us. Jack Welch once said, “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” John Maxwell, once said “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”

Tell me about the team behind you?

With our Bravo Capital Management brigade, our onsite team members are the backbone to our success. My maintenance technician has been with us for seven years and is one of the best in the industry. We have encouraged additional training every year to help him achieve his personal goal of becoming the best at what he does. He takes personal pride in his job, and it shows every day. He is from an impoverished country with no advancement opportunities. When he joined our team in 2016, we made sure to help him with industry training to suc- ceed.

A few years ago, we welcomed our new community director to manage our portfolio in Spring Branch. We greeted her with open arms and encouraged additional education from HAA. We realized she was a superstar that needed a good work environment to flourish and to be even more successful than her previous post. Today she is one of the best in the industry and has been recognized on a local and state level for her accomplishments.

Our behind-the-scenes bookkeeper and accounting department is one of the brightest and most talented in the industry. She learned everything from day one on how to operate ResMan and had a tenacious work ethic to make sure her job was done correctly. We made sure to encourage additional training and we were patient with every team member to close the learning gap to make them better at what they do.

Then we have our asset management group that includes bankers, insurance agents, property tax consultants, utility vendors, brokers and mentors to seek advice and guidance. This is another crucial strategic process that is important to master since it helps with planning and forecasting your business financial projections.

Our trade associations and partnerships include the Spring Branch Management District, Seal Security, District A City Council Member Amy Pecks Team, City of Houston, Houston Police Department, Houston Fire Department and our amazing Houston Apartment Association team.

Our team behind me is a vital part of our success. Being “self-made” is not a true statement in any business. But being “self-motivated” separates us from the rest.

What sets you apart from the rest in this category or in general?

I’ve worked alongside many people from all over the world in numerous industries and countries. I’ve been in the business world for many years. I have networked with various successful people and have been involved with many associations and organizations. In my opinion, what “sets people apart,” is the self-motivational, purpose driven reason why they do what they do. The fire in their belly that makes them get up every morning to be the best at what they do is in their DNA. When I was single, my motivation was to be a good example to my future family. When I got married and had kids, my motivation was to be a good husband provider, caring father figure and good example to my family. We are on this earth for a short period of time. We measure our success by how many people we have helped along the way and the good example we set for our family. Setting purpose driven goals for the right reasons gets you on the fast-track to accomplishing your mission. Don’t compare yourself to others and keep your goals in front of you with razor sharp focus.

What is your 5-year plan?

Our plan is to keep building the property portfolio with quality acquisitions in strong submarkets, quality properties and continue good operations. In addition, every property we have and acquire will need to be HPD Blue Star Certified as well. Our family is growing, and the boys are getting older. Our plan is to focus on raising these two amazing sons, continue to grow the business and laugh every day.

What is your end goal?

Our end goal would be to build our family business and teach our sons the options of having your own business. I also had a dream to build a fifty-story skyscraper and a master development community. I think those plans are in reach with the right planning and foresight.

Who do you have to thank?

This business is a team sport. My wife and I would like to thank our family for the encouragement, support and motivation. To our onsite team for delivering amazing customer service to our valued residents and to our HAA suppliers for guidance and good great customer service. A special thank you to our mentors for helping us navigate throughout the acquisition phase and asset management process. Thank you to the Houston Apartment Association for being our voice in the industry. Foremost, thank you to all our men and woman servicing in the US Military for defending our freedoms.

Anything else you want to add?

Everything that was accomplished was a joint effort with me and my wife Luljeta. She is the backbone of our family and is an amazing mother to our children. She is a brilliant businesswoman and my number one confidant. She is the love of my life.