Today we’d like to introduce you to Coby Hakalir.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Coby . So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started in finance in 1998 in New York City, my hometown. I moved to Chicago in 2000 after getting a job with LaSalle Bank. I fell in love with Chicago almost instantly. By 2002 I was both a Cubs and Bulls season ticket holder and enjoying all parts of the city. In 2003 I started branching out of finance by acquiring small and large apartment buildings both in the city and well outside of it. By 2005 I owned over 3,000 units and sold my part of the business to my partner.
My twins were born that year and traveling around the state to manage the various properties was too taxing on my family. Luckily, I sold not too long before the real estate market crashed. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, right? I went back into finance full-time, and over the past several years I began to notice that many real estate developers had no idea how to navigate the new world of banking and finance that we entered into post-2008/2009.
After helping a developer friend put a deal of his together I decided to start a consulting company specializing in helping local developers get their real estate projects off the ground. I began working with smaller developers doing single family homes, and moved into subdivisions, shopping centers, and assisted living facilities. Today, we have 4 partners and have put together over $500 million worth of real estate deals in and around the City of Chicago in the last 2.5 years.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Nothing really worth doing is ever easy. Along the way there have been many trials and tribulations. I definitely got a crash course in both time and personnel management when I first started working on my own. I was so passionate about what I was doing, and the work was so rewarding, but I found myself working 90 hours per week just to keep up. Learning how to delegate and learning when to invest in and grow a business are two of the hardest things anyone running their own business has to manage.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Jordan Equity Group, Inc. – what should we know?
What I’m most proud of are the relationships I’ve made along the way. While we work on one-off transactions, the relationships are what sustain us. We are a referral-based business, so every deal we do matters and every client we work with is a portal into new business. We turn down 6-7 deals for every deal we do, and that’s because we want to make sure our name gets attached to success. I’m also proud of finding a niche in the post “mortgage meltdown” era. Everyone in real estate has had to adapt in some way, if not many ways, and being able to find opportunity within the industry that actually helps the industry grow and get healthy is enormously satisfying.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Tenacity. No question about it. Self-doubt, anxiety, dread – all those feelings hit me from time to time. I just recognize them for what they are; my brain trying to keep me in my comfort zone. I keep going. I find solutions when it looks like there aren’t any. I don’t believe I work harder than anyone, but i do work hard. I think what has really allowed me to be successful is finally believing that I could be and then never giving up.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2341 Old Hicks Road
Long Grove, IL 60047 - Website: www.jordanequity.com
- Phone: 312-799-1071
- Email: coby@jordanequity.com
- Twitter: @cobyhakalir
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