What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done in real estate? | Bob Knakal

Name: What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done in real estate? | Bob Knakal
Uploaded: 2026-03-21T12:49:48+00:00
Duration: 29 s
Channel: Nadav Benedek
Description: In this interview excerpt, real‑estate veteran Bob Knakal recounts the toughest period of his career: navigating the savings‑and‑loan crisis of the early…

21 Mar 2026 · 0 min

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In this interview excerpt, real‑estate veteran Bob Knakal recounts the toughest period of his career: navigating the savings‑and‑loan crisis of the early 1990s. He founded his company in November 1988, and by the second half of 1989 the market had collapsed, leaving the business on the brink of bankruptcy three separate times. To stay afloat, Knakal and his team relied heavily on credit cards for both business and personal expenses, borrowed money, and took on high‑risk actions. He emphasizes that surviving this financial downturn was the hardest thing he ever did in real estate.

What is the hardest thing that you've done in real estate? Probably get through the savings and loan crisis in the early '90s. We almost went bankrupt 3 times. We started the company in November of 1988. By the second half of '89, the market had slowed to a trickle. We almost ran out of money 3 times, almost went bankrupt, had to take credit cards, ran the business on credit cards, ran our personal life on credit cards, had to borrow money, did a lot of things that had a lot of risk in them. But I think getting through the early '90s was probably the toughest thing I've ever done.