Ryan Cadwell on Real Estate Development, Property Management, and Why Relationships Matter Most

Yeah, I mean, relationships is where it's all at. Like, I don't care what you say about AI. Here's the one thing I know so far about AI. AI doesn't have a wallet. AI's not spending any money. People are still spending the money. The market is still people. Like, AI's not buying houses. AI's not living in apartments. AI's not going to McDonald's. Like, none of those things are happening. So you still have people.

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Welcome to the Real Estate Pros Podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds, and I'm excited to be here today. I have, as per usual, another fantastic guest. Um, gentleman been in the years for 18, been in the business for 18 years. And so trust me, it's proficient at what he does. And what I love about this gentleman is that he's really in the people development business. Um, he can develop your company, but really making sure that people are built sustainable, know who they are and know what they do and have systems in place that's going to help them is what this gentleman does. And so, um, I'm excited for us to get to talk to him, learn from him. And so I want to introduce you all to Mr. Ryan Cadwell. Mr. Ryan, how you doing today, sir?

Good, Q. Thanks for having me on. Absolutely, man.

Thank you for being here, sir. Listen, I, I couldn't do the show today without you, so, you know, you, you, you're prime reason why I'm here, man. Other than that, I'll be, I'll be going from, from split screens, going to your side talking to myself, going back to my side talking to myself. So I'm glad you're here, man. You, you're helping me out, man. I appreciate you.

So you're welcome.

I appreciate you, man. So listen, I'm gonna type I love to dive in, right? And so I would love for you to tell the people what your main focus is these days. Mr. Ryan, if you can give us a little bit of an origin story, kind of how you got to the space where you are now. We love origin stories. And then man, also tell them what part of the world you're in. And people love to know where people are geographically. So what you're up to, your origin story, and where you are. Mr. Ryan, sir, you have the floor.

Sure. Indianapolis, Indiana is where I call home. We do work here in Indianapolis. We also have projects out of state. We got one going in Missouri right now. So grew up in the business without knowing it. My dad's owned, you know, lower income apartments since I was about 4 years old. And I started working, you know, mowing grass, that kind of stuff around 12, 13. Um, really got into, into it around, uh, 2006, 2007. Um, that's, that's really when, when I got into it. And then, um, got, we got licensed or I got, I got my broker's license in 2008. And from there, from there, we've, we've built a company around around mostly investments. Started out small, built up the, you know, built up our property management side and we've gravitated into property management/asset management side, advisory, and then consultancy work. And that pulled us into, the investment piece pulled us into the flipping market that took off after the Great Recession between 2012 and 2016. Well, that actually pushed from 2012 is when the opportunities presented themselves. Around 2018, 2019 is when that kind of started to slow down. And then COVID blew the doors off a lot of things with supply chain. The flipping world, that pulled us into infill ground-up development. So we started doing new builds and then with supply chain, with all the stuff that came from that, We've, I mean, now we're doing, you know, the neighborhood development, the build-to-rent development right now. That is under construction. So that's to where, you know, that's origin to where we are now and even what we're into right now in Indianapolis, looking for, we've got We've got a concept we're working on right now for development.

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It's gonna be a small bay industrial type thing and just trying to follow, you know, just trying to follow where the path of progress is going right now.

I love it, man. I love it, sir. Thank you for sharing. Um, as you was talking, I was writing things down. I was actively listening. So definitely thank you for sharing the journey where you are now, kind of how you got to where you are. And so I'm gonna say, I'm gonna actually regurgitate some of the things you said to me. I'm gonna make a statement and then I'm gonna ask you a question, right? Right. And so you said you grew up, you grew up in the business without knowing it. Your dad had apartments and you was out mowing lawns, you know?

Yeah.

2008, you got your broker's license and, um, you built around that. 2012 came, you know, the opportunity. Things was going really, really well. 2018, things kind of slowed down and we know COVID, like you said, just started changing everything. Um, you, uh, the flip kind of pulled you into new construction and now, you know, you did some build to rent and, you know, got that under construction and you got a full development concept that you're building out. Did I kind of sum things up a little bit? Was that good? Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

So I, I did that intentionally because I say on the part that destiny has no wasted moments, right? Meaning no matter what we go through, The moments are building momentum, right? And we borrow all our life, our mindset, our work ethic, our passion, our why. All of these things is kind of building momentum and it kind of make us the people that we are today. So I would love to know, man, throughout your journey, that little boy mowing lawns, man, now to, to, uh, 4 Development Concepts, you know, what has the, the journey taught you about yourself? Did it teach you discipline, resilience? Like, what has the moments in the journey taught you about you, Mr. Ryan?

Humility.

Woo!

Woo!

Just, well, not to say, it is very unhumble to call yourself humble, but life sure has a way of showing you you're not always in charge.

So as much as you want to try to control things, because on a development side, on the property management side, any type of operations, control is key.

And you know, the resilience to the— there's a lot of even resilience. And part of the reason why we call ourselves Resolute is to just have that resolve. Everything, you know, there are, there's a lot of things in life we don't control. The one thing we always control is our attitude and our response to things. So, you know, along the way it's been a journey about every time I think I've got it figured out, I know where we're going, something changes, whether that's the market.

I mean, for instance, like within the story we're talking about, how we're doing flips and we migrate into new construction.

And right after we get into that and we start doing that, COVID happens.

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COVID happens. Nobody really knows how that's gonna happen. The first year of COVID's really not that bad. Then supply chain issues start to pop up.

Lumber starts to change.

All those things, you know, that are happening, you're, you, you're trying to You're just trying to figure out which shoe's gonna fall and how to keep all the plates, you know, spinning at the same time.

And back then, I mean, you know, back then, I think one of the things I wish I would've done better, uh, is just had less emotional attachment to things I didn't control because there's no, I mean, no matter what happens, you can always make it worse. Uh, and I'm borrowing that from one of my favorite my favorite authors on the planet. And I've done that a lot.

That's where the humility thing comes into. I mean, the best way to learn humility is to be humiliated in some ways.

So, and a lot of that I did to myself.

And like I said, I mean, we want to be in the people development business and part of that, part of learning that comes from not doing it well sometimes. So, Um, just learning how to address the things that in any moment that feels like high stress, peel back the minutia, the stuff that doesn't matter, get to what you control.

What lever can you pull?

Sometimes that lever is go be quiet. You can't do anything about it.

Sometimes you have levers you can pull.

Sometimes patience and waiting. Sometimes you need to act right now. And then also the idea of perfection. You know, we believe in excellence. We believe in the pursuit of that.

We don't—

the word perfection is really a destination. And there's only one way to get to that. To get any destination really in your life is usually it's the beginning of something else or it's your final day here on earth.

Like that's the destination.

Otherwise, everything's a journey. Because you're going to go to bed, you're going to wake up, and new things are going to pop into your life, hopefully. That makes it fun. Yeah, man, that, that's probably been the greatest gift, is not getting everything I wanted, um, and teaching me to be grateful for what, for what, for what was given to me.

Yeah, man, so eloquently said, Ryan. Thank you for answering that question with so much thoughtfulness. And I just want to say kudos to you because humility knocks on people's door, but they don't always answer it. You know, it's situations that can make them humble and it don't always make them humble. But I love your approach, how you are taking— and that's why I don't think it's arrogant for you to say about, you know, you being humble because you're answering the call to be humble. Right. And a lot of people don't do that. Um, I often say there's difference between self-awareness and self-confidence. Um, a self-confident leader, they know who they are, they're very confident, but it's at the detriment of everybody else. So they'll put people down, they'll run over everybody because they know who they is. I, I, I know what I can do. But a self-aware person, they're self-aware at the complement of everybody around them. Meaning I know my strengths, I know who I am, I know my weaknesses. And I allow space for people within my sphere for me to be humble, for me to do what I do best, but at the compliment of you, not running over you or putting you down. So man, I'm looking and listening to a very self-aware leader, and I appreciate that. And I thank you again for just the thoughtful answer, man. I really do.

Yeah.

I mean, that's all it was, was just honest.

And, you know, the—

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I heard the other day from somebody else that, that if you're not grateful for what's showing up in your life, that there's a lesson in that that's going to repeat itself.

Oof.

And I mean, that's really the, that's really the biggest thing. No, I mean, a lot of people want to get into real estate for a lot of different reasons. And you know, early on I was very youthful and I had, you know, a lot of that.

You have a lot of insecurity that you mask with ego. You usually, that's, that's where our egos, our egos show up. Just to cover up the insecurity that we have.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yes. Um, I'm guilty of that. Um, and you know, owning that first, but then also, also purposely working to where that, that becomes less and less and less and less.

It's never fully gone. You're gonna have moments, but it's just trying to be there. I mean, even with what you just said, Like being a compliment, I've never thought of it that way, but that truly is, that's a really good reframe of the way that, the way I want to be to like my team, the way we want to be to our clients.

Like we want to compliment, be an extension of what our clients are trying to do.

And if we're investing money into deals, we are a complement to their financial goals.

—right?

Like, it's— that's all— that's all we're really trying to do.

So that, that's a great way to phrase that. So well said, man.

So well said. What's next for Resolute, man? What's the next goal? What are you guys looking to solve next? What's next for you? What is next?

You know, um, we're just— we're just pushing on those development deals, looking for opportunities, constantly in the market. Analyzing deals. I mean, right now it feels like it's one of those look at 99 or look at 100 deals and say no to 99 of them. Yeah. So I mean, it's just keeping your head down, knowing that that's the work in front of you and, and just keep pressing on, you know, early on, you know, early on in your career, you get You're, you look at 10 deals, you're trying to force one down, you know, in and you get tired of it. And then, and then you make a couple mistakes and you're like, man, I thought if I'd have just done the work on the front end, I wouldn't be doing it. Like the work on the back end's worse. Like the cleanup messes is worse. Come on, man. Yeah, man. So I mean, there, there's opportunities. Like, I mean, there's a lot of stuff going on in the market right now that I don't know, that I don't know if everybody's paying attention to. I mean, one of the trends right now is, uh, some of the bigger outfits, man, they're not buying, they're not buying properties, they're buying notes. Oof. Ooh. And they're, and they're re, they're, they're recalibrating the value because they're buying the note and then they're, then they're taking back distressed assets. So the market's gonna reset itself. There are levers and things that are happening. Um, and it, You know, be sometimes being resiliently patient and steadfast in saying like, this doesn't meet our investment criteria. And even just, even just kind of helping, helping our clients remain patient, remain resolute, remain, you know, bold and steady. There's work in that too. It's personal work and it's a version of patience and it's, and then, you know, We have really solid relationships with like financial advisors because there's times where, you know, our clients don't need to put money into a deal right now. Get your money over there. We'll keep looking, but let's work with your financial advisor because part of this money's going to go into a deal. But while it's not, we got to get you higher returns than I think. Well, I think it's right down to like 3.2%. Used to be above 4%. On a money market savings. But I mean, some of that's just the work is having that, having that conversation, not, not trying to force deals that, not trying to force deals just to be transactional. Focusing on the relationship, building a relationship all the time. Um, and making sure we're taking care of the people that, that trust us. Yeah.

I listen, I got this big smile on my face because it's almost like you was reading my mind because I'm like, Do he know I'm about to ask this question? And so, uh, I always like to ask and get people's perspective on the one, on this one word, and you just said it repeatedly, relationships, right? Why, why are relationships, you've said it, why are relationships important? What do they mean to you? Talk to me a little bit about relationships, Mr. Ryan Cadwell.

Well, something that I forgot. In the middle of my career that has become very, very apparent is that the human— says humans are social creatures. Like that, that was, that's where it all was. I mean, the, our whole process coming up, if you didn't have each other, you were probably done. Right. So, you know, being able to manage relationships, finding You know, the strengths in everybody's differences. And there are times where relationships don't work. I mean, there are times where, and we're not a fit for everybody either. And some of that is a relationship. That's a relationship of acceptance, actually, that like, I accept you for who you are. We're just not gonna work together. And I wish you all the best. So is being able to have those You know, have that, even that relationship of, uh, of one that's not very deep, not very long, but, but, but it has mutual respect built into it. Relationships matter because in our world, there's a lot, it has a lot to do with trust. And, um, sure, the financials can say one thing, but if you ask me a question and you're not really sure if you can trust me, it really doesn't matter what comes out of my mouth and how well I structure it, how I support it with references and all this stuff, it has to always be about even the people and their autonomy. Like you can't take away their autonomy. Um, so no matter, you know, no matter how intentional we might be about trying to have open relationships, having open communication with all of our data, all the stuff we give to our clients. It, it's always about that communication piece and, you know, the having that two-way flow and then, and then allowing people to, to not necessarily get it right away. They gotta grow into it. And I mean, you can lead every horse you got to water, maybe not, they're not all gonna drink it and some to their own detriment. And sometimes they're gonna blame you for it. And, you know, dude, being in this business 18 years, it used to always, man, it used to bother me cuz I cared so much. I cared so much. About us performing well for the client. And so it would bother me. It would bother me when clients felt like we wronged them or something. And at the same time, I can't control that. I can control whether or not I keep doing the right thing. Maybe they'll, maybe they'll realize it later. I don't know. And if anybody's seeing the, you know, this particular thing where, where they felt like they were wronged, it, it was never intended that way. It, it was always intended to take care of you. So, uh, I mean, that's the other thing about humans. Like, we're, we're not perfect. If we can accept that with each other and then talk about it directly, that's the best thing to do. Yeah. So yeah, I mean, relationships is where it's all at. Like, I don't care what you say about AI. Here's the one thing I know so far about AI. AI doesn't have a wallet. AI's not spending any money. People are still spending the money. The market is still people. Like AI's not buying houses. AI's not living in apartments. AI's not going to McDonald's. Like none of those things are happening. So you still have people. If we're gonna have a marketplace, it's the marketplace is full of people. Like that's all that it is. And products. But if you don't have the people and you don't have the relationship, you don't, you don't have a business.

Sir, so well said. So well said. Again, thank you for the reflective answer, man. I greatly, greatly appreciate it, man. Listen, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, learn more about what you're doing, how can they get in contact with you, Mr. Ryan? Sure.

ResoluteRDM.com. That's our website. We've got a whole resources page with a bunch of different stuff. We got a journal. We're about ready to roll out an investor assessment. Those are all free. I mean, it may ask you for an email or something. And then LinkedIn. Um, I respond to all my LinkedIn messages. Um, even the bot ones.

I would love to see how those conversations go. Oh man. Listen, my friend, let me say 3 things to you sincerely. One, thank you for your time. You could have been doing anything else with your time, but you was here. So thank you for your time. I think time is our most precious commodity. So thank you for your time. Secondly, thank you for your story, for the gift of your transparency, the gift of your authenticity, and the gift of your vulnerability. And why I say gift, because you gave us something you did not have to give us. So just thank you for your story and for your narrative. I believe stories have a way of getting planted in people, put seeds in people, We may never see the growth, but literally 10 years, 7 years, 5 years later, something that you said could spark and really change the course of their life. So thank you for your story. And lastly, thank you for the way you think, your mindset, and bringing that mindset to this platform. I greatly appreciate you coming through, Mr. Ryan.

Thank you, Q. It's been a pleasure to meet you and, and, you know, have even a brief conversation. Absolutely.

Well, listen, y'all heard Mr. Ryan. Check him out. Look into the show notes. Get in contact with him. But definitely make sure you are subscribed here because I promise you we're going to continue to bring up amazing people just like Mr. Ryan Cadwell. So sir, thank you again. And everyone else, you have a fantastic day. Thank you. Absolutely.

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