I am a managing director for seniors housing and healthcare at Lument. I split my responsibilities with another managing director, Casey Moore, and we basically wear three hats: first, we co-manage originators focused on seniors housing and healthcare in our west region. Second, we co-manage our Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seniors housing business—working alongside bankers, the agencies, and underwriting. Finally, Casey and I are both bankers ourselves, and we originate new seniors housing business.
I’ve worked in the seniors industry for more than 20 years. I began at RED Capital, eventually joining Lancaster Pollard and finally landing at Lument. What really makes our space unique is that, as big as it might seem, it’s really a small niche business. I truly have enjoyed getting to know and work with our clients, partners, and third parties. In addition, I’ve always felt a connection with seniors, having been very close to my grandparents growing up. It’s wonderful to do business with high-quality owner and operators who are out there doing good work for their residents. I often refer to it as lending with a purpose, given the end benefit to seniors.
Throughout my career, I’ve seen a lot happen in the industry, but I don’t think anything could have prepared us for the pandemic. It was a rollercoaster. We spent a lot of time trying to help our clients and their seniors housing residents, who were top of mind. Casey and I adopted some new strategies, including expanding our responsibilities to co-manage the western region for seniors housing in the Spring of 2020. It was all very difficult, but fortunately, senior living operations have improved.
Throughout it all, Lument has remained a great fit for me for a number of reasons. For one, I’m an extrovert. I enjoy interacting with clients, colleagues, and business partners. Also, I have always enjoyed the rate lock process. The experience feels similar to a sports game, with rate locking being the fourth quarter winning touchdown. When you are finally able to complete the rate lock, it feels like a victory.
You may not know that, in addition to being a teacher, my father owned his own professional cleaning company—and I helped, starting at the age of five. From then until I left high school, I worked as a professional cleaner for numerous businesses in Zanesville, Ohio, including restaurants, doctors’ offices, and even commercial real estate companies. Let’s just say I’m the lead sweeper at my house, which my wife certainly enjoys and likely affords me more weekend time on the golf course.
