National Director of Underwriting

COMPANY OVERVIEW:

Patriot Family Homes is a fully integrated short-term rental company that is proudly Veteran-owned and -operated. We are currently headquartered in Chattanooga, TN, but also have many remote and travel roles, as well as field teams that include W-2 and 1099 team members who live in the markets where our houses are located across the Southeast, Midwest, Mid Atlantic, and Southwest.

Founded in 2018 by US Army Veteran Joe Riley, Patriot Family Homes was created to assist in helping meet the need for affordable, reliable housing in the South, particularly near military bases. Since then, we have grown from a handful of homes to 350+ properties in 25+ markets, offering services to clients in:

• Property Management
• Management Support
• Temporary Housing Relocation

As veterans, we understand the importance of “home,” and our team works each and every day to provide that feeling through exemplary service. When you become a team member at PFH you will become a part of our work family, where we strive to ensure you always feel supported and valued for the sacrifices you make as we continue to grow in excellence.

POSITION SUMMARY:

Are you ready to lead the way in reaching our goal to surge from closing 20 homes per month in September/October to 100 homes per month by mid-2023?

Here at PFH, we are looking to hire a National Director for Underwriting who can lead the way in sourcing and analysis of all potential acquisitions. It will be critical for you to have extensive experience buying Single Family Rentals (SFRs) in excess of 50 homes per month. 

As the National Director of Underwriting, you will report directly to the Chief Development Officer and work closely with our Director for Sales & Trading. As Director, you will have the rare opportunity to shape the Underwriting Department from the ground up with both personnel and systems. You will also be expected to interact and seamlessly integrate all processes into the onboarding pipeline, creating an efficient and documented handoff to the Contract Coordinators.

Four challenges for underwriting Short Term Rentals (STRs) vs. traditional SFR Underwriting you will face are:

• Added complexity in anticipating revenue and expenses. For revenue, estimating ADR, occupancy, and seasonality is more complex than estimating traditional long-term rents. This is accentuated by the drastically different performance of seemingly similar properties from the same areas with similar bed x bath counts.
• Lack of density and volume within a given market because of the relatively small number of STRs within most markets compared to LTRs. For example, 50 homes is a large market for us vs. the SFR space, where operators often have hundreds, if not thousands, of homes in a given market. This means the Director and their team must start with a much broader funnel across a more comprehensive array of markets.
• Regulatory restrictions add greater complexity to selecting inventory because certain markets have complex rules around where they can operate STRs vs. not. 
• Less formulaic buy boxes. For example, we do everything from small tiny homes to duplexes, and lake-front cabins, to massive Victorian houses in downtown cores. This diversity of inventory opens the door for additional inventory that would be off-bounds for many SFR operators, but this lack of a clearly defined buy box results in a much wider initial funnel to underwrite.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop systems and processes to acquire 100+ homes per month across multiple markets that yield a 10% or greater unleveraged cap rate at the portfolio level.
• Recruit, train, and oversee all personnel that works in underwriting.
• Ensure all data for all underwritten homes, regardless of whether they were discarded, offered, or closed, is structured and organized for reporting and analysis.
• Create and maintain a robust reporting matrix to ensure our executive leadership and other departments can build timelines for upcoming inventory and create projections for future revenue and cash flow.
• Provide sales & training with clear instructions that allow them to successfully write and negotiate offers in accordance with underwritten parameters, including tolerance for repair and rehab budgets following inspections and other on-site due diligence work.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Experience acquiring homes for a scaled portfolio of 1,000+ single-family rental properties and/or 100+ short-term rentals across a multi-state footprint (ideally, 100+ acquisitions per month in the SFR category and/or 10+ per month in the STR category). Candidates who lack this direct experience need to demonstrate comparable experience.
• Phenomenal analytical skills and deep understanding of real estate, capable of producing best-in-class underwriting methods, processes, and products for short-term rentals in the SFR space.
• An effective and inspiring leader capable of managing and motivating a diverse team in a remote work environment.
• Capable of recruiting, certifying, and overseeing more junior underwriters.
• Willing to travel at least once a quarter to understand the type of inventory and local market conditions in key target markets.
• Able to effectively communicate in writing and in person with members of the Executive Leadership Team and other personnel in the Acquisitions Department.
• Willing and able to improve systems required to efficiently acquire a national portfolio of STRs and communicate key underwriting metrics to both the ELT and capital partners.
• Adept at learning new IT platforms common to STR acquisitions in particular and SFR acquisitions more generally; key systems include Guesty for PMS but migrating to TRACK or LMPM, Google Suite, Slack, Asana, and Microsoft Office Suites.
• Pragmatic problem solver, capable of finding successful deals in a budget category of short-term rentals that cater to working and middle-class travelers and professionals – not just in luxury rentals that cater to wealthy customers.
• Living in proximity to Chatanooga, TN, or West Point, NY is a plus.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:

Annual Salary: $85,000 - $125,000 depending upon the level of expertise, achievement, and fit

Bonus Details: Up to 10% based on performance metrics

Benefits:

• Paid time off such as PTO, sick days, and vacation days
• Health Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Healthcare spending or reimbursement accounts, such as HSAs, FSAs, and HRAs