On this episode of Next Leve CRE, Matt Faircloth interviews Robert Martinez. Robert walks through building Rockstar Capital from post-recession Class B/C roots to a Houston-centric portfolio, why he now underwrites conservatively (e.g., ~65% LTV, stress-tested exits), and how inflation, insurance spikes, and rates forced operators to sharpen fundamentals. He shares his “make them stay” playbook—prioritizing AC/boilers and quality turns, adding Amazon-style lockers and in-unit laundry, converting security deposits into monthly “deposit-alternative” fees, in-housing services like valet trash/landscaping, and tightly monitoring online reviews via J Turner—plus why he prefers self-management and geographically clustered assets in Houston’s suburbs near strong schools. He also details staff-first KPIs (occupancy/delinquency discipline), lessons from a short-lived third-party management experiment, and buying back long-held, well-understood assets rather than chasing heavy value-adds
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Robert Martinez
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