INTERVIEW WITH VINCENT BALAGIA, FOUNDER & CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER OF STALLION CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LINDA PLIAGAS
2. Why is Texas one of the strongest states
to invest in?
The Texas economy and real estate markets
continue to be widely recognized as one of the
most robust areas in the country.
Our "pro-
business" attitude, low cost of living and the fact
However, our lending area extends well beyond
that we don't collect state personal income tax
Austin, as we focus primarily on the urban centers of
continues to attract new residents and businesses
Houston, Dallas, Austin & San Antonio.
at record levels. Particularly our urban centers of
occasionally lend outside those areas, on a case by
Dallas, Houston, Austin & San Antonio are
case basis.
experiencing
highly
above, we are seeing a number of very exciting
encouraging, from an investment perspective. We
loans currently. As an example, we recently closed a
also believe that Texas is a "lender-friendly" state,
$1.9 million dollar loan on multi-family property in
as we are a non-judicual foreclosure state. While
Austin. The property was headed to foreclosure and
we hope to never foreclose on a property, we take
we were able to step in a provide a bridge loan to the
comfort knowing that our timeline to take a
borrower to enable him to process a sale of the
property back is very reasonable.
property. This property was 100% leased to tenants,
growth
levels
that
are
We will
Given the growth rates mentioned
creating current cash flow to service the debt. We
3. Tell us a bit about the Austin marketplace
and the projects you are seeing?
Given that we are located in Austin, we do see a
large number of loan requests in our local area.
like properties like this that have current income as
well as a healthy equity cushion, in the event of a
default.
4. Give us insight as to the real estate deals
you are currently involved in.
We are involved in all types of real estate deals
currently, from office complexes to multi-family
residential
properties
construction loans.
to
single-family
new
We like real estate that has
some level of current cash flow or income
production.
A property that is income-producing
helps the borrower to service the debt, but even
more importantly, this level of cash flow gives us
extra security in a default scenario, should that
occur.