Executive Spotlight: Taylor Snoddy, Transwestern’s Top Producer in 2017
The youngest member of Transwestern’s national board of directors discusses his debut in the industry, his toughest challenges so far and his multifamily market predictions.
Taylor Snoddy, managing director, Transwestern
Taylor Snoddy joined Transwestern in 2005, immediately after graduating college. Just two years later, he became a full-time broker for the company, facing the economic recession head-on. He overcame the trying times and is now responsible with asset valuation, coordination of marketing processes, property tours and contract negotiations. The executive also acts as a point-of-contact for private and institutional clients. Hard work paid off and in 2017 Snoddy was named Transwestern’s top overall producer. He sold over 10,000 units worth more than $600 million last year and maintained his status as Transwestern’s top producing broker in Central U.S., a title he has been hanging on to since 2014.
Snoddy is a managing director in the company’s Dallas office, leading business development and property disposition for Transwestern’s Dallas Multifamily Group. In the last decade, he managed to increase the Dallas team’s revenue by 1,400 percent. Snoddy is also the youngest member of Transwestern’s national board of directors and the Dallas executive committee. In a chat with Multi-Housing News, Snoddy revealed how he started in the business and his alternative career of choice.
What attracted you to the real estate business? Was real estate your first choice?
Snoddy: Honestly, I got lucky. My dad was in real estate in the 1980s and gave me a list of people to call when I graduated from Southern Methodist University. One of them hired me and I’m at the same company still. I’m one of the few people that I know still working at the company that initially hired them out of college.
Did you start out as broker? What can you tell us about your evolution at Transwestern?
Snoddy: I started out as the financial analyst on the multifamily team and became a fully commissioned broker in late 2007… the exact wrong time. I learned a lot through those tough, lean years. Since 2013, I’ve run our Dallas Multifamily Investment Services team and it’s been a great ride ever since. Transwestern has afforded me opportunities I don’t think I would’ve received this soon in my career elsewhere, like serving on the National Board of Directors and the Dallas Executive Committee.
What is one particular experience in your career that you enjoy reflecting on?
Snoddy: I tend to remember the hardest deals. For example, in 2013 when I took over the team, there was significant pressure on me to perform. I had about 1,200 units under contract in the summer of 2013. The 10-year Treasury (yield) saw a run in a 60-day period like I’ve never seen and went from 1.75 percent to nearly 3 percent. Needless to say, it didn’t make the transactions easy. All three of those deals saw their contracts terminate. Luckily, I saw them through and closed all three in August. Had that not happened, I may have been in another business.
What challenges did you overcome in your career so far?
Snoddy: The fluctuations in the economy are the hardest to predict and have a significant impact on my sector, like the example I just discussed. That, along with becoming a full-time broker in late 2007, have been the most difficult challenges to overcome.
If you weren’t a real estate broker, what would have been an alternative professional path for you and why?
Snoddy: I think I would have enjoyed being a sports agent. I love sports and being an agent would enable me to parlay that with deal making.
What are the main trends in Dallas’ multifamily market?
Snoddy: Continuing to identify ways to add value. It’s rare we transact deals today solely for initial yield. Whether it’s interior renovations, additional amenities, utility conservation programs, smart home technology or simply better management, all of our buyers are seeking ways to improve an asset for their investors.
What are your predictions for the industry going forward?
Snoddy: We still see a lot of room to grow in the workforce housing space. Rent discrepancy between new construction and Class B/C is still wide and the majority of growth in the renter space isn’t coming from high-income earners.
Image courtesy of Transwestern
