Robert Faust Is Going Strong After 50 Years

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Robert Faust has been in the commercial origination business for 50 years, and his Dallas-based firm is busier than it's ever been. And while he says much has changed over the last five decades, his biggest source of business has always been the same: Meeting people in person and getting to know them.

"Nothing replaces meeting someone in person," he said. "After all these years, a lot of people know me. I'm in a number of real estate associations and attend the meetings regularly, and all of that gets you business."

Faust got started in the business in 1964, when he took a job at Glenn Justice Mortgage Co., after a stint in the U.S. Army.

He studied business at Southern Methodist University, so commercial loan origination was a perfect fit. After 12 years of cutting his teeth at Justice, he struck out on his own and in 1976 formed Robert Faust Mortgage Co. 

In the last five decades, Faust has grown his business from nothing to about $70 million and $80 million per year in loans, with much of the funds for those originations coming from equity raises. And while business is booming, Faust has always kept his company small.

"We're not a big company," he said. "You have other companies with 15 or 20 people, and people think those are small, but here it's just me and two other people."

He says his small size lets him to get to know his customers on a personal level, and allows him to be involved in sales and equity placements for a wide range of commercial properties, including apartment developments, industrial buildings, hotels and office buildings.

All of those areas have hit a new high lately, because Texas managed to power through the recession and has only improved as the national economy emerges from recovery.

"We're fortunate to be in Texas. This is a boom state and [Dallas] is a boom area," he said. "If I were in the Midwest I might have to think about doing something else, but all four major Texas cities are adding jobs."

Despite being based out of Dallas, Faust does most of his business in San Antonio and Austin.

He says this is because there is less competition outside of Dallas, and because the two cities are growing remarkably fast. He's particularly excited by San Antonio.

"I've been doing business there for over 40 years," he said. "We were able to place quite a bit of business down there when it was just starting to develop, and now it is recognized nationally as a good investment opportunity."

But while those are his two biggest areas for business, he has no plans to leave Dallas any time soon.

He says his connections to the city are too deep. He grew up in Dallas and went to school at SMU, which is located just north of downtown. Much of his success has been because of the connections he's been able to make during his time in the North Texas city.

But having those connections alone has not been enough to sustain him over the last five decades. He says his relentless persistence is what has kept him in the business.

"Just because you've had a turn down on a loan, you can't let that keep you down. You keep on going until you get it done," he said.

"There are certainly setbacks and rejections, but you can't let that be your reason for failure."

He says that he is still reminding himself of that even today. While Texas was spared the brunt of the recent recession, he says it still forced him to rethink his strategy.

"A lot of developers weren't doing anything and the retail business went bad, so it we turned to apartment projects that we were able to get done," he said.

"You just can't let recessions shut you down.

"We have recessions all the time, though. In 1981 and 1982 the interest rates got up over 20%, but we were still placing loans for people despite those interest rates," he said.

"We certainly didn't slow down, and we didn't slow down in 2007."

While the cycles in the economy tend to repeat themselves, Faust said he has seen a lot of change in the industry over the last 50 years. The most obvious — and helpful — change, he said, has been technology.

"When I worked at Justice in the '60s and '70s, the big thing was the IBM electric typewriter.

"Then we graduated to bulky computers, and they kept getting more sophisticated every time they came out," he said, moving on to reminisce about how fax machines revolutionized the industry when they came out.

He says he doesn't miss the days of old technology. The ability to electronically send documents and mortgage packages has saved him quite a lot of time and money.

"I used to spend all day putting together presentations.

"I had to have a couple of young guys working for me just for that, because I couldn't do it all," Faust said.

"Now we send everything electronically. I have stationery in my office I'll probably never use."

While he is grateful for the speed at which business can be done, he's been slow to take up other new technologies the rest of the origination industry has been so quick to adapt.

Faust has no online presence, and hasn't experimented with social media, though he recognizes he probably should be doing so.

"We are pretty doggone busy, but I really ought to get a website," he said.

And maybe he will, he says. After all, he has no plans to slow down.

Faust has been in the same building off of Dallas' North Central Expressway since he started Robert Faust Mortgage Co. back in 1976, and he just renewed the lease.

"Right now, I plan to keep going. I enjoy what I do. It would be hard to keep on going if I didn't enjoy it," he said. "But when you start talking about doing a $10 million or $15 million loan, it's always an enjoyable experience."

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