Based in San Antonio, Texas, Frederick Hobbs has served as president of Texas Mortgage Capital Corp. for nearly three decades. He directs the underwriting and management of mortgage note investments held by private lenders. His firm has originated and closed diverse residential and commercial private money lending transactions.
In tandem with asset managers and legal support, Fred Hobbs coordinates the resolution of distressed loans through pathways such as payoff negotiations and loan modifications. As necessary, his San Antonio team initiates foreclosure proceedings.
As an investor, Mr. Hobbs has also taken ownership of various rental properties and small office building holdings. His firm’s private holdings include residential mortgage notes. He excels at identifying opportunities in discounted notes with substantial, risk-averse growth potential.
Mr. Hobbs’s entrepreneurial activities include serving as president of Securenet Loan Services, LLC, and overseeing a mix of small and large mortgage loan servicing portfolios. His office oversees 14 employees and handles activities such as collecting mortgage payments, routing principal and interest payments to lenders, and holding reserves for payment of taxes and insurance on secured collateral.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
I enjoy starting the day by drinking a cup or two of coffee with my spouse while reading the news and discussing plans for the day. I think about the things I need to accomplish for the day so that i am prepared ahead of time for the important things and try to get them out of the way as soon as I can in the morning. I use a task app on my phone to keep up with important items to do and check them off as the day goes on and usually add tasks for the next day and beyond.
How do you bring ideas to life?
The daily news usually presents an idea to research and follow up on using search engines and AI. If there is merit to an idea, I try to research it further and discuss it with co-workers in relevant departments to gauge their interest and thoughts.
What’s one trend that excites you?
The through line that excites me most is exploring ideas and methods to increase business through automation and cost cutting. Managing the business certainly is challenging. However, improving on the business presents the most challenge and keeps the adrenaline flowing. The trend in AI and software improvements and how they can be applied to my business is something that is of great interest to me.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
I am continually jotting down things to do and checking off them off my list. It helps me to stay focused and complete daily tasks. Some things I jot down are ideas to follow up on or calls I need to make and conversations I need to have with co-workers. I used to handwrite in notebooks, but currently use a digital writing tablet that can organize daily to-dos, as well as individual notebooks for projects and meetings.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Looking back, I see that I should have paid more attention to my base business and not have tried to branch out to other things that were not compatible with the core business. During times of downturn in the industry, I would have been wiser to concentrate more on the business at hand, no matter how hard it got, as opposed to looking at and trying something new just to chase another idea.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
In my business, I believe that incoming phone calls should be answered in person by a company employee. Most people think this is too old school and not cost effective or productive. I certainly see that point and personal calls lead to a lot of lost time, phone tag, and other calamities. But the personal touch is important and quickly diffuses a lot of adverse situations and is more helpful in the long run.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
I stay focused on current projects and try to return all communication in a timely manner. I also try to play my rounds of golf each week to keep my sanity and recommend to everyone to stay on top of communication and participate in a relaxing sport or hobby to clear your mind.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
When I have been away, out of town, or on vacation and lose track of things I need to do, I usually start by reviewing my notes on a task app. I can see what I have not cleared off the to-do list and can start adding back things I need to do to get them off my mind and take care of them. I try to put things in order of importance and tackle one issue or task at a time until I feel I am caught up.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
One thing that has advanced and grown our business is by taking advantage of the change in laws that affected the compliance procedures to be followed. I was able to recognize a niche opening in the way we did business that resulted in a whole new avenue to obtain clients and residual business. I developed a strategy to market to the opportunities that opened up with the compliance changes. This resulted in a new revenue stream that is a major contribution to our bottom line and sets us apart from our competitors.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
The biggest failure in my career was not recognizing a major downturn in our industry and consequently being too late to make changes in the company to prepare. It took many years to overcome, but by downsizing appropriately and “keeping the light on,” I was slowly able to recover and build the company back even more successfully than before. I learned to be constantly on the lookout for conditions and events that affected the business and recognized how they could result in changes to our operation and prepare in advance.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
A business idea that should be considered involves a real estate transaction. Most cities are concerned with an inner-city tax base and the deterioration of older homes that may be beyond repair. Most cities have a fund set up to assist property developers, especially for affordable housing. In order to attract affordable housing buyers to downtown areas, developers could consider using partial city funding to build housing and offer down-payment assistance to buyers who may not qualify for traditional agency financing. If the developer self-financed the home mortgage for a short time while the buyer established a payment history, the buyer could refinance their mortgage to a conventional mortgage. The developer can build more houses, the city can increase its tax base, and buyers can purchase affordable homes.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
The most productive software I use is a to-do task list. I use it daily to track my progress on things to accomplish and to outline things needed to do in the future—not only tomorrow, but also days or weeks in advance.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?/
The best $100 I have recently spent was for a round of golf in Castle Rock, Colorado. The views and weather were superb, and it was so relaxing and enjoyable that I would spend that again at any time.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
I recently read the book Take Me to Your Leader by Neil DeGrasse Tyson and found it to be very compelling. Reading the book really made me think about the universe and the complexity and uniqueness of life on our planet and how fragile we really are. What would we do if presented with a totally incomprehensible and unimaginable set of facts? Would we know how to respond and how would it affect our daily lives and thoughts about mortality?
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
I really enjoyed watching the series Succession recently. The acting was very good and the dialogue was interesting, but the idea of how to carry on a business was intriguing and made me think about my own business endgame.
Key learnings
- The power of keeping a task list.
- The importance of relaxation for clear thinking.
- The value of identifying opportunities in changing business environments.