WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE’RE DOING
An idea born out of COVID, Vacation Rental Real Estate, LLC. was founded in 2021. The founding members have decades of experience working with some of the best institutional private equity real estate firms in the U.S. VR is targeting some of the highest yielding vacation rental properties with its data driven investment thesis. It is through our research and diligence backed by historical unit metric data that we can try and achieve success for our investors.
We’re Gathering Data to Produce the Best Return
We are taking data from the largest property management companies and industry data sources to identify and acquire the best vacation rental homes in the country to produce the best return for our investors.
The Benefit of our Dynamic Pricing
Unlike the mom-and-pop rental approach, our dynamic pricing adjusts in real time to maximize rental income and protect us against inflation measures that long-term rentals are unable to adjust with.
Will the Property be a Worthwhile Investment?
Through proven algorithms, we will be able to devise a conclusion of how likely the home will be as a worthwhile short-term rental through a series of rankings.
Real Estate Team
ERIC WAGENKNECHT (Wags)
Wags first arrived in the Vail Valley in 1974 and began skiing Vail during the 1976 season- and every season since. After 20 years as a builder and licensed General Contractor for high end custom residential and commercial construction in both Vail and Denver, CO, Wags transitioned into residential real estate sales and as a Short-Term Rental Sales Executive. His acumen as a carpenter and builder gave him special insights into the homes and real estate market, he understood so well. A lifelong student of language, history and world politics, coupled with his expertise as a homebuilder, led him to a stint in Costa Rica where he worked with local officials and tradespeople to execute infrastructure projects and vertical construction while sharing insights with his stateside clients that guided their development decisions. Resort real estate led him to Property Management sales where he broke sales goals consistently, mentored new salespeople, and developed PropTech solutions that helped change the landscape of Vacation Rental sales and management. His lifelong love of Vail has extended to his children who attend Homestake Peak and Battle Mountain High School.
STEPHEN HESTER | FINRA Series 7 and 63 securities licenses, CFA
Stephen’s career began in the hedge fund industry as a professional securities trader and evolved toward complex and alternative investment analysis for large financial institutions. His latest roles were Director of Due Diligence at Ladenburg Thalmann and Advisor Group, two of the largest independent broker/dealer networks in the U.S., where he was involved all aspects of investment and operational due diligence. He has presented institutional quality investment and risk analysis on opportunities in commercial and residential real estate, private equity, private debt, infrastructure, and energy. He has authored over 100 research articles on REITs and the real estate sector. He obtained his BA in Economics and MS in Energy & Earth Resources with a concentration in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Stephen has his Series 7 and 63 securities licenses, is a CFA Charterholder, and a long-term participant in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. Stephen leads firm strategy, acquisitions, and data analysis.
RACHEL RAINES
Rachel Raines has over 20 years of real estate experience and has been involved in numerous facets of real estate since then. Her deep knowledge of real estate transactions and markets led to Rachel opening Real Estate operations for Vacasa in Colorado. Rachel then joined the corporate team at Vacasa as a Program Manager for a customer retention initiative where she worked cross-functionally with multiple internal teams including the executive team. As the company’s executive team shifted, Rachel took on project management for Vacasa’s Brand team and Customer Engagement marketing team. Rachel’s intimate knowledge of the Vacation Rental market, its management, and its challenges and her ability to develop Project Management workflows and keep team members on schedule is an indispensable asset.
BRAD THOMAS | AD HOC Advisor
Brad has more than 25 years experience in commercial real estate, where he’s formulated a deep understanding of development, finance, and securities analysis. He is CEO of Wide Moat Research, author of multiple books on REITs, and a regular guest lecturer at NYU and other premier universities.
Fund Capital Markets
BRANNON McPHERSON | FINRA Series 7, 63 licenses, MBA
Brannon is the founder of Vacation Rental Real Estate Group –targeting the acquisition of vacation and work-from-anywhere short-term rental homes. Brannon has extensive knowledge in alternative investments and has served as subadvisor and manager to several alternative investment funds.
Brannon has over 25 years of financial industry and investment product syndication experience. He has personally raised more than $1 billion of capital and structured more than $4 billion on behalf of his real estate and alternative investment clients. He has over 300 broker dealer relationships and stays connected with thousands of advisors, family offices and registered representatives. He has successfully raised capital on behalf of multiple innovative real estate, credit and energy platforms, many of which were launching first funds in new capital channels. Brannon’s prior clients include CIM Group, Gladstone Companies, OFS and Amcap, among others. Brannon has spent the past decade building out capital markets distribution groups for nontraded alternative investments. He has held leadership positions with Evolv Capital (Co-founder), Timbrel Capital, Atlas Energy and TIAA-CREF.
He has served on the Boards of Denver Urban Scholars and Youth Opportunity Foundation providing opportunities for at-risk youth in Denver, CO.
Brannon received BA and MBA degrees from Regis University. He holds the FINRA Series 7 and 63 licenses. He enjoys skiing, mountain biking, hiking and cooking. He is also author of Front Range Fatties: A Mountain Biking Guide Book to Colorado’s Front Range. Brannon lives in Denver with his wife, three kids and family dog, Moses McPherson.
Marketing
MONICA TURNER | Creative Director, Brand Strategist
Monica has nearly two decades of branding, graphic design and marketing experience in the tourism and lifestyle industries. She is the owner of MonicaLauren design, a creative marketing studio helping adventure, lifestyle and wellness companies (re)define their brand, develop intuitive websites, and effectively communicate their stories across all media platforms. Prior to that, she was a designer at a tech agency in Denver, and the Art Director for iHeartMedia in New York City where her work was featured on billboards in Times Square, at Madison Square Garden events, and in the digital media space from Boston to LA. She has a BA of Graphic Information Design and Marketing from Central Connecticut State University and was a member of AIGA and the Connecticut Art Directors Club. Monica also helps to provide positive outlets for at-risk youth in the Denver Metro area by teaching painting classes and sharing her passion for creativity.
When she’s not being creative, Monica loves playing competitive volleyball, mountain biking, skiing, and exploring Colorado with her husband, two young children, and rescue pup.