State of the Industry

The Apartment Guy , Bruce Petersen, is a best selling author, speaker, educator and a syndicator of commercial and multi-family properties throughout Central Texas and Tennessee. Bruce targets assets in dynamic markets, from stabilized to totally vacant and everything in between, where there is a strong value add component or stable cash flow. He was awarded the Austin Apartment Association’s Independent Rental Owner of the Year for 2016 and the National Apartment Association’s Independent Rental Owner of the Year for 2017 as well as Think Realty's Multifamily Investor of the Year 2019. Bruce has been featured by Million Acres (a Motley Fool service), Forbes, Entrepreneur and Business Insider and is the owner and founder of Streetversity.com, an online real estate and business education platform.

Katya Watson, CAM

President of Multifamily

The Guild

Katya Watson is the President of Multi-family Operations at The Guild, a tech-enabled experiential living brand based in Austin, TX with a growing portfolio of connected communities around the country. At The Guild, Katya will continue to oversee and lead operations while assisting in the future growth of The Guild’s multifamily footprint.  Katya previously served as president of CREA Management LLC before it was acquired by The Guild in January 2022. Katya joined CREA Management in April 2021 to lead a regional leadership team overseeing multifamily assets in the Texas and Colorado markets.  Katya began her career in the Central Texas market over 26 years ago and gained oversight experience regarding asset performance for pre-development, lease-up, stabilized, value-add, repositions, and those undergoing extensive renovations across various asset types, ranging from condo conversions to garden-style, mid-rise, high-rise, and mixed-use communities. Her expertise spans generating comprehensive budgets, analyzing financial reports, conducting market analyses, increasing operational efficiencies, crafting and executing strategies for revenue growth, managing acquisitions and dispositions, and mentoring and coaching associates.  Before joining CREA Management, Katya served in supervisory roles for Greystar for 21 years overseeing third-party and owned assets. She currently serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for the Austin Apartment Association and will be inducted as its President at the end of January 2022; she is also a Delegate for the Texas Apartment Association. Katya received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Texas-Pan American and holds a Certified Apartment Manager designation through the National Apartment Association.

Mark S. Wolf

Founder & CEO

AHV Communities

Mark Wolf is founder and CEO of AHV Communities, a pioneer and innovator of master planned rental communities. In founding the company in 2013, Wolf was integral to introducing Built-for-Rent® luxury single-family rental homes notable for being both built from the ground up and presented in contiguous communities. Though the company today has expanded its rental business to also include attached townhome and duplex units, AHV remains committed to delivering all of its Built-for-Rent® communities in premium undersupplied markets and to providing onsite maintenance and management. These key differentiators attract quality tenants and ensure long-term asset value and ROI for valued investors.  As of January 2021, AHV Communities is responsible for delivering a total of 5,000 lots/units worth over$2 billion. Mark Wolf leads the company, providing executive oversight, strategic partnerships, investor relations and operations. Over the course of his 25+ year career, Mark Wolf has been directly involved in the acquisition, development, construction financing and lease-up of over 13,000 multifamily units requiring more than $4 billion in capital and an aggregate in excess of $5 billion encompassing all real estate types spanning the United States.  Prior to forming AHV Communities, Wolf was the co-founding partner of the multifamily real estate platform at Greenlaw Partners where he was responsible for the growth of and development as well as oversight of the apartment investments business. In addition, he was the founder and managing principal at Sicuro Realty Partners, a multifaceted advisor and capital provider serving the multifamily sector. Prior to that he worked at Holliday Fenoglio Fowler and OCWEN Financial Corp. Mark Wolf obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in International Business and Finance from Florida Atlantic University. He currently resides in San Antonio, Texas with his wife and three children and where he is focused on leading the expansion of AHV Communities throughout the U.S.