Bisnow Marketing Manager Hussain Masumi Brings An Energetic Spirit To CRE

The Texas commercial real estate market continues to soar, particularly when it comes to multifamily. According to the Texas Real Estate Research Center, the apartment market has experienced significant growth and rent occupancy since mid-2021, which surpassed pre-pandemic levels. The boom continues with nearly 2,000 multifamily housing units under construction. Bisnow is staying on top of things to understand how these growing areas will impact the markets in Dallas and Austin. 

Since 2019, Market Manager Hussain Masumi brought his A-Game and has been cultivating relationships with prominent Texas CRE executives to help Bisnow develop an impactful presence in Dallas and Austin. We sat down with him to learn more about the inspiration behind his passion for CRE and how he’s able to use this positive energy in the workplace.

Bisnow: Why did you take this job at Bisnow?

Masumi: I took the job at Bisnow because of how entrepreneurial it is and the access to CRE decision-makers. I didn’t want a 9-5 because I needed something that would immerse me in the Texas CRE market, and give me the flexibility to create my own path and develop my passion for connecting with people. Bisnow allows me to be directly connected with C-suite CRE executives across the entire state, which is unusual for a 21-year-old fresh out of college. 

After being here for three years, I now have the pleasure of running our Austin and Dallas markets while establishing professional and personal relationships with many experienced executives. 

Bisnow: What about the commercial real estate industry interests you?

Masumi: My family immigrated here from Afghanistan in the late '80s and my dad has been my biggest role model. He was a small-business owner and in my elementary and middle school years, my dad would pick me up from school and take me to work with him and we'd drive through Downtown Dallas to get to his store. 

He instilled a hustler business mentality into me at a young age. He often talked about his missed opportunities to get involved as an investor in CRE, which spurred my interest in the industry at a young age.

Anyone that is in this industry knows that CRE is more than tall buildings and concrete slabs. It's about people. There are different levels of people involved, such as city officials, architects, engineers, GCs, developers, brokers and consultants in on the deal. Real estate projects are deeper than homes and business, they represent livelihood for people to work, live and thrive. 

I’ve had the privilege of meeting visionaries, like Terrance Maiden from Russell Glenn, who comes from humble beginnings and had the vision to make Dallas a more equitable city. One example is RedBird mall, where he was able to build something using the resources that existed there to improve the area where people work and live in a historically underserved and underdeveloped community.

Jim Young from Sabot Development in Austin builds multifamily projects across the Austin/San Antonio MSA during the day and helps refugees get out of war zone countries and resettle here in the States during the night. These visionaries are people that are leveraging relationships to make the lives of other people they don't know better, which is what CRE is, fundamentally. Of course, it’s also a wealth-driven industry, but if your properties don’t focus on bettering the lives of the people that will occupy the properties, they tend to have less success long-term.

Bisnow: Why are you unique?

Masumi: My energy. Many people around me say that I tend to bring a high level of energy to almost all situations. Every morning, I connect to my Bluetooth speaker blasting music from various genres to get my day started. My roommate's alarm on the weekdays is house music at 6 a.m.

I love building people around me up and if I can do something that brightens someone's day even in the smallest way, I consider the day a success. 

I also love skydiving, hiking, running and am a huge sports fan. I love my Mavericks and have the unfortunate privilege of rooting for Cowboys on Sundays in the fall. I say unfortunate because my entire life the Cowboys have had high expectations to win the Super Bowl year-over-year and somehow manage to go 8-8 and say "next year is our year". I think I am too far gone to try to root for another team at this point, but it's all good because this year is our year.

Bisnow: When thinking about the future of CRE, what do you look forward to most?

Masumi: It’s hard to pick one thing, but if I’m looking forward to what Austin will look like in the next five-10 years. There is so much going on Downtown with a new skyscraper going up on every corner, and it is a living and breathing city. I grew up loving CRE because of the Downtown Dallas skyline, and while it has changed drastically in the last 10 years, Downtown Dallas has no life to it. I love that Austin developers are building not just for the amazing skyline, but also for life on the street level.

Hussain Masumi can be reached at hussain.masumi@bisnow.com.