leadership

The advantage

Erik Magnuson, founder and principal

Erik Magnuson is founder and principal of Wake Real Estate. Erik’s responsibilities include deal procurement, underwriting, price negotiation, due diligence, raising capital, closing, strategic planning, asset management, and investor relations.

Erik is a second-generation, award-winning real estate professional with over 20 years of industry experience throughout the Western U.S.  Since 2014, Erik has closed on over 1,500 multi-family units, with a $200 million purchase price, which placed approximately $75 million in private equity.  Erik has extensive experience in property acquisitions, business development, property management, and property rehabilitation.  Erik is an operational expert.  Over the course of Erik's career, he managed many asset types, including garden-style apartment communities, mixed-use mid-rises, new developments, retail, apartment-to-condominium conversions, homeowners’ associations, and commercial owners’ associations.  The companies Erik has worked for include local, regional, national, and global companies that have a combined value of assets under management exceeding $70 billion.

Prior to Erik's corporate career, he had many different jobs growing up.  Beginning as a young teenager, Erik worked for a local produce stand, various commercial and residential roofing companies, multi-family reconstruction company, tree trimming company, many various hotel/hospitality positions, and even worked as a commercial fisherman out of Bristol Bay, Alaska.

Erik graduated from Johnson & Wales University with a B.S. degree in Hotel Management.  Erik is a licensed real estate broker in the state of Washington.

Wake Real Estate Advisory Council:

John W. Magnuson, CPM®

John W. Magnuson has over 50 years of experience in property ownership, investment, and management. Mr. Magnuson served as a member of – and real estate advisor to – the Washington State Investment Board and their sixty-billion-dollar retirement fund.  He was the 1991 National President of the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM®) and is Faculty Emeritus member of IREM®.  He is the author of a book entitled “Hot Topics: Exit Strategies for Real Estate Management Companies”, published by IREM®.  Mr. Magnuson has spoken before a world real estate congress in Paris and Singapore.  He has taught related subject throughout the world – Canada, France, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Poland, and Singapore.  In 2006 he was awarded the Louise L. and Y.T. Lum Award by the IREM Foundation, honoring a lifetime of achievement in the field of investment real estate management. He was a qualified receiver, expert witness, and served as a Special Master of the Superior Court and Custodian of the Federal Bankruptcy Court.  Mr. Magnuson was a founding trustee of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research.

 Mr. Magnuson was a founding shareholder and chief operating officer of Holly Residential Properties Trust (HRP).  The company was formed as a real estate investment trust (REIT) in 1993 and was traded on the New York Stock Exchange.  In 1995, HRP merged with Wellsford Residential Property Trust which then merged their 22,500 multifamily units in eight states with Equity Residential Property Trust (EQR) in 1997.  Prior to 1993, Magnuson Management, Inc. was a nationally recognized regional management company.  The firm was an Accredited Management Organization® and received the prestigious AMO® of the Year Award from the Western Washington IREM® Chapter No. 27 in the award’s inaugural year, 1989.

 Mr. Magnuson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Washington in 1963.  He was a member of Crew and was awarded “Athlete of the Year” in 1962.

Vanessa Magnuson, RPA®, CPM® Candidate

Vanessa Magnuson has over 20 years of real estate and property management experience in both commercial and residential.  Mrs. Magnuson is the director of operations for Colliers and their International Real Estate Management Services (REMS) division.  Her responsibilities include owner representation and positive tenant relations, which she accomplishes through managing all aspects of marketing, leasing, service contracts, construction management, developing budgets, and monthly financial reports.  Her management expertise consists of medical office, office, and retail.

Mrs. Magnuson is a Certified Property Manager (CPM®) Candidate with the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM®).  She received her Real Property Administrator (RPA®) designation through the Seattle King County Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) May 2011.  She is a licensed Washington real estate broker and previously served on the BOMA Young Emerging Professionals (YEP) Task Force Committee.