By: Joshua Muhammad
One can travel through Houston Southeast and find areas that are developed and underdeveloped. One can find communities that enjoy in upward prosperity and also areas that struggle to maintain in an ever-evolving community where expansion and growth for some can come at the disadvantage of others. As the oncoming flood of development heads towards our District, many are poised to ride the wave, while those who are unprepared may get washed away. Some look at circumstances such as these and become discouraged, while others, like motivational speaker and real estate expert Ed Ryland, look at the same condition and see opportunity.
It is this opportunistic vision that led Houston Southeast to partner with Mr. Ryland and ARVO Realty Advisors to give birth to the brainchild program entitled IMOC or Invest in My Own Community. IMOC is a two initiative program of which the first initiative seeks to take those who have little to no knowledge of commercial real estate through the ins and outs of the business while also removing any fear and mystery that a newcomer might have to investing and developing. The second initiative targets those who are adept at commercial real estate and works to connect them with potential projects that meet their criteria for acquisition, revitalization and development.
It is through these two initiatives with Houston Southeast and Mr. Ryland that those with the desire to help change the realty of their community can both learn and engage in the process of developing the District in which they live. By establishing a cadre of new developers and investors, as well as pooling the resources of more seasoned investors, IMOC is forging the way to help turn our District into the model of culturally-diversity where those residents who live, work and play here can create generational wealth and redefine the course of their community.