He Scaled to 450 SFRs, Then Sold 64 in One Year to Double Down on Multifamily

From Laid Off to Lean and Leveraged: How Sean Graham Built Two Cash-Flowing Real Estate Businesses

Sean Graham didn’t expect to lose his job during COVID. But when it happened, he didn’t panic. He doubled down on the triplexes and house hacks he had been working on after hours, and started treating real estate like his new full-time job.

That decision led him into two powerful lanes. The first was self-storage, where he partnered with experienced operators to acquire four facilities across the Midwest. The second was tax strategy. With a CPA license in his back pocket and firsthand experience as a sponsor, Sean launched Maven Cost Segregation to help GPs and LPs keep more of what they earn.

He didn’t raise a massive fund. He didn’t build a big team. He kept his overhead lean, focused on what worked, and scaled quietly through trust, clarity, and repeatable results.

Today, Sean’s companies are helping investors earn better returns and pay fewer taxes, while he continues to grow a storage portfolio that cash flows without chasing yield.

The Play: Build In-House Ops Early, Then Get Strategic About What You Keep

HPP started with SFRs. In 2019, the founders raised capital to acquire a 49-house portfolio. They scaled to over 1,000 homes under management before narrowing focus and keeping only what they owned.

That early exposure gave them reps in operations, leasing, and maintenance. They vertically integrated PM and construction, built strong university relationships, and started experimenting with student rentals.

Eventually, they realized:

• SFRs are hard to scale without huge CapEx and turn costs

• Student and multifamily offered more controllable margins

• In-house PM created leverage — but only if paired with focus

So they started selling. In 2023, HPP sold over 60 homes. They’re on pace to sell 20 more this month, slowly exiting SFR while doubling down on scale-friendly asset classes.

Why This Works

1. Student housing with built-in demand
In South Bend, most Notre Dame students are required to live on campus through junior year. By converting well-located SFRs into student rentals, HPP meets demand with unique “legacy” homes — many with fenced yards, furnished units, and security systems. They even have off-duty police patrols.

2. Centralized management and data-driven disposition
Selling a portfolio is hard without clean books. HPP invested in strong PM systems early, which gave them the data room leverage to package and sell individual homes — or the full portfolio — to institutional buyers.

3. Asset class benchmarking
Because they own student, multifamily, and SFR assets, they can track true expense ratios and make decisions based on real margins, not gut feel. That’s what pushed them toward multifamily and away from SFR.

The Risks (and How He Manages Them)

1. Deferred maintenance on vintage SFRs
Older homes mean higher CapEx. HPP is focused on selling off higher-maintenance properties while interest and demand are still strong.

2. Distractions from scattered focus
Running student, multifamily, and SFR portfolios simultaneously stretched their team. They’ve since narrowed the buy box and focused acquisitions around value-add multifamily and university-adjacent student rentals.

3. Third-party PM risk
Their Arkansas acquisition required outsourcing property management. HPP treated PM selection like an acquisition: heavy due diligence, local referrals, and tight control over expectations.

What You Can Learn (and Steal)

1. Sell the dogs, keep the winners
Not every door is worth holding. Even large portfolios have underperformers. HPP sells homes that no longer fit their ops model or return profile — and keeps the ones that do.

2. Think vertically from Day One
Sean runs two companies with help from virtual staff, overseas engineers, and trusted GP partners. Lean execution beats bloated org charts.

3. Pair student housing with local credibility
Their student brand, Irish Gold Management, leans into Notre Dame relationships and alumni nostalgia. That brand trust makes it easier to lease units and raise capital for future acquisitions.

Listen to the full episode

🎙 Groundbreakers with Benjamin Bowerman

In it, we cover:

• How HPP scaled to 450 SFRs and began selling off the portfolio

• What they learned building in-house operations and managing turn costs

• How they’re structuring new acquisitions in multifamily and student housing

• The transition from local SFR operator to regional value-add sponsor

• Why vertical integration gives them an edge in capital raising and execution