Doug is proud to have built and maintained a solid reputation in the local business community. Although he values written agreements because of the clarity they provide, he has successfully executed on many deals that were made on a handshake. He has never had a foreclosure, filed for bankruptcy or even missed a mortgage payment or bill that he is aware of. He maintains a blemish-free credit report with a credit score of over 800.
He is grateful that he was able to build up his net worth from around $25,000 when he began investing to several million and that he was able to use those funds to enter the land business. But with that said, he does acknowledge the importance of both borrowing and pooling funds to do even larger deals, more deals and to maximize the returns on those deals. That, of course, brings us to the creation of Hawthorne Income Fund, which he encourages you to participate in should it meet your investment objectives.
Doug was admitted into and actively participates in Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), which is an exclusive group for business owners with substantial gross revenues. He was also named to the HBJ 40 Under 40 list and learned Spanish after spending a year studying Spanish and traveling in Spain and Chile. To give back, he regularly invests in veteran-owned businesses through the Veterans Biz Battle at Rice University, mentors fledgling local entrepreneurs and provides annual scholarships to graduating seniors from the high school he attended.
Long before his business career blossomed, Doug spent his time growing up in the country, just south of Lubbock, Texas. He attended school, played in baseball leagues with his twin brother, and paid his dues by working on his dad’s cotton farm. After graduating as the valedictorian of Cooper High School, he made the short drive to the campus of Texas Tech University where he proceeded to spend four years studying, socializing, and preparing for his future. A serious student, Doug majored in Management Information Systems, minored in Spanish, served as the president of the largest student organization, wrote a senior thesis, and interned as a software engineer at IBM in Austin. His hard work was rewarded when he finished with a 4.0 GPA and was named the top graduate out of 570 students in the MIS department, the College of Business and the Honors College.
He then moved to Houston to work as a software developer for ExxonMobil. After reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad and several other business books, he was inspired to resign from corporate America to pursue his dream of becoming an entrepreneur and investor.
Doug Smith is the manager and/or owner of the various business entities that comprise Hawthorne Capital.
Hawthorne Capital was a natural evolution of Doug’s business career, which involved buying and selling over 100 houses. In his early days as an investor, he and his team bought, fixed and resold or leased properties, often employing creative strategies to maximize profits. These strategies included short sales, wholesaling, subject-to and lease-options. He went on to teach many of these techniques in seminars, courses and articles. Later, he and a JV partner bought dozens of houses for cash and then resold them on owner financing. It was here that Doug discovered the power and profitability of this technique, which he and his team now use to sell rural land.
Doug has remained active in areas apart from his property investments. He serves as the founder and partner of a company (REINetworkLP.com) that lists other investors’ real estate deals on a website (MyHouseDeals.com). This nationwide listing service has landed on the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies list multiple times. In addition, it has appeared on the lists of HBJ (Houston Business Journal) 100 Fastest Growing Companies and HBJ Best Places to Work. It currently employs about twenty people with the website receiving about two million visitors per year.
Many investors find it important that the sponsor, Doug Smith in this case, have a vested financial interest in the fund. This “skin in the game” is being provided in various ways:
Doug is currently paying over $250K per month in interest to the fund via his entities that borrow from it.
He is spending over $100K per month on payroll and general overhead (office, equipment, advertising, etc.) through his entities that buy, improve and sell the land.
He fronts the money for improvements. Invoices can add up to over $100K at times.
He has invested up to $2.2M in the first two funds, and much of his net worth is allocated to land deals.
He was the sole investor for the first 2+ years of the business.
His business reputation is tied to Hawthorne Capital. He protects that and his investors above all else.
These are not bank loans, but Doug still thinks it’s important that investors know about his character and credit worthiness. With that in mind, here are those reports:
Background Check: Ehlert Law, PC investigated Doug’s background and compiled this report. It shows no criminal activity.
Credit Check: This credit check from Identity Guard shows no late payments and a credit score of 810.