The history behind Inland Real Estate: There were four of us who formed the company. Three of us went to college together and the fourth one we met while teaching. While we were teaching, my partner, Dan Goodwin asked about getting into something on the side. While none of us had money and our parents didn’t have money, we knew the first step would be to get our broker’s license. We then decided, well, we know someone that builds houses - why don’t we collect money, buy these lots (from this one savings and loan guy) scattered throughout the suburb, build houses, build some two flats, and then sell them? That stopped when rates increased and then we decided to buy existing rental properties. By the time the 1970s were over, we probably had about 20,000-25,0000 apartment units. By 1985, we had about 48,000 units.
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