Team Spotlight: Christian Aznar

Celebrating Five Years at Sunstone

This month, we’re recognizing Christian Aznar, Director of Underwriting, as he celebrates five years with Sunstone. We asked Christian to reflect on the connections he values, the perspective he’s gained in the MH/RV industry, and something his colleagues might not know about him.

What are you most proud of from your time at Sunstone?

The few times a year that I am able to see other people in the company are always memorable for me. Given that we have people spread around the country in many different areas, being able to interact with them face to face rather than through email or virtual meetings gives me a great sense of accomplishment with what we’re trying to achieve.

What’s one lesson you’ve learned from working in the MH/RV industry?

Everyone knows that real estate is a hyper-local business. Whether you are buying an apartment building, a triple net lease property, or a manufactured housing community, location is the driving factor beyond all else. What is different about our industry is the smaller amount of supply compared to other asset classes. An investment sales brokerage can function specializing within a geographic area if they specialize in something like retail, multi-family, or industrial properties. In our asset class, we don’t have that luxury. We can’t afford to just be experts in a few areas. We need to be able to be experts nationwide, so every day I am being taken to a new part of the country that I haven’t been to before. From coastal Maine to the Florida Keys, and from SoCal to Seattle, we have the ability to become experts in a different capacity. It’s certainly been a learning experience for me, but it’s a great thing about our industry.

What’s something your colleagues might be surprised to learn about you?

I find that I tend to be the quietest person in the room. People might take that to mean that I am shy in nature, but in truth I enjoy hearing what people have to say and listening to their ideas, thought processes, stories or opinions on whatever the matter is. I love to learn about people. How they think about solving a problem, or how past experiences shape their future decisions. There is so much to learn from others, whether it’s from your teammates, clients, family, friends, or strangers.

Congratulations to Christian on five years with Sunstone.