Summer 2016

DAVID FAUST
CONSTRUCTING A RANCH REAL ESTATE CAREER
WRITTEN BY LORIE WOODWARD
David Faust constructed a ranch real
estate career. “Most of my family were
in construction-related businesses, so
that was my background,” Faust, who
founded Comanche Contractors Inc.
a commercial construction company
based in Houston in 1978, said. “I was
working as a handy man for a real
estate company when I was in college in San Marcos and the
owner encouraged me to get my license.”
Faust, who was majoring in business, did. Then acting on
a tip from the broker who specialized in residential real estate,
Faust secured his first ranch listing.
“My boss came back from a Rotary Club luncheon where
he’d overheard a local rancher say he was considering selling
his ranch,” Faust said. “My boss gave me his name, his number
and said, ‘Go see if you can get a listing.’”
The rancher, according to Faust, had a soft heart and gave
the fledgling ranch broker a 90-day shot. The next weekend Faust
ran an ad in the Houston Chronicle touting “700-plus acres on the
San Marcos River…”. The property sold in the first week.
“It seemed like a pretty easy way to make money,” Faust
said, laughing at his naiveté and the stroke of beginner’s luck.
The early success, combined with his love of land, prompted
him to maintain his real estate credentials even as he was
tackling commercial construction projects across the country.
His was not a small-scale construction business. During one
eight-month period, he completed 28 Michael’s Arts and Crafts
stores simultaneously in a geographic area running from San
Diego to Sacramento. He and one construction superintendent
oversaw all 28 projects.
“Commercial construction is a high pressure, deadline
driven, bottom line focused business,” Faust said. “And, yet, I
built more than 1,200 projects in 30 years…I never got sued and
I never sued anybody. That’s an accomplishment.”
Although commercial construction was his primary trade, he
handled real estate projects for family, friends, repeat clients
and himself. After selling his construction business, he turned
his attention to ranch real estate full-time.
He works from his home office near Lake Travis and is a oneman
shop by choice.
“For 30 years, I oversaw multiple crews and lots of
employees,” Faust said. “When I sold my construction business,
I wanted no employees and no overhead.”
The small scale of his business allows him to concentrate
on the projects at hand and deliver personalized service.
His lifelong experience in the construction industry gives
him an innate understanding of the real value of a property’s
infrastructure from both a market standpoint and replacement
cost. While he enjoys representing parties on either side of a
real estate transaction, he is drawn to the thrill of the hunt as the
buyer’s representative searching.
One time, he spent more than two years working on behalf
of a client with a very specific list of wants and needs. The
client wanted a good South Texas ranch with complete surface
control, no energy production, no easements, no overhead
transmission lines on the property or within sight, and no
access to anyone other than him.
“We found it. The windshield time was well spent,” Faust
said. “While selling ranch real estate is a great profession, those
12-14 hour days in a pickup can challenge your patience, your
morale and your motivation, but as my uncle used to say, ‘You
either got the fire in your ass, son, or you don’t.’ I’ve always had
that fire, so I do what it takes to get the job done.”
In addition to being highly motivated, Faust has an extensive
network. A former commercial construction client provided the
genesis for one of Faust’s most interesting land deals: the sale
of the Senator Ranch properties in Madison, Brazos, Leon and
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