Meet David Portales | Home Renovation and Real Estate Investor

We had the good fortune of connecting with David Portales and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
The year 2020 was hard for us as a family but it was what pushed us to pursue owning a business. We found out early November that I would be laid off from a large corporate company that I had worked at for several years. We understood that everyone was making decisions that were not easy but we were not sure what to do immediately. At this time, we were living in Montgomery, Texas and all of our family lives in the DFW area. It made sense for us to come back home and begin to spin our wheels on what to do next. We have several family members that are already in the home remodeling business and thought we could get some guidance from them as well in starting our own business. If it wasn’t for that lay off, we would not have taken a risk at pursuing our own business.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We are your local DFW remodeling and real estate investing company. What sets us apart from others is our empathy for customers and investor clients. In addition, what sets us apart is our hardworking and efficient workers.

I say empathy for customers, because we understand the challenge it is for a customer to allow complete strangers to come into their personal spaces and essentially destroy(demo) their home and create the most dust that one has seen. We work very efficiently, in the way we schedule our workers and sub-contractors. This is so that we are in and out of our customer’s lives as quickly as possible. We understand the challenge, because my wife and I have lived through renovations. We have remodeled our homes whilst living through penetrable dust. Our company provides, from the beginning, a plan of action so our customer never loses morale. We give our customers options and we stay in communication with them to ensure they are part of every step in their remodeling project.

To our investors, we provide the same efficiencies. We partner with local investors to provide guidance in their real estate endeavors. We come out at pre-acquisition, and alert our investors of any red-flags when purchasing a property. We provide a renovation budget for their properties of interest. Then after, we provide the remodeling services needed to quickly resell or rent their newly renovated investment.

Last of all, we do our own investing. We purchase, flip, and resell/hold properties in the DFW area. In addition to providing for our family our four, we like to see our community thrive. We love the cities around the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. We love to see homes restored and renovated. This is another way our company gives to this cause of making DFW homes even more beautiful. We do what we do for those looking for a beautiful place to land, to grow a career and/or raise families.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Landing in Fort Worth, if they have never experienced our city, I would have them experience the modern and old parts of our city. A breakfast must would be our Press Cafe, a new American cuisine spot that is just off the Trinity River. From their Rise & Waffles to the Steak Salad you cannot go wrong with the amazing food provided there. Shoutout to Chef Celestino Ramirez.

Working out that food would have to be done in our Down Town’s Sundance Square. The heart of downtown provides a way for its visitors to connect with our most talented local musicians. Jazz, Salsa music, and country singer/song writers can watched from cafe style chairs and tables, around the stage. More notably, we would spend time at events such as the Fort Worth Arts Festival that the city provides for its residents and visitors alike. Check it out on April 20-23.

After building a sweat and an appetite we would go to the 7th Street area, because what else is there to do but enjoy great food, music, and conversation? In the area that has served our city with the biggest post office, $7 haircuts at 7th Barbershop, and the oldest running movie theater, we would enjoy lunch at one our newest Mexican heritage restaurants. This is not your typical eatery. In this truly Saltillo Mexican tradition inspired restaurant, Chef Juan Ramon Cardenas and his team provide the space and the culinary that transports you to Northeast Mexico. There is no raising a flag here, but at a moments notice you can taste Mexican tradition through food, song, and the waiters knowledge and history of each plate. I would share my “Cabrito al Horno Lento en Salsa de Tomate” with my friend.

The latter part of my friend’s visit would be joyfully overwhelmed with a visit to The Stockyards. Although the locals might be tired of hearing that name, it is a great place to get a feel for the exciting parts of our western cowboy culture. We would make our way to East Exchange and Main St, where famous cowboys and outlaws would roam at one time. We would have to watch a re-enactment of a cattle drive to give a sense of how cowboys would finance their simple and beautiful lives. This day trip to Fort Worth would have to be ended at the Cowtown Coliseum to watch a Stockyards Championship Rodeo. With a choice of drink in hand, we would watch how truly unexciting our lives are by watching modern day cowboys riding wild horses and rage filled bulls.

Love of country, Texan hospitality, and Tex-Mex culture would be shared with the best of friends here in my hometown of Fort Worth.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My achilles heel growing up was in part my naturally shy personality. My second weakness was the default of being lazy and my tendency in being passive in the way that I just let life happen to me. While there are people that strive in life with no help, or at least that is the word, I wanted to shine light on the people that molded, helped, and continue to assist me in overcoming my weaknesses and strengthening my strengths.

My Shoutout has to be dedicated to my mentors. Three to be exact. The success in the latter part of my years, has been because of my mentor Sonny Rix. He took me in as a mentoree in the last two years that I was part of corporate America. He took me, an engineering technician, and actually spent time to understand me as a person and gave guidance to improve my standing in a competitive work environment, such as the Oil & Gas company we worked for. Under his leadership, he saw my talents of learning different computer systems and did nothing but encourage me to learn and apply. He also saw the need I had to improve my communication skills. I was amazed at the results I saw in myself, because of my mentor. In the privileged years I had, working for Sonny, I gained the most confidence I had ever in a short amount of time. I gained even more confidence in my abilities to learn different applications to problem solve some of engineering department’s challenges. This mentor encouraged me to communicate and share my findings to a whole room of engineers and senior engineers, on multiple occasions. These were people that were definitely above my pay grade. Events such as that, formed a shy person to be a better communicator and person. I cannot thank Sonny enough, for being the mentor he was. Thank you Sonny.

I cannot write this without sharing what my parents have done for me. I had the immense privilege of having both my parents supporting. Both my parents came from small towns in Mexico. The originated from Muzquiz, Coahuila and Santa Rosa, Durango (for those that are into Mexican geography). In coming into the States, and landing in Fort Worth, they showed me the importance of following dreams and operating on full-self dedication. My beautiful mother, Maximina Portales, was given the opportunity to house keep for some successful organization founders and business owners in the Fort Worth community. My mother, a little girl living in a tiny Mexican mountain town, told herself she would do bigger things in life and she has succeeded. Her success was that of running her own house keeping business. That amongst raising her four children, she counts herself as being successful. She has giving me the desire to chase my ‘crazy dreams.’
Lastly, my father, Jacobo Portales, continues to teach me the importance of work ethic. Many can say their parents have taught them work ethic, but when I say my father does not stop working, I mean it in the most literal sense. Growing up, my siblings and I hated his work ethic. His work ethic meant that when we had days off, God forbid they landed on a Saturday, he would put us to work around the house like we were preparing to put our house on the market. Grant it, this was in the time that allowances were not given out for doing your chores. Summers were spent making money, helping my father in his flooring installation business. By the time, I reached the age of 17, any form of laziness was removed from this body. This work ethic was instilled in me, which I am grateful for. It has served me well in running a business in such a competitive Metroplex.

My Shoutout is dedicated to these three beautiful people that I have served. The fact is, they have served me a great deal in imparting these traits and skills that have proven to be timeless.

Website: portalesgroup.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/portalesgroup?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=qa

Facebook: https://facebook.com/portalesgroup

Other: info@portalesgroup.com

Image Credits
Photographer: Brianna Tucker Photography https://instagram.com/briannatuckerphotography?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=