A background in finance has served Andy Wu well in his acquisitions and dispositions work at RESICAP.

“I was in corporate finance for five years before I started my career in real estate,” he says. “I was tired of being the number cruncher and wanted to contribute to the bottom-line number.”

After Wu read Olive Chang’s research report on the institutional single-family rental industry, he knew real estate was the industry he wanted to get into, so he learned the business.

Recently, he earned a spot on the Top 100 People in Real Estate by The Top 100 Magazine. “I understand the numbers, have a solid finance background,” he says. “I think having a strong team is the key to being successful in the real estate industry.”

At the end of the day, Wu knows he can’t do everything himself. He works with a lot of institutional investors and buyers who describe him as fun to work with, down to earth and a team player.

“The past few years I have acquired over 180-plus rental properties, and successfully sourced and acquired four mid-sized rental portfolios with total value of over $15 million,” he says. “This year, we have successfully deployed over $20 million.” The business has grown because of Wu’s team’s increased focus on new construction rental strategies that includes acquiring more lots in Georgia. “We purchase a lot of properties from MLS, off market [and] foreclosure auctions,” he says. “We are trying to expand our off-market presence.”

Wu started work as a financial analyst at Siemens Industry during his third year of college at Georgia State University. “I was there for five years,” he says. “I worked in project management, finance and commercial project controlling.” His spent his last two years at Siemens as a Commercial Project Manager/Controller (CPM), where he had P&L responsibility for more than $180 million in projects.

Fond of travel, Wu also likes exotic cars, maintains an active profile in the community and volunteers with Habitat for Humanity.