|
The
Flying Realtor
by Karen
Di Piazza
October 2001
Bob Kosena, CRS, CRI broker associate and partner
in Fuller Towne & Country Properties, is ranked in the top one
percent nationally for residential sales, however, it�s his
love for aviation that puts a smile on his face.
Kosena was five when his family moved from Montana
to Colorado; since then, he has called Colorado home.
During his adolescent years, he was fixated on
aircraft and always received toy and model planes as birthday
presents.
�One thing everyone knew about me was that I was
nuts about aviation,� says Kosena. �Before the age of 15, I
bugged my parents to let me take flying lessons. The answer
was no. When I was 16, I was still adamant about taking lessons;
my parents figured they could shut me up by telling me they
couldn�t afford such a luxury.�
However, Kosena soon worked out a way to take
those lessons. With his twin, Bill, he started a �successful�
lawn service company; money was no longer an issue.
�I guess you could say we were tenacious,� he
said.
Between his junior and senior year, while attending
Thomas Jefferson High School, Kosena was able to take flying
lessons. Just 60 days after his 16th birthday, he had his pilot
license. When he returned as a senior, he became the president
of the school�s first flying club.
After graduation, Kosena began attending Colorado
State University. Full of enthusiasm, he had no idea that his
experience as a young businessperson would be the catalyst to
another �first� at college.
�A funny, but probably destined event happened
during my first days of college,� laughs Kosena. �I walked into
this flying club where 300 students were sitting wall to wall.
I got there late, so I stood in the back of the class with other
people. I looked at the guy next to me and said, �Wow, you guys
don�t have your own airplanes.� The guy asked if I knew where
to get some and I said, �Yes!� I had no idea the guy I was talking
to was the secretary for the club. Suddenly, he stops the meeting
and marches me to the front of the class. The following year
I became president of the club and we had two planes!�
The summer after his first year in college, Kosena
didn�t head out to the pool to lounge around with his buddies
or engage in activities that most young college students do;
instead, he headed for Centennial Airport. He needed to find
an aircraft!
�The challenge of purchasing aircraft is having
money,� he said. �Most students can�t afford planes.�
While at the airport, Kosena met an aircraft salesman
who was scheduled to fly a Cessna 210 up to Fort Collins for
a demonstration for �some business people.�
�He asked if I wanted to go along, which is like
asking a kid if they want presents on Christmas!� he said.
The enthusiast Kosena did and was a hit with the
man�s acquaintances. He was invited to lunch, but received more
than the meal. The recipients of the demonstration offered to
put up the money for his first plane�with the understanding
they remain anonymous. He also had to agree to sign a personal
note ($45,000) and remain the president of the flying club.
�That�s how I bought my first Cessna 150,� he
says.
Kosena returned to school that fall. Faculty and
students, now regarding him as the �ultimate� entrepreneur,
embraced his new ideas for a �different� flying club�one that
would make the school money and provide a way for students to
earn an income as flight instructors.
For every hour he spent on academics, Kosena
spent two developing the new club.
�The lead attorney at C.S.U. spent hours with
me developing a business plan that called for a corporation,
which was called the Ram Flying Club Corporation,� he explained.
�We obtained permission to fly off the premises, and then we
took one of the abandoned buildings at the airport and made
it into an office. After that we were able to get a hangar to
accommodate two planes.�
Previously, students at the school earned their
pilot licenses through fixed base operators in Loveland and
Fort Collins. Once The Ram Flying Club became operational, it
didn�t take long for students to hand over their money to the
club, since it offered lessons for less money. Kosena was aware
that the club wasn�t popular with the FBOs, who were losing
revenue, but he pressed on.
�We needed a second plane to accommodate the students,�
he said. �We had a veterinarian student who was in his last
year of vet school, who just happened to inherit money. I presented
a business plan where he would buy a Cessna 172, and in return,
the Ram Flying Club would lease it back from him. It ended up
being profitable for him and the school because we operated
it at cost plus capital to keep the corporation going.�
Soon, the successful club had six aircraft, much
to the dismay of local FBOs, who legally petitioned the club/school
to be shut down, and ultimately won.
�It�s too bad that happened because we all worked
very hard,� said Kosena. �The end of my flying school, a few
years after I graduated, was a disappointment. Of course the
whole business was a good experience and gave me valuable training
for future companies I�d be involved with later.�
Shortly after Kosena graduated with a marketing
and business degree, Mobil Oil Corporation recruited him for
a management position in their marketing division. He remained
in the division for six years.
Kosena says being hired in the oil industry in
the early 1970s was like being hired in the �hot� computer dot
com days.
�It was the top paying, most glamorous industry
to be in,� he said. �Then the first oil embargo hit, and a second.
I started looking around and decided there had to be a better
track, from a career point of view. I changed from the marketing
division to the oil chemical division for the next six years.
I moved a lot and endured 10 corporate moves in 12 years!�
While still employed with the company, Kosena,
32 at the time, took a business trip that led to his next aircraft.
In 1972, while in Casper, Wyo., he met a man
who owned a newspaper and they became friends.
�He called one day for us to check out some planes
and $45,000 later I was flying in my Cherokee Pathfinder 235,�
he recalled. During that same period, he also helped an FBO
become a Piper dealer and shrewdly consummated a profitable
contract.
�This guy at Casper Airport wanted to get a dealership
going for Piper. Only problem was he needed three planes to
start with,� said Kosena. �So the FBO, my friend and I bought
one. I wrote into my contract that they could use my plane as
a demo aircraft, provided that when they sold a similar plane,
I�d share in the profits.�
At 38, Kosena purchased his first Cessna 340,
which he later sold. He recalls �having a blast,� especially
when he soared at 25,000 feet. In 1978, he received his instrument
rating and in 1987, his multi-engine rating. He also has a great
deal of hours in mountain flight training.
Three years ago Kosena fell in love with a Jet
Prop King Air 90 and put together a three-way ownership plan
to obtain it.
�It�s an older 90 series and with its new engine
is worth about a million dollars,� said Kosena. �It seats up
to 10 passengers, has a flushing toilet, two bars, and goes
up to 31,000 feet at just under 300 mph. I�m going to hang on
to this baby for a while; it�s the best toy in the world.�
Often he sits in his King Air and uses it as a
simulator, going through all drills. With time to relax and
ponder inside his cockpit, he admits the idea of other aircraft
excites him.
�I do get sidetracked at times and look at jets;
I just can�t help it,� laughs Kosena. �Citation is coming out
with an Eclipse, but for now it�s still on the drawing board.
It�s supposed to be under a million, which I personally doubt.
If everything goes according to plan, this twin-engine jet,
which is smaller than my King Air, will go 41,000 feet high
and 150 knots faster than mine (425 mph).� Although his King
Air serves mostly as a �recreational air machine� for Kosena,
the high-profile broker, who recently ranked in the top one
percent nationally for residential sales, also uses it to fly
prominent buyers around the state. He has flown it to scout
ranch properties and exclusive high-end residences, similar
to the ten million dollar home he has listed in Parker�the highest
priced home in the Metro area.
�What�s really fun is to gather friends (often
spontaneously) and take off for Aspen and have lunch,� says
Kosena, of a practice often referred to as the �$100-hamburger.�
�Other places I enjoy flying to are Chicago, New Orleans and
Los Angeles. And of course, we use the plane for business conferences.
The best thing is, when you�re ready to take off, your luggage
is sure to make it!�
Kosena, happily married, admits to having a love
affair with his King Air.
�Other than my wife Nancy, I�m in love with the
King Air,� smiles Kosena. �The plane in many respects is my
�mistress� because I enjoy taking people for rides. It takes
up what little spare time I have.�
His wife isn�t exactly addicted to aviation and
would prefer to fly only if there�s a planned destination. Even
then, it�s �white knuckles� all the way.
�We�ve been married for 24 years and she�s a much
worse passenger now than she was when we flew small single engines,
back when we first married,� declares Kosena. �She�s gotten
to the point where she doesn�t like being in clouds or bumps.
When you have both, well, it�s horrible for her. She feels the
same in a Cessna 340, the King Air 90 or commercial aircraft.�
Kosena warns other passengers not to use Nancy
as a good judge of trouble while on flights.
�She sticks her fingernails into you long before
there�s any turbulence,� he says. �Forget about going to Aspen
for lunch! But, she will go to destinations like Florida, St.
Thomas, the Virgin Islands or Mexico, which I don�t like flying
to; I�m convinced there�s too many problems there.�
The Kosenas also enjoy flying to the Caribbean
for scuba diving, or to fly fishing locations in Montana, Wyoming
and Colorado. Although they love to entertain friends, acquaintances
have long since stopped hoping for a home cooked meal.
�We bought a new home a few years ago in the
Preserve and finally had guests over about three months ago,�
explains Kosena. �We put food into the oven and nothing happened.
Finally, we realized the builder forgot to plug the oven in.
Needless to say, neither one of us wears a chef hat!�
Safety is one of Kosena�s main concerns. The other
is that his passengers trust him.
�People tell me I fly like a commercial pilot,�
he says. �That�s a compliment to me. If you can fly the plane
without people noticing that you are (flying it), then it�s
a smooth and enjoyable ride. One of the things I�ve seen less
experienced pilots do is go up and try to scare their friends,
or worse, do aerobatic flying with a person that�s not familiar
with flying. That�s really not a smart thing to do.�
Kosena�s love for aviation was intentional, however,
initially, real estate was only an investment.
�While I worked for the Mobil Oil Corporation,
I started investing money into income properties,� says Kosena.
�I owned properties in four states simultaneously, and made
more money on a part-time basis as a landlord than I made in
management with a Fortune 100 company.�
That was then. Within a year of opening his real
estate company, he received the award for the highest producing
office in Denver.
�You�ve got to understand marketing,� he says.
�If you�re priced right, and the property is marketed by professionals,
you�re in good hands.�
For more information on Fuller Towne & Country,
please call (303) 893-3200.
|
