Specialty Investment Group

– Established in 1996 –

Specialty Investment Group is a family company helping others invest in real estate without the hassles of being an active landlord.

At Specialty Investment Group we focus first on capital preservation and second on earning healthy returns by investing in apartment buildings. Having invested a Limited Partners ourselves, we understand the desire to make safe investments with little risk of capital loss, yet also take advantage of the opportunities to increase the value of our investments.

We specialize in purchasing underperforming assets, where we improve operational efficiencies, perform moderate to significant renovations, and reposition the properties through rebranding.

Each project is structured as a unique LLC, with investors each owning a proportionate share of the company, distributing free cash flow quarterly and tax benefits annually.

Specialty Investment Group began by investing in distressed single-family properties in the mid-nineties. Primarily focused on properties in foreclosure, we bought, rehabbed, rented, and sold countless houses. We made happy homes, happy neighbors, and happy new homeowners with our work. At that time, we focused on the greater Seattle metropolitan area. Our work covered three counties and we analyzed hundreds of properties for every investment that we made.

These investments were not for the faint of heart, as typically we had no opportunity to inspect the property and frequently only could view the exterior prior to purchasing the homes. Each purchase was all cash at the close of the live public auction. This is the wild west of real estate investing! With this high-velocity strategy, we earned an average return of over 58%.

Today our process to choose an investment property is more methodical and exhaustive. We leave little to chance and instead spend countless hours and engage third parties to investigate, inspect, and analyze each investment before we commit.

Our Mission is to Preserve, Grow and Create Wealth.

Our Strategy is to purchase mid to large apartment buildings with room to improve revenues and values.

Our Tactics are to share opportunities with like-minded individuals to join us in these investments and deliver results from the opportunities we share.

We invite you to join us on this journey.

Chris Pauling &
Yeimy Saldaña

Principals | Investment Managers

Chris Pauling and Yeimy Saldaña are partners in life and in business. Together they own a successful real estate firm led by Yeimy. Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Central Washington Real Estate has offices in the Tri-Cities and Yakima in Washington State. They provide the leadership, environment, resources, tools, technology and education that support their Sales Professionals who serve over 1000 clients each year to successfully purchase and sell homes, land, and investment properties.

Chris and Yeimy demonstrate their belief in their product by owning real estate as an investment also. They share their passion for real estate investing through the syndication of apartment buildings with other investors. Specialty Investment Group identifies and purchases lucrative investment opportunities and makes them available to others who wish to invest in real estate without the hassle of managing rental properties directly

In the past, Yeimy owned and operated a construction company where she managed complex projects, budgets, timelines, employees, and accounting details.

Chris formerly led a large real estate firm with 10 offices and over 800 associates in the Seattle metropolitan area.

Together they are raising two boys and as a family enjoy travel, exercise, motorsports, and spending quality time with extended family and friends

Crellin Pauling &
Masami Villa

Principals | Investment Managers

Crellin Pauling and Masami Villa are managers of a home, a toddler, and Managing Members of Specialty Investment Group. Together they have a wide range of business acumen. Crellin serves as president of The Skillet Group, a hospitality group based in Seattle, and Masami leads a team of case workers for the nonprofit Lutheran Community Services Northwest.

Masami’s Managing Member responsibilities include editing, content creation, and production for Specialty Investment Group. She enjoys using the reach of her platform to educate others on how to improve their lives and create positive change through altruistic outreach programs.

She has been awarded a Master of Multicultural Education degree from the University of Washington.

Crellin’s role as Managing Member of Specialty Investment Group encompasses oversight of value-add projects and working closely with property management companies to achieve investment property business plans. He is responsible for due diligence on the front end and communicating timeline and efficacy through investment holding terms. Crellin enjoys creating opportunities for others to grow wealth and is passionate about fiduciary responsibility.

Prior to his current roles, Crellin practiced real estate with a niche in the appraisal and liquidation of lender-owned assets.

When Masami is not being an example of benevolence in the world, she is an example at home. Along with Crellin, they spend their free time raising a bundle of joy named June, being home organization enthusiasts and self-described self-improvement junkies.