Don Brent Wensauer

About Don Brent Wensauer

Don Brent Wensauer is an independent real estate professional and the founder and president of Property Management Services, Inc., based in Oklahoma. He is also a practicing attorney and is currently looking forward to celebrating his 45th year in the legal profession.  

Educational Background 

Don graduated from Northwest Classen High School, where he was on the debate team. He also lettered in wrestling and was named an outstanding athlete in his senior year. 

While many of Don’s high school classmates went to OSU in Stillwater, Oklahoma, he opted to enroll in Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, Texas. He spent two years at the university and lived in Dallas briefly before moving to Sebastopol, California.

In California, Don lived in a commune on an estate that was previously owned by Charles Shultz, the creator of the well-loved “Peanuts” cartoons. He worked as a grape picker in Napa Valley for a time, toiling alongside migrant workers with whom he developed a close camaraderie. He attributes this experience to instilling in him a deep understanding of the life and challenges of the working class. 

Although Don had dreams of completing his college education at the University of California in Berkeley, he realized early on that doing so was beyond his financial means. He then decided to return to Oklahoma and enrolled in Southern Nazarene University, where he majored in philosophy and religion. 

Don later enrolled at the University of Oklahoma’s College of Law, thinking that a law degree would be beneficial to him regardless of what career path he ultimately decided to take. While earning his law degree, he worked graveyard shifts at freight docks, further strengthening his work ethic and deepening his ties with the working class. 

After years of hard work and perseverance, Don graduated from the university with a law degree and was soon admitted to the Oklahoma Bar Association as a practicing lawyer.

Investment Career

Don Brent Wensauer’s professional career was just as colorful and multifaceted as his educational background. While still in law school, he threw his hat into the real estate investment arena in partnership with his father, setting the stage for an alternate career that would prove to be an even greater passion than the pursuit of law. 

But Don’s investment career was by no means smooth and trouble-free. After a promising start during the Oklahoma oil and real estate boom, he racked up millions of dollars in debt during the subsequent market crash. 

Faced with the prospect of filing for bankruptcy, Don knew that he had to act decisively. Against his attorney’s advice, he dissolved his partnership with his parents, thereby protecting their assets. 

He also focused his efforts on making things right with creditors who were more flexible and understanding of his situation, all of whom eventually made all their money back. It was a bold strategy, to be sure, but Don’s refusal to file for bankruptcy ultimately enabled him to rebuild a solid investment portfolio that was shielded from taxes for the next several years. 

These days, Don manages a real estate exchange fund with which he identifies targets for fund placement within 45 days. Failure to do so makes him and his investors liable to significant capital gains taxes.

Consequently, a typical workday for Don involves managing large residential rental portfolios consisting of houses, apartments, and other properties on tax-deferred exchanges. He then converts these into less management-intensive commercial properties. 

Don and his team routinely make offers on several million dollars worth of prospects, identifying “soft targets” and motivated sellers. If done right, it is the first step in a complex process that can be very profitable for him and his investors. However, mistakes can be very costly.

The work is quite intense and extremely stressful, to be sure. Few people would make it through Don’s typical workweek, and even fewer would thrive. But Don is more than up to the challenge and finds the high-pressure environment rewarding and stimulating.