With his Texan drawl and his genuine interest in people, Ralph “Chip” Louis Good III built up a big network in the property industry. Better known as just Chip Good, he was at every party and conference, and he seemed to know everybody.
“Chip woke up every day thinking his clients were his friends,” said Jonathan Jay, co-founder of debt advisory ConduitRe, who worked directly with him at loan servicer SitusAMC. Good, the firm’s business development manager, passed away earlier this month at the age of 62.
“He was a classic old school banker who knows how many kids you have and how old they are,” said Jay.
Good began his career with the First Bank of Richardson in Texas. He joined a credit training programme and then ended up on the bank’s real estate lending desk. After nine years of real estate lending, he moved into non-performing loans, first in the US with AMRESCO Asset Management, followed by a stint of four years in Asia, where he bought and managed distressed debt.
Good arrived in Europe in 2003 to work out non-performing loans JPMorgan had bought in Germany. He was based in London but travelled to Germany a lot. Good knew real estate but it was his people skills that made him excel at his job.
“He was good at coordinating and managing things to a conclusion,” said Nigel Binmore, vice-president at JPMorgan Chase, who first met Good when he was managing the bank’s German loan book. “He was a trustworthy and likeable individual, who would come to a solution that was acceptable to both parties.”
Good joined Situs in 2013 as head of special servicing and management of European NPLs. A year later, he became the firm’s business development manager. He was tasked with winning new mandates and keeping existing clients happy.
“He was managing client relationships and trying to get honest feedback on how we were doing,” said Dean Harris, Trimont’s head of EMEA, who worked at Situs between 2014 and 2019. “Sometimes it was good and sometimes it was bad. He would also do the cold approaches. He was a good networker; he was so affable and just kept going.”
“He wouldn’t just report [negative feedback] back, he would find a solution,” said Jay.
Many remember him for his relentless work ethic and optimism. Good would be the first one in the office and the last one to leave.
“He was incredibly nice but when he was working it was work,” said Andrea Vanni, a partner at Areli Real Estate, who worked alongside Good at JPMorgan.
A proud American, Good was also in for a joke, playing to the Texan stereotype by putting on his cowboy boots during the office dress-down days. Like a true Texan, he loved barbecues and briskets and a good red wine. He would share pictures of meals with friends or clients, the lines often blurred.
With his network and his years of experience in the European real estate industry, Good had become a mentor or father figure to some. Hugo Raworth, valuations director at Savills, said Good’s support during lockdown was “instrumental”, after he had just returned to SitusAMC, six months before the pandemic struck, to build out the firm’s valuation services.
“Everybody knew him, and he knew everybody,” said Binmore. “He was almost like a father figure; an established guy that everybody felt comfortable with.”
Ralph “Chip” Good III is survived by his former wife Beth Good and two daughters, Elizabeth and Cathleen.