About

Stephen has been affiliated with the American Equities Group of Companies for the past 25 years, and is the Founder of Cope Equities, Texas Growth Fund IIIC, and American Equities Management Group. Stephen has owned and syndicated over $350MM of real estate in his career. He lives in Allen with his beautiful wife and four children. Stephen enjoys playing all kinds of sports, studying American History, traveling with his family, and attending all of his children’s activities.

Mark Cope is a graduate of the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. He spent about a decade working with some of the nation’s most successful retail and accounting firms. His career as a real estate developer began with SFR homebuilding before expanding into large-scale mixed use and multi-family developments. He is one of two co-founders of Cope Equities, LLC. He and his wife Crystal have six children and live in McKinney, Texas.

Nathan brings over 10 years of extensive experience in accounting, auditing, and financial planning and analysis. After graduating with a MACC from the University of Utah, he worked for the Utah State Auditor’s Office conducting compliance and performance audits. His passion for the outdoors led him to Park City and Vail Resorts, where he fostered creative approaches to problem solving and provided financial leadership and guidance to staff and executives. In his free time, he enjoys motorcycling and traveling.

Alex graduated from Utah Valley University and worked in Spanish education for a few years before launching a career in construction.  Having been around construction most of his life, he decided to start in the commercial plumbing trade, where he spent most of his time working on high-rises, hospitals, and schools. He later made the transition to single family residential construction and has been a great asset to Cope Equities as a SFR Project Manager for the Cope Homes subsidiary.  He lives in Anna with his wife and three children.

Noahmi Parra has more than 11 years of experience in real estate sales. She is bilingual Spanish and brings a wealth of expert customer care experience in the real estate field to her sales management position at Cope Homes, a division of Cope Equities.

James Cruser has worked in single family and multi-family construction for more than 25 years including managerial roles as Superintendent and Project Manager.  Early in his career, he advanced through several sub-contracting trades, gaining a wide variety of experience.  He then studied at the University of Utah before opening his own business as a General Contractor.  James has collaborated with investors, municipal leaders, sub-contractors, and real estate buyers.  He is excited to be on the Cope Equities team as a Project Manager.  He and his wife Rachel have one daughter and live in DFW.

Jenifer Gautier has an extensive background as a Practice and Hospital Administrator, specializing in finance. She works as an Administrator at Cope Equities, handling various duties in finance, sales, and executive administration. When she is not at work, she is busy raising four teenagers in Southmayd, TX! She is a graduate of Southeastern Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in Business. Jenifer enjoys living on a small ranch where she breeds longhorns and sells steer as a hobby.

John is an award-winning Project Manager and has over 25 years of experience in the construction industry. He is well respected for his attention to detail and commitment to excellence. John has a background in architecture and structural engineering and has worked on several large historical projects during his career. He is glad to be working in the Cope Equities Multi-Family Division as a Project Manager. He is a devoted husband and the father of seven beautiful children.

Kellen VanNatter is completing a construction management degree online with Utah Valley University while he works diligently at Cope Homes as an Assistant Superintendent. He has worked in many different fields including sales, banking, dental offices and with a title company. Kellen and his wife Sharli are newlyweds and recently moved to Allen, Texas. Kellen is fluent in Spanish and enjoys running, working out, and all sports.

Sean started in the construction industry at the young age of 14 where he worked with GISD learning all trade aspects. He studied construction management at UNT and served in the United States Air Force Special Forces. His SFR career began with simple house flips, after which he worked as a Superintendent for Megatel Homebuilders. Sean is happy to bring his nearly 15 years of experience to Cope Homes, where he works as a Superintendent in the Single Family Residential Division.

Todd Downing started in construction at the young age of 15 working on custom home framing. He studied Construction Management at Brigham Young University and while there was part of the 1984 NCAA National Championship Football Team. After college, Todd spent the next 30 years working as a General Contractor for Residential, Commercial, and Recreational Development and Construction. He worked directly with project owners to master plan large developments from concept to completion. Todd joined Cope Equities as a Project Manager in the Multi-Family Division, where he personally oversees the development of tens of millions of dollars of MF construction. Todd is the proud father of seven smart, hardworking, great kids.