John W. Smith

John W. Smith
Property Quest, LLC
Managing Partner – Construction and Development

John W Smith graduated from Grambling State University with a degree in Engineering Technology.  For the past 35 years, he has worked in the oil and gas industry with the last 25 of those years in management roles. He is a Well Site Leader with BP with the responsibility of ensuring that drilling plans supplied by a drilling engineer are executed as prescribed.  He is responsible for managing budgets –   averaging $7 million every 90 days. – for natural gas wells.  John manages the day to day planning, execution, and safe operations of 45 drilling rig personnel. His role in mitigating risk as they arise are critical. John is known for ensuring the wells are drilled safely, ethically and efficiently.

He has been able to transfer his experience and knowledge to his own company, Property Quest LLC.

John began Property Quest LLC with the goal of providing investment income property for his family.  The first property was a 4-Plex that was purchased from a close family member in 1997 on Fern St in New Orleans.  The property was in poor condition yet had one unit rented and needed some work to get the other units occupied.  Since the purchase price was low and the appraised value was high, there was enough equity to assist in purchasing more properties. That began John’s quest to acquire additional properties to renovate them and put back into the housing market. The company holds a Home Improvement State License and is currently working towards a General Contractor License.

John is active in his church and is an avid outdoorsman. He has been married to Leslie Haynes Smith for 27 years. Their son, Taj, is following in John’s footsteps and is a Field Engineer at Hensel Phelps, supervising a new construction of a multi-million dollar FBI facility in Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Al. Their daughter Nia, is a Biology major at Case Western Reserve University with plans on pursuing a career in healthcare.