My greatest interest in life has always been real estate. I enjoy every aspect of it, including looking for the appropriate properties, assembling groups of motivated investors, crafting excellent deals, etc. I left my comfortable profession as a lawyer to go on an exciting journey into the world of real estate investing because I am passionate about real estate.
When I first entered the real estate business, I accepted a position as a property manager at a sizable organization. I gained priceless real estate knowledge from working in this position, but I was aware that I wanted to go from the real estate business side to the investing side of the real estate sector.
I worked as a property manager for a while before going to MIT to get my MBA. Shortly after graduating, I discovered a method to break into the multifamily syndication industry, where my company purchases and administers transactions while raising money from family offices and high net worth individuals.
The Most Successful Real Estate Investors to Study
In my professional life, I’ve had the good fortune to take part in multifamily syndication projects, many of which are tens of millions of dollars’ worth. I often invest in multi-family properties worth between $80 million and $100 million.
Although I’ve had excellent success with these investments, I might not have reached my current position without the motivation of wise real estate investors who came before me.
The top real estate investors I like are listed below, along with what I’ve learnt from each of them:
Zell, Sam
Sam Zell, one of the most successful investors in bienes raices playa del carmen mexico, is currently valued at over $5.5 billion. Since the 1960s, Sam has been involved in real estate investments. In fact, in the early 1960s, while he was a student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, he actually started his real estate profession by buying and renting out apartments to other students. He established Equity Group Investments in 1969. Real estate investing is one of this business’s main priorities.
Sam Zell was a significant real estate investment trust (REIT) industry pioneer. He is the current chairman of five publicly traded firms. One of these businesses is Equity Residential (EQR), one of the biggest American residential REITs. Another notable transaction involving Sam Zell is the $39 billion sale of Equity Office, a commercial real estate REIT, to Blackstone. One of the biggest real estate transactions in history took place here.
I’ve gained valuable knowledge by studying Sam’s profession in a number of ways. Being disciplined is one of the most crucial of these. Sam Zell has consistently demonstrated a high level of discipline. He concentrated on creating cash flow and mastering real estate transactions even though he was a college student.
Sam’s perseverance has enabled him to not only create the extraordinarily successful Equity Group Investments, which has been operating successfully for more than 50 years, but also to rise to the position of chairman of five additional businesses, including Equity Residential, Equity Lifestyle Properties, Equity Commonwealth, Covanta Holding Corporation, and Equity Distribution Acquisition Corp.
For over six decades, Sam Zell has employed discipline to slowly expand both his career and his empire. He is currently 79 years old and doesn’t appear to be getting any older.
Sam Zell serves as an example for me in my professional life and helps me stay disciplined and committed to my long-term objectives.
Trump Bren
One of the most successful real estate investors in American history is Donald Bren. With a net worth of $15.3 billion, he is currently the wealthiest real estate investor in the nation. Early in life, Donald began working in the real estate industry. This is due to the fact that his father was a property investor. While Donald was a young man, he assisted in maintaining his father’s structures by working as a carpenter there. He gained knowledge about the real estate investing business while working for his father. Donald Bren currently controls a vast real estate business. He owns 125 residential buildings, 125 business buildings, and a 97% interest in the famed MetLife skyscraper in Manhattan. He has a total of about 115 million square feet of property, mostly in southern California. According to Forbes, he is number 132 on the list of billionaires. He also owns a number of hotels, golf courses, marinas, retail shopping centers, and a coastal resort in addition to a staggering number of office buildings and apartment complexes.
The primary lesson I took away from this titan of the real estate industry was to never look back and to always look forward. Donald Bren once said, “I truly don’t think in the past,” when discussing this subject. At dinner, I sat down with lots of pals, and they like reminiscing about earlier times. Although I respect the past, I don’t often find myself daydreaming about it. I’m eager to get started.
Developing the Donald Bren future-focused mindset has been really beneficial to me professionally. This is mostly due to the fact that in the real estate industry, the past is the past and a market that is strong now might not be so tomorrow. Because of this, I don’t think back on the past and frequently review my market decisions.
For instance, I recently spoke with a property investor who once purchased multi-family apartments in Atlanta at a cost of about $30,000 per door. He was really hesitant to purchase more buildings when the price was approaching $100,000 each door because he had previously been able to purchase the buildings for $30,000 per door. He was stuck in the past, and that influenced how he saw the market and what he expected from it.
After this investor passed on the multi-family properties with $100,000 per door, the Atlanta market has gotten hotter. I was able to purchase several houses in Atlanta for more than $100,000 per door by keeping an eye on the future rather than the past. They are currently providing my investors with an initial rate of return of 25%.
Richard Buffett
Possibly the greatest investor to ever live was Warren Buffett. Even while real estate may not be his primary asset class, he still sets a great example for other investors to follow. According to Forbes, Warren Buffett is now the sixth richest person in the world with a net worth of $110.4 billion. He is regarded as the “Oracle of Omaha” due to his phenomenal success as an investor and his uncanny ability to choose stocks. Warren Buffett purchased his first stock at the age of 11 and began paying taxes at the age of 13. He serves as the chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, a sizable, multinational holding corporation that is home to more than 60 subsidiary businesses, including Dairy Queen, Duracell, and Geico.
Studying Warren Buffett’s career and listening to the counsel he frequently offers in interviews have taught me several valuable lessons, but the most significant one is to “Be bold when everyone else is afraid and to be fearful when everyone else is bold.”
This idea has been directly incorporated into my real estate investing plan, and it has been quite profitable.
For instance, a lot of investors bought multi-family houses in the three years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, I made slower, more deliberate purchases. Later, since I believe in the principles of multi-family property real estate investing, I purchased Element 41 for $80 million during the pandemic when nobody wanted to undertake real estate deals and there was a great deal of panic in the market. As the pandemic comes to an end, this property has grown to be one of my portfolio’s pearls, and its value is rising rapidly.
Conclusion
I really believe that in order to succeed and achieve your goals, you should take advice from successful people who have gone before you. Sam Zell, Donald Bren, and Warren Buffett are among the best examples of successful real estate investors, in my opinion.
Studying these great investors has given me a wealth of knowledge that has been extremely beneficial to my own career. Many of my investors have benefited as well, making huge gains and securing holdings in properties they would have most certainly lost out on otherwise.
My investing philosophy and strategy have been influenced by Zell, Bren, and Buffett, among others. To uncover excellent investment prospects, I combine their finest thoughts with my vast research, my education, and fundamental real estate principles.
This approach has shown to be incredibly effective, and I think it will do so for many years to come. In order to continue finding amazing real estate opportunities in the future, I’m thrilled to collaborate with a lot of investors who hold the same values as I do.