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  • The Best 10 Ways to Develop into a Leader in Real Estate

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    If you haven’t already, managing your own team or even organization is probably something you’ve always wanted to do as a real estate agent. Once you have accomplished your objectives as an agent, it’s a big next step and a fresh approach to develop and challenge yourself.

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    So, what abilities and attitudes are necessary to succeed in this position? To assist you prepare to become a leader in the real estate sector, we’ve outlined a few essential stages.

    Develop a Growth mentality: Having the correct mentality is the first step towards being a leader. Adopt a growth mentality, which means being open to learning, changing, and developing. Consider failures as stepping stones to achievement and acknowledge that obstacles are chances for personal development. In addition to assisting you in navigating the intricacies of the real estate market, this mindset will boost your team’s and your clients’ confidence.

    Invest in Ongoing Education to Keep Up with Market Shifts, Industry Trends, and Developing Technologies. In addition to attending conferences, workshops, and seminars, think about being certified or enrolling in advanced real estate courses. Being a knowledgeable expert in your subject is essential for leaders because knowledge truly is power.

    Create a Powerful Professional Network: Establish deep relationships with local leaders, industry experts, and other real estate professionals. Participate actively in online forums and social media groups, attend networking events, and join professional associations. In addition to offering useful information and insights, a strong network may lead to future partnerships and the possibility of adding like-minded agents to your team.

    Develop Your Communication Skills: The foundation of leadership is effective communication. Improve your capacity to listen intently, communicate concepts clearly, and offer helpful criticism. This covers both written and spoken communication, as well as the capacity to modify your approach depending on the audience. Find out what your present leaders think about your communication style by asking them, then taking note of their answers.

    Lead by Example: Exhibit the traits you would like to see in your team, such as honesty, a strong work ethic, or timeliness. Setting the bar for professionalism and quality and leading by example is something that can be done at any age. When you do take the step into leadership, you will be respected and supported by your fellow agents because your actions will speak louder than words.

    Encourage a Collaborative and Supportive Environment: Since a leader is only as good as their team, it’s never too early to begin promoting open communication, teamwork, and a great work environment among your fellow agents. Be open to your coworkers’ thoughts and concerns and provide them guidance and support. A successful team is evidence of good leadership.

    Adopt Innovation and Technology: Being tech-savvy is crucial to being competitive in the real estate market in the current digital era. Learn about the newest platforms, software, and solutions that may improve customer experiences, expedite procedures, and maximize efficiency. Accept innovation as a way to increase your company’s efficacy and efficiency.

    Create a Strategic Vision: Even if they do not yet have a team, a real estate leader should have a clear vision for their company and team. Establish your objectives, lay out your plans, and draft a successful road map. Be flexible and prepared to change direction as needed, but never lose sight of your overall goal and allow it to develop alongside you as you pursue a leadership position.

    Show Resilience: The real estate sector may be unexpected and demanding. Leaders need to be able to bounce back from obstacles, failures, and changes in the market. Maintain an optimistic attitude and stay focused on your long-term goals, especially during difficult circumstances.

    Ask for Feedback and Reflect on Yourself: Constantly ask mentors, coworkers, and clients for their opinions. Take advantage of it as a chance to develop and better yourself. Additionally, evaluate your strengths, shortcomings, and places for improvement by regularly reflecting on yourself. Effective leadership is characterized by a dedication to personal development.

    It takes commitment, ongoing education, and a sincere love for the real estate sector to become a leader. You may establish yourself as a pioneer in the field and propel not just your personal success but also that of your team and clients by making the effort to develop the proper attitude and abilities. Keep in mind that leadership is about your influence and the good you do for those around you, not about a label.

  • The Crucial Real Estate Information for Every Leader

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    Look about you. If you are on land, you are in real estate. It is ubiquitous and indispensable. For most businesses, real estate is the largest or second-largest asset on their books, yet since it is so common, it is easy to take it for granted. Since it affects everyone—neighbors, employees, investors, regulators, and customers—real estate management is difficult. I intend to distill real estate principles in this article to help CEOs, board members, and others get over this challenge.

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    In addition to being an operational need, commercial real estate is a strategic asset. It seldom piques the curiosity of upper management, though. In many businesses, real estate is still frequently seen as a reactive, second-order staff position that prioritizes particular deals and projects above the more significant strategic issues the company faces. Business units make layout and placement decisions, mostly based on short-term needs and customary knowledge. Customer and employee preferences might not always take precedence over closeness to the business headquarters. The following five maxims, which are intended for the executives who mentor top managers rather than real estate specialists, highlight the essential knowledge that top managers should possess.

    1. Take care of the portfolio

    A company’s real estate holdings should be worth more to the company than the sum of its separate locations. To ensure this, executives need a high-level view of their real estate situation, which they are unable to get via site-by-site research, which is frequently the responsibility of internal workers and systems. Executives need a “snapshot” of the company’s physical footprint, which includes its locations, building types and land kinds, the usage and condition of important facilities, lease terms and operating costs, and risks to the company’s finances and environment. Executives also need a dynamic and changing perspective on how business strategy is impacting their real estate assets and how that impact may change depending on the course taken. When comparing the snapshot—tables, maps, and photographs—with the “movie,” which consists of intricate scenarios of a company’s known and future demands, the study is likely to reveal certain misalignments. The company may have too much space in some areas and not enough in others, or it may have the wrong kind of space in some areas. The research will also show whose leases are ending when, their future costs, and how their locations and expiration dates may make future operations more challenging or perhaps impossible.

    Armed with these insights, a leader may take advantage of portfolio opportunities that a site-by-site analysis might overlook. For example, offices that don’t have to be in the city center can be relocated to nearby, less expensive submarkets. Redundant facilities may be sold, leased, or demolished.

    When a business is going through a major transformation, such a merger, acquisition, or sale, the portfolio strategy is very important. The process of rationalizing an organization’s real estate, or aligning space and facilities (supply) to strategic and operational goals (demand), may be just as important as cutting staff. In order to balance supply and demand operationally, financially, and physically, relocations, closures, and disposal are commonly required procedures. After acquiring the company, the multinational communications and advertising giant WPP Group promptly sold J. Walter Thompson’s Tokyo headquarters, keeping a staggering $100 million in profits. Additionally, when divestitures are about to occur, real estate might occasionally be the most valuable and visible asset. For instance, Bear Stearns’ primary asset before its demise was a skyscraper on Wall Street.

    Using portfolio analysis, leaders may also discover a property’s long-term costs and utilization. Over the course of a facility’s useful life, which is typically 50 years or more, all operating and maintenance expenses can easily surpass the initial costs invested during construction or refurbishment. Taking a portfolio approach makes it easier to schedule building sales and rentals as well as maintenance costs more effectively. A comprehensive grasp of this life cycle can help leaders anticipate—and perhaps prevent—project-level actions that threaten portfolio-wide benefits. For instance, a business unit may lease additional space to accommodate expansion or a restructuring without recognizing that another unit has available space in a nearby building, or a CEO may make expensive renovations to the company’s headquarters while more junior managers are searching for methods to save expenses.

    A warning: Stay away from the shadow portfolio.

    As they strive to reduce expenses through outsourcing, businesses should be conscious of their indirect responsibility for the structures housing their outsourced activities. The arrangement and positioning of the facilities have a significant impact on the productivity of the employees, even if they are not part of the company. Additionally, companies risk legal action and activist stakeholder action if worker health and safety laws are not followed. For example, companies who have outsourced a significant portion of their operations, such as Nike and Citigroup, have found that they have massive de facto portfolios that require the same level of management expertise as their physical estate.

    2. Incorporate Adaptability

    Even if it sometimes necessitates paying more up front, the agile organization ensures that it has the most flexibility with all of its real estate assets. Building modular buildings, leasing instead of purchasing, and distributing labor are examples of financial, physical, and organizational flexibility.

    financial.

    Companies that prioritize flexibility tend to own less and lease more. For example, in order to keep control and because it believed that ownership would ultimately be less expensive than leasing, Pfizer has always owned the bulk of its buildings. However, when the industry changed, Pfizer found it was very difficult to sell specialized R&D sites since it had to sell buildings instead of investing in costly retrofits. The company plans to consider leasing and flexible-use options when it ultimately needs more space for research and development.

    The lease itself offers a way to maximize adaptability. Shorter terms with characteristics like growth and departure clauses, renewal options, and more frequent and early termination dates may make it simpler for a company to adapt to changing circumstances. By scheduling the expiration dates of leases, sublease agreements, and exit clauses at adjacent locations, organizations can also relocate or stop operations. As with equipment purchases, savvy managers negotiate leases by establishing a basic price and presenting a variety of choices, some of which, depending on the degree of flexibility needed, the company is ready to pay more for. For example, they may provide departure rights after one year (instead of the usual five) for a unit that is for sale, or modular choices on expanded space for a start-up that is growing quickly. Corporate real estate managers may make well-informed decisions about how much to invest if they understand how company demands fluctuate. The hidden recurring costs of having too much or too little space, or the wrong sort of space in the wrong place, may be more than the upfront costs in uncertain times.

    concrete.

    The capacity to divide or sublease space with ease is an example of simple physical flexibility. By subleasing a portion of their space to third parties, businesses may adapt to changing demands and take advantage of less expensive long-term leases in these kinds of facilities.

    Whole constructions can be designed to be adaptable. Modular constructions, for instance, may be quickly put together and used for a variety of purposes. Built from the inside out, “shrink-wrapped” facilities may have smaller footprints since they don’t have the extra rooms that come with a one-size-fits-all design. Because of its reduced size, a parcel of land may be used for a variety of reasons. The short lifespan of China’s “disposable factories” allows for flexibility in how money and land are used. Using a disposable structure isn’t always acceptable; factors like worker comfort and environmental consequences are crucial. But these structures only cost a quarter of what a permanent plant would, can be quickly and cheaply dismantled, and take a sixth of the time to erect. They are very simple to maintain and operate.

    Businesses can more easily transition from an expensive, complex, or outdated use to a new, more lucrative one by taking future uses into account while developing more permanent facilities. When anticipated usage or operating expenses change, these fungible designs’ simple, universal common areas, standardized space modules, movable walls, and readily accessible HVAC and electrical infrastructure allow for rapid reconfiguration of the area. Adding flexibility early on is significantly less expensive than tearing down obstacles to create place for new arrangements.

    institutional.

    By being receptive to the notion of providing employees with several workplace layouts, businesses may maintain their real estate flexibility. Working from home is the most evident example of an alternative workplace. Even while “telecommuting” has been around for a while, until recently, it was only used to describe a limited percentage of senior employees and workers who carried out self-directed duties. (See the article “The Alternative Workplace” from HBR’s May–June 1998 issue.) But since many workers now have the option to work from home, several companies are looking for methods to lower their real estate costs while simultaneously increasing employee satisfaction.

  • How to Use Real Estate to Build Wealth

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    When you image a real estate investor, what comes to mind? Is it a high-ranking figure in an ivory tower, a la Donald Trump?

    Even though you might not know it, everyone who owns a property is in fact a real estate investor, meaning that anybody can legally claim the title. All you need to do is know where to begin.

    It doesn’t have to be difficult or unpleasant to invest in real estate. There are several ways to use real estate to amass riches. You can just live in your primary property for an extended period of time and see its appreciation as you go about your regular business.

    Read More: How to build wealth through real estate in Memphis

    Additionally, you can buy many single-family houses that bring in money through passive income. Other approaches include purchasing properties with an eye toward long-term investment and remodeling houses with the goal of selling them soon.

    Real estate, in any event, has the ability to raise your net worth. Furthermore, assets and money of this kind can be passed down to future generations.

    Now let’s get started on using real estate to create money.

    Appreciation of Property

    Property appreciation is one of the simplest methods to increase your wealth through real estate. Investing in single-family houses might see a rise in value over time in places with strong growth potential. Naturally, nothing is certain, so finding places with room to expand requires careful consideration and investigation.

    With this, a real estate agent can assist you. It never hurts to speak with a different real estate investor or property management specialist who may be more knowledgeable about the specifics of real estate and the neighborhood(s) of your choice.

    Whether you invest in numerous single-family houses or just own the house you live in, property appreciation is a terrific method to generate wealth.

    Realizing that real estate investing is sometimes a long-term undertaking is essential to capitalizing on property appreciation. This is due to the single-family home market’s potential for cycles with several ups and downs, just like everything else. When it comes time to sell, however, individuals that stick with it for the long haul usually find that their real estate investment has paid off.

    Rental Revenue

    A real estate investor can get rental income from renters by buying several single-family houses at once or one at a time.

    In addition to covering the mortgage payments on the properties as well as the expenditures associated with property management and upkeep, this technique may quickly provide a consistent and occasionally sizable stream of passive income that puts money in the pocket of the real estate investor. This is a win-win situation since a steady cash flow may support the real estate portfolio while boosting the investor’s net worth.

    Utilize

    For a real estate investor trying to optimize profits and accumulate wealth, leverage is a potent instrument.

    A real estate investor may control a property’s whole worth with a small initial investment by holding mortgages on rental properties. This implies that any appreciation in the rental properties’ value is determined by their entire worth, not just by your original investment (down payment and the monthly payments you’ve previously paid). As a result, your returns (profits) may be increased.

    However, since leverage works both ways, you can end yourself owing more than your house is worth if its value drops. Because of this, it’s imperative that you exercise due diligence and reduce any risks related to market swings.

    Tax Advantages

    For a prospective real estate investor who is just beginning to understand how to use real estate to develop wealth, this is sometimes an underestimated benefit. Tax deductions may be available for interest paid on mortgages, real estate taxes, and other costs associated with property maintenance. Any tax benefit has the potential to increase your net worth and return on investment (ROI).

    Purchasing and Selling Real Estate

    Both buying single-family houses to rent out and earn rent, as well as staying in your primary dwelling for an extended period of time and seeing its value increase, are excellent financial opportunities. Passive income is that.

    The approach of flipping homes is available to real estate investors who are more active.

    Buying houses that may be reduced because of the previous owner’s financial difficulties or neglected upkeep is part of the flipper lifestyle. After making repairs and renovations, a real estate investor can turn a profit by flipping the homes.

    But flipping doesn’t always result in success. It necessitates not just project management and house construction skills but also a thorough grasp of the real estate industry. Costs and markets are subject to change. That’s not to say flipping properties won’t allow you to accumulate riches; but, it can need some research and, frequently, some experience.

    Invest and Hold

    On the other hand, adopting a buy-and-hold approach enables a real estate investor to profit from the rental properties’ long-term growth.

    When buying single-family houses or other rental properties and holding onto them for a long time, investors can profit from both property appreciation and rental revenue. This can significantly increase your net worth over time.

    It is important to remember that these properties will need ongoing attention. Depending on how many properties you own, maintaining these properties yourself or via a property management firm can rapidly become a full-time job.

    Long-Term Wealth Can Come From Real Estate

    It is possible to build money through real estate. In actuality, both large and small investors do it every day.

    Some young professionals see accumulating riches as their primary objective. Some retired couples just wish to live off of passive income. Indeed, real estate investment trusts (REITs) that are both privately and publicly traded participate in the game.

    These people and businesses across the nation, despite differences in size and level of experience, all aim to accumulate riches. And they’ve discovered a fantastic method for using real estate to increase riches.

  • Five pillars of outstanding real estate leadership

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    1. Develop an attitude of success

    Goal-setting and goal-achieving lead to a fulfilled existence. You begin by outlining your personal standards and definition of success. The next step in developing a mentality is to match those ideals with your behavior.

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    Setting goals is essential because it makes you see achievement and devise a strategy to achieve it. Financial objectives are necessary since you must put food on the table, but what else do you want? What holds significance in your life? What future goals do you have for your children and family? In one, five, and 10 years, what do you want to be your title in the workplace? Put your thoughts on paper, create a strategy to reach your objectives, and schedule time each quarter to assess your progress.

    2. Establish a well-defined plan.

    Placing families in the houses that are best for them is the common objective shared by the majority of residential real estate agents. Customer service, diligence, follow-up, follow-through, and keeping ahead of market trends and resources are some of the ways we do this. So what makes excellent agents different from great ones, if we’re all doing this? well-defined plan.

    With the use of technology, customers may now learn more and have options outside of the conventional real estate paradigm. But excellent counsel is due to good people, and no software will ever fully replace the value of a knowledgeable agent. Leaders assist customers in sorting through all the information and tools available to them so they can develop winning plans.

    Just a few instances over the last two years will do for now. The buyer’s agent might suggest a lender who underwrites the loan before to entering into a contract, rather than merely providing a preapproval letter, if the buyer is eager to close. Alternatively, an agent can concentrate on listings in the weaker condominium market and apply contingencies that make the buyer competitive against all-cash bids, given the inflow of first-time homeowners in the market (attributed in part to the baby boom of the 1980s).

    3. Take initiative

    Proactivity is one of the leadership qualities I have observed in professionals across many sectors. “Pros are proactive, rookies are reactive,” as I like to say. To be clear, I was a rookie once as well, and I still find that I respond emotionally to some aspects of my business. But I have purposefully set up procedures that facilitate proactive behavior, particularly in areas that bring in money.

    Proactive thinking, eating habits, and time and energy allocation characterize leaders. They hold events where potential buyers are invited to learn about the home-buying process, they conduct cold calls to former clients and referral partners, or they enroll in programs to hone their operational management skills. They go out and create business; they don’t wait for it to come to them. Being proactive is the best way to secure future business, but it does take initial time investment and persistence.

    Unsettling? On occasion. I’ve done things in my profession that have scared me at times. But I don’t want to be a part of a group that only meets in meetings. Being surrounded by cheerleaders who just talk about what they want is not something I want as a cheerleader. I’m ready to act. IMPACT stands for I Must Personally Act, and it’s a small acronym that prods me forward.

    4. Establish standards

    Unmet expectations lead to frustration. A strong leader establishes clear goals early on for their team, clients, and themselves.

    It’s probable that you will add more team members as your company expands. It’s like having a second full-time job to help others become leaders in your business, and having open lines of communication about your expectations and theirs may be the difference between success and failure. Setting expectations with customers before they even begin to look at houses is crucial.

    “Is now still a good time to buy a home?” is a question I am asked a lot, especially in a hot market like this one. “You are ready to buy a home when you are ready to buy a home,” is how I usually reply. Put differently, if you’re ready, we start creating a strategy for you right now, beginning with figuring out what you want to get out of this purchase. It was probably not a good time to buy in 2021 if a customer intended to purchase and flip a house in six months. But if a buyer intends to stay in the house for five to ten years, statistics indicate that the house will increase in value and be a wise investment.

    As the leader, you may create expectations by posing thoughtful questions, offering pertinent information, and deciding on the parameters (as well as the desired results) of your involvement.

    5. Stay receptive to opportunities.

    In my view, being receptive to opportunities entails not just breaking new ground but also being receptive to concepts or avenues that you may not have previously explored. Excellent leaders, in my opinion, are aware of this. They never close their eyes to chances, both personal and professional, and they never miss anything.

    On the other hand, inexperienced leaders might take a certain path and show little inclination to veer off or investigate other options, even if they end up being workable fixes. When provided with facts, they refuse to consider unconventional ideas and remain closed off to new ideas. In the worst situations, these managers crash and burn because they become stuck all the time.

    There is an eraser on top of the pencil for a reason: errors are made. Sometimes deleting mistakes, beginning over, and going in a different route is what true leadership entails.

    Remember these astute words from real estate consultant Brian Buffini, whether you’re applying them to one specific tactic or your whole career: “Opportunity will come to you, but it will appear as work.” Be willing to put in a lot of effort, have an open mind, and don’t be scared to explore any option that presents itself.

  • Definition, Types, and Investing Guide for Real Estate

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    Real Estate: What Is It?

    Land and any permanent buildings, such as houses, or improvements, whether natural or man-made, affixed to it are considered real estate.

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    One type of real property is real estate. It is not the same as personal property, which includes things like cars, boats, jewels, furniture, and agricultural equipment but is not affixed to the land permanently.

    Awareness of Real Estate

    Although the phrases land, real estate, and real property are sometimes used synonymously, they have different meanings.

    The term “land” refers to the entire surface of the earth, including the water, minerals, and plants, as well as the space above it and the earth’s center. The physical attributes of land include its uniqueness, indestructibility, and immobility due to the geographical differences between each piece of land.

    Real estate includes both the original land and any long-term human constructions, including homes and other structures. An improvement is any land addition or modification that raises the value of the property.

    After land is developed, the entire amount of money and labor required to construct the improvement constitutes a substantial fixed investment. Improvements like drainage, power, water, and sewer systems are often permanent, even though a structure can be demolished.

    Real property consists of the original land, any improvements made to it, as well as the rights derived from ownership and use.

    What Kinds of Real Estate Are There?

    Real estate utilized for residential usage is referred to as residential real estate. Townhouses, duplexes, condominiums, cooperatives, single-family homes, and multifamily dwellings are a few examples.

    Any property utilized only for commercial purposes, including parking lots, restaurants, shopping malls, theaters, hotels, hospitals, petrol stations, grocery shops, and apartment buildings, is referred to as commercial real estate.

    Any property utilized for production, distribution, manufacturing, warehousing, research and development, or storage is considered industrial real estate.

    Land: This refers to undeveloped land, open space, and agricultural land, including ranches, farms, orchards, and timberlands.

    Special purpose: Real estate that is utilized by the general public, including parks, libraries, government facilities, cemeteries, and schools.

    The Real Estate Economy

    The number of new residential building projects in any given month, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau, is a crucial economic indicator. Real estate is a major engine of economic growth in the United States. The report contains information on construction permits, housing starts, and housing completions for single-family, two- to four-family, and multifamily (i.e., apartment complexes) structures with five or more units.

    Housing starts are closely watched by analysts and investors since the data may give a broad indication of the trajectory of the economy. Furthermore, the kinds of new home starts might reveal information about the direction the economy is taking.

    A scarcity of single-family houses may soon be approaching, which would raise home prices, if housing starts show a decline in single-family starts and an increase in multifamily starts. 20 years of house starts, from January 1, 2000, to February 1, 2020, are displayed in the following chart.

    The Art of Real Estate Investing

    Investing in real estate may take many forms, but some of the more popular ones are house flipping, investment properties, and homeownership. Real estate wholesalers are one kind of real estate investor who contracts a house with a seller and then locates a buyer. Real estate wholesalers typically locate troubled homes, sign contracts for them, and carry out no repairs or upgrades.

    Rent or lease income as well as the increase in the property’s value are the sources of income from real estate investments. In the year-end 2021 U.S. house sales report, home sellers countrywide achieved a profit of $94,092, a 45.3% return on investment, up 45% from $64,931 in 2020 and up 71% from $55,000 two years prior, according to ATTOM, which is in charge of the country’s leading property database.

    The location of real estate has a significant impact on its value, and other variables that may also have an impact include employment rates, the local economy, crime rates, transit options, school quality, municipal services, and property taxes.

    Advantages

    provides a consistent income

    provides opportunities for capital growth

    portfolio diversification

    able to be purchased with leverage

    Cons

    is typically illiquid

    impacted by very specific local elements

    demands hefty upfront financial expenditure

    It can call for proactive management and knowledge

    Through a real estate investment trust (REIT), a business that owns a portfolio of properties that generate income, one can invest in real estate indirectly. REITs come in a variety of forms, such as equity, mortgage, and hybrid REITs. They are also categorized as publicly-traded, publicly non-traded, and private REITs according to how their shares are purchased and sold.

    Purchasing shares that are listed for public trading on an exchange is the most common method of investing in a REIT. Because the shares trade like any other investment, including stocks, on an exchange, REITs are extremely transparent and liquid. Dividend payments and share appreciation are how REITs generate income. Investors have access to real estate mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in addition to individual REITs.

    Which Financing Options Are the Best for Real Estate Investments?

    Purchasing real estate is often done with cash or with a mortgage backed by a commercial or private lender.

    Real Estate Development: What Is It?

    Renovations of already-existing structures, the acquisition of undeveloped land, and the selling of built land or portions to third parties are all considered forms of real estate development, often known as property development.

  • Characteristics of Successful Real Estate Leaders

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    Forward-thinking Management

    Aspiring real estate executives set clear, quantifiable, and doable objectives for their groups. These objectives direct agents toward improved performance and results, acting as a road map for success.

    Read More: adam gant

    Beyond objectives, forward-thinking leaders draw a clear image of what the future could hold. By highlighting the potential benefits of diligence and hard effort, they arouse passion and devotion and help team members develop a feeling of purpose.

    Excellent Interaction Skills

    In the real estate industry, communication is essential, and skilled leaders thrive in this domain. Leaders pay close attention to the issues and suggestions raised by their clients and team members. Leaders in the real estate industry may better comprehend demands, manage disputes, and foster trust by practicing active listening.

    Leaders in real estate communicate their concepts with conviction and clarity. To persuade stakeholders, bargain skillfully, and assist customers and agents in making wise decisions, they employ persuasive communication.

    Flexibility and Sturdiness

    The real estate market is typified by sporadic difficulties and ongoing change. Successful leaders keep up with changes in the economy, regulations, and market trends. By adjusting to evolving situations, leaders may strategically place their people and make well-informed choices.

    Good team leaders remain calm and upbeat in the face of adversity. They act as the cornerstones of their teams’ strength, providing encouragement and strategies for overcoming challenges.

    Emotional intelligence and empathy

    Proficient professionals in the real estate industry recognize the significance of emotions in the process of making decisions. Leaders may build loyalty and trust by customizing their services to match the needs and preferences of their clientele. Emotionally intelligent leaders are adept at establishing and preserving bonds with both their clients and their staff.

    Making decisions and solving problems

    Effective real estate executives analyze the advantages and disadvantages, speak with specialists when needed, and make prompt, well-informed choices when faced with ambiguity. This decisiveness encourages team trust and keeps transactions on schedule.

    Effective problem solvers are leaders. They take problems head-on, coming up with innovative solutions for difficult real estate problems and making sure that transactions go well.

    Honesty and Moral Guidance

    Real estate leaders are aware of how important moral behavior is. When it comes to their interactions, leaders are transparent and truthful, giving team members and clients all the information they require to make wise choices.

    Leaders that are ethical uphold the greatest standards of professionalism and promote honesty in the business community. They provide a model for others to follow.

    The Advantages of Skilled Leadership in the Property Industry

    Group Efficiency and Output

    Team performance and productivity are significantly impacted by effective leadership in the real estate industry. Leaders who are endowed with attributes like as vision, effective communication, and the capacity to encourage others foster an atmosphere in which agents are driven to achieve success. Agent communication and teamwork are improved as a result, which boosts productivity and facilitates more effective transactions and problem-solving. Teams with strong leadership and motivation are more productive, which boosts commissions, sales, and success all around.

    Trust and Client Satisfaction

    Customers who are happy with your services are more likely to refer you to others and use you again in the future if you have good communication skills, empathy, and honesty. Good leaders make sure that their customers feel appreciated and receive outstanding service at every stage.

    Relationships between clients and agents are built on trust. Leaders are trusted by their clients to work in their best interests, bargain well, and give reliable information.

    Sustainability and Business Growth

    In the real estate sector, effective leadership creates the foundation for long-term development and sustainability in addition to short-term success. Visionary real estate executives create growth strategies and strategic goals to keep their companies competitive in changing marketplaces. Proficient executives adjust to fluctuations in the market, changes in the economy, and advances in technology, guaranteeing that their companies stay profitable and relevant in the long run.

    Building Brands and Reputation

    In the real estate business, a solid brand and reputation are advantages. Knowing this, competent executives take proactive steps to improve their standing and develop their brand, such as:

    Leaders in the field are known for their constant provision of outstanding customer service, which helps them build a solid reputation.

    Personal Branding: In order to draw customers and position themselves as authorities in their field, leaders frequently build their personal brands.

    Networking: Skilled executives make the most of their connections to build their brand and open up new business prospects.

    Recap

    It’s clear from this examination of the essence, traits, advantages, difficulties, and traps of leadership in real estate that effective leadership is about more than just closing deals; it’s about motivating groups of people, establishing a culture of trust, guaranteeing sustained success, and developing a spectacular reputation.

    Go to Icons of Real Estate if you want to hone your leadership abilities and get the rewards of successful leadership. Our extensive coaching, mentoring, and training programs are designed to enable real estate professionals to develop into outstanding leaders. With our help, you can hone your leadership abilities and surpass everyday obstacles while also taking your team and career to new heights.

  • What Is the Work of a Real Estate Lawyer?

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    Real estate lawyers, or simply “real estate attorneys,” are experts in everything from title transfers and transactions to resolving conflicts between parties involving real estate. You may want to think about hiring a real estate attorney to assist you with the legal aspects of purchasing property, in addition to a real estate agent to assist with transaction negotiation.

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    A Summary of Real Estate Attorneys

    A lawyer with a license to practice real estate law is known as a real estate attorney. As a result, they are well-versed in a variety of real estate-related topics and laws. They can assist in making sure a property transaction in which you are involved goes smoothly by acting as your representative. A real estate lawyer must be present at the closing of a real estate purchase or sale in many states across the United States.

    Property owners and buyers may need their help with a number of things, including:

    Title Lookups

    Transfers of deeds

    Reviews of home inspection reports

    Price talks

    Putting together a contract

    examining and interpreting a third-party contract

    Participation during the closing

    Owners’ and buyers’ legal rights

    You may want a real estate attorney to be there to represent your interests even if your state does not require one. While some real estate attorneys charge a flat fee, the majority bill on an hourly basis. Later in this post, we’ll go over real estate attorneys’ bills in more detail.

    Requirements

    A real estate lawyer has completed their legal education, which normally requires three years of full-time study. Additionally, they passed the state bar exam given by the jurisdiction in which they practice. A real estate law certification can be obtained after completing elective courses and an internship during law school to further one’s preparation for a career in real estate law.

    The Duties of the Attorney

    In general, the duties of a real estate lawyer differ from one transaction to the next. A brief summary of the typical tasks that a real estate lawyer would perform in a typical, general sale is provided below.

    Purchase agreements, mortgages, title documents, and transfer documents can all be prepared and reviewed by a real estate lawyer. They will examine all paperwork ahead of time and offer advice on any errors or omissions.

    A real estate lawyer representing the buyer will always be present at the closing. The payment of money and transfer of title occurs at a closing. The lawyer’s job is to make sure the transfer is lawful, enforceable, and in the client’s best interests.

    In the course of buying a property, the real estate lawyer and staff may prepare title insurance policies, finish the property’s title search, and manage the money transfer. In the event that the purchase is financed, the buyer’s lender will need documentation for the transfer of funds, including the federal HUD-1 Form, which must be completed by the attorney.

    The lawyer will settle any real estate disputes, including those involving contracts, lot line disputes, and chain of title disputes.

    In the event that a real estate dispute reaches the courtroom, a real estate attorney may also offer legal representation for the buyer or the seller. The real estate lawyer attempts to resolve the conflict by gathering information from all parties involved. This can entail going through the specifics with a surveyor or title company.

    In addition to having a license to practice in the state in which the transaction is being handled, real estate lawyers are required to keep up with any changes in the law that may have an effect on the transaction.

  • Real Estate: What Is It?

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    Land and any permanent buildings, such as houses, or improvements, whether natural or man-made, affixed to it are considered real estate.

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    One type of real property is real estate. It is not the same as personal property, which includes things like cars, boats, jewels, furniture, and agricultural equipment but is not affixed to the land permanently.

    Awareness of Real Estate

    Although the phrases land, real estate, and real property are sometimes used synonymously, they have different meanings.

    The term “land” refers to the entire surface of the earth, including the water, minerals, and plants, as well as the space above it and the earth’s center. The physical attributes of land include its uniqueness, indestructibility, and immobility due to the geographical differences between each piece of land.

    Real estate includes both the original land and any long-term human constructions, including homes and other structures. An improvement is any land addition or modification that raises the value of the property.

    After land is developed, the entire amount of money and labor required to construct the improvement constitutes a substantial fixed investment. Improvements like drainage, power, water, and sewer systems are often permanent, even though a structure can be demolished.

    Real property consists of the original land, any improvements made to it, as well as the rights derived from ownership and use.

    The Real Estate Economy

    The number of new residential building projects in any given month, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau, is a crucial economic indicator. Real estate is a major engine of economic growth in the United States. The report contains information on construction permits, housing starts, and housing completions for single-family, two- to four-family, and multifamily (i.e., apartment complexes) structures with five or more units.

    Housing starts are closely watched by analysts and investors since the data may give a broad indication of the trajectory of the economy. Furthermore, the kinds of new home starts might reveal information about the direction the economy is taking.

    A scarcity of single-family houses may soon be approaching, which would raise home prices, if housing starts show a decline in single-family starts and an increase in multifamily starts. 20 years of house starts, from January 1, 2000, to February 1, 2020, are displayed in the following chart.

    The Art of Real Estate Investing

    Investing in real estate may take many forms, but some of the more popular ones are house flipping, investment properties, and homeownership. Real estate wholesalers are one kind of real estate investor who contracts a house with a seller and then locates a buyer. Real estate wholesalers typically locate troubled homes, sign contracts for them, and carry out no repairs or upgrades.

    Rent or lease income as well as the increase in the property’s value are the sources of income from real estate investments. In the year-end 2021 U.S. house sales report, home sellers countrywide achieved a profit of $94,092, a 45.3% return on investment, up 45% from $64,931 in 2020 and up 71% from $55,000 two years prior, according to ATTOM, which is in charge of the country’s leading property database.

    The location of real estate has a significant impact on its value, and other variables that may also have an impact include employment rates, the local economy, crime rates, transit options, school quality, municipal services, and property taxes.

    Through a real estate investment trust (REIT), a business that owns a portfolio of properties that generate income, one can invest in real estate indirectly. REITs come in a variety of forms, such as equity, mortgage, and hybrid REITs. They are also categorized as publicly-traded, publicly non-traded, and private REITs according to how their shares are purchased and sold.

    Purchasing shares that are listed for public trading on an exchange is the most common method of investing in a REIT. Because the shares trade like any other investment, including stocks, on an exchange, REITs are extremely transparent and liquid. Dividend payments and share appreciation are how REITs generate income. Investors have access to real estate mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in addition to individual REITs.

    Mortgage-backed securities (MBS) represent an additional avenue for real estate investment. One example of an MBS is the Vanguard Mortgage-Backed Securities ETF (VMBS), which is composed of federal agency-backed MBS with minimum pools of $1 billion and minimum maturities of one year.4 or the Bloomberg U.S. MBS Index-tracking iShares MBS ETF (MBB), which focuses on fixed-rate mortgage securities. Among its assets are bonds from government-sponsored companies like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which are either issued or guaranteed.

    How Should a Real Estate Investment Be Financed?

    Purchasing real estate is often done with cash or with a mortgage backed by a commercial or private lender.

    Real Estate Development: What Is It?

    Renovations of already-existing structures, the acquisition of undeveloped land, and the selling of built land or portions to third parties are all considered forms of real estate development, often known as property development.

    What Professions Predominate in the Real Estate Sector?

    Leasing agents, foreclosure specialists, title examiners, house inspectors, real estate appraisers, real estate agents, and mortgage brokers are among the common professions in the real estate sector.

  • Principal Motives for Real Estate Investing

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    Purchasing real estate has a lot of advantages. Investors can benefit from good returns, tax benefits, diversity, and regular cash flow with carefully selected assets. Real estate can also be used to create wealth.

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    Considering making a real estate investment? What you should know about the advantages of real estate and the reasons it’s regarded as a wise investment is provided here.

    Cash Movement

    The net revenue from a real estate investment after operational costs and mortgage payments are deducted is known as cash flow. The potential of real estate investing to provide cash flow is a major advantage. In many situations, cash flow only becomes better with time as you increase your equity and pay down your mortgage.

    Tax Benefits and Incentives

    Several tax benefits and deductions are available to real estate investors, which can result in financial savings come tax season. The reasonable expenses of owning, running, and maintaining a property are often deductible.

    Appreciation

    The three main sources of revenue for real estate investors are appreciation, rental income, and any earnings from businesses reliant on the property. When the time comes to sell, you might make money if you make a wise investment because real estate values often rise over time. Over time, rents also have a tendency to climb, which might result in increased cash flow.

    The median house price in the United States since 1963 is displayed in this graph from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The regions that are gray-shaded represent US recessions.

    Develop Wealth and Equity

    Equity is an asset that you accumulate and contribute to your net worth when you pay off a mortgage on real estate. Additionally, when equity grows, you have the leverage to purchase additional real estate, which boosts wealth and cash flow even further.

    Diversification of Portfolios

    The possibility for diversification that comes with real estate investing is another advantage. When compared to other main asset classes, real estate has a poor correlation, sometimes even a negative one. Accordingly, adding real estate can increase return per unit of risk and reduce portfolio volatility in a portfolio of diverse assets.

    Leverage in Real Estate

    The use of different financial instruments or borrowed resources, such as debt, to raise the possible return on an investment is known as leverage. Leverage is the ability to obtain 100% of the house you wish to buy with a 20% down payment on a mortgage, for example. Real estate is a physical asset that is easily financed since it may be used as collateral.

    Competitive Returns with Adjusted Risk

    Returns on real estate can differ based on a number of variables, including asset type, location, and management. Nevertheless, beating the S&P 500’s average returns—what many refer to as “the market”—is a goal for many investors.

    The Inflation Hedge

    The positive correlation between GDP growth and the demand for real estate is the source of real estate’s capacity to hedge against inflation. Rents rise in response to the demand for real estate as economies grow. Consequently, this results in increased capital values. Therefore, by transmitting some of the inflationary pressure to renters and integrating some of the inflationary pressure in the form of capital gain, real estate tends to retain the purchase power of capital.

    Trusts for Real Estate Investments (REITs)

    You might want to think about a real estate investment trust (REIT) if you want to invest in real estate but aren’t yet ready to take the risk of buying and managing properties. Traded REITs are available for purchase and sale on major stock markets. You may enter and exit a position fast because many trade at a high volume. REITs usually give greater dividends than many equities since they are required to distribute 90% of their revenue to investors.

    Indirect Real Estate Investing: What Is It?

    Direct ownership of a property or properties is not involved in indirect real estate investing. Rather, you participate in a pool with other investors in which a management business either owns and manages a portfolio of mortgages or owns and operates buildings.

    How Can Inflation Be Hedged by Real Estate?

    Real estate ownership offers numerous options to stave off inflation. First, capital gains might result from property prices increasing faster than the rate of inflation. Secondly, investment properties’ rentals have the potential to rise in tandem with inflation. Lastly, the proportionate monthly mortgage payment amount for properties financed with a fixed-rate loan will decrease over time. For example, a $1,000 monthly fixed payment will become less difficult as inflation reduces the $1,000’s buying power.

    Is the Property I Live in My Main Residence an Investment?

    Since a main house serves as a person’s primary abode, it is frequently not seen as a real estate investment. However, it is possible to make money if you sell your house for more money than you originally paid for it. Furthermore, you could have to pay taxes on those earnings if this does occur.

    The Final Word

    There are disadvantages to real estate investment in spite of all of its advantages. Lack of liquidity, or the relative difficulty of turning an asset into cash and cash into an asset, is one of the primary ones. A real estate deal may take months to finalize, in contrast to a stock or bond transaction, which may be finished in a matter of seconds. Finding the ideal counterparty might take weeks of labor, even with a broker’s assistance.

    Nevertheless, real estate is a unique asset class that is easy to comprehend and may improve the portfolio’s risk-and-return profile for investors. Real estate by itself provides a buffer against inflation, tax benefits, equity development, competitive risk-adjusted returns, and cash flow. Real estate, whether you invest in real properties or REITs, may also improve a portfolio by reducing volatility via diversity.

  • The Essential Real Estate Knowledge for All Leaders

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    Examine your surroundings. You are in real estate if you are on land. It is both pervasive and essential. Real estate is the largest or second-largest asset on the books for the majority of firms, yet since it is so ubiquitous, it is simple to take it for granted. Real estate management is challenging since it impacts all parties involved, including neighbors, workers, investors, regulators, and consumers. In this piece, I hope to condense real estate axioms that will assist CEOs, board members, and others in overcoming this obstacle.

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    Commercial real estate is a strategic asset as well as an operational requirement. However, senior management is rarely interested in it. Real estate is still often viewed as a reactive, second-order staff role in many firms, with an emphasis on specific transactions and projects rather than the larger strategic concerns facing the business. Decisions on layout and location are determined inside business units, mostly based on conventional knowledge and short-term requirements. Employee and consumer preferences may not always be prioritized above proximity to the corporate office. The following five maxims emphasize the things that top managers should know, and they are not meant for real estate experts but rather for the executives who mentor them.

    1. Take Charge of the Portfolio

    The portfolio of real estate assets held by a business should be worth more to the firm than the total of its individual locations. Executives want a high-level perspective of their real estate position in order to guarantee this, and they cannot obtain it from the site-by-site study that is often the domain of internal staffs and systems. A “snapshot” of the company’s physical footprint, including its locations, types of land and buildings, use and state of key facilities, lease terms and operational expenses, and dangers to the company’s finances and environment, is necessary for executives. Additionally, executives want a dynamic and evolving view of how company strategy is influencing their real estate holdings and how that footprint may vary based on the path chosen. The research is likely to show certain misalignments when they compare the snapshot—tables, maps, and photos—with the “movie,” which consists of complex scenarios of a company’s known and projected demands. The firm can have the incorrect sort of space in certain regions, or too much room in some and not enough in others. Additionally, the analysis will display which leases are expiring when, how much they will cost over time, and how their locations and order of expiry may make future activities more difficult or even impossible.

    Equipped with these discernments, a leader may capitalize on portfolio prospects that a site-by-site examination would miss. For instance, offices that don’t need to be in the heart of the city can be moved to less expensive submarkets that aren’t too far away. It is possible to sell, sublet, or remove redundant facilities.

    The portfolio strategy is particularly significant during a company’s big transition, such a merger, acquisition, or divestiture. Just as essential as reducing the personnel may be the process of rationalizing an organization’s real estate, or the matching of space and facilities (supply) to strategic and operational demands (demand). Relocations, closures, and disposal are frequently necessary steps in the process of operationally, financially, and physically balancing supply and demand. The global advertising and communications behemoth WPP Group quickly sold J. Walter Thompson’s Tokyo headquarters after purchasing the firm, pocketing a whopping $100 million in proceeds. Furthermore, real estate is sometimes the most valuable and noticeable asset when divestitures are imminent. Bear Stearns, for example, had a Wall Street skyscraper that served as its main asset until the company failed.

    Leaders may also learn about a property’s long-term expenses and usage by using portfolio analysis. A facility’s entire running and maintenance expenditures over its useful life, which is usually 50 years or more, can easily exceed the initial costs incurred during construction or renovation. Adopting a portfolio perspective facilitates more efficient scheduling of building rental and sales as well as maintenance expenditures. Leaders may anticipate—and perhaps prevent—project-level behaviors that jeopardize portfolio-wide gains by understanding this life cycle holistically. For example, an executive may make costly changes to the company’s headquarters while more junior managers are looking for ways to cut costs, or a business unit may lease more space to accommodate growth or a reorganization without realizing that another unit has vacant space in a nearby building.

    Companies should be aware of their indirect responsibility for the buildings where outsourced operations are housed while they work to cut costs through outsourcing. Even though the workers at those locations may not be employed by the firm, their productivity is greatly influenced by the layout and placement of the facilities. Additionally, if worker health and safety regulations aren’t followed, businesses may face legal action and activist stakeholder action. Businesses like Citigroup and Nike, for instance, that have outsourced a large percentage of their operations have discovered that they have enormous de facto portfolios that need to be managed just as skillfully as the actual real estate they own.

    2. Include Flexibility

    The agile company makes sure it has the most flexibility possible with all of its real estate assets, even if that occasionally requires making larger upfront payments. Financial, physical, and organizational flexibility include building modular spaces, leasing rather than buying, and dispersing labor.

    Businesses that value flexibility typically lease more and own less. For instance, Pfizer has always held the majority of its buildings in order to maintain control and because it felt that ownership would ultimately be less expensive than leasing. Pfizer discovered that selling specialized R&D facilities was very challenging, though, since changes in the sector forced the business to sell buildings rather than invest in pricey retrofits. When the firm eventually requires more R&D space, it intends to look at leasing and flexible-use possibilities.

    When Pfizer’s executives started reorganizing its enormous real estate holdings in 2006, they found that roughly 15%

    The lease itself provides a means of optimizing flexibility. A corporation may find it easier to adjust to changing conditions if its terms are shorter and include features like expansion and exit clauses, renewal choices, and more frequent and early termination dates. Organizations can also move or terminate activities by arranging the expiration dates of leases, sublet agreements, and departure clauses in nearby sites. As with equipment purchases, astute managers negotiate leases by setting a base price and outlining a range of options, some of which the business is willing to pay more for depending on the level of flexibility required. For instance, they may include modular options on new space for a rapidly expanding start-up, or exit rights after one year (rather than the customary five) for a unit that is up for sale. When corporate real estate managers are aware of how company demands vary, they may make well-informed judgments regarding how much to spend. Expenses up front could be little in uncertain times compared to the hidden running expenses of having too much or too little space, or the wrong kind of space in the wrong location.

    Simple physical flexibility is the ability to split or sublease space with ease. Businesses can benefit from less expensive long-term leases in these types of facilities and adjust to changing needs by subleasing a portion of their space to third parties.

    It is possible to design entire structures to be flexible. For example, structures that are modular may be swiftly assembled and transformed from one purpose to another. “Shrink-wrapped” facilities, which are constructed from the inside out, might have smaller footprints because they lack the spare spaces that usually find themselves inside a one-size-fits-all structure. A piece of land may be put to many purposes because to this smaller footprint. China’s “disposable factories,” which have a brief lifespan, provide for flexibility in the utilization of money and land. It is not always appropriate to use a disposable structure; considerations like as environmental effects and worker comfort are important. However, the cost of these buildings is just one-fourth that of a permanent plant, they can be rapidly and affordably deconstructed, and they only require one-sixth of the time to create. They are also easy to run and maintain.

    Future uses can be considered while designing more permanent structures, which makes it simpler for businesses to switch from an expensive, complicated, or outmoded usage to a new, more profitable one. Simple, universal common spaces, standardized space modules, moveable walls, and easily accessible HVAC and electrical infrastructure are all features of these fungible designs that enable quick reconfiguration of the space when expected usage or running costs vary. It is far less expensive to include flexibility early on than to knock down barriers to make room for new arrangements.

    Businesses may preserve their real estate flexibility by being open to the idea of offering employees several workspace configurations. The most obvious example of an alternative workplace is working from home. Although the term “telecommuting” has been around for a while, it was only ever applied to a small number of senior employees and workers who performed self-directed tasks until recently. (See HBR’s May–June 1998 article, “The Alternative Workplace.”) However, many types of employees may now choose to work from home, and as a result, some businesses are exploring ways to reduce their real estate expenses while also raising employee happiness.