EP 73: How a 40-Year Real Estate Veteran Built 100+ Properties

Now you've done a lot of different development deals.

Some have gone great.

Some of them have gone not so great.

What do you think separates or is there any key attributing factor that separates a good from a bad deal? Does it come from the analysis up front? Is it sheer bad luck? Is it a macro event you couldn't control, political? What do you think has attributed to a not so great deal?

All right.

Before we dive into that, here's my public service announcement.

Yeah.

Everybody in real estate for longer than a few years or doing more than a few deals is bound to lose money.

Anybody who says they haven't, and particularly if they're trying to raise money from you, run for the exits.

Now, there are guys, a small subsector of developers who never sell.

So they say, you know, I've never lost money.

But they have.

They just haven't realized the loss.

It's like a lot of stock at $20 a share.

It went up to $100.

They should have sold.

And now it's back to $40.

So you're going to lose money.

And in fact, if you think about the stock market,

the

best guys in the stock market, they may pick Apple and Nvidia, but they also pick dogs.

So it all balances out.

Now, The third edition of the book, each edition has gotten a little bit larger.

So I'm now at a point in my career where I don't care anymore.

So I added a whole section, Mike, on my worst mistakes.

Now you've done a lot of different development deals.

Some have gone great.

Some of them have gone not so great.

What do you think separates or is there any key attributing factor that separates a good from a bad deal? Does it come from the analysis up front? Is it sheer bad luck? Is it a macro event you couldn't control, political? What do you think has attributed to a not so great deal?

All right.

Before we dive into that, here's my public service announcement.

Yeah.

Everybody in real estate for longer than a few years or doing more than a few deals is bound to lose money.

Anybody who says they haven't, and particularly if they're trying to raise money from you, run for the exits.

Now, there are guys, a small subsector of developers who never sell.

So they say, you know, I've never lost money.

But they have.

They just haven't realized the loss.

It's like a lot of stock at $20 a share.

It went up to $100.

They should have sold.

And now it's back to $40.

So you're going to lose money.

And in fact, if you think about the stock market,

the

best guys in the stock market, they may pick Apple and Nvidia, but they also pick dogs.

So it all balances out.

Now, The third edition of the book, each edition has gotten a little bit larger.

So I'm now at a point in my career where I don't care anymore.

So I added a whole section, Mike, on my worst mistakes.