Forbes 30 Under 30 – A Look Into the Future of Real Estate

by Joe Stampone on December 19, 2011

Earlier today Forbes released its annual 30 under 30 real estate list (unfortunately I’m not on it…yet). Scrolling through the list, I immediately noticed a common theme. It’s not that each member is a successful real estate practitioner at such a young age (although they are), it’s that they’re all great marketers and branders.

The internet and micro-publishing platforms such as blogs and Facebook have changed the game; it’s allowed for an economy of scale in doing the same things that successful people have always done. Take Alex Hodara, for instance (who I interviewed for this blog). Alex, through pure hustle built up the “first student-run brokerage.” While many people view being young as an impediment to success, Alex used it to his advantage and branded “the FIRST student-run brokerage.” Thanks to the power of social media, Alex can leverage that brand.

Not surprisingly, the list is filled with other entrepreneurial-minded brokers and tech start-ups. These are the types of roles that lend themselves to branding. You won’t find the ivy league-educated associate who works 70 hours a week for Blackstone or the Carlyle Group, rather you find the 23-year-old who helps “recent graduates find their first apartment” and the 28-year-old eccentric broker with 5,000+ Twitter followers (and a guy with the last name Trump). These people had an idea and they acted. They embraced the tools that are out there today, and they just did it.

Here are a few members of the list that I’d like to highlight:

  1.  Blair Brandt (Twitter│Facebook) - ”Finding college grads their first apartments”
  2. Alex Hodara (Twitter │Facebook) – “The first student-run brokerage”
  3. SpareFoot (Twitter│Facebook) – “Fun start-up makes finding self-storage simple”
  4. Splitwise (Twitter│Facebook) – “A tool for roommates that keep track of who owes who”
  5. Dotloop (Twitter│Facebook) – “Out to make the home sales process paperless”
Congratulations to everyone who made the list, it’s quite an honor and well-deserved.

 

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The Secret to Sourcing Real Estate Deals

by Joe Stampone on December 11, 2011

This Book Teaches You to Build a Lifelong Community of Contacts, Friends, and Mentors

I spent one morning last week at my old stomping grounds, the 10th floor of NYU Schack, where I attended a lively boutique entrepreneurs panel. The panel featured four successful real estate entrepreneurs and the conversation centered around how they got started, how they decided to go out own their own, how they source capital and deals, and opportunities they see in the market.

While there were a lot of good takeaways, what really stood out to me was how they went about finding deals. I’m excited to share their secret with you. I know this may be a shocker, but they don’t find deals through broker contacts. Ready?….deals come from anywhere and everywhere including unlikely sources such as a high-talker on a train to a stranger on a chairlift in Vermont.

Real estate is all about relationships and reputation. One of my favorite quotes that reflects this comes from Peter Linneman:

Always do the very best you can to fulfill what you said you would do, help others simply because you can rather than because you believe it would indirectly benefit you, and do this for the next thirty years, and you will have a great reputation and network.

- Peter Linneman

Simply put, you have no idea here your next deal may come from. Meet with every single person you can, there’s no one who’s not worth your time, because they may have a rich uncle, know someone looking to sell a property or have an investor who fits perfectly in that deal you have under contract. They may have some good insight into your investment platform or who knows, they may even run a fund one day.

When you take the meeting don’t just talk about what you’ve been doing, but figure out how you can help them. It doesn’t stop there. After the meeting, add them to your relationship management program (I recommend Highrise) with a few notes and a reminder to follow-up in a month. Continue to build trust and establish a relationship with as many people as humanly possible.

Here’s a real life example of how my firm found a deal:

We met with a contact in New York →after a few weeks he referred us to a friend → that friend was doing deals in Texas → he referred us to a person he had bought a few properties from in Texas → the guy from Texas found us a few deals and now partners with us on all out Texas acquisitions.

The point is that there is no secret to sourcing deals. Hustle, do what you say, help others and good things will happen.

What do you think?

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Meet Adam Davis – G’day Mate!

by Joe Stampone on December 5, 2011

One of the greatest assets of NYU Schack is the diversity of its student body. The mix of aspirations, ages and backgrounds makes for a vibrant learning environment. While there I made it a point to interact with a number of international students.

It is with great pleasure that I introduce Adam Davis, one of the program’s few Aussies. Upon meeting Adam, I was incredibly impressed by his outlook and perspective on the field of real estate. Adam brings a breadth of experience and a unique story to the blog. I’ll let him tell you:

If we had year-round good weather here in NYC, even I'd be a good golfer

It is with great excitement that I announce myself as a member of A Student of the Real Estate Game. Having met Joe nearly 3 years ago (when I moved to NYC from Australia), I have admired his passion and dedication that he has shown in creating this website. It is a credit to him that he has built his website from the ground up and established such a strong and loyal following. Joe is a determined and focused individual which is clearly evident in this website, yet his very friendly and easy going nature have enabled him to establish relationships throughout the real estate community both locally in NY and more broadly across the US. Justin and I are greatly enthused to join Joe and seek to build upon the strong foundations he has established to date.

As indicated above, I moved to NYC from Australia nearly three years ago, determined to broaden my horizons and gain valuable international experience as I set upon advancing my career. In deciding to move in early 2009 I couldn’t have picked a more challenging time. Not only was I leaving behind the security of my firm but also a very strong and stable Australian market that continues to be buoyed by low unemployment, minimal Government debt and substantial Chinese investment.  However Australia was/is a market I felt very comfortable in. I had established myself within the real estate community of Australia and had built a very strong and diverse network. It’s a relatively safe environment that I’m fortunate will always be there for me and given my network will facilitate in achieving my goals within that market in years to come.

I had long harbored a burning desire to move to NYC to live and breathe the excitement and the challenge of establishing myself in the largest real estate market in the world with a network of zero. I left an incredibly secure environment to move across the world to the epicenter of the great recession. On any level this can be viewed as crazy and probably not the smartest short-term best financial decision I could have made. However I knew that until I followed my heart and embraced the challenge that is NY that it would continue to gnaw away at me.

Nearly three years on from that decision and having encountered numerous challenges along the way, I am part way able to reflect on the time that has passed with confidence in the successes I have accomplished. In my time so far I have:

-          Initiated a US office for Australia’s largest private development firm Grocon;

-          Completed my Masters in Real Estate at NYU;

-          Am embarking on a new venture for an Australian residential property fund that has been created (with an initial $100 million raised) to purchase high yielding residential investment properties in Jersey City.

During my time at NYU I have been fortunate to meet a number of excellent people along the way, including students, professors and industry professionals. While I value all the people I have met and formed relationships with I am excited by the bonds I have created with a number of students and in particular – Joe, Justin and Walter. I have been fortunate to meet three mates that I value highly and look forward to forming long lasting relationships with into the future, no matter where life takes us. Im excited to become a member of the ASTOREG team and seek to expand on the incredible website and following that Joe has built to date.

Cheers

Adam Davis

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