Creating and Growing Real Estate Wealth: The 4 Stages to a Lifetime of Success

Creating and Growing Real Estate Wealth: The 4 Stages to a Lifetime of Success

by William J. Poorvu
Released February 2008
Publisher(s): Pearson
ISBN: 9780137143191

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Book description

“This well-organized book shows what a typical life in real estate is like so that newcomers can decide whether the field is right for them. It also offers advice on how to grow real estate investments for people who are already in the industry. Poorvu includes a variety of real world stories about people and their career experiences to make for an interesting read with a practical edge.”

 –Publishers Weekly

“This new book by Bill Poorvu trumps any real estate book you’ve ever read.”

 –James Grant, editor of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer

  

There are plenty of “get rich quick in real estate” books. This is not one of them.

Your guide, William Poorvu, is a lifelong real estate investor and consultant, and former head of the real estate program at Harvard Business School. Drawing on his personal experience–and hundreds of interviews with many of the most successful real estate investors and entrepreneurs–Poorvu illuminates every stage of your “life” in real estate: creating wealth, growing it, and

managing it successfully. He reveals the milestones, pitfalls, and rewards associated with real estate investing, offering powerful insight into the challenges and opportunities you’ll face as you start out...scale up...ride the industry’s cyclical waves and then leverage, share, or pass  along the wealth you’ve created.

This book contains dozens of real life personal stories, hands-on checklists, and questions to guide your decisions...and it delivers unparalleled insight into how the real estate industry

really works:

• Be strategic: choose your best route into the business

Define your successful real estate career, and learn how to make it a reality

•Build your foundation: your first job, your first deal

Spot a great opportunity to add value, and jump on it

• Scale up: build and sustain your success

Hire a great team, manage them successfully, and find the capital you need to grow

• Survive the downturns: be flexible and nimble

Recognize new realities, adapt to them, and uncover the opportunities they create

• Take stock: make the most of your success

Balance your business, wealth, and family

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
    1. Dedication
  2. Acknowledgements
  3. About the Author
  4. Introduction: The Many Paths to Success
    1. A “Typical” Life in Real Estate
    2. A Career in Four Stages
  5. I. Starting Out
    1. 1. The Starting Line
      1. The Job Search
      2. One Real Estate Career
      3. Your First Deal
      4. The Deal Search
      5. Picking a Location
      6. Building Relationships
      7. Lawyers and Other Resources
      8. Finding the Money
      9. Risk and Reward
      10. Endnotes
    2. 2. Finding a Focus
      1. Pete and Sara Caron: Capitalizing on the Differential
        1. The Learning Curve
        2. Execution: Becoming a Player
      2. Susan Hewitt: Finding a Niche in New York
      3. Ed Mank: A Leasing Broker’s First Deal
        1. The Learning Curve
        2. Becoming a Player
        3. Executing Against the Plan
      4. Rich Erenberg: An Unexpected Opportunity
        1. The Learning Curve
        2. Becoming a Player
        3. Right Place, Right Time
      5. John Dewberry: From Finance to Development
        1. The Learning Curve
        2. Starting His Own Business
        3. Execution: Building on a Relationship
      6. The Cardons: Finding Extra Value in the Land
        1. Making Their Own Luck
      7. Endnotes
    3. 3. Moguls in the Making
      1. Hersha and Hasu Shah: The Immigrants’ Dream
        1. The Learning Curve
        2. Execution: A Hands-On Experience
        3. More Than “Location, Location, Location”
      2. Walter Shorenstein: Building a Reputation
        1. Combing a Market
        2. Doing It Walter’s Way
        3. No Longer “Just a Broker”
      3. The Bucksbaums: Retailers Becoming Developers
        1. Learning on the Job
        2. Managing Both Sides of the Balance Sheet
      4. Starting at the Bottom in Texas: Trammell Crow and Gerry Hines
        1. Why Warehouses?
        2. Trammell Crow: The Learning Curve
        3. The Magic of Pre-Leasing
        4. Gerald Hines: From Mechanical Engineering to Development
        5. Learning While Doing
        6. Starting Small
  6. II. Scaling Up
    1. 4. Five Good Questions
      1. Do You Want to Scale Up?
      2. How Do You Scale Up?
        1. Sizing Up
        2. Increasing the Number of Projects
        3. Taking On Other Product Types
        4. Growing Geographically
        5. Expanding the Functions You Perform
      3. What Kind of Organization Should You Build?
      4. Where Do You Get the Money?
      5. What Kind of Investor Are You?
      6. Endnotes
    2. 5. Good Moves
      1. Susan Hewitt: A Business of Her Own
        1. Making It Happen
        2. A Slow Ramp-Up
        3. Changing the Money Model
      2. Ed Mank: Bigger Projects, and The Need for Patience
        1. Expanding in His Current Market
        2. A Different Part of Town
        3. Expanding Beyond Boston: New Product Types
        4. Opportunism Is Good . . . Except
      3. Rich Erenberg: New Product, Same Philosophy
        1. A Different Product Type
        2. Organizational Challenges
        3. Financing Growth
        4. The Value of Persistence
      4. John Dewberry: Adapting Your Organization to Your Game Plan
        1. Same Product, Different Markets
        2. Continuing the Learning Curve
        3. The Midtown Opportunity
        4. Building an Organization
        5. The Player-Coach
      5. The Cardons: No Shortage of Opportunities
        1. Some Key Externalities
        2. A Personal Vision
        3. Seeing the Broader Picture
      6. Endnotes
    3. 6. Grand Visions
      1. Hersha and Hasu Shah: Building a Chain, Slowly but Surely
        1. Trading Up
        2. Expansion: Bringing in New Partners
        3. Stepping Up the Growth Curve: Building a Company
        4. Financing Growth: Access to Public Capital
        5. Personal Fit: A Commitment to Values
      2. Walter Shorenstein: Expanding the Universe
        1. The Next Step: New Construction
        2. Extending Downtown: The “South of Market Street” Story
        3. Two Key Lessons from San Francisco
      3. The Bucksbaums: More and Bigger Centers—A Retail Revolution
        1. A Financial Revolution
        2. Building on Values
      4. Trammell Crow: Trying to Do It All
        1. The Dallas Merchandise Mart: An Innovative New Business
        2. Expanding Everywhere
        3. An Organizational Challenge: Finding the Right Partners
        4. The Power of Personality
        5. The Power of Culture
      5. Gerry Hines: The Road from Houston
        1. New Challenges: Innovative Projects
        2. Organizational Challenges: Going National
  7. III. Hedging Your Bets
    1. 7. X Factors
      1. X Factors: Natural and Man-Made
        1. X Factors in the Natural Realm
        2. Man-Made X Factors
      2. Maintain an Appropriate Product Focus
      3. Balance Your Commitments Against the Risks
      4. Follow the Cash and Hold Reserves
      5. Manage Key Operational Issues
      6. Addressing the Key Organizational Issues
      7. Have the Flexibility to Meet New Realities
    2. 8. Broken-Field Running
      1. Susan Hewitt: Riding a Changing Wave
        1. The World Changes
        2. The World Changes Again
        3. Defining a Competitive Edge
      2. Ed Mank: The Perfect Non-Snowstorm
        1. Dealing with Adversity
        2. Escaping in One Piece
      3. Rich Erenberg: Finding the Home-Field Advantage in Pittsburgh
        1. Buying into Technology Drive
        2. Finding the Money
      4. John Dewberry: Betting on Atlanta
        1. Back to Midtown
        2. Making It Happen
        3. Positive Thinking
      5. The Cardons: Never Build Higher Than a Curb
        1. The Keys to Developing Land
        2. An Overdue Restructuring
    3. 9. Moving the Fleet
      1. The Shahs: A Small Company Goes Public
        1. Establishing Parameters
        2. The Growth Trap
        3. A Balancing Act
        4. The Family Angle
      2. Walter Shorenstein: Changing Horses Midstream
        1. Picking Partners
        2. A New Game
        3. A Phased Approach to Change
        4. Thinking About How to Grow
      3. The Bucksbaums: A Market-Driven Strategy
        1. Next Steps: Another REIT
        2. Dealing with Tragedy
        3. Following the Cash
      4. Trammell Crow: A Strong Offense, a Weak Defense
        1. A Flawed Structure
        2. A New Beginning
        3. A Public Incarnation
        4. The Decision to Sell
      5. Gerald Hines: Building a Market-Based Sustainable Business
        1. The Tide Turns
        2. Rethinking the Business
        3. Going International
      6. Looking Forward
      7. Endnotes
  8. IV. Taking Stock
    1. 10. Your Business and You
      1. Taking Stock of Your Business
        1. What Business Am I Really In?
        2. What’s My Time Frame?
        3. Is There a Succession Plan?
        4. Does the Business Have a Value Beyond That of the Individual Assets?
        5. Do Other Family Members in My Generation Want to Stay (or Get) Involved?
        6. What Are My Obligations to My Employees?
        7. Is This a Good Time to Sell?
        8. What Are the Income Tax Implications?
      2. Taking Stock of Yourself
        1. What Do I Want My Personal Involvement in the Business to Be?
        2. What Else Might I Do with My Time and Money?
        3. What’s My Time Frame?
        4. What Are My Health, Age, and Spouse Telling Me?
      3. Both at Once
    2. 11. Your Business and Your Family
      1. Kids in the Business: Sometimes a Win-Win-Win
      2. Not So Fast!
      3. How to Be Helpful
      4. Death and Taxes: Some Prescriptions
      5. Kids in the Business: Five Approaches
        1. The Investor
        2. The Sustainer
        3. The Extender
        4. The Transformer
        5. The Breakaway
        6. Today and Tomorrow
    3. 12. Looking Forward, Looking Back
      1. Back to the Future: Shanghai 2007
      2. Déjà vu All Over Again
      3. A Changed and Changing Industry
      4. Eternal Truth 1: Your Career Arc Is Predictable
      5. Eternal Truth 2: It’s About Adding Value Through Great Execution Over Time
      6. A 30-Year “Deal”: The Brattle Walkway
      7. You May Well Be Asking: 30 Years to Do That?
      8. What’s Wealth?
  9. Financial Times Press

Product information

  • Title: Creating and Growing Real Estate Wealth: The 4 Stages to a Lifetime of Success
  • Author(s): William J. Poorvu
  • Release date: February 2008
  • Publisher(s): Pearson
  • ISBN: 9780137143191