In this episode, James talks about the qualities of great real estate brokers, lessons learned from selling cars, and gives some advice on how to have a successful career in real estate. He also shares some of the books that helped him advance in business and in his personal life.

Bart Denny is the co-founder of SpacialFirst, a spatially aware property companion app.

With SpacialFirst, stakeholders can now collaborate and interact with the place using their own devices. SpacialFirst makes it possible for users to provide augmented reality walkthroughs using mobile spatial visualizations, and create and share custom tours, available for remote and on-site viewing.

In this episode, Bart talks about the opportunities in the property tech space and how augmented reality technologies can improve the way we do real estate transactions. Definitely worth the listen, so make sure to check it out!

In this podcast episode, we talk about Joe’s company, LocateAI, and how it can benefit your business and help you make better, more informed decisions. We also discuss how technology is affecting the real estate industry, client acquisition tactics and how to make it into the real estate industry.

Mehul Patel has enjoyed a career in real estate and economic development spanning the public, private and non-profit sectors over the past two decades. Most recently, Mehul was the Chief Operating Officer of Midwood Investment & Development which owns, develops and manages retail, office, residential, hotel and mixed-use properties in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Washington D.C.

In this episode of the podcast, Mehul shares his career trajectory from working at HR&A Advisors as a Senior Analyst to becoming the COO of Midwood Investment and Development. He also shares some wisdom on good hiring practices, creating a company culture, how to successfully lead big projects, career opportunities in the public sector, and choosing a career path in real estate.

There are so many takeaways from this episode; make sure you don’t miss out!

At Guild Lodging, Branigan leads site selection, transaction negotiation, and all other aspects of executing Guild’s real estate strategy. During his career, Branigan has been involved in the acquisition, development or financing of more than 30 corporate and property-level commercial real estate transactions.

Previously, he was a Principal at Cielo Property Group, where he handled deal sourcing, financing and execution for acquisitions and development. Prior to joining Cielo, Branigan led acquisitions at WCCG, where he closed over $300 million in acquisitions comprising 3.9 million square feet.

In this episode, we talk about the concept behind The Guild Hotels, what sets it apart from its competitors and how they approach developers about the concept. We also talk about Branigan’s career move from working for an established developer to becoming the Head of Real Estate at The Guild Hotels.

Rick Lechtman, based in the firms New York City office, is a first vice president of Marcus & Millichap Capital Corporation (MMCC) and IPA Capital Markets. He joined MMCC in December 2015 and has more than 20 years of commercial real estate finance and sales experience. Rick is responsible for securing commercial debt and equity financing for an array of property types. He is well connected with national, regional and local funding sources.

Rick has more than 20 years of commercial real estate finance and sales experience and has closed more than $2.0 billion in transactions as a principal and a broker, he specializes in the origination and placement of entire "capital stacks" including senior debt, mezzanine, preferred equity and joint-venture equity financing for clients across the country.

In this episode, Rick and Chris talk about the development of his real estate career, from his time at Ackman-Ziff to now becoming the first vice president of Marcus & Millichap Capital Corporation (MMCC). At the end of the episode, he also gives some advice to young people on how to enter and succeed in real estate.

We have Stephanie Weber with us on the podcast this week, and in this episode, we talk about how you can get great results from cold calls, her morning routines and habits, how an outsource acquisition company works and finding your passion in real estate.

Stephanie is a principal of the Institutional Advisory Group (IAG) at Advisors Commercial Real Estate. The Institutional Advisory Group (IAG) sources off-market opportunities for REITS, Pension, Private Equity and Real Estate Funds nationwide. The group has a dedicated call center, which employs licensed real estate brokers to cold call on behalf of its clients.

She graduated from the University of Vermont with degrees in Anthropology and Italian Studies and currently resides in New York City where IAG is headquartered.

QUOTES

“I’m a big believer that you have to take responsibility and ownership over your life and your path. So if I’m not going to advocate for myself, who else is?”

“Once my job became somewhat part of my lifestyle, it made it so much easier.”

STEPHANIE’S RECOMMENDATIONS

The Best Place to Work by Ron Friedman (book)

CONNECT WITH STEPHANIE

Stephanie Weber (LinkedIn)

SHOW NOTES

[0:01:09.4] Getting to know Stephanie and her company

[0:02:57.6] Pursuing a real estate career

[0:04:32.3] Taking responsibility over her career choices

[0:04:52.9] How Stephanie got into the outsource acquisition company

[0:06:50.6] Working as an assistant for a broker, getting a license and meeting her business partner

[0:07:46.6] Stephanie’s pitch for cold calls

[0:08:09.5] How to get good results from cold calls

[0:10:23.9] Overcoming the fear of talking to strangers and networking

[0:12:28.6] How Stephanie and Mickey met

[0:13:28.6] How an outsource acquisition company works

[0:16:27.8] Stephanie’s morning routines and productivity tips

[0:18:04.1] Incorporating work into your lifestyle

[0:19:27.5] Stephanie’s mentor

[0:20:20.1] Advice for people who want to get into real estate

[0:21:53.4] Stephanie’s reading list

This week on the podcast, we have with us Jeff Simpson, the founder and CEO of Arch Companies in New York City, and we talk about his career trajectory, how to get into real estate, and the importance of keeping your word in the real estate industry.

We also talk about their current investments and projects, and the future of Arch Companies.

QUOTES

“If someone is more of an entrepreneur than a technical person, they may be better off riding the finance train from the beginning if they want to get into real estate.”

“The most important part to me is to give people your word. Look someone in the eye, shake their hand, give them your word and live up to it. That’s where it starts.”

“It takes difficult situations to show people that you can be trusted. It doesn’t just happen instantaneously.”

“If you work with smart people, they will see that you’re really good and they will want you to stay around, and they will do what it takes to keep you around.”

CONNECT WITH JEFF

Arch Companies (site)

Jeff Simpson (LinkedIn)

SHOW NOTES

[0:01:15.0] Getting to know Jeff

[0:02:15.5] How Jeff got interested in real estate

[0:04:38.3] Different ways to get started in real estate

[0:08:39.6] The biggest factor for why Jeff decided to pursue a career in real estate

[0:10:44.9] What Jeff considers as an important component in building a good reputation for your business

[0:11:22.7] Why it’s important to keep your word

[0:11:45.6] Transitioning from being in the construction business to real estate development

[0:18:31.3] The challenge for people who are just starting out in their real estate career

[0:20:14.0] Getting to know Arch Companies

[0:20:55.3] Arch Companies’ investments and projects

[0:22:19.0] The future of Arch Companies

[0:24:23.3] Jeff’s advice to newcomers in real estate

[0:27:54.0] Connect with Jeff!

Jerrod Delaine is the Director of Development at Carthage Real Estate Advisors, LLC, and he also works as an adjunct professor in New York University, teaching students about real estate development.

In this episode, Jerrod talks about the difference between affordable housing and market rate housing, how he landed his first real estate job after NYU, how to make it in the real estate business, the importance of networking and setting yourself apart from the rest, and some practical wisdom for young people venturing into real estate.

We have Uri Man for this week’s episode, and he talks about the lagoon development business, his career in real estate development, how to develop your communication skills and the key skills set needed to become a real estate developer.

Uri is an investor, entrepreneur and real estate developer with proven expertise in negotiation. His primary businesses include development of large scale master planned communities with Crystal Lagoons in Texas and ground up development of luxury apartment projects in Florida.

QUOTES

“There’s really no one path towards real estate development.”

“I think it is important to have some sort of business experience before you graduate.”

MENTIONS

Crystal Lagoons

URI’S RECOMMENDATIONS

Dale Carnegie Courses

Diplomacy by Henry Kissinger (book)

CONNECT WITH URI

LinkedIn

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

SHOW NOTES

[0:00:38.3] Getting to Know Uri

[0:01:15.1] Uri talks about Crystal Lagoons

[0:01:38.0] Uri talks about their lagoon development company and projects

[0:04:36.3] How Mickey and Uri know each other

[0:05:10.5] Uri before becoming a real estate developer

[0:05:34.0] How Uri got into the real estate business

[0:08:36.4] Applying to a company versus doing real estate on your own

[0:10:00.2] How Uri built his reputation and network

[0:11:53.0] Uri talks about his first deal as a principal partner

[0:12:20.7] Key skill sets to become a real estate developer

[0:14:33.6] Uri’s advice for developing your communication skills

[0:16:04.7] Uri’s favorite book

[0:16:20.8] Organizations Uri is a part of

[0:16:49.2] Uri’s mentors

[0:17:51.4] How Uri met developers from Houston

[0:22:50.1] Advice on how to get started in real estate

[0:24:41.4] Connect with Uri

[0:25:06.9] How to stay motivated after New Year’s