“Real Estate Titans gives a fantastic overview of what the best investors and developers in the world have done to get to the top—and how you can too.”
— Rodrigo Suarez, Co-Founder & Managing
Partner of HASTA Capital
“Erez takes his readers on a journey through his own career and numerous interviews with several of real estate's most successful entrepreneurs. In the process, he distills seven instrumental lessons that are a must-read for every professional, regardless of the stage of their career.”
— Ashesh Parikh, Managing Principal at
Lock Three Properties
“Forget all the infomercials promising you real estate wealth with no work and no money down. Educate yourself with the world's elite real estate players who found different ways of creating multi-million and multi-billion dollar real estate companies from scratch. Many of their secrets are in this book, and Erez has done an incredible job summarizing what really matters most. This book will get you on the fast path to success in real estate investing.”
— Austin Netzley, Author, Investor, and
Founder & CEO of 2X
“Erez Cohen has discovered the secrets of real estate titans and shares them in this must-read book for anyone who is serious about becoming rich through investing in real estate.”
— Brian Zaratzian, Founding Partner
of Omaha Beach Capital
“Erez has assembled an eclectic mix of real estate industry leaders for an intriguing behind-the-scenes look into decision-making at the highest levels.”
— Dr. Sam Chandan, Dean of the Schack
Institute of Real Estate at NYU
“A must-read book if you want to achieve extraordinary success in the real estate game. The proven and tested principles shared by the Real Estate Titans in this book are simply not available anywhere else. A mind-expanding and thrilling read.”
— Mark Anastasi, Author of the New York Times Bestseller
The Laptop Millionaire
“Our industry is a fascinating one and second only to the brilliance of those who lead it. A unique culmination of perspectives that are intriguing in their own right and combined, a powerful take on what it requires to be a titan of real estate. A top read for anyone looking to climb to the top of the Commercial Real Estate ladder.”
— Will Friend, CEO of Bisnow
“It would take years of your time and a lot of your energy to travel the world and chase down these real estate icons for an interview. Read this fascinating manual more than once. Each time, you will uncover new insights.”
— Andrew Strenk, Global Retail Expert & CEO of Strategic Planning Concepts International
“The insights and experiences shared from the Real Estate Titans in this book are pure GOLD! If you want to learn from the best of the best and conquer real estate investing; I urge you to read this book.”
— Joshua Lybolt, President, Lifstyl Real Estate
“Whether you're a full-time real estate entrepreneur or a part-time investor, Real Estate Titans contains wisdom that will be instrumental to making smart decisions and dreaming big.”
— Patrick J. McGinnis, Author of The 10% Entrepreneur &
Host of the podcast FOMO Sapiens
“Erez—and the titans he interviewed—are authorities on real estate. If you want to learn how to invest in real estate better than anyone else, read this book now.”
— Alan Burak, Hedge Fund Manager & CEO
of Never Alone Capital
Cover image: © Fastrum/ iStock.com
Cover design: Wiley
Copyright © 2019 by Erez Cohen. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
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ISBN 9781119550044 (Hardcover)
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ISBN 9781119550075 (ePub)
To Shlomo and Edna
There are so many extraordinary people who helped me in this journey, I am deeply grateful for their untiring encouragement and support.
I would like to thank the Real Estate Titans interviewed in this book, I am deeply grateful that they agreed to share their unique wisdom with the world.
This book would not have been possible without the inspiration, intelligence, and support of Dr. Peter Linneman, who has been a guiding presence in my career. I never stop learning from his prodigious insights and feel deeply privileged to call him my friend.
I would also like to thank two other mentors and close friends: Jaime Lara, my business partner, for his teachings and leadership, and Gerardo Ruiz, for his guidance and optimism.
To my brothers, sisters and other family members, thank you for all your support.
To my friends and industry colleagues: Isaac Sutton, Salomon Sutton, Alan Burak and Sandy Ohebshalom, Varun and Pooja Mammen, Aman and Amrita Kumar, Ivanka Trump and family, the Alcalay family, the Ohebshalom family, Andrew and Annie Strenk, Tony Robbins, Mark Anastasi, Brian Zaratzian, Yoel Amir, Gili Raichstain, Atul Narayan, Nathalie Virem, Jorge Margain, Rodrigo Suarez, Olivia Schmid, Michael Delmar, Douglas Cain, Jerome Foulon, Gerald Marchel, Clifford Payne, David Orowitz, Elias Fasja and family, Jaime Fasja, Jimmy Arakanji, Sandor Valner, Douglas Linneman, Asuka Nakahara, Jeff Thelen, Laura Figueroa, Jonathan Sizemore, Jason Chow, Ariel Tiger, Blanca Rodriguez, Josefina Moises, Gabriel Patrick, Margarita Infanzon, Adi Weinstein, Lyman Daniels, David Daniels, Bruce Kirsch, Austin Netzley, Ricardo Cervantes, Ricardo Zuñiga, Adrian Aguilera, Héctor Sosa, Fernando Delgado, Ursula Guerra, Santiago Collada, Jose Askenazi, Jose Cohen, Dany Izbitzki, Jennifer Skylakos, Vince Chamasrour, Marcos Sando, Simon Coote, Guillermo Rivera, Rodrigo Lopez, Karen Sanvicente, Jorge Laventman, Abraham Garcia, Mauricio Durante, Sebastian Gonzalez, Enrique Mendez, Juliana Roman, Francisco Navarro, Gihan Neme, Alba Medina, Lorenzo Berho, Mauricio Khalifa, Jorge Henriquez, Elizabeth Bell, Aaron Kraig, Lea Ribeiro de Oliveira, Gleides Noronha, Emily Walter, Patty Aguilar, Karren Henderson, Beth Merrick, Angela Sciandra, Annette Vargas, Debbie Larson, Bianca Ledermann, Doris Goldych, Joseph Warmann, Mark Lack, Peter Voogd, Benjamin L. Shinewald, Wesley Whitaker, and Federico Martin del Campo.
Finally, thank you to my real estate classmates at the Wharton School for sharing with me their passion for business and real estate. I honor you all.
I really think we have a good chance to do this deal,” said Ivanka Trump with a glamorous smile, slowly tilting her head toward me.
I was surprised. I had begun to wonder what she could possibly see in these rejections that I didn't. I was sweating profusely, in this majestically decorated office on the 25th floor of Trump Tower, feeling somewhat out of my league. Myriad investors had turned us down. How would a deal possibly come together at this point?
I was not optimistic. A small frustration had grown into an overwhelming sense of apathy, and I was ready to throw in the towel. In my mind it was just too tough to make this deal happen. No matter what our proposal was or how much we were willing to add in value, the investment groups we were negotiating with did not want to go ahead.
Faced by her surprising enthusiasm and confidence, I wondered if there was something I had missed. It became obvious that Ivanka had a different mindset. It would be months before the idea dawned on me that she had the mindset of a Real Estate Titan.
Thanks to her many qualities—among them a powerful mindset, an impressive work ethic, clarity, and resourcefulness—she was indeed able to convince several investors, a few weeks later, to proceed with the investment.
It was summer 2010, and I had just been shown up. I witnessed in person the big leagues of the real estate world. This experience fueled my passion for real estate even more. I decided it was time to embark on a quest.
Fresh out of college, I joined a large New York investment banking firm. I guess the partners were motivated by my perseverance and diplomacy, something my father, who made his career as an ambassador, had instilled in me from a young age.
Whether through luck or fortune, I was assigned a position with the real estate group. Just a few short days later, a colleague handed me a real estate textbook with a light blue cover: Real Estate Finance and Investments: Risks and Opportunities by Dr. Peter Linneman.1 That book sparked my love affair with real estate that continues to this day. It equipped me with a strong financial real estate base and the technical terms necessary to navigate the demanding moments of institutional real estate investing.
But not until I worked for Ivanka Trump did I truly commit myself to learning from “the greats” in this field. What inspired these Titans to work so hard and reach such extraordinary levels of success? What are the main traits that propel them to such great achievements? How have these individuals succeeded on a much bigger scale than so many of their competitors? I would get the answers by seeking out these great men and women and by doing my utmost to meet with them personally. It took me a decade.
My quest would bring me into contact with real estate Titans such as Richard Ziman, Richard Mack, Ronald Terwilliger, Chaim Katzman, Elie Horn, Joseph Sitt, Urs Ledermann, Donald Trump and children, Carlos Betancourt, Ronnie Chan, Barry Sternlicht, Sam Zell, Steven Roth, Jonathan Grey, Stephen Ross, David Simon, and others.
“Waking up every day and loving what you do has a direct impact on your quality of life and on the bottom line of your business,” the Real Estate Titan Urs Lederman once told me. Richard Mack shared this me: “Knowing the downside of any deal is far more important than knowing the upside.” Sam Zell taught me that good risk managers “will never fall in love with the assets or companies they own.”
Little did I know that over the span of a decade the hundreds of insights gained from these luminaries would lead me to develop more than 12 million square feet of real estate and be involved in real estates deals totaling more than $3.5 billion throughout Mexico, the United States, and Brazil.
On a trip with a real estate mastermind group in Los Angeles—I now run these get-togethers once a year—one of my real estate billionaire friends said: “Hey Erez, I think you should write a book about real estate. Like, you know, to share the tips you've picked up along the way from the best real estate investors in the world. Few people have had these types of experiences …”
“That's not a bad idea,” I said, mulling it over.
“I could call it Real Estate Titans.”
In Greek mythology the Titans were a race of gods. One of the Titans, Prometheus, decided to help the human race by handing them the gift of fire and teaching them to use it. In a similar way, the Titans in this book have decided to share significant real estate wisdom with you.
I have two goals with this book. The first is to impress upon you—through the many stories and lessons shared by these modern-day Titans—that real estate is a wonderful and important business.
Wonderful because in my opinion there is no more intriguing, exciting, fun, and rewarding field in which to make a career. For example, you can change the way a city, district, neighborhood, or street looks like and operates. You can create beautifully designed spaces in which people live, work, and play. You can work with cities to create jobs and build new infrastructure. You can create an investment vehicle and take it public. You can raise an institutional fund and invest it in different geographies. You can interact and work with all kinds of people from different ethnicities, religions, nationalities, and academic backgrounds. You can see the world. The possibilities are endless.
In real estate, there are unlimited points of entry. It is the ultimate field for entrepreneurs. You don't need substantial capital to start; you just need to be resourceful. You can access financing. You can access friends and family money. You can use other people's money. You can be in this business owning one property or a thousand.
Important because every person on the planet is exposed to real estate every moment of every day: Real estate is a part of our everyday life, and it plays an integral role in our economy. Historically, real estate is also the greatest source of wealth and savings for most families around the world. According to several professors, in the last few centuries more fortunes have been made in this asset class than in any other.
Real estate is also the largest asset class in the world. According to Savills,2 an international real estate brokerage and advisory firm, the value of global real estate as of 2017 is US$228 trillion (see Figure I.1). This exceeds—by almost a third—the total value of all globally traded equities and securitized debt instruments, which points to the important role that real estate plays in any economy around the world. To add additional perspective on this colossal number, the value of global real estate is 2.8 times higher than the world's total annual income (Gross Domestic Product, or GDP).3
My second goal is for you to become a savvier real estate player by learning from the best in the world. Years ago, one of my mentors taught me that the best way to achieve success is go find the best in the world, in whatever field it is you want to pursue, and model them. This is what I have attempted to do in this book. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, simply find the best and learn from them as much as you can. Throughout this publication, you will find intriguing stories and lessons of real estate entrepreneurs with impeccable advice about what to do—and not to do—in real estate.
Figure I.1 The value of the world’s real estate.
You will also find 7 key lessons that I extrapolated from these interviews. These lessons include key traits and characteristics I've noticed in each Real Estate Titan I have worked for and interviewed, as well as critical elements of their strategies for success.
If you implement these 7 key lessons in your real estate business—and do the exercises at the end of each lesson—you will see your sales increase and the value of your real estate company take off in a matter of months. The growth will be like nothing you've ever experienced, and once the momentum starts, it will be hard to stop.
Enjoy your journey with the Real Estate Titans!
The following interviews are intended to share the wisdom of some of the best and most successful real estate investors in the world; however, as you read their compelling stories understand that real estate is driven by logic and experience, and what has worked for one person might not work for another. There is never only one answer or one approach to a real estate deal or a problem. My goal for you is to use their knowledge as a base to embark upon—or continue in—the long and exciting journey of real estate.
These interviews assume that you have the basic knowledge of real estate terms such as yield on cost, internal rate of return (IRR), cap rates, leverage, and more. But if these terms are unfamiliar to you, please refer to the Glossary at the end of the book for definitions and explications.