“It is good to be the king” — Sam Zell

aka Key Thoughts from the 2018 UNC Real Estate Conference

Take Away #1

Sam Zell credits his success to:

-A huge capacity for curiosity

-An early connection between money and freedom

-Keeping things simple and logical

-Targeting markets with high barriers to entry and difficulty of replication

Take Away #2

“A shortage of building permits does not equal a shortage of land” — Sam Zell

Take Away #3

The success of the US is based on it being an immigrant’s country. It’s self-selection.

Take Away #4

The deferral of marriage has been the key demographic shift in recent history.

Take Away #5

“The future creates the present. If you want to change the present, change your future.” — Glen Hiemstra

This was an eye opening concept for me, but it makes perfect sense. If you want to change your behavior today, figure out how you currently view the state of things in the future and then figure out and change your beliefs about the future that need to be changed. Since none of us knows what the future holds, we all base our own actions on what we believe will happen in the future. (Cool videos from presentation: Falcon Heavy Landing, LNG Tanker crosses thinning arctic ice for the first time without assistance from an ice breaker.)

Take Away #6

Crowd funding is hampered by a lack of opportunity for diligence.

This is one of the major hang ups with the platform for institutional capital. That paired with the fact that the platform hasn’t yet “stood the test of time” will keep investors on the side lines.

Take Away #7

Real estate will always have tremendous capital requirements. Therefore, be a student of the capital markets.

What did you take away from the conference? Let me know at [email protected]. See you next year!

**This article was originally posted on Medium**