Over the years I have come up with questions to ask real estate professionals and investors when I am curious about how "smart" they are willing to work. It comes from the saying, "Work smarter, not harder".
Sometimes I ask questions like, "Who handles your research?" to bring up how important research is toward uncovering opportunities and for long term planning. Another question is "When is the next local Zoning Committee meeting you plan to attend?"
You could be in the thick of a new project, but that should not stop you from attending (or sending a trusted representative) to zoning meetings in municipalities your work includes. The one time you find out something that your competitors don't know out of five meetings you attend could literally be the "million dollar difference" for you and your team. If a group of competitors also "know", you will be in the running.
Here is a prime example. The city of Menlo Park CA announced an opportunity for converting parking plazas to affordable housing. They received SEVEN applications. Those entities have a one in seven chance of being selected for a large project. However, there are entities, some of which may be a better fit, that will have a ZERO percent chance because they were not ready for the opportunity.
In the Menlo Park situation, there are seven applicants. If there was one application, that company gets a big project in part because they took the right steps to pursue it while competitors did not. Because they had the right research in place, six or seven figures could be added to their bottom line.
Who handles YOUR research?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment