Noah George - Essential Features That Make Real Estate Investing Profitable

Noah George - Essential Features That Make Real Estate Investing Profitable Every now and then persons trying to make up their minds where to put their money ask me if real estate ventures are more or less profitable, compared to other businesses opportunities around.

You Can Refurbish (to Enhance the Value of) Real Estate After you buy a stock, you hold it for a period of time and hopefully sell it for a profit. The success of the stock depends on company management and their corporate success, which is out of your control.

Unlike other conventional investment instruments, like stocks, for instance, whose rate of returns, depend on third parties (e.g. company management), real estate investments are directly under your control.

Even though you will not be able to control changes that may occur in demographic and economic aspects, or impact of nature induced changes, there are many other aspects that you can control, to boost the returns on your investment in it.

Real Estate Investing, When Done Right, is Proven to be Profitable Even During a Recession It has on several occasions, been used to effect a bail out, from financial setbacks, such as those that many have experienced during the economic downturn happening in Nigeria today.

A considerable number of clients have confided in me that due to the present economic situation, they are not sure of profitable channels to invest their money. Some of them are done with bonds and treasury bills, but are in dire need of a new investment.

We had extensive discussions, and based on my expertise as a real estate consultant, I recommended landed property investment, as the most suitable and secure alternative channel of investment.

Real Estate Investments Are Immune to Inflation In other words, investing your money in ownership of viable real estate can protect you from the harsh effects that inflation usually has on other conventional investments.

This is because the value of real estate generally tends to rise in positive correlation with inflationary pressures. This is why property values and rental rates go up with rising inflation.

The nature of real estate, therefore affords owners the unique advantage of being able to adjust the rates they offer, to match inflation.

Monthly rents for example can be raised to compensate for inflation – thus providing a cushion effect against inflation induced losses that other monetary investments suffer.

Real Estate is Uniquely for Being Universally Acceptable as Collateral, Towards Securing Funding from Banks Today, real estate in form of either building or lands, with proper titles (i.e. Certificate of Occupancy – aka “C of O”) is the most recognized and accepted form of collateral in USA – and some other parts of the world.

It has the unique feature of being able to protect the interests of both the borrower and the bank (that’s doing the lending), so that funds can be released i.e. after due verification, and terms and conditions are agreed.

Real Estate Investing Allows Use of Other People’s Money In other words, you can do it even if you do not have enough money. You just need to know how.

This is possible because real estate is physical property or what is called a hard asset. That is an attribute that makes it attractive to financiers i.e. people with money to invest.

This is why many times real estate products are bought with debt – unlike conventional investment products like stocks which are NOT tangible, and therefore perceived as being more risky to invest in.

So real estate investment can be done using cash or mortgage financing. In the latter case, payments can be so arranged to allow payment of low initial sums, provided by you or a willing third party.

How to Professionalize a Real Estate Services Firm Today’s property market scenario is not amenable to companies that do not present a professional front. Noah George is far more aware than ever before, and have become very aware of the difference between specialists and amateurs. Keeping this in mind, it is important to know what makes a real estate services firm truly professional in this new environment.

The inherent nature of the real estate business makes it very different from other business lines.

Since it is difficult for the average person to successfully make the transition into the real estate

business, a significant challenge for a professional property services firm is sourcing and training the right professionals.

Another challenge is developing a business plan or strategy that factors in the needs of the market.

In today’s scenario, it is surprising that there is still so much emphasis on brokerage, when in fact the required services bouquet is much larger than that.

A truly professional real estate company needs to chart all aspects of the real estate market and have an entire array of service offerings. Considering the needs of the market today, the most successful real estate service firms offer every conceivable service — including research, consultancy, transactions, project and development services, integrated facility management, property management, capital markets, residential, hotels and retail advisory.

Nor is just offering such services sufficient — because of the high competitiveness prevalent today, the company should have operatives that have considerable expertise and experience in each segment. I don’t know how many of you will see it my way, but I have always believed that the most successful businesspeople surround themselves with people that are smarter than themselves.

This is very true in real estate, where it takes large teams of very talented people to find opportunities, zero in on them, groom clients and finally close transactions. If you don’t have the right people in sufficient numbers and rely solely on a small core group of experts, your business will crumble.

Noah George professional realty firm has clear, concise, measurable and achievable goals. It knows its market, the dynamics that drive it and the people who run and patronize it. Its business verticals are clearly defined and impeccably staffed, with sufficiently autonomous departments that are nevertheless centrally controlled.

Being a Jack of all trades and master of none only works well for smaller outfits that focus on making quick deals. A truly professional firm concerns itself with building a reputable brand that wields authority, respect and trust on the market.

When we talk of professionalizing a property-related services firm, we must obviously touch on the true definition of ‘professionalism’. Professionalism in any business line is primarily defined by two aspects — transparency and ethics.

To put it in a nutshell — in a professional real estate firm, things not only look right, they ARE right… and vice versa. Nothing less will do if a firm wants to set itself above and apart from others on the Indian real estate market.

It is evident that adhering to such parameters is not as easy as reading about them. In real estate, it is always tempting to find the shortest route to profits. This is a path that usually involves compromises. One tends to cut corners on hiring the best people, following professional ethics, keeping clients happy and staying current on the latest trends.

Firms who choose to take this path will not make it far, and will never transcend the amateur level. It is firms who choose the harder, thornier path of never being satisfied with mediocrity and always striving for excellence in all aspects of their business dealings who are the true professionals.