I’m Joe Stampone. I work at Atlas Real Estate Partners (‘AREP’), a private real estate investment firm focused on value-add and ground-up multifamily investments. ASotREG is a place where I share my thoughts on real estate, careers, technology, entrepreneurship, passive investing, and anything else that piques my interest.
You Can’t Fake a Track Record
There was a blog post over on Six Pixels of Separation last week, a must-read digital marketing blog, that really resonated with me. The post discussed how social media has created a plethora false experts: If an individual with no followers on Twitter has decades of real-life work experience and the individual with hundreds of thousands of followers only pontificates, plagiarizes and hasn't proven themselves in-market, what is the consumer supposed to do? It's not all that hard to establish some kind of Social Media beachfront and - with a few tactical moves - quickly gain notoriety and...
How to Build a Great Business Network and Reputation
One of the most challenging aspects about being an entrepreneur in real estate is raising capital. However, if your passionate about your objective, have realistic goals, have a reputation and network commensurate with those objectives, the money will come. The question remains, how do you build a great business network and reputation? Always do the very best you can to fulfill what you said you would do, help others simply because you can rather than because you believe it would indirectly benefit you, and do this for the next thirty years, and you will have a great reputation and...
My Last Days as a Student…in the Traditional Sense of the Word
On Monday I finished up my last exam as a student at the NYU Schack Real Estate Institute. Although I loved every moment at NYU Schack (all 2 years), I'm extremely excited to move on and begin the next chapter of my real estate career. I'll follow-up with a more substantial wrap-up post, but what I want to do today is answer a question I seem to get all the time: "So what are you going to do with the blog now that you're no longer a student?" The question is often asked in a joking matter, but it's worth answering anyway. As a student, professional and aspiring entrepreneur my goal is...
How I Approach my Job Search Part V – The Recession-Proof Graduate
After the popularity of 'How I Approach my Job Search Parts I, II, III, IV I decided to venture into a part V, not because I'm full of job search ideas, but because I came across an e-book that takes exactly what I'm trying to accomplish and conveys it much better than I ever could. The e-book was written by Charlie Hoehn and is aptly titled The Recession-Proof Graduate. You probably don't know Charlie, but he's a 23 year old who has worked with the likes of Seth Godin, Tim Ferriss and the infamous Tucker Max..yeah, he's 23. How did he do it? You'll have to check out the e-book which has...
How I Approach my Job Search Part IV
I originally sent this out as part of the ASotREG newsletter, but due to requests, I decided to post it for everyone to see.In the first part of this series I covered general tips on how to go about your real estate job search, I then followed it up with a post about obtaining informational interviews, and in part III I gave an example of one of the more creative ways I'm approaching my job search. In this final part I'm going to give various words of advice to think about when searching for a job. These tips are not all original thoughts, simply words of advice I've accumulated over the...
How I Approach my Job Search – Part III
In the first part of this series I gave general tips on how to go about your real estate job search, then I followed it up with a post about obtaining informational interviews. In part III I'm going to walk you through one of the more creative methods I'm using to obtain that dream job. Before I get into the example, I want to share a few thoughts about finding that ideal job. First, the mere fact that you're searching for a job signals a huge opportunity. Unlike the vast majority, you're not in a job you hate, and you have the ability to seek out a company you love in any...
How I approach my Job Search – Part II
In the first part of this series I discussed very generally how I go about my job search, focusing on how critical it is to refine your interest and network by conducting as many informational interviews as possible. As a recent college graduate or current student, you have an unbelievable network at your disposal. Utilize friends, family and alumni to network and reach out to everyone who is willing to speak with you. Although alumni are often willing to speak with you about their career, they hate receiving poorly written emails from students who bluntly ask for a job. In this post I'm...
How I Approach my Job Search – Part I
This is the first of a multi-part series in which I explain the process which I'm going through to land a job. This first post covers my general approach to job searching (keep in mind the fact that I have been unsuccessful thus far). As I wrap up my final semester at NYU Schack I have begun to seriously think about the next stage of my real estate career. With a wide range of real estate interests varying from finance, development, design and sustainability to policy work, entrepreneurship, affordable housing and economic development the most challenging part of my search has been...
Why I Blog
On this Friday morning I want to take a step back and talk about why I blog. Running a blog is extremely time-intensive - it's not just creating original content 3 days a week, but it's answering emails, managing social networks and commenting on other blogs to name a few of the daily tasks. Blogging can also be scary, it's hard to be vulnerable and let other people in. So why do I do it? Well there are a number of reasons, but as Seth Godin says, "if it scares you, that's the signal that you should do it. The hard part about being an entrepreneur is looking at the world and being willing...
Hodara Real Estate Group is “Making Moves”
Alex Hodara is not your typical business owner. Founding Hodara Real Estate Group while still in college without a penny of outside investment, he's since grown a successful business and launched an academy, a development arm, a property management company, a record label and realty TV show. Alex is a prime example of what can be done on pure sweat equity. No matter how many people tell him he's too young and too inexperienced, he continues to defy the odds and make moves. Here's his story: Alex, your path to success at such a young age is inspirational to all us aspiring entrepreneurs....
Wildwood Crest, NJ – An Example for Potential Real Estate Opportunities in Beach Towns
Growing up in the Philadelphia area, summers were spent down the Jersey Shore or just "the shore". For me, that meant weekends with friends and family in Wildwood Crest. Having spent the last few days down the shore, I decided to write a locally-focused post. I'm not too in-tune with the local market, however I've spent the last few days biking through town and I've made a number of observations. From a real estate standpoint the Crest is characterized by classic Victorian-style architecture and Doo-Wop motels. However, over the last 10 years, the Crest experienced an unprecedented amount...
AspinWall Partners Interview – How 3 MIT Students with Different Backgrounds Came Together to Start A Company
One common trend I've observed amongst masters in real estate students is that they have entrepreneurial aspirations. And not surprisingly, as real estate is an entrepreneurial field. However, it's much easier said than done. Well for three recent graduates of the MIT Center for Real Estate, it's not just something they casually talk about over beers after class. Bryan Lee, John Sullivan, and Mike Tilford combined their diverse backgrounds to form AspinWall Partners. With opportunity costs at an all-time low, it leaves a great opportunity for smart young guys to join forces, get down in...
Interview with Urban Visions: The Importance of Sustainability
Our nation is expected to grow by nearly 90 million people over the next 30 years. We face a critical choice: do we grow by sprawl and continue the destruction of biodiversity, social degradation and adverse climate impacts, or do we develop compactly, building diverse, healthy transit- served communities? It's up to us. Urban Visions is a progressive real estate development and brokerage company committed to smart growth principles, sustainable development choices and increased urban density. They're leading the way to redesign and revitalize downtown Seattle. Today we're lucky to have...
Book Review – Creating and Growing Real Estate Wealth (Bill Poorvu)
Prompted by an email from Amazon informing me that my copy of Money Talks, Bullsh$t Walks: Inside the Contrarian Mind of Billionaire Mogul Sam Zell (Affiliate Link) (which I can't wait to start reading) has been shipped, I finally got inspired to finish my most recent book, Creating and Growing Real Estate Wealth (Affiliate Link). It was a great read and I recommend it to anyone involved with real estate, specifically those interested in founding and running their own companies. In typical Poorvu fashion, the former head of the Harvard Business School Real Estate Program, the book...
Guest Post: The Role of the Real Estate Financial Analyst
What do financial analysts do in real estate? While in real estate there are a variety of roles a financial analyst can serve, this post will focus on that of a financial analyst in an owner/operator role, which is where several members of our team at www.argusvaluation.com have experience. Analysts for owner/operators typically have two primary roles: sourcing and evaluating acquisitions, and maintaining budgets for the company’s portfolio of properties. While in the “good times” a few years ago, most analysts would say their time was split 75%/25% in favor of new acquisitions, these...
Jim Chaffin – Advice For Students and Would-Be Developers
Jim Chaffin is cofounder and president of Chaffin/Light Associates, a firm that specializes in resort and recreational communities (http://chaffinlight.com/). He provided the following advice for would-be developers and students, the excerpt is taken from Real Estate Development: Principals and Processes. Advice For Would-Be Developers - "I think a liberal arts education with a graduate degree in business or law or real estate is most beneficial to a developer for several reasons. Developers have to be able to communicate well. They have to be interested in the entire planet and must be...
Real Estate Investment Banking: What is it and is it the right career for you?
To me, real estate investment banking always seemed like a glamorous aspect of the business, however until today, I didn't really know what it was or what it involved. The Stern Real Estate club held a "lunch and learn" event featuring speakers from the Goldman Sachs and Citibank real estate groups. The speakers discussed their specific groups within each bank, what investment banking means for real estate, and the types of transactions they're currently working on. What is real estate investment banking? Real estate investment bankers basically stand at the intersection of the real...
Guest Post From Bruce Kirsch (REFM): Is Real Estate the Right Career for You?
This is a guest post from Bruce Kirsch, founder of Real Estate Financial Modeling, a unique financial modeling tutorial service. Bruce has an MBA from Wharton with a focus in real estate. This is the first in a series of 'Advice' posts from successful real estate professionals. The month before I started business school at Wharton, I came to the stark realization that I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life professionally. So I sat in my shoebox apartment in Philly and started making lists of all of the things that I would be qualified to do 2 years hence with an MBA and the loans...
The Importance of Golf in Real Estate
Most of my summer weekends are spent jet-skiing, water skiing, or lounging by the bay at my family's beach house on the Jersey Shore. As much as I love the shore, it's hard to give up summer weekends in New York City. I decided to stay in town this weekend and I spent the afternoon on the far west-side of Manhattan leisurely strolling the High-Line and taking in the unique architecture of the area such as the Nouvel Building, the Chelsea Modern, the Standard Hotel, Truffles, and Frank Gehry's IAC Building. I eventually made it over to Chelsea Piers to hit a few balls before I embarrass...
Seth Godin on Social Networking: What Matters is REAL Relationships
When thinking about social networking Seth Godin reminds us that what matters is real relationships. "Networking is always important when it's real and it's always a useless distraction when it's fake." Don't get seduced by "fake networking." What you need to keep track of is the number of people you will go out of your way for and the number of people who will go out of their way for you. The number of followers, fans, and friends you have means nothing. What social media allows you to do, however, is connect with people you otherwise wouldn't have access to. Send me an email, let's meet...