Thread by @JWurzak

“If you don’t know how many square feet are in an acre, go figure it out, and until then, you have no business being in real estate.”This foundational comment formed the basis of my real estate investing career —a quick 🧵 on what I learned for #retwit . 👇

When I was 16 years old, I decided to learn about real estate investing first hand by buying a house, fixing it, and flipping it (this was before there were an annoying amount of TV shows on the topic).

Fortunately, the most prominent real estate developer in Philadelphia, “B,” a family friend, was gracious enough to spend a Sunday morning with me. His intentions - to 🤯 my ego, show me what I don't know, and teach me business and life lessons that would stick with me.

The plan was for B to pick me up and drive me around his real estate development projects in Philadelphia. He chose Sunday, probably because he was too busy but also to teach me the lesson that work doesn’t stop, and to #win you need to put in the time when others won't.

B was a visionary and developed some of the best neighborhoods in Philadelphia before they were neighborhoods and found a knack for life, work, and play style developments. He is bold, outspoken, and street-smart. He is a developer that leads.

As we drove, B told me everything about the neighborhood, and I mean everything. Each detail, which other developers were snooping around, which grandmother owned the little house abutting his property, and which national tenant wanted to anchor the live-work-play development.

It became apparent to me that in real estate, location matters, but knowing the details, even the small ones matter even more.

We arrived upon a massive development site that had just been clear. B pointed out what would go where and turned to me and said, “Hey, How many square feet are in an acre?” I was stumped, I had no idea, and Siri didn’t exist back then.

He told me, “43,560”, after he exclaimed, “If you don’t know how many square feet are in an acre, go figure it out, and until then, you have no business being in real estate.

Not only have I never forgotten those numbers, but I also didn’t forget the meaning of the lesson. Passion and drive will get you far, but knowing the details, putting in the time, and doing the work get you the rest of the way there.

Until then, I had the dream of doing a real estate deal but had not yet dug deep enough to appreciate one of the fundamental components of land. When I was 17, I purchased my first real estate deal - a row home that I later flipped for a profit.

Years later, when I graduated law school and formed DoveHill, I was raising capital for our first hotel investment and approached B. This ground-up 248 room hotel investment was was my first time raising money from outside investors.

Like the initial car ride, the meeting setup was another lesson in itself. After initially sending materials, I was spontaneously called by B at 9:30 on a Friday night to come and pitch him the deal.

Without hesitation, I drove over there while restating numbers in memorizing lines from a play. I knew he would drill me on the details and try and rattle me with technical questions and what-if scenarios.

That night I walked away with my first investor, even more lessons, and a greater appreciation and excitement for the grind. Since then, DoveHill has invested, developed, and or operated projects with a value exceeding $1.5 billion.

Key Takeaways:
1. Know what you don’t know. Then go figure it out - through mastering it yourself or hiring the best and brightest.

2. Raising money comes with responsibility. Appreciate it.

3. Have humility.

4. Karma. Help those that are coming up. It always comes back around.

Wondering if the #retwit community has similar stories? If so please share!