New book draws big picture of real estate

In a remarkable new book, “The Inside Track to Careers in Real Estate,” Ross writes that real estate “is also an industry made up of thousands of companies producing products and providing financial and property services.”

He then cites developers, builders, brokers, lenders, asset managers, consultants, facility managers, product managers, lawyers, investment counselors, accountants and many other service providers as holding key roles and presenting key opportunities in the real estate industry.

“You can choose your sector – office, retail, industrial, hotel, residential – and market niches, such as low-income housing or historic preservation,” he writes. “You can start your own business. You can work for a company that operates in a small local market or worldwide.”

With this broader groundwork, “The Inside Track” then delineates guidelines for succeeding in virtually every arena within the industry – guidelines derived from a massive research effort.

Ross is chairman of the board of the Lusk Center for Real Estate, the University of Southern California’s real estate school. To determine the most crucial questions and best answers for people aspiring to careers in real estate, USC student teams conducted more than 150 interviews with students and with real estate professionals. Ross guided the book’s development over a three-year period.

Many of the real estate interviewees are luminaries in the field. Their responses yielded two exceptionally strong features: Career Profile and Q&A.

In Q&A: Sam Zell, for example, the CEO of Equity Offices Property Trust, the largest publicly held office-building owner and manager in the United States, is asked, “What do you look for in people who want to work for you?”

“Ambition, drive, motivation, analytical skills, and appetite for risk — for starters,” Zell responds. “And nobody can possibly grow a serious business today without personal leadership skills. The days of the tyrannical boss are long over. The people who succeed are those who are able to get others to follow them.”

In Q&A: Isadore (Issy) Sharp, the founder, chairman and CEO of Toronto-based global hotel and resort management company Four Seasons is asked what personal qualities are needed for real estate success.

Sharp answers, “The key to Four Seasons’ successful relations with real estate developers around the world is their ability to deal with us in ways that build mutual trust and respect. I strongly believe that success in the real estate business, as in the hotel management business, depends on trustworthiness. People starting out in their careers should never compromise their integrity for personal gain.”

In Q&A: Donald Trump, Trump is asked “What counsel would you give new graduates pursuing a career in real estate?”

Trump responds: “Decide where your true passion lies. Don’t try to please someone else in making a career choice. Make sure it’s your own choice. Then focus on it and simply don’t give up. Tenacity is absolutely necessary. If you don’t have it, don’t go into real estate.”

Also excellent are Ross’ self-evaluation sections and his outline of exactly what readers can expect when starting jobs at development companies, construction firms, homebuilders, asset management firms, brokerages and other firms.

The book’s academic grounding suggests that it’s primarily for college students. The information, however, is so solid, thorough and far-reaching as to make it of singular value to anyone interested in exploring real estate as a profession at its highest levels.

“The Inside Track to Careers in Real Estate” is $19.95 at retail bookstores and online.