The 10 Habits Billionaires Have

Set your goals high for your real estate career by mirroring habits of the truly elite few. According to Forbes magazine’s annual list of “The World’s Richest People,” which ranks billionaires, 46 out of the world’s 691 billionaires made their fortunes in the real estate industry. Here’s what you can learn from their habits, lifestyles and business styles:

 

• Go commercial. Billionaires who make their fortunes real estate don’t do it by selling one home at a time. They do it by owning and operating office buildings, shopping centers, apartment complexes and luxury hotels.

• Do more than invest. Buying a piece of property and sitting back and waiting for it to appreciate in value is not the way to make billions. You need to enhance its value. J. Paul Getty did just that after he bought New York’s Pierre Hotel for $2.35 million in 1938 and turned it into a hub for New York society by convincing a prominent socialite to stay there. He increased the value of the investment by more than eight times.
• Be able to see the property for what it could be. Just because you buy a shopping complex doesn’t mean that’s the best use of the property. Recognizing that real estate will have a greater value with an alternative use is what helped billionaire Laurence Tisch achieve success when he acquired controlling interest in the Loew’s Theaters chain and converted prime Manhattan property in to the Summit Hotel. Know the zoning laws in your area and apply to have the properties rezoned if needed.
• Be tenacious and relentless. Billionaires don’t let obstacles or pitfalls keep them from achieving their goals. Just because you fail doesn’t mean you can’t succeed in the end. Kirk Kerkorian, who headed Chrysler Corp. and other companies, has made and lost millions in many investments, but he refuses to give up and always gets back in the game and continues to make deals.
• Have a thick skin. People are by nature resentful and jealous of successful people. Don’t let criticism of your work deter you from your goals.
• Have superior information. If you do more research than your competitors, you’ll have an advantage in any transaction.
• Don’t accept the cards you’re dealt. Although one-third of the world’s 46 billionaires who make their money in real estate inherited and then grew their fortunes, two-thirds are self-made, according to Forbes.
• Live in California. Of the 21 U.S. billionaires who made their fortune in real estate, according to Forbes, more than one-third live in Atherton, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Palo Alto, or Stockton.
• Get, and stay, married. Of the 43 real estate billionaires whose marital status is known, according to Forbes, 37 are married, while only three are divorced and three are widowed.
• Go back to school. Of the 26 real estate billionaires whose educational attainments are known, 20 have a college degree or higher. Five made it on high school diplomas, and one is a high school dropout.

 

Sources: Martin Fridson, Leverage World, an investment research publication, and author of How to Be a Billionaire (John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2000); Forbes magazine’s “The World’s Richest People,” March 2005; Realtor Magazine, “The 10 habits billionaires have,” March 2006.