International real estate development is a delicate dance between dream and reality, between vision and practice, between stubbornness and flexibility. Over the years I have worked with quite a few international real estate developers on their journeys overseas, and each encounter has taught me a new lesson about the complex ingredients of success. Developers are special types. Israeli developers are even more special, mainly because of their daring and flight of imagination. Over the years I have learned that some developers know how to work in a team and will listen to advice or at least give a few more minutes of thought when I raise doubts or questions, while others know everything and will not let anyone with a question, doubt or objection divert them from their truth, from their thoughts. The difference between a successful international real estate developer and the rest often lies in his ability to adapt to changes on the move. Just as an experienced surfer knows how to take advantage of every wave, so a smart international real estate developer will know how to identify new opportunities and adapt his plans accordingly.
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. Tim Ferriss, author of the book “The 4-Hour Workweek”
Haim bought agricultural land. We traveled together to sign the purchase agreement. Before the signing meeting at the notary's office I asked to visit the site. Call me “old-fashioned,” but I am a person who believes in touching the earth, in talking to the neighbors and passers-by, and in general in thinking with the head but also with the gut. My wife always asks me what my gut says after we have had a thinking conversation. This time too my gut did not disappoint... and when I arrived at the site I understood right away that something here was not working. When I got out of the car, I was shaken. It is an agricultural area, admittedly not far from the capital of an Eastern European country, but an area where poverty shows from every house and street.
When Haim came to me a few months later and asked me to appear before his investors to explain the local law and the opportunities, he also presented me with a plan to build several hundred villas on the land he had bought. I looked at the plan and began to ask questions:
Who is going to live here?
“People who want to leave the city and live in a private house in a rural area,” he replied.
But the drive to the city from here takes about an hour, and there is no regular public transport here. I pressed him.
“People have cars. I'm not worried,” he replied.
What about a shopping center? A kindergarten? A school? I continued.
“That's what the municipality is for, it will take care of that,” he replied.
H. had an answer to every question I asked. He was not willing to listen and change the plans. He knows better.
More than 10 years have passed since. To this day H. has not started construction, or advancing the project. The local authority set requirements for him such as leaving green areas, building public buildings and a shopping center, and wider roads than he had planned, which took a considerable part of the land. H. abandoned the plan and is looking for a buyer for the land.
In contrast to Haim, I also remembered Moti, a real estate developer who found an opportunity in a capital city in the Mediterranean basin. A building combining retail, services and residential, near a university campus not far from the city center, which had stood abandoned for several years because of a dispute between the heirs. The idea was to renovate it and bring it back into operation as an office building or, alternatively, as single-room apartments for students studying nearby.
Did you build a business plan for the 2 options?
“No. There is a business plan for renovating and renting out as retail and services. I haven't yet made a business plan for turning the building into apartments for students,” he replied. “But I'm going to buy the building in any case. I see the potential in it,” he continued.
Moti bought the building, after a not-simple negotiation with ups and downs. About a month after the purchase he came to my office for a consultation. He told me that he had prepared plans and gone with them to the municipality to begin the process of renovating the building, and then he got a call from the university's director general, who invited him to a meeting. The director general proposed that he turn the building into workshops for the university's faculty of architecture, and the university would lease the building from him for 20 years. Moti did not hesitate and agreed at once.
These two stories, so different on the face of it, share one moral: flexibility is the key to success in the world of international real estate. Many developers tend to fall in love with their ideas and stick to them at any price. They see themselves as prophets, and everyone around them must believe in their truth. But the truth is that the world is dynamic and changing, and success demands flexibility of thought.
The flexible developer is the one who listens to his surroundings, learns from mistakes, and understands that the road to success is not fixed in advance. He is ready to change direction, to compromise, and to work in cooperation with others.
I am a lawyer, but beyond that, I am a human being. I know that entrepreneurship is an emotional journey, not just a business one. I believe every developer can succeed, but success demands more than vision - it also demands flexibility, listening and the ability to change.
So the next time you stand at a crossroads, remember these two stories.
Ask yourself: so what is the secret to success? Flexibility or stubbornness? The answer, as I have learned over the years, is clear: flexibility. A flexible developer is like a tree that bends in the wind and does not break. He knows how to adapt to changes and keep growing and developing.
Are you ready to loosen your grip on your ideas and try new approaches?
Always choose flexibility, creative thinking and teamwork, so that 1+1=8
Stories are based on real situations, with identifying details changed. Not legal advice.
Translated from the Hebrew original. עברית