Making it in Real Estate from a Lawyer turned Developer with John McNellis–Ep. 37 - a podcast by Matthew Loos, P.E.

placemakingpodcast@gmail.comFacebook-fTwitterLinkedinInstagramMaking it in Real Estate from a Lawyer turned Developer with John McNellis – Ep. 37
About the GuestI am thrilled to share this next conversation with all of you. John is a co-founder of McNellis Partners located in Northern California. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and Hastings College of The Law, John practiced law until he co-founded McNellis Partners, a Northern California shopping center development firm, in 1982. John frequently lectures on the topic of real estate development and has currently written two books on the subject as well. These books are linked in the description below.
McNellis Partners has been building—one project at a time—a reputation for fairness and thoughtful development. They take on a limited number of new projects, focusing their energy and enthusiasm primarily on building and redeveloping shopping centers, mixed-use projects, and office buildings. From the simply outdated to the outright neglected, these properties often occupy a significant place in their communities, and they take pride in renewing their productivity and importance.In this episode, we are going to discuss why some people fail to take the first step into real estate development, the common reasons some people don’t succeed in commercial real estate, as well as busting some of the biggest myths in CRE as a whole. There is loads of great information in this episode and I greatly appreciated John for taking the time out of his busy schedule to discuss this topic of starting out in real estate development.As always, if you have enjoyed the show, please subscribe to the show and share with your friends. There will be more exciting conversations on the shows to come.
Main Take-Away’s From This ShowThis episode was so much fun to record. John is very open and candid when discussing his experience in commercial real estate as well as his observations of the industry as a whole. With over 30 years of experience under his belt, he has no shortage of great wisdom to share with those starting out in the business as well as veterans alike. He shares much of this wisdom in the books he has written as well as his frequent speaking appearances at ULI conferences. There were several great talking points that John shared throughout the discussion, so it is hard to just pick three for my main take-away’s this week. The following main topics of the show come from a deep understanding in the real estate development process that John possesses.

You don’t need to be a brilliant marketer to raise money if you have a good deal.Commercial real estate is not a passive investment.
All you have is time. The goal is to get the most return on your time.As always, I will dig into each of these “take-away’s” every week on the blog. So, without further a due, here we go!You don’t need to be a brilliant marketer to raise money if you have a good deal.
            Being able to market your real estate deal, no matter the size is one of the most important traits that a developer needs to have in order to scale his or her business. Arguably this is the most important attribute you need to have when starting out as a real estate developer. Starting out when you have little money and very little experience can be tough, but a strong ability to market yourself as well as your deals can make your foray into real estate much more manageable.            As discussed in this episode though, it doesn’t take a degree in marketing to sell your deals if you can provide great deals to your investors, friends, and family. As Seth Godin stated, “when the product is right, you don’t have to be a great marketer.” When you believe you have a great deal, and you have numbers to back you up,

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