It's All About the Money...

Let’s be honest, in real estate development, if the proforma doesn’t work and the project won’t pencil, it doesn’t move forward. That’s the reality of what we do. Is it easy? No. So why not give ourselves every possible advantage by harnessing the power of narratives?

Because we don’t think it matters.

If the fundamentals of a deal are solid, THAT’S what matters. And since we can’t tie the value of a clear narrative to the bottom line, why bother?

I’m not selling non-believers on what they think is unnecessary fluff, but at the very least, think of it as the best tool to stay on schedule and on budget, and protect yourself against unexpected market fluctuations.

Things like a huge oversupply when you deliver and instead of a line of people waiting to sign leases like you expected, you actually have to SELL your product against a ton of competitors and figure out how to navigate back to those proforma assumptions from 3 or 4 years ago.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to lose, regardless of who the competition is, so I utilize every fact at my disposal to help ensure my success.

Fact: The human brain is naturally wired to pay more attention to narratives and stories. It’s the result of evolutionary processes that have shaped human cognition over millions of years. This deep-seated preference for narratives is ingrained in our cognitive processes. It influences how we learn, communicate, and understand the world around us to this day. Stories cut through distractions, help us focus, and trigger chemical responses that increase engagement, enhance memory retention and FUEL CHOICE.

A building with a compelling design narrative clearly reflected in the built environment is therefore more likely to differentiate a property in a crowded market, attract the right prospects, command a higher price and ultimately be remembered and selected over competitors who choose to ignore those facts. At the end of the day, we build for people and our success depends on them choosing our property over another, especially in the current environment.

We need to design, build, market and lease no matter what, so why miss an opportunity to let evolution lend a hand? It just requires changing how we plan, organize and manage the resources we already hire so we can achieve that competitive edge.

Understand your budget, then create a concept that fits it, appeals to the target audience and ties to the fabric of the community you are building in BEFORE your consultants begin work. Harness their brains to flesh out the details and get everyone rowing in the same direction from the start. It will save you tremendous amounts of time, make decisions much faster and the end product will be much more successful, no matter what the market conditions.

In short, PLAN WELL and give your leasing agents something to SELL.

Not everyone will agree, but…

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” – Aldous Huxley

Apartment building with money flying around it