ABC (Always Be Closing) / SBS (Sometimes Be Selling)

I often write about Signature Group’s acquisition process because I love buying buildings, but this week I’d like to share the other side of the deal: the sale (possibly because we just accomplished quite an impressive one).  Due to some external tax opportunities we discovered after owning a small portfolio of apartment units in Queens for a little more than 5 years, we decided to sell.  

"And while the law of competition may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department." - Andrew Carnegie

We never use brokers to help us source deals on the buy side, but when it comes to selling we really do like to hand it off to them.  In this case we used a nonexclusive broker group, gave operating information to a number of those who were interested, and let them compete.  We received offers ranging from $15M to $21M. The most persistent broker brought us the best price and terms, and ultimately did the deal.  

A big part of our business model is buying right.  Of course everyone would agree on this, but it’s important to remember to also focus on sale, structure, and negotiations.  We definitely mastered this art on this deal.  

"Competition is the keen cutting edge of business, always shaving away at costs." - Henry Ford

Making Miracles Happen in NYC

CNNMoney reports that the average cost of a wedding as of January 2013 is $28,400 nationwide, and almost $77,000 in Manhattan.

So when my brother-in-law told me that his budget for his Saturday evening, June, Manhattan wedding was $4,000, I had a private chuckle and waited to see what would happen. When his first catering idea of a gourmet taco truck fell through (I still would have loved to see that), he remained confident that he could spend $10 per person on the food. I can’t buy lunch for myself for that price.

On June 8, 2013, my brother-in-law married the woman of his dreams in Manhattan. They had a beautiful ceremony and threw a festive celebration. Everyone was well fed and served plenty of alcohol, and we danced all night. There were wedding cupcakes with freshly made whipped cream and berries on top, and there are plenty of professional-quality photographs to document the occasion.

The final cost of the entire wedding was indeed less than $4,000. This is a rounding error for many Manhattan weddings, where many brides couldn’t even finance the flowers with that much money.

My brother-in-law did something that most people would consider impossible. But he had a woman he couldn’t wait to marry, an idea for a beautiful ceremony and a smash of a party with his friends and family, and a budget that he couldn’t exceed. He believed, and he made it happen.

I would have never thought of my ultra-liberal, Bed-Sty, thrift store brother-in-law as an entrepreneur, but he pulled off an incredibly entrepreneurial stunt if I ever saw one.

The ceremony was in the serenity of Central Park’s Conservatory Garden. His best friend became ordained on-line and performed the ceremony. Permit: $400. Best friend as officiant: priceless.

The party was at a community center in Hell’s Kitchen with a European-like courtyard where dinner was served under the stars and Manhattan skyline. The director of the center ran around all night helping with whatever the task of the moment was. Rental: $1,000. Director bending over backward to help: priceless.

The guests were served delicious Creole cuisine at a buffet with more than enough spicy chicken, rice and beans, and vegetarian options. Catering for 80 guests: $900.

We drank Yuengling, Prosecco and wine all night. Instead of paying pricey hotel premiums, he likely purchased the alcohol at Costco for a savings in the 10s of thousands.

Bro-in-law’s friend “spun” the tunes from his MacBook, and kept the dancing going all night. Another friend snapped pics all night. Of course neither charged a dime. Another friend lovingly made all of the desserts and provided them as a gift to the bride and groom.

After all other incidentals, they did not exceed their budget. I was so impressed and inspired by this feat. It just goes to show that when creative people are given an opportunity to make the impossible happen, there are those who take charge, think creatively, go outside the box (or hotel), and make it happen. There are also those who run off and elope. Fortunately for me and all the guests at last weekend's festivities, Jordan followed his heart and made it happen.

Whenever I hear people say they can’t get something done in NYC because of the outrageous cost of doing business or the red-tape, I am going to be telling this story of a young man and his dream wedding.

Jordan - Congratulations on marrying the love of your life and for creating a meaningful, spectacular wedding out of what many in Manhattan consider pocket change. You are an inspiration. Best wishes to you and your beautiful bride.

App Dreams

There is mystical talk of the Wow! features the iPhone 6 will have when it appears, but no launch date has yet been speculated.  Even so, my 10 year old daughter has begun her marketing campaign to acquire one of the first specimens and replace her “ancient” iPhone 4.  As an early adopter myself, it takes a lot of restraint to not spoil my kids when it comes to technology.  It’s interesting to watch kids today not only enjoy technology (if not obsess over it), but also anticipate the next breakthrough more and more.  

This weekend, I took my 2 young daughters to the World Science Festival at NYU.  We attended a seminar called “Cool Jobs” where four scientists, three of whom were women, spoke about their cool science jobs to an auditorium full of kids.  I think this is the first “seminar” my kids ever attended, and they were fascinated.  They heard from a food scientist, video game designer, roboticist, and biomedical engineer who specializes in nanotechnology.    

While scientists have historically (and currently) been branded as nerds, it seems that with the boom of social media there is now an extreme cool factor to the nerdiness.  Nanotechnology seemed to me to be the most abstract job in the seminar, but the biomedical engineer Michelle Khine was the most dynamic presenter of them all and the one that made the biggest impression on my daughters.  My kids’ first seminar, and a bunch of scientists made it fun!

My younger daughter participated in a robotics demonstration where she hid behind movable walls on-stage while other kids tried to find her remotely using a robot.  Technology that would ultimately be used for post-natural disaster search and rescue or a quest for life on Mars was able to be explained to children using the game of hide n seek.  As children become more engrossed and interconnected to technology, their ability to imagine the future is blossoming.  When my kids graduate from college there will probably be so many new types of careers available that we aren’t even dreaming of yet.

So while we are waiting to see what the iPhone 6 will ultimately do to make our lives better, easier, faster, more interesting, more fun, and more fulfilling, my daughter can continue to dream about the possibilities, butter me up, and just make do.  I think she’ll manage, but the anticipation is priceless.

What features are you looking forward to in your next Smartphone?