6 things they don’t teach you in Architecture school that you must understand in real estate development.
1. Push!
You will need to lead and push everyone involved to complete deadlines. The team of consultants, lenders, attorneys, engineers and everyone else can get very large, and you are in charge of making sure everything is done on time. If one things slips, the entire schedule gets pushed back.
Architects are often polite, respectful, and avoid confrontation — but in development, you’ll need to push, sometimes be blunt, and occasionally rude. You may need to push a dialogue no one wants to discuss and it gets uncomfortable – but it’s a necessary evil (and you may even get to like it).
2. Negotiate everything
Similar to having to push deals along – if you’re not comfortable getting uncomfortable – learn quickly. Real Estate is a money sport, so you need to navigate it accordingly. Get comfortable taking about money – try negotiating a few times – it will be awkward, but it gets easier, and then you will find you will get good at it, and even look forward to it.
3. No one cares about your design.
You care — and that matters — but design alone doesn’t drive deals or sales. Quickly lose the inflated architect’s ego — because real estate runs on price, value, and return. Merging these worlds means understanding what actually creates profit, not just what looks good in a rendering.
4. Move fast and be decisive.
Time is money and spinning your wheels too much in design development will cost the project money. Learn and understand what your design concepts will cost before you put them to paper. Hit your key schedule milestones, refine later and as you go — but don’t let “perfect” slow you down.
5. Your value is not design
An architect’s value is not design or the tile you pick – it’s what you see in project that will make it more valuable as an investment. Its how you can use your technical training and know-how to bring unique financial value to a development.
(Note: deferring your architect fee does not count as value creation.)
See what others don’t — the underutilized lot, the zoning quirk, the unknown extra FAR, or the small detail that makes a building more valuable. That’s where architects can outperform as developers.
6. Control the purse strings
Architects are expendable. If your not in control of the purse strings, your not in control of anything. When things go south on a development you don’t own and if you’re only the architect on the job, sorry – but
- You’re the only one that needs insurance for life, and you may be sued and dragged into a long lawsuit
- You may be the last to be paid, and
- You will most definitely be the first to be blamed or fired
Take control and flip the proverbial table.
I hope this doesn’t come across too harsh, but sometimes the truth is best served that way. Take it for what you will, as we all need to go through our own process, and each path is different.