High Margins & High Returns

Cheap isn’t always good for the velocity of growth

David Herrera is living his childhood dream as a Chicago real estate developer. He lives and breathes real estate and finance and classifies himself a “financial markets athlete.” All profitable real estate development begins with simple math.

David is a full time estate developer and financier with over 12 years of diverse financial services experience across investment banking, private equity, asset management, real estate development, structured finance and the is principal of The Golden Mean Group. David career kicked off in the big league at XL Capital Ltd, a Bermuda based Fortune 500 firm who control over 49 billion in assets.

Prior to pivoting into a career a full time real estate developer David furthered his finance experience as the second vice president of the Northern Trust Corporation and oversaw financial modeling, structuring, pricing, P&L oversight and transactional execution for the banks $3.5 billion interest-rate derivatives book and hedging product offerings.

David is passionate about developing communities and driving markets. He believes that it isn’t work when you love what you are doing day in and day out.

Opportunity is everywhere – David’s wealth of knowledge and proven track record allows him and his team to secure high margin, high return infill development opportunities for their core investors.

Five key points

• To become an expert in your field, whether it’s sports or business, you need to live and breathe it every day.
• Surround yourself with information and resources to support your career: read the market news daily, learn about geopolitical issues that may affect interest rates or stock prices – have a passion for what you are doing.
• Cheap deals aren’t necessarily the best deals. It is necessary to do your homework and quantify the deal before going ahead. Markets where the land is more affordable may have rents that aren’t as strong. Look at the path of growth and the velocity of appreciation in the markets you are considering investing in.
• Look at location, property zoning and land entitlements. How many stories can you build in the location, particularly in a core urban infill area?
• Hiring people with proven experience is important for building a successful team and when you are pitch to a bank. Its an easier sell when you approach a lender with plans, an experienced architect, a proven builder and other competent team members supporting your project.

Favorite athlete: Michael Jordan – NBA All Star.

Real estate roll models: Jerry Reinsdorf and Ted Turner

***David’s pro tip: Learn from the successful people around you; what makes them successful? How did they become successful? Learn from other people’s mistakes.

Highly motivated – serving and enhancing the community through development.

Thank you David for taking time out of your busy schedule to share your story and valuable insights with us!

Reach out to David and his team at: www.goldenmeangroup.com

Email direct: [email protected]

Linked-In: David Herrera

Tune into David's interview on iTunes, Stitcher or Google Play

Invest well,

John Carney