Matthew Iovane on The Value of Travel for Real Estate Investors

Matthew Iovane is a real estate investment professional and a drink industry angel investor with experience working across the US and Europe. More recently, he has been operating between New York and L.A. He is a citizen of The United Kingdom, Italy, and the United States. Listening to his many accomplishments and background, the question arose of what kind of advantages could a real estate investor or would-be investor obtain by simply traveling as widely as possible. Here is some of what we learned.

Matthew Iovane on The Value of Travel for Real Estate Investors

Matthew Iovane on The Value of Travel for Real Estate Investors

The basic benefits of travel, Matthew Iovane explains, are not controversial. It makes a person wiser, broadens one’s perspective, and can even work as a long-term stress reliever. Many experts claim that it can enhance creativity, and Matthew Iovane says he believes that is the case. But Matthew Iovane also contends that there are many psychological ruts that a real estate investor’s thinking can become stuck in. These involve resting on one’s expertise within a particular market, a particular niche, and negotiating with buyers and sellers from particular cultures. But they also involve limitations to knowledge about specific regional construction practices, material prices, and much more. Matthew Iovane was kind enough to outline a few examples.

Exposure to Novelty

Seeing the different ways towns and cities can be organized and different architectural styles give an investor a broader idea of what’s possible and what works. This kind of wisdom can help close a deal where a client is having trouble seeing how a given property will fill their needs, and solve seemingly unsolvable problems.

The Value of Aesthetics

Whether you’re making a sale, trying to convince a potential buyer or partner of the value of a thing- or finding the hidden beauty in an underdeveloped property can be key in realizing the elusive value of a building or lot.

Sampling Other Languages

One does not need to master another language to benefit from the perspective broadening effect of learning how sentences are constructed and how certain words sound when spoken in another tongue. It can give deep insights into a culture that just might lead to a negotiations breakthrough.

Appreciating the Remote End of Supply Chains

Knowing where a given part or material comes from is one thing. But understanding the challenges of procurers on the far end of a supply chain can make a person a powerful negotiator. This is truer than ever today, with COVID-related supply chain challenges.

Knowing What You Don’t Know

No one can know everything, and not knowing what you don’t know is worse than simply not knowing it. When you know your blind spots, you also know how to remedy them, and travel will expose anyone’s educational deficiencies handily.

Matthew Iovane went on to comment that the value of a broader perspective can help in negotiations and curate one’s reputation- something of which few investors can ever have enough.