THE HEART
OF THE DEAL
Real estate can be a cutthroat business. But you don’t have to sell your soul to achieve your dreams. Let me teach you how to reach all your financial goals and obtain the kind of life you’ve always wanted, without losing who you are along the way.
REVIEWS
What People Are Saying
Publishers Weekly
“Readers looking for a broad, general introduction to the real estate business will be off to a good start.”
ABOUT
ANTHONY LOLLI
A genuine rags-to-riches story, Anthony Lolli rose from humble beginnings to become a successful real estate investor, developer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. A lifelong resident of Brooklyn, NY, Anthony got his real estate license at age 19. At 21, he bought his first investment property. That same year, he founded his brokerage Rapid Realty NYC, specializing in apartment rentals. By 23, he was a millionaire.
Since then, Anthony has built an expansive portfolio of residential, commercial, and mixed-use properties, and developed Rapid Realty into one of New York’s largest real estate firms and a franchise expanding across America. The Rapid Realty brand has created so much excitement that over 100 agents have gotten tattoos of the company’s logo.
Anthony’s reputation for fair dealings, industry know-how, and savvy investments have made him a sought-after consultant for buyers, sellers, landlords, and developers in need of help with everything from site selection to renovation strategy to tenant lease negotiations.
To learn more about Anthony, visit anthonylolli.com.
Anthony Lolli has already helped over 40,000 people launch careers in real estate. Now it’s your turn.
Awards
King of Queens, Queens Courier, 2011
King of Kings County, Brooklyn Spectator, 2012
NYC’s Best Firms to Work For, The Real Deal, 2012
Inc. 5000, Inc. Magazine, 2012
Man About Town Award, Business Owner’s Council, 2012
Future 50, SmartCEO New York, 2013
Entrepreneur of the Year, Golden Bridge Awards, 2013
Silver Stevie, Real Estate Executive of the Year, International Business Awards, 2013
Special Achievement Award, National Minority Business Council, 2013
Viral Marketing Campaign of the Year, PR World Awards, 2013
Franchisee Satisfaction Award, Franchise Business Review, 2013
Franchisee Satisfaction Award, Franchise Business Review, 2014
Champion of Diversity, New York Urban League, 2014
Latin Star Award, El Correo, 2014
Best Company for Leadership, IAIR Awards, 2014
Executive Management Award, SmartCEO New York, 2014
Latino Trendsetter Award, LatinTrends Magazine, 2015
Most Influential People in Brooklyn, City & State Magazine, 2017
Excellence in Real Estate Award, Tribune Press, 2017
LOLLI’S LESSONS
Read excerpts from The Heart of the Deal
From “The Beginning of a Businessman”
I’ll share one of the Essential Truths of the Universe with you right now: there is no substitute for hard work. You have to go hard until hard isn’t hard anymore. And that’s exactly what I did. I got up early, I went to bed late, if I went to bed at all. I went after the business at every possible opportunity.
A lot of new agents, when they’re first starting out, will see someone sticking up a FOR SALE BY OWNER sign on their property, and they’ll just drive on by. They tell themselves, “they don’t want to work with someone so inexperienced. If they wanted an agent, they’d get an agent. There’s no way I could convince them to work with me.” They forget that you’ll never get the experience unless you put yourself out there. They’re not just setting themselves up to fail; they’ve already failed because they didn’t give themselves the chance to succeed.
Now, me, when I saw someone putting up a sign like that, I was out of my car so fast it was a 50/50 shot whether I’d even remember to park it first. I forced myself to do it at first—I didn’t let myself off the hook or swear I’d do it the next time—until I didn’t have to force myself anymore, because it had become a habit. And yes, I got rejections. Half of surviving in real estate is dealing with rejections. But I also got a lot of business that way. And a couple years later, that habit would be the key to one of the most important days of my career…
(Learn more of the critical lessons that shaped Anthony’s career–and can launch yours–in The Heart of the Deal.)
From “Combating Negativity”
When you start a new venture, whether it’s a career in real estate or in any other business, it may be necessary to put some space between yourself and the most negative people in your life. When people doubt you and constantly question your every move, that incessant negativity can get in your head and make you start doubting yourself. For anyone who puts themselves out there, risking their savings and their reputation to build something from scratch, there’s a period when letting doubt cripple your instincts and cloud your better judgment can quickly knock you off course and stop you from succeeding before you even get started.
Negativity doesn’t just come from the doubters in your personal life, though. It can just as easily come from within, even without someone else’s words to set it off. We’re all human, we all wrestle with self-doubt, feelings of inadequacy, fear of failure, the whole nine yards. It’s only natural for those emotions to surface from time to time, especially when you’re taking on a massive challenge like starting your own business…
(Learn how to combat negativity from within and without in The Heart of the Deal.)
From “Finding Your Style”
Pop quiz: How do you sell a brand-new, spacious, move-in-ready, four-bedroom, four-bath home with high-end appliances and fixtures, gorgeous views, and easy access to shops and restaurants, in a top-ranking school district, that’s priced 20 percent below market value?
Answer: You don’t. It sells itself.
If every property were like the one I just described, real estate would be the easiest job in the world. Unfortunately, most properties aren’t like that. In fact, almost no properties are like that. If you’ve ever watched an episode of House Hunters or a similar show, you know that, even on TV, finding a home almost always means compromising, either on the price, the location, the features of the home, or some combination of the above. Being a real estate salesperson is all about the art of getting people to identify what’s really important to them and to accept compromise in order to get the things they want the most…
(Learn how to craft your own personal sales style and much more in The Heart of the Deal.)
From “Real Estate Investment 101”
Real estate can be regarded as a hybrid investment: a combination of a stock and a bond, only you’re investing in an entity that you control. Real estate tends to appreciate in value like a stock, and it has an income stream like a bond—and you’re the boss of it.
Usually, your income from the property will be fairly steady. It’ll go up or down a little, of course, depending on whether you had to spend a little more or a little less on maintaining the property in a given month. But as long as you keep the units rented, you can expect the building’s performance to be fairly stable.
The market value of your property could change considerably, from year to year, depending on various conditions—but as long as you’re not selling the building, its market value is only an opinion. The income from it is the reality…
(Learn about different types of investment properties and strategies in The Heart of the Deal.)
From “The Art of Negotiation”
No matter whom you’re negotiating with, you need to be able to walk away and deal with someone else if negotiations break down. Otherwise, you’re begging, not bargaining.
Never present an ultimatum (“If I don’t get a 20 percent raise, then I’ll quit!”) unless you’re prepared to carry out the “then” part. An ultimatum is by its nature nonnegotiable. If the answer’s no, then you have a choice of quitting then and there (and do you have a new job lined up?) or backing down and looking like a fool.
By the same token, don’t accept an ultimatum from the other party, or take his word that something is nonnegotiable. Instead, say something like, “Let’s work together to find a solution that I can afford, that won’t make you decide to quit,” or, “Since you say this item is nonnegotiable, let’s find a solution that will let me get along without it…”
(Learn more essentials of negotiation and many other vital parts of the real estate business in The Heart of the Deal.)
NEWS
EVENTS
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