Only two things were made at creation: Real estate and human beings. On one hand, the Universe consists of the earth’s crust, all the liquid, gas, and mineral elements. Included is the air space above and water surrounding or beneath. To transform and manage the universe, the human being too was designed. In transforming the universe through the application of intellectual abilities, humans stretched the definition of real estate beyond the earth’s surface to the creation of mega-structures and businesses.
The land space, air space, water body and the galaxies even in the raw form have all been designed to sustain and support human existence. When we apply our imaginative and creative abilities to these forms, we create other kinds of valuable real estate property.
To some people, real estate means just having a roof for shelter. To others, real estate means the earth crust and every mineral it holds. What this means is that real estate is what we make of it. Consequently, what real estate means to you will determine how you choose to go about its use to create wealth.
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest man, has a clear personal definition of what real estate means to him and this is clear in the ways by which he approaches and extracts value from real estate. He creates the biggest businesses over and again. What does real estate mean to you and how are you creating relevant value from it that is meeting a need?
A question from a survey conducted in 2017, read: “What readily comes to mind when you first hear real estate?” 20 percent of respondents said the word “wealth” came to mind, 30 percent said “land”, 30 percent said “house” while 15 percent chose “money.”
Several reasons contribute to each respondent’s perspective on what came to mind when they first heard real estate. Some of those reasons include background, migration experiences, exposure, education, self-discovery and personal development.
More often than not, real estate does not mean just one thing to an individual; meanings are progressive – ever-changing. A look at Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs shows lucidly what real estate means and how it meets needs.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs divides human needs into three broad categories. Basic needs category describe the safety and physiological needs such as food, water, and rest. The second category describes psychological needs which cut across our esteem needs, our need for belonging and love. The final category describes self-fulfillment and self-actualization needs.
It becomes evident that human needs across the board are largely emotional. Meeting these needs can be emotionally fulfilling and rewarding. It is amazing that real estate meets needs across the hierarchy from bottom-up and this means that real estate also plays a huge role in our overall emotional fulfillment per time as further explained.
The Basic Needs: The physiological and safety needs have been identified to be food, water, warmth, rest, security and safety. Food from agriculture and water largely ground source. Warmth and rest do not happen in isolation. We derive warmth and rest from a real estate object such as a built property. Likewise, security and safety arecreated within a bounded area.
For instance, when people move into a new city or location, they first depend on other people for shelter, safety, security, warmth and rest at least for a while. These provisions provide support and keep the receiver in a positive emotional state for better productivity. The provider of the support system also, in turn, receives some reward which may be a feeling of high esteem or financial reward.
Shelter, safety, warmth and rest are provided and obtained inside a property (a subset of real estate). Hypothetically, real estate makes being human possible. It delivers emotional fulfilment. It supports the essence and existence of life.
The Psychological Needs: Ever wondered why some people buy houses in highbrow environments? While there are a number of reasons, chief on the list is because they want to belong and identify with a certain societal class. Psychological needs are the esteem, belonging and love needs. Humans crave these emotions at varying degrees and want to have them fulfilled. Real estate is a basic tool that can be used to meet these needs. You probably have been using real estate to meet these needs and you do not even know it! You derive esteem and feelings of belonging to a certain class or group of people when you occupy or use real estate in certain locations.
The Self-fulfilment Needs: Self-actualization is explained as achieving one’s full potentials including creative activities.The Dangote Foundation recently donated ₦1,200,000,000 worth of student accommodation to the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Such a gestureis geared towards a level of fulfilment for the donor. To those who are recipients of the foundation’s kind gesture, a basic need have also been met using real estate.
Continuously succeeding at real estate investing hinges a great deal on finding a balance between how you define real estate and how you express that definition while meeting a high demand need. Yet keeping in mind that needs are progressive and change is inevitable.
Oluwakemi Adeyemo is a real estate wealth creation enthusiast, advisor, ambassador and author with extensive experience in real estate wealth creation and optimization. She is known for her diligent, meticulous, analytical and deep insight into the transformative power of real estate as a wealth creation tool.
