Farbman, 61, is retired from the business now run by his sons, David and Andrew, but he says there is nothing that he would have rather done with his professional life than sell and develop real estate.
In an hour-long discussion with Michael Desiato, editor in chief of Real Estate Media, parent company of GlobeSt.com, Farbman often struggled to keep control of his emotions as he told of being diagnosed at age 55 with ADD. It is a condition that he says hindered him--he dropped out of school after the 11th grade and lived with that secret for years--but also aided him as his mind raced to surround details of dozens of developments and deals his company would be working on at any given time.
"I thought that the strategy of the other side in my early real estate negotiations was to try to bore me," Farbman said. "Later, I realized it was the way my mind worked because of the ADD, I was able to sort and process all the details quickly and want to move on to the next thing."
About the time he was diagnosed with ADD, Farbman turned his business over to his sons and retired. "At age 55, I was burned out. I was losing touch with my emotions. I just didn't have the energy," he said.
In the mid-1980s, Farbman says he awoke from a dream at 2 a.m. in his northern Michigan vacation home. He was flying a plane and the only place open for landing was in Detroit. He said he decided then and there to try to work development deals in the city. While he said he wanted to make a buck in the process, his No. 1 goal was to be successful so other developers would see deals could work in the city.
Responding to questions from Desiato, Farbman offered opinions on several topics:
· His firm, NAI Farbman: "David and Andy have just caused that place to explode. It was a dream of mine to build a business that would do well after I left it. That dream has come true. David and Andy had the youthful energy, but also the expertise to really take it to the next level."
· The Detroit real estate market: "Long-term, Detroit is going to be a smaller market, but a healthier market."
· The Detroit economy: "We are the brain trust of the world's auto industry. That brain power could be shifted to another industry and we should be studying, privately and publicly, to determine what that might be."
· Obsolete buildings: "There should be a public and private effort to tear down buildings that just aren't going to work anymore. Who knows what might take their place. But nothing will happen with an obsolete building there."
· Real estate success: "You have to have passion. This is a business you can get into with no money and not a lot of knowledge up front, but if you have passion, you will succeed. If you take 50 people and they start in real estate, the ones still doing it 25 years later, the ones who had passion for it, will be successful."
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