“In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.” – Alex Haley
I thought the above quote does a nice job of encapsulating the influence that time has on the “family dynamics”. In my work with multi-generational families and their commercial real estate portfolios I continue to observe how significantly a family’s history plays an influence on their present and future dynamics. There are families I work with that have been committed to building a strong and unified bridge even in the face of generational and economic difficulties. These families have taken responsibility for the past. They have turned these challenges into a present opportunity to develop a cohesive yet adaptable plan with their family and their real estate holdings with the aim of carrying forward a positive message over the generations. Other families that I work with have allowed their family history to greatly hinder their present relationships thus creating a faulty operating environment of victimhood and blame. The good news is that in the latter circumstance there is always an opportunity for a family to use their history to forgive, heal and reunify. It is incredibly gratifying work for me to observe families that recommit themselves to each other and drop past transgressions. These families work to take responsibility for their past narratives and build their legacy strategy for the present and future generations. The results of this commitment are stronger and richer relationships and a more collaborative and respectful working environment to make difficult decisions with their commercial real estate portfolios.
Lastly, our team has been hard at work developing a client portal and proprietary portfolio assessment which is a great tool for families and estate planning advisors. These tools are being used in our transition planning work with families that own commercial real estate portfolios. Please email Jeff Gould for more details.
— Jeff Gould, LAA Principal and Founder