Andrew Segal never set his eyes on another occupation, but only wanted to build his own real estate empire. He is the founder and owner of Boxer Property. As a one-year-old, Andrew played with his toys in the office of the student apartments owned by his father. Apart from a real estate professional, he did not consider any other career.
Andrew was about to graduate from the School of Law of New York University. But he skipped graduation in 1992 and went on to build his own real estate empire. He admitted that he thought he knew more than he did at that time.
The real estate newbie heard about the struggles of Texas. The oil industry has busted, and there were lots of vacant buildings. He transferred to Dallas and started to call all the people he knew who could help him get his real estate business off to a good start. That first start required him to make sacrifices in his living standards. For $19 a day, he stayed at the Red Roof Inn. He also bought a cheap $270 car.
Six months later, his operations expanded quickly. He now has new office tenants. In 1993, Andrew bought two buildings. Then he bought four buildings in 1994. A year later, he acquired another eight buildings. Andrew built his real estate empire by accumulating a total of 32 buildings at the end of 1996.
Then it dawned on him that he was getting way over his head fast. He realized that he needs to be more organized if he wants his real estate business to grow more. In 1996, Andrew hired Jeff Harris as his company’s chief financial officer. Jeff was the catalyst that organized Boxer Properties, especially in financial matters.
Andrew moved Jeff to Dallas because the latter was then living in Houston. He said hiring Jeff and moving him to Dallas was one of the best decisions he has made in his real estate life.
Andrew’s real estate business has come a long way since he quit college. As of March 2013, Boxer Property has 11 million square feet of properties all over the United States. Andrew’s company also operated a third-party management division. It managed 5 million square feet of properties. In Dallas alone, Boxer Property owns 44 properties with a total of 5 million square feet.
In August 2019 and after 25 years, Andrew now owns and manages commercial properties totaling more than 18 million square feet. They are all over the United States. His secret is to target small businesses. These include consulting firms, lawyers, and temporary help agencies. He leases small spaces that they need, for shorter periods. And he does not need credit checks.
To Andrew Segal, the key to success in the real estate business is simplicity. He said he wants people to come in. Then he will let them sign a lease and then treat them to lunch. He revealed that he uses the business model of car rental companies.
