Billionaire real estate investor Sam Zell says now is ‘the time to accumulate capital’ for future real estate buys as a glut approaches

REUTERS/Fred Prouser

• Real estate investor Sam Zell told attendees of the SALT conference in Las Vegas that there will be a chance to buy discounted real estate in a couple years, specifically apartments and office buildings.
• While prices are less "speculative" now than they were four or five years ago, Zell still thinks now is the time to be adding to your cash reserves, not pushing it into the real-estate market.
• The controversial billionaire investor, who made headlines last year when he used vulgar language when talking about hiring more women in the investment industry, also called Trump’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan "a lot of bullshit." 

Billionaire real estate investor Sam Zell is building up his pool of cash, planning to put it to use in a couple years. 

Compared to four or five years ago, prices for real estate have become "less speculative," but are still too high for Zell’s taste, the founder of Equity International told attendees of the SALT conference in Las Vegas. 

"I think there’s going to be an opportunity" in the next few years, Zell said, to buy cheap apartment and office buildings because of oversupply.

"We’ve seen a lot of apartments built in the last years, we’ve seen a staggering amount of office space," he said, saying he doesn’t believe the demand matches the new construction.

Because of this coming opportunity, Zell said "this is the time to accumulate capital." 

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The billionaire investor, who was uninvited to UCLA last year because of vulgar comments he made about hiring women and his controversial ownership of The Los Angeles Times, also called the $2 trillion infrastructure plan that President Donald Trump and top Democratic leadership "a lot of bullshit."

"I don’t think it’s real," Zell said, while also acknowledging that the country needs infrastructure renovations. 

"Public and private partnerships, unless there’s a specific project in mind, don’t work."

Zell also pushed back on his fellow real-estate developer, saying Trump’s immigration stances are not going to help the country.

"I don’t think anyone in this room thinks this country is full," said Zell, whose parents immigrated to the United States from Poland at the beginning of World War II.

"We don’t have enough competent, qualified, educated people." 

See more: Democrats say Trump has agreed to work on a $2 trillion infrastructure plan, but there’s a big catch

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Source: Business Insider – bsaacks@businessinsider.com (Bradley Saacks)