Recently I attended the CCIM/IREM national conference and fortunately made some amazing connections during the event. I found the breakout sessions to be right on target and the keynote and general sessions to be very informative as well. Surprisingly, it was during the general sessions in particular that I noticed how many networking opportunities were missed by several of my fellow attendees.
Trade shows are really an investment of your time and your money. More than ever before, a focus should be place on the ROI of each investment we make as a broker/business owner. Trade shows are not only an opportunity to be educated on the latest technology and strategies in the industry, but more than that they are the one opportunity that we should focus on initiating as many relationships as possible.
As my good friend Jim Tucker (CCIM, Richmond, Virginia) has told me again and again, “This is a belly to belly business”. And in fact it is. And although I naturally gravitate to Jim whenever we happen to attend the same meeting, I rarely spend time with him and anyone else I know for that matter, at these events. You see, these trade shows are our best opportunity to “get known” and build future relationships, such as I proudly have with Jim.
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Over the last 5 years, we have seen our economy on a great roller coaster ride from great highs to a new low and a recession. No part of the economy has been immune to the effect. The financial community has seen its share of the troubles from: the collapse of several large investment banks & community banks, the evaporation of the Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBS) market and increased regulation of the banking system.
The combination of these factors has lead to a shortage of capital to finance new and existing projects. Clifton E. Rodgers, Senior Vice President of Real Estate Roundtable in Washington, D.C. recently stated that borrowing has dropped during 2009 to levels not seen since 1952 and commercial real estate values dropped in the United States from $6.7 trillion in June to $4.7 trillion in November.
With many of the challenges behind us many people have been asking; how do I acquire financing for my project? What are the banks looking for? What are the secrets to acquiring a loan?
The answer to all these questions is very simple: back to the basics and plenty of information.
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To no one’s surprise commercial real estate insiders are projecting that 2010 will not be significantly better than 2009. The real question of course is what is the projection for your personal brokerage business? Does the declining velocity in your market correlate to declining commissions for you?
It would be easy to provide you a simply answer, however the answer varies bases on market, focus, level of experience, dedication to your business and yes your personal brand and personal marketing plan. 2009 showed the same level of failure in new-to-business brokers as seasoned industry veterans. The same holds true for the levels of success. Many new to the business brokers have out produced their seasoned veterans.
It is also true that many commercial real estate brokers have had extremely rewarding years in 2009. They have leveraged their market presence, existing client relationships and current market conditions to identify new opportunities, and in many times for new clients.
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A valuable source of untapped networking opportunities for commercial real estate brokers is trade associations. Becoming a member of a local trade association can prove to be a valuable resource and a viable part of your network as you establish yourself as the real estate expert for their specific needs. More than likely, existing members of the trade association are all members whose area of expertise is directly related to the industry. By becoming a member and establishing yourself as the real estate expert for their association, you will not only be able to provide valuable insight into the real estate issues relative to their industry, you will ultimately be looked upon as their real estate adviser, from which fee service and transactions can result.
For example: If you are a broker of retail space, it would naturally benefit you to participate in the local Restaurant Association. How? Simple: Food courts provide space for parasite locations such as fast food outlets in regional malls and strip centers. Parasite stores provide a guaranteed high traffic area with a small rental space. Local members of this useful trade association are usually the owners/franchisees that make the final decision in the site selection, and a working relationship with them could mean untapped sales from an unlikely source.
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If you have recently upgraded to Windows 7, you are probably a little overwhelmed with all the new options. For “power users” of Windows XP it can be a little frustrating, since most of the older settings are no longer where they used to be.
“GodMode” to the rescue!
There is a hidden feature in Windows 7 called “GodMode”. It displays almost all user-adjustable settings and control panels in one place. But you won’t find it on any of your menus. Here’s how to activate it:
- Create a new folder on your C: drive
- Rename the folder to: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
- The new folder will now rename itself “GodMode” and the icon will resemble a control panel. Double-click the folder, and you have access to over 250 settings and options all in one place – very cool!
If you’re like most commercial brokers, you are probably engaged in a constant battle to keep your e-mail in-box under control. Perhaps the source of your frustration is your corporate I.T. department and their frequent demands to trim your storage space usage.
There is a simple, free, and incredibly useful way to solve these issues, and it’s called MailStore.
MailStore enables you to back-up all your email messages from multiple applications and accounts into one secure and persistent archive, then you can delete them from your mail program. It works with Outlook, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey – even Gmail and Yahoo. It also backs up all your attachments, and you can restore any message back to your in-box with one click. Searching MailStore is much faster than searching Outlook, and it even allows you to burn archive CD-ROMs and DVD disks. You will never lose important emails again!
MailStore Home is free for personal use. They also have a server-based version that is designed to back up entire company mail systems starting at $299.
I’ve been depending on MailStore for about 2 years, and couldn’t imagine working without it. Now my e-mail box stays clean, and I know that I can instantly find anything I need, read it in MailStore, and restore it to my in-box immediately if necessary.
If you are like me you have been inundated with the importance of online “social” networking. I still can’t figure out what’s so social about not speaking to anyone. You have been told there are several MUSTS if you are to keep pace with (forget ahead of) your competition. For example, you must have 1) a personal website 2) a Twitter account 3) a blog and 4) a Linked In account, at the bare minimum. In addition to these MUSTS, you have to have an integrated marketing platform that creates push and pull campaigns on a varied, yet consistent basis. Now if you really want to get the most out of the Web 2.0 (or is it 3.0?) culture, you should have your own Facebook account and a personal YouTube channel… a personal YouTube channel – are you serious?
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Many of us look at building tours or site visits as a mere formality; a quick run-through before the prospect signs the lease. But if that were true, then the ratio between the number of tours you conduct and the number of leases you sign would be 1:1. While you may achieve that ratio on the odd occasion, it is not a standard benchmark. So, where, exactly, is the disconnect?
The solution could be as simple as looking at building tours in a different way in order to maximize their full potential. There is no overstating the importance of an on-point, customized building tour. Charts and graphs, facts and figures are one-dimensional. A building tour is a living, breathing, three-dimensional visual aid complete with sound, sights, textures, smells, and if you’ve provided refreshments, even a taste of its own – it’s a brief but memorable sample of what it would be like to be a client in that building.
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Welcome to the “new” incarnation of TheCommercialBroker!
For many years, TheCommercialBroker.com has been the most popular web site for commercial real estate technology information, reviews and tips. I had an epiphany recently, and decided to totally re-design the site. In the age of Twitter and Facebook, when people are accustomed to fast, succinct updates, I decided it would be more useful to turn this into a blog. The reasons are many, but mostly I think it is better to have more frequent timely updates rather than to focus on longer articles as we have in the past. I hope you will be happy with the results.
I will be posting some of our most popular legacy articles shortly, and then we will press on with new stuff.
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