Between Two Chairs - Demystifying Commercial Real Estate

Jose Maria Serrano is known to eveyone as Chepe. Chepe embodies entrepeneurship, collaboration and leadership. Learn more about his story getting started in commercial real estate and his leadership roles in a variety of associations. One of the great things about CRE is that there are so many different paths to success in this diverse industry. "We're here to make friends and through those friendships we make money". His daughter has not joined the business to expand their residential mortgage with Moto Mortgage NMR

We resume our kindergarten series with Dr. Seuss' Oh The Places You'll Go, which offers great lessons for anyone, but especially real estate brokers that are just starting out with commercial real estate. This is a great book for giving you a glimpse of the commercial real estate business, obstacles you will face, the mindset you will need, and how to overcome feeling uncomfortable.

In this episode we do a dive into local CRE numbers with economist Scholastica "Gay" Cororaton. Job growth, demographics and economics all affect CRE, but not the same way in all markets. This market is chugging along in spite of interest rates, but the high cost of borrowing is still putting a lot of pressure on owners and investors. Sale of core commercial assets went up eventhough overall sales fell. Tune in to see how both can be true and where opportunities are in this episode.

May is National Walking Month, so we are ending the month with an episode on walkability. Miami has become a 15 minute city in the last couple of years, in large part thanks to the walkability of many of it's cities and neighborhoods. Density, amenities and ease of mobility are just some of the insights a walkability score can reveal. Pull up a chair and take a deeper dive into how to use this metric to find great walkable Miami neighborhoods.

It has been said that appraisals are an art not a science, but why? A lot of science (data) goes into an appraisal but so does the personal experience and opinions of the appraiser (the art). Commercial real estate appraisals are even more of an art because of the uniqueness of so many commercial properties.

People who buy and sell real estate almost always ask about the cap rates, but a lot of them also know that, contrary to what the mainstream public thinks, properties with low cap rates can often be excellent deals!

I know we did interviews back to back, breaking from our regular formatting, but with Formula 1 speeding into town this weekend, we just had to interview the amazing Miami Gardens Councilwoman Linda Julien and talk about how Miami Gardens and Miami-Dade County worked together to bring this world class event to South Florida. The F1 Grand Prix boosted the local economy by $449 Million in 2023. Does this affect our #cre market? You bet!

With some notable exceptions, commercial real estate agents have been slower at jumping on social media than residential ones. That is a huge opportunity for cre agents to carve out an audience. Ines Hegedus Garcia was a very early adopter of social media and her Miamism brand has grown as a result of her work and authenticity. Join us as we dive into the do's and dont's of social media, great Instagram spots, and taking selfies in Miami.

Woo hoo! Thank you for joining us on our anniversary episode as Fernando and I go through the highlights of some of our interviews. Thank you for joining us on this journey. We look forward to continuing to demystify commercial real estate and highlight the South Florida CRE market.

Our guest this week is Antonio 'Tony' Puente, CCIM with Fairchild Partners. Tony has a lot of experience selling and leasing film, television, and radio studios, a hyperspecialized commercial real estate niche. He currently has Spanish Broadcasting System - HQ Building and MEGA TV - Broadcasting Center for sale at 7007 NW 77 Ave. In addition to having a cool address and being in the hot Airport West Market of Miami, this approximately 70,000 square foot studio is located on 5.37 acres.Tony takes a deep dive into the critera required for this niche market and shares insights on how to start and grow as a CRE professional.

The Miami International Film Festival starts tomorrow, April 5 and runs through Sunday, April 14. Local commercial venues benefit by filling up hotel rooms, restaurants, theaters, and other venues where films are screened, parties are thrown, and lectures are given. Well known movies and TV shows filmed in Miami, including Academy Award winning Moonlight. Film and TV studios lease and own a lot of commercial real estate! M3Studios: 122,000 square feet and Telemundo: 476,000 square feet.

We can't think of a better way to celebrate our 50th episode, small business month, and women's history month, than to summarize (and relive!) the Women's Real Estate Investment Summit.

Renting a space for a franchise location? Buying a franchise business? Selling a franchise? During our interview with Reda, we go through her journey as a franchisee to a specialist in this field. She discusses the benefits of owning a franchise, working with franchisees, leasing to a franchisee as well as how to speed up the process of buying or selling an existing franchise.

Working with small businesses is one of the most satisfying aspects of real estate. Helping someone pursue the dream of entrepreneurship while at the same time bringing new companies into a community is incredibly rewarding, but can also prove to be challenging. To help minimize the challenges and maximize the potential of success, we dive into how to prepare a business for their real estate search.

March is Small Business Month, so we are focusing on small businesses! How to start one, how to work with them, and how to sell them. Today's episode is an overview of the impact small businesses have on the economy as a whole as well as on the state and local level here in South Florida.

As an asset class, multifamily is often called the gateway to real estate investing and commercial real estate brokerage because it is still residential in nature and most people understand the basics of residential living. Although duplex, triplex, and fourplex are the most common starting point for smaller investors, multifamily is usually considered anything that is 5 units or larger. In this episode, we interview Nate Korn, with IMAIM Capital, to get some insights into how this multifamily investor got started, what criteria he looks for, some of the challenges and advantages of multifamily, and some of his earlier mistakes as he was getting started.

The South Beach Wine and Food Festival starts today, February 22 and runs through the Sunday, the 25th. Fernando and I are huge fans of everything food & beverage and this event shines a light on our South Florida culinary community. In addition to highlighting local chefs and trends, 100% of the proceeds go to FIU’s Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism.  We are eternally grateful to the vision and grit that Lee Brian Schrager, senior vice president of communications and corporate social responsibility for the Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirit of America, had in creating and growing this event and partnering with the Food Network.

Common Area Maintenance includes shared spaces such as lobbies, stairwells, elevators, corridors and entranceways and the cost for maintaining all of these spaces are shared among all of the tenants/users of the building. The common area factor, also known as the loss factor or load factor, is calculated by dividing the rentable space by the useable space.

The Super Bowl has a huge effect on commercial real estate in the host city as well as in the cities the two teams in the Super Bowl hail from. Hotels, restaurants, bars will all be offering fan events, hosting watch parties etc. For South Florida, President's Day weekend actually generates a larger economic impact on the region than hosting a Super Bowl does. We have the International Boat Show, The Coconut Grove Arts Festival and The South Beach Wine and Food Festival.

Did you know: If a property you are purchasing has ever had a FEMA claim payout you must carry flood insurance or you will be ineligible for FEMA funds?If someone gets injured on your property while committing a crime, you as the owner are liable for their injury?A sole member LLC formed in Florida doesn't have the same legal protections as a multiple member LLC?

Knowing your state and local economic development partners is important to know where real estate in your community is going. In this episode, get a glimpse of where Miami has been, how it got to where it is today, and where it is headed based on efforts by the Beacon Council, government officials, current residents and brokers are doing to bring people and jobs to Miami. We are so much more than beaches, sun and fun, those these things definitely help highlight why it is a great place to live, work and play.

Whatever your answer is, whatever black swan event may happen, regardless of who becomes president, Ryan Holiday's book, The Obstacle Is The Way, can get you in the right mindset to take advantage of any challenges that may came your way. "Great individuals, like great companies, find a way to transform weaknesses into strengths".

The Obstacle Is The Way, by Ryan Holiday helps remind us to put things into perspective and focus on what we can control. With all of the economic uncertainty, political noise, global unrest, etc. it is easy to lose focus and let headlines control or affect how we see things. Those of us who can remember that things and events are neither good nor bad they just are, can find opportunity when others are fretting, fearful or stuck on a narrative. Perception, Action and Will affects all outcomes.

Our first episode on 2024! New year, new goals, new opportunities. To take advantage of all that this year has to offer you are going to need to connect the dots and make connections between the news, events, conversations and your local market to find the opportunities. The Miami Underline and Brightline are examples of literally connecting the dots, by connecting neighborhoods, but how did these two projects affect the real estate around them? What is going on in your area that could transform real estate in your area? Learn to connect the dots to help you see patterns before others do so you can see where real estate is going versus just seeing where it is now.

The last episode of the year! Time to reflect on lessons learned & set goals and intentions for next year. Key takeaways for the year were patience, the resiliency of the South Florida real estate market, focus on what you can do & tune out the noise, the power of perception, simplify, make sure your family gets best of you not what is left of you, and the rewards of teaching, whether through a podcast or in a classroom. Thank you all for joining us on this journey! We look forward to chatting with you in 2024.

Infrastructure, AI, pricing reset, affordability, logistics shift, housing and labor shortages, oh my! These are some of the issues we cover as we go over the Counselor of Real Estate's Top 10 Issues Affecting Real Estate in 2024.

Retail is where the fun happens! It is the epicenter of creativity where businesses get to directly engage one on one, in person, with their customer. What makes shopping centers an attractive investment? Tune in to this episode to get a general overview of this asset class.

She is a mother, teacher, coach, business owner, friend and canvassing queen. She freely shares information and encourages everyone to succeed. "I love helping independent retailers achieve their American dream. It is why I got into retail to begin with." The resilience, drive, ambition and creativity of Mom & Pops excites Beth and her excitement is contagious. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as Fernando and I enjoyed speaking with Beth. Biggest takeaways: Canvassing works, don't ignore opportunity, and be addicted to learning.

We attended our first South Florida Independent Retailer Awards (SFIRA) this year and were so impressed with the experience of having landlords, retail reps, and small businesses all in on place on a scale that made it easy to interact. Pull up a chair and hear about the experience of supporting local businesses and #cre students.

PortMiami's cruise and cargo operations have a significant impact on commercial real estate. Cruise passengers stay in hotels, shop in stores, and visit restaurants before and/or after their trips and cargo obviously affects warehouse demand. The logistics of how a port operates also affects real estate. 354,000 jobs are created by the port and affordable housing is a huge issue for employee retention and crew from both cruise and cargo ships. Since the port is an important economic driver for South Florida, we need to keep an eye on the larger picture and make sure that housing and retail options and experiences are available to support the workers not only at the Port, but throughout our service economy.

Love to travel and stay in hotels? Learn how this fascinating asset class differs so much from other commercial real estate from industry expert, Robin Webb, principal at Commercial America Properties in Orlando. In addition to representing hotels and buyers, he is also a hotel investor with deep insights into their operations and the nuances involved in selling, owning, investing in hotels. We guarantee that you will never stay in a hotel and think of it the same way after listening to this episode.

Planning for 2024? Keep in the mind the rule of 3's; it applies to so many aspects of the commercial real estate industry. In this episode we dive into Marcus Lemonis' People, Processes & Product and my version People, Planning, and Property as a basis for defining goals for next year.

Hear key takeaways from two commercial conferences, the C5+CCIM in Atlanta and the Miami Commercial Conference. The takeaways included learning from failure, being genuine, you only have between 7-10 seconds to establish trust, and so much more. Lessons learned from NBA Hall of Famer, David Robinson, Chris Voss of the Blackswan Group, and a rockstar lineup of CRE experts across the asset classes.

In this episode we get DeLea's insights about AI, social media, Austin, fear, and commercial real estate. I love her philosophy of buying on the edge of scary...remember, things that scare us challenge us to grow! DeLea is smart, open and funny, Pull up a chair and join us as she shares how cowgirl math has served her better than sexy math and other of her investment strategies.

According to a 2022 Researchandmarkets.com report, the market size of ghost/cloud kitchens was $57B in 2022 and is expected to grow to $113B by 2027. With the popularity of restaurants, new food concepts, and delivery apps, ghost kitchens are a great way to test your concepts and get started in the restaurant business without having to go to the expense of renting and building out a retail space. Take a listening tour of #miamighostkitchens, in this episode of Between Two Chairs.Dwayne Wade & DJ KaledReef TechnologyWhat Are We Smokin'2 Korean Girls

Continuing with our October Halloween/Scary theme, this episode discusses ideas to get over your fears through planning so you are ready to take advantage of opportunities that will present themselves. If you are a new agent or investor you need to have clear, specific goals; get to know your market and see if it aligns with your goals; and finally get to know your properties and see which ones align with your goals. And no real estate plan is complete without thorough due diligence. We discuss some examples of due diligence items that, if not checked, can turn into a real nightmare.Napoleon Hill Think & Grow Rich and FearDavid Robinson NBA legend with a phD in connecting with peopleChris Voss former FBI Negotiator, author of Never Split the Difference and founder of The Black Swan Group.Miami Herald, South Florida Business Journal, The Real Deal

The title of this episode is a quote from Zig Ziglar. Which camp would you rather be in? Everyone knows negative news sells and focusing on the negative news can be paralyzing to an individual, a business, an economy and can become a self fulfilling prophecy.Between perception and reality lies opportunity, so take advantage of this time of year and the negative headlines regarding commercial real estate and find the opportunities in your market to grow your business and portfolio.

Fall is the beginning of South Florida's BUSY season, so no time to fall back on your prospecting. A lot of people are winding down for the year but, if you want to avoid a roller coaster ride in 2024, use this time of year and all of the great events that are going on to connect with your sphere, create traditions, review your goals for 2023 and set up your goals and processes for 2024 . The 4 Disciplines of ExecutionThe E-Myth by Michael GerberPrincipals by Ray DalioDid you know?...The business of pumpkin flavor will be an $802 million business in 2023. Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte was introduced in 2003.In 2022 Miami was the second most visited city in the country, 28th most visited Ratio of tourists:local residents: 1641 tourists/100 local residents.

The office asset class has been in the news a lot lately due to vacancy rates, remote work, and fears of a crash as CMBS loans come due in the next couple of years. Following Warren Buffet's idea of invest when people are fearful, we tour Miami's office market and discuss differences between A,B & C office buildings as well as different Miami neighborhoods.

What do the children's book, The Little Engine That Could, Henry Ford and commercial real estate have in common? You need the right mindset to deal with the ups and downs of commercial real estate. You will get a lot of no's before you get a yes and what you can do versus what you are willing to do to get to the yes, will make a huge difference.

Building communities and creating the fabric of where people want to live, work and play with landuse and zoning attorney Estrellita Sibila. When you look at zoning, you are not only studying the history of a place you also get a glimpse of the future and what the place can be. Zoning is complicated, especially in Miami-Dade County. In addition to Miami 21, a form based zoning code that creates compatability among abutting structures and is only for the City of Miami, Miami-Dade County has it's own zoning requirements and there are 30 different zoning codes, depending on which municipality you are in. Miami Beach and Miami City Ballet Workforce Housing ProjectFairchild Tropical Garden https://fairchildgarden.org/

It doesn't matter when you start in real estate. Whether the market is booming, busting, or just chugging steadily along, what you do every day is what is going to determine the strength of your business. Pay attention to the headlines, but don't dwell on them whether positive or negative. Most headlines are nationally focused and negative news sells. Focus on what is happening locally and bringing value to your sphere and your business will be positioned well. Regardless of what the market is doing, someone will need to transact for their own reasons

Key takeaways from Florida Realtors ConferenceInsurance-free home inspection https://mysafeflhome.com. Insurance profits in FL capped at 4.65%. Reinsurance price increases are slowing. Florida Realtors working with FL Insurance Commissioner to address commercial insurance. 52% reduction in volume of CMBS loans. Largest increases are in Miami, Ft Lauderdale and Palm Beach with 28% increase. Lawsuits decreasing so more insurance providers will come back.Everglades-Realtors were instrumental in getting funding for Everglades Restoration. We have been working closely with the https://www.evergladesfoundation.org to restore flow of Everglades to address green algae blooms. Shingle Creek is the headwater to the Everglades. Currently Everglades restoration is the largest Army Corps of Engineers project.Economic Update - out of state drivers license exchanges and UHaul index show continued migration to FL.Hospitality and Short-Term Rentals have had to have training for recognizing signs of human trafficking$260 million will be saved by business owners who rent, when business rent sales tax decreases by 1% starting December 1, 2023. Rent tax is expected to decrease to 2% by September of 2024.Hotel Industry - Largest industry in FL and largest employer. Revenue has increased 24.2% since 2019. FL is largest supplier of hotel rooms.South Florida retail vacancy rates at historic lows, below 4% in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade Counties.Overall delinquincies in CMBS loans still low at less than 4%. YOY starting to increase. https://www.trepp.com/the-treppwire-podcast

Do you love road trips? We do! Put your real estate goggles on and join us for a road trip to Palm Beach County. We visit a client's 124,000 SF shopping center in Juno Beach, find an AMAZING pizza place (Willy's Pizza) tucked inside a gas station, Dave Abernathy for words of wisdom, tour DecoGreen, a new mixed use development site being built by Avanti Way Capital in Lake Worth Beach, and end the trip at a Realtor's Political Action Committee investment event at a really cool, music themed restaurant/space, called Double Roads Tavern in Jupiter.

What do wine, winning and warehouses have in common? Gus Fonte, our amazing guest for this episode is a Miami native with incredible recall on everything real estate and is the 2024 Miami Realtors Chairman of the Board. Learn about warehouse/industrial investing and development through Gus' experience. What happens when an area is upzoned? What it is like to work with Industrial REITs? He is a wealth of knowledge so pull up a chair and join us to hear Gus' insights on Miami industrial real estate.

Conference season is upon us. Whether you travel near or far, the value of conferences should not be underestimated. It is not just about the education sessions and networking, but about taking time away from working in your business to working on your business.Florida Realtors Conference ICSC FloridaC5+CCIM

The dog days of summer are considered the hottest days of the year and usually run 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11, so we are smack dab in the middle of them. This episode is not about hot summer days, but rather about the effect pets in general and dogs in particular have on real estate. If you specialize in retail real estate do you have tenants that specialize in pet care? Do their customers bring their pets? If you are an office or business owner trying to encourage people to come back to the office consider a pet friendly policy. Totally Dog Day Care Atchana's, ChewyThe Dog From Ipanema

What do all commercial real estate asset classes have in common? They are what helps create the community and become the amenities of that community. Specialization is extremely important to become an expert in an asset class and market, but you need to keep and eye open to the bigger picture for trends, changes, and how your asset class connects to others and the community.

1 in every 4 international buyers buy real estate in Florida and the majority of those purchase in South Florida. If you are in real estate, wouldn't it be good to know who is looking? There is so much detailed information in Miami & Florida Realtors International Buyer Report that can be used by commercial brokers, sellers, and investors to find trends. If you work, or want to work, with international clients the book, Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands by Terri Morrison and Wayne A. Conaway is a must read. It can help you avoid awkward moments when working with different cultures.Florida Realtors International Real Estate ProfileMiami Realtors Global Information

As I write this, I have Julie Andrews singing "Getting to Know You" looping in my head. A road trip to Orlando, driving in circles without expectations, walking a property, speaking with people and stopping for coffee, were all steps we took to get to know a retail center in a new market. This process allowed us to get a feel for the retail center, neighborhood, and how tenants, their patrons and nearby residents use the space. It also helped us identify what new tenants would help activate the center.