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A Message of Hope from the Front Lines in Commercial Real Estate Brokerage

By Jim Gillespie | May 31, 2010

Times are tough right now in commercial brokerage. That’s why I thought it would be good to trumpet out to the troops a message of success from one of our broker-warriors who’s engaged in battle on the front lines.

When the financial collapse stunned so many people in September of 2008, I began getting excited for commercial brokers. I was convinced that distressed commercial properties would begin hitting the market in droves, ending the massive glut in commissions for commercial brokers everywhere. But alas, the bailouts came, much of the money got reinvested back into the stock market, and lenders weren’t foreclosing on properties they normally would’ve been foreclosing on. In addition, lenders began extending their loans that were coming due, even when they would’ve never, ever approved of new loans like these with the exact same terms on these exact same properties.

So my idea of brokers becoming immersed in a ton of distress sales, with visions of commissions abounding for brokers everywhere, went completely out the window.

And in the midst of this massive intrusion to brokers’ incomes, resulting in a further stalemate in commissions within our industry, a friend of mine and commercial real estate colleague said, "This is completely unprecedented in the entire history of commercial real estate". To which I then replied, "This is what it’s like…the Distressed Asset Olympics were about to begin for commercial brokers everywhere. The brokers were all lined up at the end of the pool, waiting for the gun to go off so they could dive in and beat their competitors to all of the distressed assets just waiting for them on the other side. And then, once they were all in midair diving into the pool, somebody removed all the water."

But I’m happy to report there’s news from the front, as some brokers just refuse to let anything stand in their way, and they’re finding new ways to make deals happen in commercial brokerage. With this in mind, this E-mail just rocketed into my Inbox from Dan Dulin of Kasten Long Commercial Group in Phoenix, Arizona:

Jim:

How is this for a crazy deal…My client owned a building that was 25% occupied and had a full recourse loan.  I listed the building as a short sale and found a buyer.  The bank said no to the short sale, so I submitted a new offer to buy the note from the bank at a lesser price.  They said no again but decided that they would auction the note.  I had my sellers sign a deed in lieu with my buyer in exchange for forgiveness of the recourse on their loan if my buyer won at the auction.  My buyer was the only person who had any due diligence materials on the building and the deed in lieu in his pocket, so naturally he offered the most at the auction (but at a discount to the contract price).  So the buyer got the building, the seller got his loan marked as paid in full and I scored a commission!

This market is now a whole new ballgame for me!

Dan

So there you have it. I’ve known Dan for years and he’s someone who’s always focused on finding new and better ways to reinvent himself and produce better results in his business. Earlier this year I interviewed him for my Million Dollar Commercial Real Estate Agent Inner Circle Program, and he shared with all of my members his new mailing campaign that’s been getting his phone ringing off the hook with new clients and prospects…and he gave everyone in my program copies of his postcards that are producing these outstanding results for him, too.

So while opportunities in distressed assets for commercial brokers have been delayed, we’re beginning to see some new opportunities arising now within this arena.

And with this in mind, if you have your own story to share from the battlefield, something showing you’ve risen up above everything going on in this market to succeed, and you want your story to inspire others, send me an E-mail and tell me about it!

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If you’re interested in one-on-one coaching to take your commercial real estate brokerage business to the next level, click here to send me an E-mail.

"Working with Jim has increased my productivity to a higher level. As the top agent of my firm for the last eight years I was at a point where I thought I had hit a ceiling. With Jim’s help I found that I am only just beginning and am now experiencing my most successful year ever! I can attribute a lot of my success to Jim and his ability to keep me focused on success combined with the tools that he has to get me there."

Scott Caswell
Delphi Business Properties

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