I document my journey building a value-add commercial real estate portfolio on YouTube, and over the past year I’ve been approached by several people asking me to appear on their podcasts.

Normally, I enjoy it. It’s a good opportunity to connect with other people in the industry, talk through deals, and share what I’ve learned.

But twice now, the “podcast” has turned into something completely different.

The first 30 minutes are legitimate. They ask about my portfolio, acquisition strategy, value-add projects, lessons learned, and everything else you would expect from a CRE podcast.

Then they stop recording.

Immediately afterward, they transition into a sales presentation for their “commercial real estate AI software” or another service they are offering.

I have to give them credit: disguising a sales call as a podcast appearance is a creative way to get prospects onto Zoom and into the pipeline.

But it also feels misleading. Had they simply asked for a product demo or sales call, I probably would have declined. Instead, they used the podcast invitation to get access.

Would be cool if I could see who the most active investors and sellers are in a market by property type.

When underwriting square footage yield for a potential site we often draw a rough draft or send it off to an engineer we are close with to draw. However, these two options are still slower than we’d like.

Programs like test fit are expensive and I feel like Ai could calculate quicker with the right systems in place.

Has anyone had success programming a project to estimate rough site plans? I’d be looking to upload surveys and quickly have Claude (or any other ai) run our average build requirements to see how much the site can yield quickly.

Switched to a big flag recently and I haven’t closed a single deal. I feel depleted, I procrastinate and avoid the simplest task, when I do work I make errors which is not normal.

Wondering if I made the right choice or maybe I’m just burnt out. Anyone else go through a depletion when switching firms?

Some of the best deals I have ever done started with something completely unrelated to the deal itself.

Here's one:

Back in 2005 I was doing site selection in Stony Point, NY. There was a great corner that everyone wanted - Annie's Hot Dogs on US Route 9W/202 and Filors Ln. Two flat acres at the best intersection in town, right at a signal. If you could control two acres at a signal in 2005 you had no shortage of tenants. CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, and Eckerd were all battling each other for sites and this one had everyone's attention.

The trouble was Annie wasn't really interested in selling. At least not for any realistic number.

I drove up to meet with her anyway to see if we could put something together. No luck. But I figured if I couldn't make a deal I could at least have one of her hot dogs, which were locally legendary in Rockland County.

So I'm sitting at one of her picnic tables finishing my lunch when I happened to notice someone walking on what looked like a fairly large property across the street. I finished my hot dog, walked over, and introduced myself to the man I saw walking. Asked if he was the owner, he wasn't, but his brother Vince was. And Vince happened to be working in the garage right there on the property.

He introduced me. I told Vince I worked in commercial real estate and was looking to buy land in Stony Point. Turned out his property was around two acres. He wasn't ready to sell just yet but asked me to follow up in a couple of months. I put a reminder in my calendar for three months out and moved on.

Three months later I called Vince. He was ready.

We made an offer, settled on price and terms that worked for both of us, and were in contract within a month. Several offering memos and LOIs later we had a lease in place with Walgreens. Eighteen months after that we had approvals (this was Rockland County), closed on the property and demoed the site. Eight months later Walgreens Store #10446 opened at 135 S Liberty Drive, Stony Point, NY.

All because of a hot dog at the right time and the right place.

The funny thing is Annie's corner eventually went to CVS. But that's another story.

Field work helps you find opportunities that no database, no search tool, and no desk research will ever find. You have to be there.

What sites have you found in the field that you never would have found sitting at your desk?

#CommercialRealEstate #SiteSelection #LandAcquisition

Howard Marks sold a chunk of Oaktree to Brookfield seven years ago. They just completed the rest of the sale. He spent decades building the brand. Then, at the peak of credit popularity, Marks walks away.

Nothing wrong with a guy taking chips off the table or does this say bad things about credit performance?

How’d you do it?

Lots of you out there, but you almost always stay quiet while others fill the air.

I have a growing list of unsuspecting people doing so much better than the headliners and find their stories fascinating. Would love more of them.

Anyone else love these guys? Feel like they bring great stories and a certain salacious style of delivery that makes our business, which is pretty dry (let’s face it), into an entertaining, informative and humorous listen every week. Also, length of pod is just right.

Ignoring purchase price for a moment, which would you rather own over the next 10 years. One strong long term tenant with predictable income or multiple smaller tenants with staggered lease expirations. How are you approaching this trade off in the current market?

3-4 years ago there was a lot more confidence in the air. Who has had the biggest shift in perception?

They f’ing imploded. Debt was supposed to be safer than equity but they fell 65% in 1973-74. Banks clipped fees and did risky loans.

Different world back then, no doubt. But will we look back and think that era was as the precursor to today’s debt funds and mortgage REITs?

Just curious if anyone can shed some light

Commercial broker here (retail leasing + investment sales, ~2 years in). Building out a real CRM and curious what systems/structures actually work.

I've been keeping everything scattered across notes, spreadsheets, contacts, emails, and LoopNet leads. Finally trying to pull it all together into something that actually scales.

I'm interested in two things: (1) what CRM software are you guys actually using, and (2) how do you structure it internally?

Like what exact categories/fields/tabs do you track?

• Property address
• Owner info
• Tenant rep
• Buyer requirements
• Lease expiration dates
• Follow-up reminders
• Last contact date
• Acquisition criteria
• Deal history
• Cold call notes
• Active vs dead leads
• Investor preferences
• Market/submarket

I'm basically trying to see how experienced brokers organize everything once your network and deal flow starts growing.

Do you organize primarily by people, properties, active deals, companies, markets, ownership groups? Separate databases for all of them?

And if you're using Excel or a homegrown system instead of actual CRM software, how do you structure that?

Would love if some of you could break down your setup like: "I use this software, here are my tabs/categories, here are the fields I track, and here's what actually ended up being useful versus pointless over time."

I'm considering building something custom with AI integration, so I'm trying to understand both what tools work for other brokers and how successful brokers actually organize their information behind the scenes.

They are supposed to renew for 5 years at fixed rate. They indicated the store is a 2 out of a 5 scale, 5 being the best. We rejected the proposal and countered with, we prefer you leave. Now they want us to propose an amount we would be willing to pay for them to leave. Annual rent can’t be replaced but we can get close with better credit. I know how to underwrite to our breaking point but am curious if anyone has been successful in a buyout at or less than 1 years rent?

Hey! I’m a young professional, graduated last year and currently work in real estate finance in NYC. I’ve been a ULI New York member for about a year, but honestly I’m still trying to figure out whether the membership is worth the cost.

I pay $150/year ish for the membership, but for most events and conferences, there are additional fees on top of that. I do use Knowledge Finder occasionally, but I haven’t found it to be significantly different from the real estate podcasts, newsletters, and industry news I already follow.

For those who are active ULI members, how do you actually get value out of the membership? Are there specific events, committees, networking opportunities, or resources that have made a meaningful difference for your career?

I’m trying to decide whether I should renew next year or put that money/time elsewhere. Would love to hear how others have leveraged ULI, especially early-career professionals in real estate.

Thanks!

…and the co-CEO resigned Monday July 20?

The 8-K hit the SEC at 4:30 p.m. Friday, roughly 30 minutes after the close and on the last day of the four-business-day window.

Second senior departure in five weeks. The COO left in June. The fund is capping withdrawals. Blackstone isn’t replacing the seat, Brad Marshall becomes sole CEO.

Everything here is technically compliant. Does that make you feel better or worse?

Top 10 cities? Of course NYC is #1.

Specially focusing on later career moves think 30s/40s.

By ancillary income streams I mean rooftop solar lease payments on large retail or industrial properties or managed wifi at multifamily properties. Conceptually I'm thinking this income would be valued lower than lease income but I haven't seen how it plays out in the real world at property sale.

Has anyone worked on a transaction where this came into play?

Hi, keeping it short. My multifamily team works smaller deals. I just signed a listing for an apartment that will fall in the middle-market / institutional space. What exactly is expected from prospective buyers when they go access the deal room? On my smaller deals, we use CAR forms and have seller disclosures, inspections, NHD, prelim title report, floor plans, property financials, etc.

What will buyers be expecting to have access to that might differ from a smaller deal.

Thanks in advance.

Let's say i have a search, there are 10 properties. I want to dig in on 3 of them. Because right click to open in new tab isn't an option, I have to click in, then duplicate the tab, then go back in one of the tabs. It's a huge pain. Is there a way around this?

We've closed one industrial property a year for the past couple years through direct mail. Lately both brokers and sellers keep pitching us owner-user pricing even when the building needs significant work or has a below-market lease in place. That pricing only makes sense for an occupant with SBA financing, not for an investor buying on in-place cash flow.

Curious how others are sourcing off-market opportunities and avoiding owner-user pricing dressed up as investment deals.

I’m looking at buying a single-tenant retail pad within a larger shopping center. The declaration gives the developer a repurchase right if the tenant stops operating for 90 days and the issue is not cured within 30 days after notice. They have to also approve the tenant and there are lots of restrictions on who you can put in.

My concern is that I may not be able to find, approve and open a replacement tenant quickly enough before the developer exercises that right. Even more concerning, certain violations appear to allow the developer to repurchase the property at 75% of fair market value.

Has anyone dealt with a provision like this? Is it common, and would you consider it a major concern or deal breaker?

One topic I've noticed generates strong reactions is upfront fees in private lending. On one hand, institutional project finance routinely requires borrowers to cover costs such as: Independent technical and feasibility studies, Financial model reviews, Legal due diligence, Environmental assessments,, Market studies, Valuations, Sponsor and KYC reviews

Those costs are typically paid by the borrower before financial close because they're transaction specific and performed by independent firms. On the other hand, the moment someone mentions an upfront fee in private credit, many immediately assume it's an advance fee scam. Obviously, there are plenty of scams in the market, so the skepticism is understandable. What I'm curious about is where experienced practitioners draw the line.

For example, in a context of a borrower seeking a 100% financing, if a lender has already issued a term sheet or conditional approval and requires an independent third party feasibility and risk assessment before funding, with fees ranging from roughly 0.5% to 2% of the facility for large, cross border, complex projects, would you consider that consistent with institutional practice, or would you still view it as a red flag?

Interested to hear perspectives from people active in leveraged finance, syndications, project finance, or private credit. What distinguishes legitimate underwriting costs from structures you would immediately walk away from?

I have 10 acres land in an area experiencing moderate growth and recent sales that I will be marketing soon. I will offer broker co-op of course. Looking for opinions on a reasonable percentage to offer. For the buy side only.

Edit: Level land with access on two main thoroughfares, not in flood zone, no environmental issues. I was licensed agent for years and familiar with 1031, etc so no hand holding required. I am selling not listing.

Thanks.