Archive for the ‘Brokerage’ Category

Youth is wasted on the young!

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

As a young business person I had the energy to work long hours seven days per week.  I was able to overcome my lack of experience by devoting enthusiasm into every deal.  While I went on plenty of sales calls to obtain listings I was only mildly successful in closing the deal and walking away with a signed contract in hand.  I could easily impress a prospective client with my energy and enthusiasm I just couldn’t seem to overcome the fact that I lacked experience.  I was frustrated because the seasoned real estate agents had experience but put no energy into finding a customer for their listings.  Basically they put up their sign on the property, entered it into the MLS and then sat back waiting for the phone to ring.  I felt like I was in a “Catch 22” situation, I needed listings to get experience and I needed experience to get listings.  I spent several years gaining the experience paying a very sizable opportunity cost to obtain it.

Now as a seasoned agent my efforts have not changed but I am a little slower than I use to be.  My peers continue to sit and wait and for some reason still have plenty of listing opportunities.  I was thinking back to those younger years the other day and wondered how much money I could have made if I only had the experience and came to the conclusion it would have been quite sizable.  Today with the years of accumulated experience that I’ve obtained I’m capable of putting together just about any type of real estate deal imaginable but since I’m now a little slower I find myself short on time to do all the deals that come my way so I pick and choose those that are of interest to me.  I keep thinking to myself that youth is wasted on the young.  If only I had the experience I have today when I was in my twenties and thirties.

I’ve come to my own conclusion as to what I can do to overcome the aging process.  I exercise daily, try to have a healthy diet, get plenty of rest and surround myself with younger people.  Their energy at times can be infectious.  I also get great
please out of mentoring younger employees so that the learn curve is reduced and they gain experience at a faster pace than I did.  Hopefully because of my help, when they are my age they won’t look back as I have and feel that youth was wasted on the young.

Edward Boyle

CEO, Employing Broker

Katchen Company

Katchen Company, founded in 1962, is an integrated real estate company with its corporate headquarters in Lakewood, Colorado.  The company offers real estate development, redevelopment, property management, brokerage, consulting services, construction oversight and maintenance services to individual and institutional real estate investors throughout the greater Denver metropolitan area in Denver with satellite offices in Chicago, Las Vegas and Miami market areas.

You’re a jerk!

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

Admit it, you’ve either thought or said it about someone.  Perhaps it was that car that cut you off in traffic on your commute to work.  Maybe it was the person in front of you in the grocery stores limited item check out who has ten items more than is allowed.  Certainly if nothing else you’ve experienced someone cutting into a cuing line.  Well, I don’t blame you if you called them a jerk because they are.  Such people feel that whatever they have as an agenda is more important than whatever you have for an agenda.   Self-serving and self –important these people could care less about others.   They’re jerks!

Being in the real estate business I have to deal with jerks every day, but the one that bothers me the most are the people who schedule an appointment to see a property and then never show up at the scheduled time.  Such as today, when Dan called and told me how important it was for him to view space in an office building I have listed.  Although my day was fully scheduled I shifted my schedule around to accommodate his request.  As happens a lot in the real estate business
Dan didn’t show for the appointment resulting in 1 ½ hours of my day wasted.  Dan, you’re a jerk!  Could it have been that hard to call and cancel if you’d decided against viewing the property?

As I mentioned I could go on forever writing about the jerks I encounter in my business as I’m sure you can also.  You might wonder why I even write about it since it does seem to be part of doing business.  Well, I write about it because it jerks are an economic drain on society and businesses I want it to change.  I think it is now time for businesses to stand up and tell these people they are jerks and their behavior if unacceptable.  The restaurant industry is finally started to do it by requiring a credit card to reserve a reservation.  If a person makes a reservation and then doesn’t call to cancel it and doesn’t show at the reserved time their credit card is charge a cancel fee.  While the restaurant doesn’t have the opportunity to tell the person what they think of their behavior they can make the person pay for their behavior.  I’m personally hoping the real estate industry will be the next.

Edward Boyle

CEO, Employing Broker

Katchen Company

Katchen Company, founded in 1962, is an integrated real estate company with its corporate headquarters in Lakewood, Colorado.  The company offers real estate development, redevelopment, property management, brokerage, consulting services, construction oversight and maintenance services to individual and institutional real estate investors throughout the greater Denver metropolitan area in Denver with satellite offices in Chicago, Las Vegas and Miami market areas.

Lack of planning on your part does not require rushing by me!

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

It is always frustrating to me when I plan my schedule so that I have time to comfortably make my commute from one appointment to another to only have one of the people I’m meeting with either not in their office, running behind with a meeting or otherwise detained so my appointment with them is delayed.  While my schedule does have room for comfort in it there is usually not enough room to overcome such delays.  I’m let with three options; I can reschedule the meeting for another date, reduce the scope of the meeting or try to rush through the meeting hoping to cover everything on the agenda.   Rescheduling the meeting means that I’ve wasted a couple of precious hours of my day, reducing the scope of the meeting will require that a follow-up meeting be scheduled and trying to rush through the meeting causes undue stress and more than likely a meeting that runs over and then requires me to rush through the rest of my day trying to play
catch-up.  The last choice is not an option.  Lack of planning on your part does not require rushing by me!

What would you decide to do in that situation?  Reschedule, condense, or rush?  If I’m meeting someone in my office and they were late I’d reschedule as I can always find small projects to fill my time until my next meeting.  However, if I’m
meeting at someone’s office I prefer to condense the content of the meeting and schedule a follow-up meeting.  If I don’t try to condense the meeting and reschedule instead I will have time that is wasted before my next meeting.  Not an
option to me, and besides, the more opportunities I have to meet with a prospective client the higher the odds are that I will get a contract.

A career in sales is difficult but rewarding.  If a sales person doesn’t control their meeting schedule they will lose opportunities or worse yet lose their reputation for punctuality.  In either case the end results is fewer closings and less income.  So it is safe to say that a salespersons career depends heavily upon an appointment management system.  When I was first entering the work force a Day Planner was the only option and it had a lot of shortcomings but the most annoying to me were the need to erase and re-enter changes within my schedule and the redundancy of having to write reoccurring appointment into each weeks plan.   Now there are several software packages that offer a wide array of options that allow you to link between your office computer, lap top and smart phone. It is easy to rearrange schedules, obtain confirmations for meetings, schedule meetings with multiple individuals and set up reoccurring events.  There is some technology that I wish never existed, but my appointment planning software is one piece of technology that I could not live without.

While appointment management software is important to a sales associate, the most important aid to a person just entering the sales workforce is a good mentor.  In my industry, commercial real estate, it is required that a sales associate work
under the tutelage of a seasoned professional for several years before that venture out on their own.  It is during this mentoring process that the associate learns the sales tools need to be successful.  The choice of real estate office and employing broker becomes vitally important as it will be the foundation of sales associate’s career. My suggestion to those now entering into a career in real estate is to interview a large number of firms and employing brokers prior to making a
decision and to remember that an employing broker must oversee the activities of all the associates that work in their office.  The larger the number of sales associates the less time the employing broker will have to mentor a new associate.  So make your choice wisely.

I sure that other industries’ have the same consideration, but a new entry will not be able to determine this without obtaining several interviews or taking getting meetings with successful sales associates.  Other options are to consult school and government placement offices to learn more about your chosen sales field: and, of course, research on the Internet.

If you are looking for a career as a sales associate in real estate in the Denver market, give me a call.  Just remember, when you get an appointment be on time, because a lack of planning upon your part does not require rushing by me.

Edward Boyle

CEO, Employing Broker

Katchen Company

Katchen Company, founded in 1962, is an integrated real estate company with its corporate headquarters in Lakewood, Colorado. The company offers real estate development, redevelopment, property management, brokerage, consulting services, construction oversight and maintenance services to individual and institutional real estate investors throughout the greater Denver metropolitan area in Denver with satellite offices in Chicago, Las Vegas and Miami market areas.

Watch what you wish for … you just might get it.

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

This summer was unseasonably hot in Denver and at several points I heard people commenting that they couldn’t wait for winter to arrive so that it would cool down.  The cool down is about to occur with a snow storm fast approaching the metro area setting into motion a drop in temperatures by 50 degrees and 6 – 12 inches of snow left in its wake.  I’m already hearing the grumbling of people as they anticipate tomorrow’s morning commute and I’m sure those grumbles will turn into more colorful language as people shovel themselves out over the next several days.  This whole scenario reminds me of what my dad always use to say to me, “Watch what you wish for … you just might get it.”

Over decades of work I’ve seen the same type of events play out again and again in business settings. There is the troublesome client who we wish we’d never chosen to take on.  However, we’ve become accustom to the income their business bring to the bottom line and are unwilling to terminate the relationship.  One day, without notice we unexpectedly receive a call from this client who informs us that they are moving their business to a different company.  Shock turns to anger and is replaced by disappointment as we face the realization of losing the client.  Watch what you wish for … you just might get it.

A few years back the economy was moving so fast that we were overwhelmed with all the business and wishing that things would slow down so that we could catch our breath and enjoy the proceeds of our labor.  The next thing we know business is starting to slow down and we are elated at first only to become worried as business declines further and then panicked as business turns into a trickle.  Watch what you wish for … you just might get it.

Through the study of history we’ve learned that events repeat themselves and we are destined to face the same challenges and make the same mistakes if we don’t learn from them.  I believe now is a good time for business owners to look at their past business decisions and learn from them as we head into a new business cycle.  I for one have promised to work harder and play less during the next business cycle if I have the opportunity.  I’m wishing for the opportunity … I’m hoping I will get it.

Edward Boyle

CEO, Managing Broker

Katchen Company

Katchen Company, founded in 1962, is an integrated real estate company with its corporate headquarters in Lakewood, Colorado. The company offers real estate development, redevelopment, property management, brokerage, consulting services, construction oversight and maintenance services to individual and institutional real estate investors throughout the greater Denver metropolitan area in Denver with satellite offices in Chicago, Las Vegas and Miami market areas.

It’s no big deal

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

I was listening to the news the other day and heard the reporter exclaim that the stock market had dropped another 7 percent in August and cost investors over one trillion dollars.  He went on to report on other news without skipping a beat, like it was no big deal.  One trillion dollars, that comes out to $3,333 for every man, women and child in this country.  Maybe to some people one trillion dollars isn’t a big deal.  Take the US government and our political leaders, for instance, who just approved a federal budget deficit of 1.2 trillion dollars like it was no big deal.  Oh sure, there was political posturing to make it look like it was a big deal but that was all a show to save their political career in the next election cycle.

To put a little perspective on what a trillion dollars is let’s look at the guy on the street working his minimum wage job.  He would have to work 66,312,997 years without spending a penny to earn one trillion dollars.  What’s that you say, he could invest the money and with interest from investments he’d be able to accomplish it much sooner.  Oh, that is true unless he was unlucky enough to have his money invested in the stock market when it lost 7 percent in August.  Just think, if our imaginary guy could have live long enough to earn that trillion dollars and invested it into the stock he certainly would have died of a broken heart when he lost it all in the stock market.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that over time investments in the stock market can produce profits.  However, I don’t believe that it is wise to place all your investment dollars into one investment vehicle.  Even the talking heads on television speak about diversification, but they talk about diversifying into stocks, bonds and paper and don’t mention other types of investments.  What other investments are out there?  My favorite investment is real estate.  Okay I have to disclose, just like the talking heads make their living form those people who invest in the stock market I make my living from those people who invest in real estate.

But real estate is a different type of investment from those traded in the stock market.  While you can invest in a REIT, a publicly traded company that invests in real estate, you can also invest in a single property with or without partners.  Beginning real estate investors are those people who choose to purchase a home rather than pay rent.  More advanced real estate investors purchase duplexes, apartments, office, retail or industrial buildings.  The beauty about the more advanced real estate investments over the beginning home purchase is that with the home purchase you as the investor are working each day to earn the money necessary to pay off the loan on the property where with the more advance real estate purchase your renter is working every day to help you pay off your loan.  Just think, rain or shine, day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year whether you are working or not your renter is so that you can pay your loan.

There is the argument that the same thing is occurring when you are invested in the stock market and while that is true, try to go out and place your hands on one thing that you own when invested in a stock.  Let’s say you own shares of Coca Cola, can you walk up to any one item used in the bottling or delivery of that product and say that it is yours.  No, not really because your investment is in the earning potential of that company and not its physical assets.  With real estate you
can drive by that shopping center you have an ownership interest in and actually say that X percent of that center is mine and while today I’m getting rent from the tenants one day my investment group will sell it and I will get my share of the sells proceeds.  Most certainly the price the property is sold for will be much higher than the day it was purchase.  Try doing that with your investments in the stock market.  No big deal you say.  I say, think about the trillion dollars.

Outsourcing … it’s not always about sending jobs overseas

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

Outsourcing has become one of those words that raise the hair on the back of union workers necks.  Politicians have given the word outsourcing a bad rap as they blame each other for taking away American jobs. While outsourcing is about saving money it isn’t always about sending jobs overseas.  Outsourcing is one way for a small firm to compete with much larger firms.

My firm’s commercial real estate development division is a good example of how outsourcing can be used to save on overhead and still compete with much larger developers.  As a boutique firm we don’t have a long pipeline of projects in different phases of development and can’t justify employing a full time architect, electrical engineer or mechanical engineer.  Instead we outsource those portions of the development process and provide professional oversight of their work product.  This technique provides the additional benefit of being able to select design people that are best suited to a particular project rather than having to rely on a staff designer’s ability to adapt to varying scopes of work.

However, outsourcing isn’t just for times when a firm needs individuals in a skilled trade, it can also be used for semi-skilled and non-skilled services.  The most basic example is when a firm hires an outside company to provide cleaning or
maintenance services rather than employing its own staff.  Utilizing outside vendors for semi-skilled and non-skilled services can make sense even if it may be slightly more expensive than a firm hiring their own people as it can reduce the work load of operational and accounting staff who can than utilize their time elsewhere.

The biggest argument in support of outsourcing services is that it allows a firm to concentrate on their core product or service.  I’m an avid believer that a firm should concentrate on what they do best and outsource the rest.  This statement holds true for the companies that you are considering to hire to provide services.  The value they can provide to you is through the economies of scale they gain in concentrating their efforts in a minimal number of related disciplines.  For
example, my firm’s services are marketed only towards commercial property owners and managers.  While the skill set our staff has would make it possible to services single family residential property owners or managers, our infrastructure is not set up to accommodate their needs.  Likewise, a firm marketing towards single family residential could not service commercial properties as effectively as they do single family properties.

With the challenges that a slow economy places upon firms today, it is a great opportunity to consider outsourcing as part of your firm’s employment strategy.  As the economy starts to expand outsourcing can still be an effective way to utilize your firm’s resources to do what you do best.

Are we preaching to the choir?

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

I attended the International Shopping Center convention in Las Vegas, Nevada last week, which was attended by more than 30,000 members of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).  The event was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center filling the North, Central and South Halls with booths presenting products and services from developers, brokerage houses, financial institutions and construction product vendors.  However, what was in short supply were retailers.  There were several retail booths from franchise organizations and 2nd and 3rd tier retailers but very few of the national credit retailers were present.

As I watched the human mass make its way up and down the corridors, which were identified as streets to make for easier navigation, I wondered where they were all going in such frenzy.  Did they actually have appointments to meet with representatives in one of the booths?  Were they possibly on their way to a seminar or product presentation?  As I networked with other attendees at breakfast, lunch, and cocktail events put on by the ICSC I questioned them as to their goals in attending this year’s convention and whether they felt they were having any success in accomplishing their goals.  Almost all I had conversations with were real estate professionals interested in locating a retailer or small developer interested in hiring them for brokerage services.  I began to realize that the large brokerage houses were doing the same thing but utilizing a little different strategy.  They had impressive booths with a large number of their staff sitting around in their Brooks Brother suits conversing with each other.  A show of force I presume, hoping to give a retailer or developer the impression that their brokerage firm was successful and had plenty of equally successful agents to help them with their leasing needs.

It was becoming clear to me that most of the ICSC members attending the convention were looking for the same thing, retailers.  Unfortunately retailers were in short supply at the convention so here they all were chasing after the same dollar.  As attendees told each other about their firms and areas of expertise it struck me that they were preaching to the choir.  Not one of the attendees was really interested in what the others had to say, but was politely listening in hopes of getting some small amount of value out of this chance meeting.

As the CEO of Katchen Company, a boutique full service real estate firm servicing the greater Denver metro area, my goal was somewhat different.  While I’d certainly embrace the idea of representing a national retailer or another developer I was more interested in networking with people.  I wanted to make connections throughout the real estate community so that if there was need for information or expertise in a community I wasn’t familiar with I’d know someone who would either have the answer or would know somebody that does.  This is somewhat the premise behind LinkedIn but without the impersonal connection.  I was successful at obtaining my goal and walked away from the convention please with my new business connections.

In your business are you preaching to the choir?  Could it have just as easily been you at the convention chasing the same dollars?  It’s something to consider when forming your marketing strategy.

A rising tide floats all boats

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

While attending business school I sat through endless hours of lectures given by professors who in my opinion loved to hear themselves talk.  So much of what was being taught would work in theory but not in practice.  Occasionally I’d obtain some small piece of information that I felt would be useful in the working world.   One such piece of information came to me during an economics class when the professor made the statement “A rising tide floats all boats”.   This class was so long ago that I’ve forgotten the context of the statement and only retain the statement itself.  Frankly, it is an odd statement to remember and one would wonder why I ever thought it would be useful.  However, it does have application in the working world.

A rising tide floats all boats … envision yourself on the tropical shores of a Mexican fishing village early in the morning.  The tide is out leaving all the fishing boats resting on dry ground next to their moorings.  There are all types of boats, dugout canoes, row boats, small and large “V” hulled.  Some are made of wood others metal or fiberglass.  The condition of the boats varies as much as the style of boats and materials used in their construction.  It would be a safe bet to assume that some of the boats let almost as much water in as they keep out.  Regardless, as the tide slowly comes in all the boats left of the dry ground and begin to float at their moorings.  Granted some ride higher in the water than others but they all float.

Now consider if you will, that each boat is a business.  There are all types of businesses representing different industries.  Some businesses are start-ups while others are more mature.  The vitality of the businesses varies as much the types of businesses represented.  It would be a safe bet to assume some of these businesses are struggling.  Regardless, as the economy slowly improves all the businesses will benefit and prosper in varying degrees.  A rising tide floats all boats.

This is an import premise to keep in mind today.  As the economy slowly improves there will be more real estate coming onto the market for sell.  There will be properties that look like they are good investments but in reality are not because they are only profitable during good economic times, when the tide is high.  If you are not actively involved in the real estate industry it would be advisable to obtain the assistance of a seasoned professional.  Somebody who has weathered the up and down cycles of the real estate market and is familiar with the properties you are considering.  With a professional’s help you will stand a better chance of finding the right property … a boat that floats while others are resting on dry ground.

Thinking outside the box

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

Thinking outside the box is a saying which has been around for some time now.  It gets tossed out at board meetings and is written about by many authors.  Today I’m throwing my hat into the mix to give one thought on real estate’s box and how as real estate investors or professionals we can move beyond the box.

 In real estate the box is the standardized approach towards conducting business.  An investor will search the market looking for a property via Internet or enlist the services of a real estate professional.  The search is narrowed down to the type and size of property, amenities, location and price.  Databases filter this information and a list of possible properties is produced.  Investor and agent sit down and review the information to determine which properties should receive a physical inspection.  Appointments are made and kept with mixed results.  In some cases the investor finds the property they are looking for but in most cases there is just something wrong with the property that won’t make it acceptable to the investor.  The search either goes on or the investor decides to hold off, hoping that a suitable property will come on the market at a later date.  Both the investor and the agent have stayed comfortably within the box.

 The best time to move outside the box is prior to narrowing down what the investor is looking for.  During the initial meeting between the investor and the agent the conversation should be more about what the investor’s goals are than what they want.  By determining the goals of the investor an agent will than be able to provide input into multiple property types and alternatives that will help the investor with their property search.  Instead of looking for a property that has everything the investor wants the agent is now looking for a property that can or does meet the investor’s goals.  This approach widens the number of properties since the agent is now looking for properties that are zoned to meet the investor’s needs and can be re-purposed for the investor.  Being outside the box opens up possibilities.

A customer is always right … even when they’re wrong.

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

It was a hard concept for me to accept when I was first introduced to the working world having taken on a part time job as a grocery sacker working evenings and weekends after attending high school all day.  Tired from the rigorous demands of school and stress of being a teenager I wasn’t in any mood at the end of the day to hear some petty complaint from a customer and show compassion.  The owner of the grocery store, Harvey, would get visibly upset and come running over when he saw there was a conflict and try to smooth the situation over with the customer.  When the customer left I’d get a verbal lashing for not giving the customer what they wanted.  I tried to explains, “But they were switching prices on the meat package so they would only pay $1.50 instead of $5.00 for the package of meat.”  Harvey would say, “I don’t care, the customer is always right … even when they are wrong.”

 Upon graduating from college I took a job at a sporting good store.  I assumed it would just be temporary to pay the bills until I found something in my field.  For a young man working around sporting good and getting paid for it was a dream come true and a temporary job became a permanent job very quickly.  As my tenure at the store grew, so did my responsibility and I very quickly found myself in the position of department manager and I again found myself in the position of having to appease disgruntled customers.  In most cases it was easy to rectify the problem but in others I struggled at giving a customer what they were requesting when I knew it wasn’t right.  In one such instance the customer stormed out of the store and called the cooperate headquarters.  In short order I received a call from the district manager wanting to know why I didn’t give the customer what they wanted to make them happy.  I explained, “They had been in last week looking to rent a tent and we informed the customer that we didn’t rent tents so they purchased one and now they are trying to return it for a refund and it is obviously used.”  The district manager said, “I don’t care, the customer is always right … even when they’re wrong.”

 Feeling that I had more capabilities in life than to work retail, I went to business school with the goal of obtaining a Masters Degree.  Sitting in class after class listening to professors talk about successful companies like Nordstrom, who would purposely sell two different size shoes to a customer just to make them happy made me stop and think.  While I had no intention of getting back into retail I wondered how I could use the information I’m learning in a career after graduation.  It took time, but after much thought I began to realize that the definition of “customer” can be very broad to include anybody we come in contact with in life.  Just think how much easier conversations with be with co-workers, family and friends if we viewed them as a customer.  A customer is always right … even when they’re wrong.

 When I got into the real estate business I thought I wouldn’t be dealing so much with disgruntled customers.  Boy was I wrong!  There seems to be a disproportionate number of unhappy customers in real estate transactions.  Mind you, they weren’t unhappy with me, they were unhappy with the situation they were in.  Looking to lease or buy a building for investment or business use only to find that nothing on the market met their needs completely or that everything on the market was priced well above what they were willing or capable of paying.  Instead of adjusting their expectations to the market the customer would expect me to continue looking for that one property that was the perfect fit or was for some reason way underpriced.  While instinctively I wanted to tell the customer that this would be a waste of time, I remembered that the customer is always right … even when they are wrong.  In stead of telling them there wasn’t anything I could do for them I would look for an alternative approached to accommodate their.  Working for a full service real estate firm I have more tools available to me than a firm providing brokerage services only.  Knowing that there are times when new construction can be just as cost effective as existing, repositioning a property use while adding value can be viable or looking at alternative locations that offer the same logistical advantage can turn an unhappy customer into a property owner.

 To be successful in both your personal and business life I suggest that you come a accept the fact that the customer is always right … even when they’re wrong.