Agent Rock Star Wannabe

Sometimes I wonder what’s in people’s mind that makes them do things which makes them look totally stupid..... this is the story of Real Estate Agent/ Rock Star Wannabe- For the sake of this story we will call him “Agent P.”.... nothing to do with R as in Rock or S as in Star , Agent P. just sounds better …and it is my blog after all!

                                                                                            Agent P- Courtesy Disney Channel

A buyer comes into town and shares his willingness to purchase a pre-construction condominium overlooking the bay, Agent P is a good residential agent with knowledge of the local condo market and every new project that is being built or will be developed in the area .... he even works as a member of the inside sales team for a high end developer and apparently does a decent job. 

                                                                                                                           Downtown Miami- The Arsht Center

Me on the other hand, although I know how to perform in a residential sale because I have done many myself, I decided to pursue Commercial Real Estate. At the beginning of my career I sold anything from low end condos to high end units in high rises, low and high end single family dwellings.... you name it, I’ve sold it!  But it was all the same over and over and over again and quickly got bored;  many years ago I decided to pursue the commercial side of Real Estate, only to realize that it is a monster with many heads and within every head there are many smaller heads that wear different types of hats...which makes it even more challenging and interesting. 

                                                                                Cerberus- Courtesy of Allison Smith, Amosink Interactive Week

As I have mentioned in other posts, every time I close a commercial deal I take home not only my commission check but also the knowledge and experience that the deal made me gain which is priceless.

Agent P. came to me one day asking about what did I have that was a good deal for, presumably, a group of his investors. I told him more or less what was there and asked him to give me a synopsis of his buyers, I would sign a Non Circumvention and a NDA as I usually do and that way I could even meet them in person and do what I do best, make the deal happen…..FOR BOTH OF US! I waited for about 2 weeks for him to set up the meeting and one day I encountered him; the first thing he told me was “you left me waiting for that list of properties”... to which my only reply was “I told you to set up a meeting with them because probably you will not be able to answer specific questions that will go way beyond the square footage of the property and what kind of return they can expect”- End of story haven’t heard back from him ever. This guy pretended not only that I gave him a list of confidential  listings from other agents that have entrusted me with them but also pretended to handle a commercial transaction by himself which most likely has never done one before, he probably has not even seen one on Twitter or YouTube.... 
Greed took the best of him.....unfortunately I have seen Greed taking the best of most real estate agents that I have met throughout these years.

                                                    Shakespeare Sacrificed: Or the Offering to Avarice by James Gillray.

You get a lot of those Agent P’s that tell you that they do everything from residential sales, to leases, to commercial deals going from industrial to single tenant passing thru raw land and cemeteries with knowledge in shopping centers and restaurants, not to mention their expertise in office buildings and commercial leases but the minute you ask them things as simple as : “What about IRR or environmental issues, or ask them to explain how would a 1031 exchange work in a specific case, then all you get as an answer is uuuhhh, ahhh, ehmmm.... see... ehmmm…. I will get back to you with the info” , and trust me that questions from seasoned investors go a lot deeper than that... so you gotta be prepared and totally dominate the subject at hand.

                                             Jim Carrey as "The Riddler" in Batman Forever- Courtesy of Warner Bros.

My dear friends, all I’m trying to say is, don’t look like an ass in front of a buyer; credibility is one of the most precious assets a Real Estate agent has and losing it is not an option. It is far better to share a deal with someone that really knows what he is talking about than trying to be Jack(ass) of all trades- 

                                                                                       Courtesy of Katie Colombo

When a buyer comes and asks for a specific type of investment, if you really  know what you are doing, without your ego getting in the way, so be it, go ahead and handle it but if you feel a slight doubt then be wise and associate yourself with someone that knows that specific type of deal or that could have the ability to steer your buyer to what he knows best, because sometimes buyers think they want something and in reality they do not even know what it is that they exactly want (I will write about this issue in another post).

As I have said many times before, I stick to what I know and believe me it is not a limited niche, I have positioned myself in the mind of many people right where I want to be, and I have accomplished that by thoroughly experiencing those markets that I deal with on a daily basis.....and I still consider that I have a lot to learn about them, imagine if now I would go and try to sell let’s say a Marina or a Hotel not knowing anything about these type of businesses .... it would be totally ridiculous unless I take the time and study.

See you on my next blog!’

Cheers

moz@avantiway.com

True or Fraud? I'll let you be the judge...read on please !

Hello my dear readers and I want to start this post by simply apologizing for misleading you on purpose- 

You might’ve typed any word searching for something in particular that you thought you were going to read here and instead I want you to read and find out about something that I think it is very important. You might already heard about it or about this man rather; the name is BURZYNSKI...... Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski !!

The Burzynski Clinic in Houston, TX

Last night I saw the documentary by the same name which tells the story about this Biochemist and Physician born in Poland who had this “crazy” idea of finding the cure for cancer which got him into a lot of trouble with the American Cancer Society and the FDA  ultimately risking  a prison sentence and a hefty fine. The amazing thing narrated in this documentary is that his clinical trials started back in 1976, and according to what is portrayed in the film, as soon as he started obtaining positive results such as actually CURING CANCER he got bombarded with questionings, congressional hearings, subpoena of all his records and files, all kinds of obstacles were posed for him not to continue his research and studies-

Anyways, I will not bore you with the details, I want to one more time apologize for having misled you to my blog page but I truly felt compelled to help spread the word about this documentary, wether you agree or not ..... you will be the judge! 

So....! You want to open a Restaurant....! (PART V)

Hello again, and let’s start with PART 5 which will be the last of this series-

There is a trend that has been going on for quiet a few years: Foreigners fleeing their country of origin or residence in Latin America and landing in the Land of the Free, looking for a better future for their families, I’m talking about educated, well mannered and wealthy individuals that are contributing a great deal to our community by investing their capitals in our cities, and Miami has been the one MSA that has benefit the most with all thee Venezuelans and Brazilians that for one reason or another come to South Florida in search of a new horizon, a fresh start away from their worries and troubles in their country.... BUT....and there’s always a BUT..... enough of the romantic chit chat- 

It is time these people face reality and stop loosing their capitals!!!!! Although they may have experience in any given business, there is no guarantee that they know what they are doing here in the US- 

                                        Courtesy of fotosearch

See? This is what happens a lot; they get here, they are desperate trying to find something quick to do, fearing that their cash in the bank is not producing anything, they get in touch with a real estate agent, literally just a random one that it is introduced to them by a friend to whom he rented a condo or he is maybe a family member that got here a couple of years prior and happens to have a real estate license but has no experience whatsoever in either selling businesses or commercial real estate, therefore no due diligence, no homework and after they disburse their capital it is too late to go back. I have seen this scenario countless times-

So, to get to the point, you get this foreign investor with years of experience in Restaurants, his knowledge was acquired and applied by him for years by operating in his country and now wishes to start, as many have, that same concept that he already had ...but here in Miami; they go ahead and get in touch with the same real estate agent that found their residence and together they find a retail space that they like...including the Realtor likes the space...what a coincidence !!!

Mr. Investor (asking his realtor): “What do you think?”

Realtor : “I think it is just perfect, it has a nice terrace on the lake, the sun hits from the West giving a nice reflection thru the front door and the wall colors can be changed to whatever tint you like....let’s sign the lease”

See the picture here??? What about everything else that I have discussed in Parts 1 thru 4? And that is not even a fraction of the totality of aspects that need to be addressed, revised and analyzed- Do yourself a favor, as an investor hire a real estate agent that knows and understands the subject at hand, whereas is a Restaurant, a Laundromat or any other type of business.

As per you Mr. Real Estate agent with no knowledge, I am not blasting you because of it, I am just asking you to be professional, do not pretend to know something when you don’t- Feel free to write me an email, I’ll be happy to co-broker any commercial deal if you have any renters or buyers- And you will learn something new in the process.... I always learn something with every deal-

I will get more in depth about this in my blog about Agent/Rock Star..... coming soon...maybe!! 
And for now, I want to thank you all for reading and for all your support- May God bless you all....always !

moz@avantiway.com