Staying Ahead of Information in the World of Commercial Real Estate

There has never been a better time for access to information about the commercial real estate industry. Whether you are a seasoned investor, a first-timer getting started on your first property, or just curious about the industry, with a few clicks of the mouse there is a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips.

Here are three things I do every day to stay on top of things in the world of commercial real estate:

1) Listen to a podcast.

Podcasts are terrific and portable sources of information. They are better than talk radio, and there is almost no level of detail to which you can't drill down to find the exact info you seek. Although there are numerous podcasts specific to commercial real estate, I tend to favor shows that are more investment-based in their approach, but still deal with CRE. Three shows I tend to favor are:

• Bigger Pockets. This show is more or less the gold standard of real estate investment podcasting. Their most recent episode (as of the writing of this blog) is #290 “7 Paths to Financial Independence” and it is an exceptionally good listen.
• Real Wealth Show. Always real estate focused, lots of multi-family information, useful information, always.
• Invest Like the Best. This show is more traditional capital market focused, but still has good discussion about investment principles.

2) Read a blog post.

A quick Google search can bury you in CRE blogs but I tend to gravitate towards the ones that speak to brokers and broker development. By preparing yourself as a broker, anyone can get an insight into the investment side of the industry. Again, this list probably changes weekly, but lately some of the ones I seem to keep going back to are:

• Coy Davidson, Colliers International – The Tenant Advisor Blog. This is the blog of a Houston-based commercial realtor and covers the gamut of topics in the industry. He writes a lot about the Houston MSA, but his general articles are always relevant.
• Wolf Richter – Wolf Street – Howling about Business and Finance. Quite engaging and no-holds-barred commentary on markets and finance. Not specific to the CRE industry, but a good markets blog in general.
• CBRE Blueprint. This is a blog hosted by CBRE and although some of the articles can be fluffy, I still find myself looking at this blog every week for information.

3) Read a Book

Who has time to read books? Simply put, if you’re not reading, you’re not learning. A few of the books I find myself picking up more often than not for either reference or perspective include:

• What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow by Frank Gallinelli. There is a lot of Real Estate Investment 101 in here, but that’s okay. When I started in the industry, I don’t think there was a book I referenced more frequently than this one.
• Investing In Real Estate by Gary W. Eldred. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that Mr. Eldred took a few of the CCIM course manuals and used them for a framework to write a book, but that’s perfectly fine because this book, though slight in size, leaves no method or metric of real estate investment uncovered.
• The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller. Written by the founder of Keller-Williams, this book is written for residential realtors, but there are mounds of good information that can be gained by just about anyone in the real estate industry.
• Right now I’m reading Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss. Simply put, it's an essential read for anyone who negotiates anything (which is pretty much all of us).

When it comes to information about commercial real estate, the internet is your friend, and indeed, the groundswell of information can seem overwhelming but if you start someplace and take the information in bite-sized chunks, you'll begin to see what works and what doesn't. The important thing if you want to get ahead in the field is simply to start somewhere.

Jon Smith, CCIM
RE/MAX Commercial Brokers, Inc.
(504) 838-0001  |  (504) 330-4879
jsmith@nolacommercial.com

President Jonathan Shaver, CCIM Looks Back On 2017

I got involved with the Louisiana CCIM Chapter very shortly after entering the brokerage business in 2010.  I participated on the board level for several years before joining the executive committee as Secretary-Treasurer in 2015.  It’s been an extremely gratifying experience to serve as President this year, and I wanted to take a look back at the year that has been. 

We started the year with a bang at our annual Ruth’s Chris dinner in January.  I was sworn in as President, along with our other executive committee members, David Gleason, CCIM as President-Elect and Ben Walker, CCIM as Secretary-Treasurer.  This coming January, we’ll follow largely the same program, except that David will be sworn in as President, Ben as President-Elect, and Flo Meadows, CCIM as our next Secretary-Treasurer.  It should be a great event as always.  Shameless plug: please join us on January 18 at Ruth’s Chris if you can – the registration link is at our website, www.ccimlouisiana.com. 

We held CI 103, User Decision Analysis for Commercial Investment Real Estate, in New Orleans in March.  It was taught by Richard Juge, CCIM and Joe Larkin, CCIM and was attended by twenty-nine aspiring designees.   Also in March was a happy hour we co-hosted with the Urban Land Institute (ULI) at Urban South Brewery. 

April and May brought conference season, with our CCIM Mid-Year Meetings in Chicago, our 5^th annual Energy Conference in Lake Charles held in conjunction with the Houston Gulf Coast CCIM Chapter and a Beach Meeting in Orange Beach, AL held in conjunction with the Mississippi, Alabama and Florida CCIM Chapters.   In Chicago, we pinned two new designees: Michael Cashio, CCIM and Hartley Crockett, CCIM, both with NAI Latter & Blum in Baton Rouge.  In Lake Charles, we heard from Dave Wilson, CCIM, 2018 CCIM Institute President and Barbara Crane, CCIM, 2018 CCIM Institute President-Elect and networked with more than sixty CCIMs from Louisiana and Texas.  And in Orange Beach, we enjoyed visiting with seventy CCIMs from across the Gulf Coast and heard from Robin Webb, CCIM, 2017 CCIM Institute President and others. 

Our early summer was relatively quiet, but then came our Foundations Course in Alexandria in July, our Election Luncheon in Lafayette in August and our Past President’s Luncheon in New Orleans in September.  The Foundations course was taught by Karl Lanreneau, CCIM and Richard Juge, CCIM, and was attended by twenty-one.  It included a lively post-class happy hour at the Mirror Room Lounge and dinner at the Diamond Grill on Thursday night.  The speaker for the Election Luncheon was Mark Zappi, Director of University of Louisiana Lafayette’s Energy Institute, who gave us an update on the oil and gas industry in light of diminished oil prices.  Finally, our Past President’s Luncheon was attended by thirteen CCIM past presidents and was filled with valuable insight from our past chapter leadership. 

In September, we also co-hosted the second of two happy hours with the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors’ (NOMAR) Commercial Investment Division (CID), the Women’s Council of Realtors and ULI at Oak and Ale on Oak Street.  Special thanks to Matt Eaton, CCIM, Liz Tardo and Kendra Home for helping organize a great couple of social events. 

Our Chapter sponsored, and many chapter members attended, the 7^th annual NOMAR/CID Economic & Real Estate forecast in October.  Speakers included Dr. Lawrence Yun with the National Association of Realtors, Rick Haase with Latter & Blum, Chris Bonura with the Port of New Orleans and Guy Williams with Gulf Coast Bank & Trust. 

October also brought our CCIM Mid-Year Meetings & Conference in Toronto.  It was a great trip and we pinned three new designees from across our state – Joel Davidson, CCIM with NAI Latter & Blum in Lake Charles, John Monteleone, CCIM with Dwight Andrus Real Estate in Lafayette and Jon Smith from our RE/MAX Commercial office in New Orleans.  The conference included a fascinating conversation with Steve Forbes, as well as plenty of other insightful speakers. 

The month of November was also a busy one – it included CI 101, Financial Analysis for Commercial Investment Real Estate and our annual Golf Tournament.  CI 101 was taught by Karl Landreneau, CCIM and Alec Pacella, CCIM and attended by nineteen candidates and others from Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma.  Our Golf Tournament, held at University Club in Baton Rouge and attended by approximately 50 friends of the Chapter, was not won by the RE/MAX Commercial team. 

Whew!  It’s amazing to me A) how much we accomplished this year and B) how quickly it flew by.  I want to thank all our 2017 Chapter leadership for their service.  So David Gleason, CCIM, Ben Walker, CCIM, Flo Meadows, CCIM, Will Adams, CCIM, Richard Juge, CCIM, Scott Graf, CCIM, Andrew Vanchiere, CCIM, Gregg Thompson, CCIM, Jim Purgerson, CCIM, Matt Ritchie, CCIM, Jack Hodges, CCIM, Justin Gallionardo, CCIM and Steve Legendre, CCIM, thank you!  There’s no way our Chapter would operate without you.  And of course thank you to the Nicole Davis and all the folks at Strategic Management Services, LLC.  Their work behind the scenes helped us all look good (or as good as it’s possible for us to look anyway). 

I quoted from President Kennedy in my inauguration address.  He did not have any opportunity to give a farewell address, so I thought I would reiterate the quote from his inauguration here: “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”  Our Chapter is in great hands.  But we are always looking to widen our tent and cultivate new leadership.  If you are a Chapter member (or not) and have ideas about how to grow and improve our chapter, please join us and get involved.  My involvement has been incredibly rewarding over the years, and I know it will continue to be for many years to come. 

For more information on the CCIM designation or the Louisiana CCIM Chapter, please contact Jonathan D. Shaver, CCIM at (504) 838-0001 jshaver@nolacommercial.com.