The Real Estate Roundtable with IPRG
IPRG Partners and guests discuss various topics on New York City Real Estate and the broader Real Estate Market.
The Real Estate Roundtable with IPRG
Adam Lobel – Featured on the Discovering CRE Podcast
Founding Partner, Adam Lobel, was recently a guest on the Discovering CRE podcast.
In the episode, Adam discusses the founding of IPRG alongside partners Derek Bestreich, Luke Sproviero, and Steve Reynolds, and how we’ve grown into one of New York City’s leading broker-owned commercial real estate firms. With a focus on multifamily, mixed-use, townhouse conversion, and development site sales, our team has closed over 1,200 transactions totaling more than $4 billion in sales volume.
Adam also breaks down what it takes to build a successful brokerage team and shares insight into the company’s continued growth—including our expanding Retail Leasing division and national hiring efforts.
Follow Discovering CRE: @DiscoveringCRE
Follow IPRG: @iprg_ny
www.IPRG.com
Hello everybody and welcome back to the Discovering Commercial Real Estate Podcast. I'm your host, michael Tingaz. With us today is Adam Lowell. Adam is the founding partner of IPRG, a boutique commercial real estate firm specializing in multifamily sales, development sites and all other commercial asset types. Adam, pleasure to have you with us. Thank you so much for having me. Before we jump in, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 2:Sure, so my name is Adam Lowell. I was born and raised in St Louis, missouri, went to the University of Texas at Austin where I studied sports management and business. I guess my dream was to always move to New York growing up in St Louis and I was lucky enough to win a nationwide business competition while in college and that allowed me to basically secure internships going into my junior and senior year of college and I was working at ESPN and I got an internship at IMG and you know I moved to basically New York with two suitcases and $2,000. And my parents basically gave me like two months to get a job but I had a pretty good resume and you know my dream in school was to always work in sports and you know my dream in school was to always work in sports and you know I think any anyone that is a sports fan like absolutely loves the Olympics. So you know, moving into New York, my dream was to basically like get a job working for sports and you know, especially the Olympic Games and subletting in the East Village and just trying to find a job.
Speaker 2:I was interviewing like crazy with the NFL, major League, Baseball and all sports, different sports networks and sports properties and I ended up landing a job with Jet Set Sports, which was at the time like the preeminent hospitality and ticket provider for the Olympic Games, and what Jet Set did is their clients were these like constituent country organizing committees all around the world.
Speaker 2:So my clients were like the United States Olympic Committee, the Australian Olympic Committee. We worked with various top worldwide sponsors, you know like McDonald's or you know Johnson Johnson at the time, and my job was to basically handle ticket sales and operations surrounding the Olympic Games. So right out of college that you, that was basically my first job and I had the chance to basically live in China. I lived in Vancouver, I was managing a staff of 30 to 40 people on site and literally 300,000 to 400,000 tickets and managing the entire ticket sales operations for basically the Olympics globally. At the time, my boss and I were basically in charge of ticketing and other groups within the company were in charge of the hospitality type of operations. So, you know, I think that's basically how I started my career and I was really really gung ho about working in sports and I kind of landed this like incredible dream job right out of college and that kind of set things up for me.
Speaker 1:And then how did you transition to real estate sales?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so after working for the Beijing Olympics and doing the Vancouver Olympics and we were doing some consulting surrounding like Sochi and London at the time I sort of just realized that I was a little capped in terms of the income that you can make in the sports industry. I mean people that land these jobs, especially for the Olympics. They tend to stay in those jobs for a really long time and there's just an unbelievable amount of people that would do the jobs and the pay. At the time I felt like I was really capped. So I ended up working for Active Network, which is a sports network. I was kind of dabbling my toes into the world of like online advertising and, you know, kind of digital ad sales. I was lucky enough to meet someone who had really good experience working like social media. He's actually my best friend and he got me a job at a company called Brand Networks where I was basically doing like sales for, you know, facebook and, at the time, twitter and working with different brands and agencies to figure out how to like optimize their marketing campaigns.
Speaker 2:Um, and luckily, a good friend of mine went to look at a condo in Murray Hill and it was like a Saturday afternoon, nice day out and he's like hey, like come, come check out the studio. This broker's going to show me the studio, um, or this one bedroom, I guess, and I went to go see it. The apartment, you know it was pretty standard, small little one bedroom. But yeah, I met this broker there and I talked to the guy for two and a half hours and we ended up getting drinks afterwards and it sort of just like planted the seed, that like wow, real estate is a really interesting field and a career. And you know I was meeting this broker and he just seemed to be like absolutely killing it. So you know, I was like wow, like you know, I'm from St Louis. I didn't really have this like huge network of people in New York and you know it seemed to be a pretty scary thing to kind of jump into and obviously I'd be doing like a 180 on my career.
Speaker 2:So you know, I was just like later that night I was at home and I was just thinking about like do I know anyone who does real estate? And I was really lucky and fortunate because Derek Bestrick, who was a good friend of mine at the University of Texas, he happened to be working at Marcus Milichap at the time and he was, you know, basically later on I found out like one of the top brokers at the company and I didn't I didn't realize that this at the time, but you know I reached out to Derek and you know I was like, hey, like what's this whole real estate thing about? Like do you think I'd be good at? And he was like oh my God, you have the perfect personality for this. You should 100% do it. Like come to the office, you know. So I like just went to the office for lunch and that's where I met Luke and Steve Reynolds, who later, you know, we ended up starting the company together. You know it wasn't until about four to six months later I actually like decided to do the 180 and quit my job working in like sales, doing stuff surrounding the internet and social media and internet sales, and basically did the 180 into working in commercial real estate sales.
Speaker 1:And then was there a specific it moment when you realized this is awesome and you wanted to do it forever.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I think, like everyone has different moments that they reflect on, that are that are sort of like moments in their life that really impactful. And I think for me, you know, I ended up joining Marcus and Millichap, you know, and I was like in training and there was probably 15 people in the training class and we were all like friendly with each other, you know. And then, like I ended up getting my first listing and at the time, like I honestly didn't like really understand real estate. It was really hard for me, like I was, I was working neighborhoods I had never been in. It was a little I didn't really understand like the fundamentals or the underwriting or the values at all. Um, and I didn't really understand like real estate at all to when I started, you know, and later I ended up not selling my first listing and I was just like kept going. And Derek's like just keep going, keep going, you'll find a good opportunity soon. And and then I kind of landed a nine unit in in Park Slope. It was a park block, like gorgeous building, you know. I ended up like having just a tremendous amount of interest from buyers on it and you know, derek was basically like hey, like call down this list of buyers. These are the comp buyers at the time. Like we got to sell your listing and I like go to the tours and I'm like meeting all these people and I'm like looking at all the real estate all these people have and I'm like, wow, like these people are like incredibly wealthy and all these people have built up these like amazing portfolios throughout the market. And you know, I think kind of just hit me then that real estate was a vehicle to create financial freedom and you know, kind of live life on your own terms.
Speaker 2:And I think that for me, working in my on the first operator I guess my second listing at the time, I kind of realized that I like, wow, this is really. This is a really fun job. But I really like the competitive aspect of it. It kind of reminded me a lot of the Olympics and basically performing at the highest levels and to win listing assignments You're historically beating out anywhere between one and a handful of other top-notch brokers in the market. And that's, I think, what really gravitated me towards the business to start. And then I just kind of just started picking up deals and next thing I know I sold three or four buildings on that street and throughout the neighborhood and my business just kind of exploded ever since. So yeah, I think that was one of the big aha moments for me. It was just kind of getting my first kind of seeing A to Z on the first second opportunity that I ever worked on so that ended up selling.
Speaker 1:And then fast forward now to IPRG. How did that company get started? And you know what was the business plan.
Speaker 2:Sure. So I guess, like when we were, you know I mentioned earlier, like when I started at Marcus, like there was a lot of you know, I started with like 10 different people and at the time, you know, they had a lot of different like competing teams in the office and a lot of the people that I was friends with when I initially interviewed there I ended up like competing with in the market and you know, I think, some of the internal competition I knew that it wasn't like the right place for me long term. You know, and I think, like Derek and Luke and Steve Reynolds and myself, like you know, we were selling at the time like probably 40 to 50 something buildings or team. We had Donald Flaherty and Tom Reynolds and a few other people that were on the team. Uh, and basically the four of us just said, hey, like we, we have the confidence and capabilities to do this better, and a lot of the commission was being sent out to the company and not really getting reinvested in our business and so that sort of hindered our ability to like market properties for sale, like the database that we use, which which now it's like unbelievable, you know we, we didn't have the ability to, like really hire a team of staff or, you know, have different operations and marketing people, like it was hard, because half the commission is being sent to out of state and wasn't given back to us, and so I knew pretty, pretty early that I don't think it was the right fit for me as a place to work. It took a little bit of convincing, you know.
Speaker 2:For the other, you know, between Derek and Steve and Luke, you know, and just it, just one thing led to another and probably, like you know, I was working at that company for, you know, a few years and then we basically decided that we could do it better and, you know, we obviously filed the trademarks and had our broker's licenses and had to go do everything you need to do to, like, start a business, you know, and then, about a little over 10 years ago, we left. You know it's been the best thing that's ever happened to me and it's, you know, I think what really drove us was believing in ourselves and knowing that we can perform at an extremely high level and, you know, once you have the capabilities and confidence in yourself to execute. And we knew that having the resources available that we were previously giving away could benefit our business, and so we just kind of put those all together and said, hey, like let's do this. And you know we started out and you know it was, I guess, like six or seven of us at the time and six brokers and we had, you know, an admin person we were in, like a former yoga studio.
Speaker 2:Um, you know, it's kind of like our, you know, working in the garage, kind of Apple moment. Um, you know, our conference room is three feet in our conference desk I guess. Um, you know, it was three feet away from someone's desk it was, but it was fun, like it was a lot of fun because we were all in it together and and there was this like winning mentality that we just had to win, we had to beat everyone. And you know, at the time we were kind of the big, really the first team that that like left a national company and started a company and started really competing in the market. Um, you know, and, and the business has grown, basically top line agent count, everything's grown ever since and it's been a real blessing. So I think that's ultimately why we started the company and you know that was, I guess we're coming up on our. I think at the end of the year will be our 10 year anniversary of owning it, so we've had yeah, it's been a really incredible ride.
Speaker 1:That's awesome and throughout the ride have you had any beliefs in real estate? That's changed over time for you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a lot actually. I think, first and foremost, you can never get someone to sell. You can't really push people. People make decisions on their own terms. I think it's a very long business, so you need to approach it like a marathon, it's not a sprint. Just keep your head down and keep grinding and keep making the phone calls and go to meetings. And people I met well over a decade ago still haven't sold, and people I met well over a decade ago still haven't sold.
Speaker 2:And obviously try to provide as sound real estate and financial advice as you possibly can and through having long-term relationships. Those are always the best types of clients because those are the people that trust you and that know that you have the capabilities to execute transactions at a very high level. So I think that would be one of them. And then, ultimately, like, some people just don't want to sell, even if they have this, you know, single story warehouse with all these air rights and the building's not performing well and there's like a really interesting like arbitrage opportunity with the equity getting redeployed, you know, into 1031. And you know, some people are just like they're good with what they have and you know, I think. I think what I've really learned is like try to figure out the motivation and ultimately, like have a lot of respect for any other broker in the market, cause it is, it is a tough job, you know, and anyone that, um, that I started with and you know I love seeing them sell all their properties.
Speaker 1:Obviously, we wish that was us, but, um, you know, just try, just try to have a really good reputation in the market and obviously the buyers will respect you if you're honest with them and forthcoming with information. And then, when you're pricing a listing in this ever-changing market, what goes into it?
Speaker 2:What do you look for? Yeah, I mean, you're obviously looking at comps. I think you're like anticipating what buyers are going to look at. Like you know, we have a handful of guys in the office that are really good at like underwriting and trying to figure out, like, where the actual value of the asset is. I kind of also price buildings just based on a feel right. So sometimes properties will sell for numbers that make absolutely no sense. So especially lower price properties that are in good locations, properties with like redevelopment or air rights, like assemblage opportunities, I think you're just got to look at every single angle and try to figure out what the highest use is and then go and meet the owner and give them a realistic opinion of value and say, hey, like you know, if you want us to list for hire, we're willing to list for hire. You know, I'd say eight out of 10 times if it's us versus four other brokers. Like we give them the most honest valuation and oftentimes if we lose an opportunity, it's because other brokers price is just significantly higher or metrics just make absolutely no sense and then they end up just, you know, relying on price reductions and that sort of thing. But you know, I think core locations are really good right now.
Speaker 2:I think you have to really understand the debt markets and the rental market. We're talking to mortgage brokers all the time. We have a handful of residential brokers that we work with that I ask them at rental comps and try to get a pulse on where things are at. I've also been fortunate to have invested in a few buildings that I own. So owning that and going through kind of what owners also go through it kind of gives you a pulse on, like where things are at in the market and then, if you have the right products, it's going to sell. So yeah, I think it's. You have to price it for today and what it's worth right now and then every like three to six months, like call the owner and give them a little bit of update.
Speaker 2:But there's a lot that goes into pricing properties. It's more of an art and a science and it's not so much about like this is the exact cap rate and the price per foot, and here's the area it's worth it. You have to like get a sense in terms of what things are at and and and really like every market has their own areas that are that are doing exceptionally well and if you're in a market where, um, you know where development's really popular, like focus on those types of deals. If you're in a core location, like the free market, value add buildings are still like an unbelievably high demand. Rent laws have obviously changed, changed pricing quite a bit.
Speaker 2:But hey, maybe you can get if you have a long lens on New York and you can buy something at, you know, like a seven or 8% return day one and it's cash flowing. It's kind of like a coupon, and then with RGB increases, it's a pretty safe investment, you know, because you have relatively low vacancy in those types of assets. Yeah, so that's kind of what we do and ultimately, like we work as a team, like we have, I have one or two other people always look at all the underwriting before we actually go to send it to a client or before we market a property for sale, to make sure I'm not I'm not missing anything, um, and I think it always helps to have other people take a look at it before you go and price it out.
Speaker 1:So and then, as the company's growing, you know you're about to hit your 10 year anniversary. Yeah, what do you look for in a new hire?
Speaker 2:Um, what do we look for in a new hire? You know it's it's funny Like we've hired people that are like captain of the lacrosse team in college and, you know, got A's and B's in college and, you know, on paper seem like the absolute perfect agent and then they come and work here and they're scared of the phones and they're out of the business in a month. You know we've had other people that I would have never pegged to be a good real estate broker and next thing, you know they're like crushing listings and getting opportunities and I'm like, wow, this person's like really good. So I think it comes down to like likability. Like you want, clients are going to pick who they like the most, in addition to who has the highest and the best capabilities to execute the transaction for them. So yeah, I think likability is really important. You know someone that's like working on themselves, like that are trying to improve their life, whether that's going to the gym or reading books, to like sharpen their saw and like work on their sales acumen. Determination's a big one, you know. Just be determined Like. You know, like, I think, the newer generation, a lot of people just expect things to happen for them and you really got to just grab the bull by the horns.
Speaker 2:And I think, in terms of new agents, like it's really hard to tell who's going to be good and who's not going to be good, and there's a few guys in our office, like you know. One guy comes to mind is this guy, christian Ingenito, and he's a first year agent. I think he's had five or six listings. We've put a few buildings in contract with him already in the city and lower east side in chinatown. He was a former chef, but he's one of the most charismatic and positive people I've ever met. He's an absolute treat to be around and and he he's the first guy in the office and the last one to leave and he's at the gym at 6 am every day, like those.
Speaker 2:I think those are some of the attributes you look for someone that's also not like so caring about the numbers, like yeah, the numbers are the numbers, but like it's about like anticipating things in the market and you know, obviously, like through deals, you have to anticipate things. As an athlete, you have to anticipate things. Um, so someone that can like foresee where we're at with the transaction, try to just get the client to like them enough where we can demonstrate our capabilities and most often times once we're in the meeting and once they see what we have to bring to the table, we have a very high conversion rate of winning the listing and then for new brokers or brokers in general, what skill do you think is underrated or overlooked?
Speaker 2:um, yeah, it just comes out of likability. Like, at the end of the day, like sometimes we'll lose those things to brokers that work at companies I've never even heard of. Like it's pretty rare, but like sometimes the client just feels more comfortable with that person. So it's a people's business. Like I think, at the end of the day, real estate it's not just about properties, it's really about people. So if you have really good people skills and you have a high EQ and you work hard and you're determined and just be a sponge, like we can tell within three to six months, like who's going to make it and who's not just based on their aptitude to learning and their ability to you know, take our training manual and and absorb it and really start utilizing it in their in their everyday business. So for new, hires.
Speaker 1:What is their after they get accepted by IPRG? How does their day look like? What's their training program there?
Speaker 2:was probably about 10 or 10 or so of us at the office and then we decided that we wanted to expand a little bit and that point we moved one of the brokers who was working with us into like sort of like a growth role, you know. So he stepped out of brokerage into like hiring, you know, and then we basically took on a second office and we had, I don't know, probably like five or 6,000 square feet. At that point, you know, his job was kind of like you know, hiring and training and recruiting and like trying to like grow the business. And at that point we like really started expanding and kind of what started? As you know, six of us really started expanding, like 10 or 15. And then we kind of outgrew that office and now we basically work at 15,000 square feet on Wall Street and Broadway. We have like gorgeous views of the city.
Speaker 2:If you check out our podcast like you can see kind of what what we're all about and um, you know, I think we actually the first or second episode of our podcast we talked about like what we're all about. But yeah, I think, as a new agent coming in, like Zach Gallop is now um in charge of of all um associates at the company. So you're going to come in, he's going to put you on like a 60-day regimen and make sure that you're hitting the right metrics in terms of your outbound calls. And you know, obviously we have, I think, like two to three different trainings every single week. Occasionally the senior guys will come in and do trainings occasionally to kind of switch it up a little bit. But yeah, they do cold call training, they do first and second listening training, they do like presentation training, sales technique training. Yeah, I think training is really important. You know, like I think when we started the business I always deemed it to be really important. So I wrote like a 250 page training manual in my spare time because I knew how important it was going to be in three years or five years or 10 years from now. Since we've redacted that a little bit, it's probably 100 pages right now.
Speaker 2:And what ends up happening at our company is you come in, zach will interview you, you'll start, you'll go through the training Concurrently. You'll end up like we'll kind of figure out where, based on your skill set and kind of your background or your market knowledge or kind of where you live, um, also depending on, like, what team you're kind of looking to, like work in or what market you're interested in, and so, um, the way we're structured is we have territorial delineations. We um took a lot of the really good aspects of, like what Cushman was doing at the time, or Massey-Nackel, where they had, like, certain territory and brand ambassadors, and we really believe that two heads are better than one, three are better than two.
Speaker 2:Having an entire office working together is going to give new agents a better chance to make real money in the business, and it's really worked out exceptionally well for us. So we have a team-based approach. Every single agent within the office works on a team. Whether you're working in the Bronx or in Brooklyn or Manhattan or Queens, we have very experienced brokers that are leading all those teams. Partners at the company are basically leading all of those teams. So the associates are there to be a sponge, to basically get opportunities and kind of. The partners and senior level agents on the team are there to let go and win the business and execute the transaction. And then how do you structure your day.
Speaker 2:How do I structure my day? So, yeah, I mean it's a little all over the place. You know I have, yeah, I work on the Manhattan business. I work on the Brownstone Brooklyn business, which is kind of like Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Fort Green, to call it Brooklyn Heights. Um, Zach Ziskin is the leader with Justin Zajac on our Manhattan business, which is, you know, 110th street on the West side and 96 on the East, down to Fideye. Um, you know, so it's really Monday mornings. We have our Monday morning sales meeting that Zach leads once a month or every other quarter, or once a quarter more or less.
Speaker 2:Derek or the owners give a more thorough presentation, but ultimately Monday is I have a few team meetings in the morning, usually get lunch and for the rest of the day I have absolutely no appointments, internal or external. That's my day to actually do work work on my deals, follow up with attorneys, try to push deals forward, Right. So there's stages in every transaction and you know I have a little checklist on my desk in terms of the you know, five or 15 or however many deals that I actually have that I'm working on right now. All that's for Monday afternoon no-transcript CRM. So I'm making sure that, like, we have the infrastructure to plug agents into different markets or, you know, we're always identifying new opportunities throughout the market. So if we think that you know, whatever, like an area of Atlantic Avenue just got rezoned as an example, we can very quickly have all that stuff in our database and people trying to like procure those opportunities swiftly.
Speaker 2:And I think, owning the company, like we can deploy the resources against avenues in the market that we know we can make money in because, um, you know, obviously for, like, arbitrage opportunities or for new zonings where all of a sudden these people like hit the lottery and now they have, like this amazing development site where before they had an M one, one, you know, 50 by a hundred foot warehouse. It was worth a million at 400 bucks a foot. You know, now this thing is a development deal and it's a future redevelopment and obviously with city, yes, and different abatements and stuff. Um, yeah, I think that's kind of what we talk about on Tuesdays, Like where do we need to position the company so that we absolutely dominate the market? So that's from 9 to 11 on Tuesdays.
Speaker 2:I don't take any meetings on Tuesdays. Wednesday through Friday I'd like to be in the office Wednesdays, at least in the morning, Late afternoon is up for meetings, and then Thursday and Friday it's meetings, and it depends on if I'm working in Manhattan or Brooklyn. I get roped into a lot of meetings with people, which is great. I love meeting all the owners in the market and obviously throughout the day you're segmenting your day versus every listing. I'm allocating a certain amount of time per listing or per opportunity and spending that between seller updates, which are usually on Friday late afternoon, or I work on them on Saturday morning to make sure that we're communicating to our clients at least like once a week or every other week.
Speaker 1:So, and then kind of rolling it back a little bit, tell us about the most interesting deal that you've worked on and what you learned from it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so. So two deals come in mind and the first deal. The first deal was early at IPRG. It was a single-story warehouse and it was in Williamsburg, on Union and near Hope Street Really good Lorimer L train stop, right off the G and it was this little warehouse that had a bar in it and had really good residential zoning. So I knew as a broker that this is a nice development deal. And I was talking to the owner. There was a few owners and one of the owners lived in Florida, the other one lived in New York and the guy in Florida, every time I called him I was like I'm selling.
Speaker 2:I call the guy in New York and he's like oh, we're not selling, we're evicting the tenant. He's like six or nine months back in rent, we're evicting it and then we're going to sell it. And this, this went on for like two years. Um, so finally the guy's like I can't deal with this anymore, the eviction's never happening. Um, come to come to my office and we could talk, like you know, talk about the deal. So, um, so I go to his office and this is the middle of Brooklyn, I drive out there and there's like a refrigeration business, um, where there's just like these huge like commercial grade refrigerators and all this equipment. It looked like it was just like a really crazy place to work.
Speaker 2:So anyway, the tenant at the time was probably didn't pay rent in like six to nine months and the guy was like we're evicting the tenant, it's getting close, and I was like great, we'll list it for here. Like obviously, like we're just going to list it as it's going to be delivered vacant. So you know, at the meeting I was like oh, we need the commercial lease. And the guy's like yeah, I got to find it. But I wasn't really worried as a broker because this guy wasn't paying rent and it wasn't a big deal. So we like take the listing. And every time I called the owner with updates I was like hey, like we need the lease and you know. And I asked him I was like you know, is there a first right of refusal? When I at the meeting and he was like I don't even know what that is. You know, there's no way that's in the lease, as a broker, like I wasn't worried at all.
Speaker 2:So, fast forward, like six months, we're working on it, we get it, we get it a deal, we have an accepted offer on the thing. And by then I was like I need the lease. And the guy sends the lease and I read it and I'm like great, there's a rofer in the lease which means the tenant has the first right to buy the building, as you know, based on the terms of the last offer, the best offer you got. So I was like, all right, well, I'm not really worried. The tenant is six months in arrears, he hasn't paid rent, he's getting evicted Like it's not going to be a problem. In arrears, he hasn't paid rent, he's getting evicted like it's not gonna be a problem, um, you know.
Speaker 2:So we basically get an accepted offer and the attorney reaches out to tenants saying, hey, like here's the offer, you have like whatever time to match it. And the tenant's like all right, we're gonna buy the building. And I'm sitting here, this is a few million dollars, and this guy is like six months behind in rent, not paying rent, um, and so we ended up like touring the tenant through the property and I'm like there's no way this guy or girl or whatever is buying this building. Um, and then you know the the, the entity owning the bar was this corporation, um, you know. And so what ended up happening is that the tenant was the guy the money behind the tenant who was operating this bar knew that this was a future development deal. The guy the money behind the tenant who was operating this bar knew that this was a future development deal and basically he ended up buying the building. And it turns out this guy is like one of the not one of the biggest. He's a pretty prominent developer in the Lower East Side. He has hotels throughout Long Island City and Queens.
Speaker 2:So I think what I really learned on that transaction was like make sure you get all the paperwork up front If you're selling to like a corporation or LLC, like you got to figure out all the members on LLCs. We've had a number of transactions where people come out of the woodworks that own the properties that we didn't know about at the get-go. So make sure you ask those questions. But yeah, I think what's really interesting about the transaction on Union Avenue, you know, fast forward a few years later like there's a five story building there and it's blocked through and you know it's really cool because, like at the time it was this like single story bar that not a lot of people were going to and now it's like a beautiful building and you know, I helped transform that neighborhood and and that's really interesting, um, you know. So I think I learned a lot on that deal, um, and I think another one that it's kind of an interesting deal story.
Speaker 2:We were selling six apartments, four stores and a carriage house on on on Christopher Street. It's 1315 Christopher was the address of this thing and there was four stores below it. It was right across from Gay Street, like prime West Village and the owner of that property owned like a few other buildings throughout Manhattan. Like we ended up like listing the property. It is like factory and garment district actually on that building too, you know. So we're we're marketing this for sale. It's a, it's a turnkey building. Like it was mostly renovated.
Speaker 2:I think there was one rent stabilized and we ended up finding like a 1031 buyer that you know ended up buying the building at like 1350 a foot and a four and a half cap and it was like an international, like shipping and logistics type of company. So you know that was a really great transaction. And then the seller was like hey, I'm in an exchange, I need to buy something, and he's like scrambling for a property. So concurrently, we're like marketing this mixed use building and in Midtown, you know, in contract, this other building in the West Village. The seller of the West Village property was in an exchange. He ends up like going to buy the building in Midtown. So we ended up like selling in this building in Midtown. Then the seller of the Midtown property is like well, I'm in an exchange now you know.
Speaker 2:So we ended up helping and she's like but I want to buy a co-op and we're like we don't sell co-ops. You got to work with someone else and by the time we were working with this lady for like two years at this point, just in all the meetings and then getting a listing and stuff. So she really trusted us and she was like I need you to help me find this co-op. I don't trust anyone else. Like you're my guy and I'm like we don't do this, like I don't sell co-ops, and she's like you're, you're finding me a co-op to buy. So I'm like sitting there, I'm on street, easy, I'm like researching co-ops and stuff, like I wasn't super privy on all the co-op application. And, mind you, this lady is like in her in her 80s at the time um, she didn't have a computer. None of her friends had computers. Um, we were crying.
Speaker 2:We were required to get all of these. You know, letters signed by her friends that were notarized like said that so and so was a good person and to let her into the co-op as part of the co-op application. So I'm like running around New York going to all her friends, like houses in the Upper East Side, upper West Side and Harlem, like getting them to like create this package because our buyer was in an exchange, he had to close and then she had to close on this co-op and it was like this whole thing and so I'm never selling a co-op again. I'll tell you that much. And that was a really cool story, you know, because we ended up like really performing on our building in the West Village. The buyer's in an exchange. We put them into a mixed use property. Then our seller was in an exchange. We ended up like helping her out as well and like delivering on all aspects of the transaction. So that was awesome.
Speaker 1:Two fun, fun little tidbits. And then in such a transactional type of business, how do you maintain relationships with buyer sellers in such a transactional based business?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so yeah, I mean I think buyers are easy buyers. Like you kind of know what people want to buy. Like everyone wants like a free market value. I deal with like over 70% free market. Like I know the developers, I know the counter developers, I know who's looking for the syndication groups, I know who the top buyers are for each location in any given asset class. We also have this like amazing database, so within like three or four clicks of a button I could tell you the top buyer for any asset in any location throughout the city and we have, you know, 50 brokers that have worked on that. And then the database is one of our kind of unique things that have enabled us to sell. You know, basically like a hundred buildings a year or like two a week. More or less. We've closed on well over a thousand buildings.
Speaker 2:So, in terms of updates, like buyers are always looking for deals, I think in your brain, we're a matchmaker. We're here to like make matches in the market. The benefit of working with us is that if one of our guys in Queens or Brooklyn or the Bronx have a bad experience with a buyer, like he's probably not seeing deals from us anymore. So buyers tend to pay attention more. They play less games, they act quicker, they're not really nitpicking on things that aren't important because of the power of the team, and we extensively vet them.
Speaker 2:So I think the buyer, from a buyer's perspective, they're kind of coming to you all the time with updates, looking for stuff to buy the sellers. I mean, listen, you can't be annoying, you don't want to be this like naggy salesperson. Like you know, if you're going to call them, like give them updates, like talk about a comp, talk about something, at least talk about a new, a new rezoning or new amendment that's going through Congress. Like it can't just be like hey, I'm following up to send mail, you can text them, you can like hit them up on social media. Like the world has changed. So I think like be adaptive, um, and just continue to be persistent, um, but be polite and be respectful their time too, because they're everyone's uh busy as well.
Speaker 1:And speaking of vetting the clients, right, everyone is talking about how important it is to have a good broker and what they look for and how you compete against other brokers. Yeah, but as a broker, do you look for anything in clients to know that they're legit and you're not wasting your time?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I mean, as a broker, all you have I guess not even as a broker, as a human all you have is your time, right? So brokerage what I think what makes brokerage hard or challenging is that, like it's a very backloaded business and you can be meeting people today that aren't selling for five or 10 or 15 years down the road. Um, you know. So I think to, to answer your question, you need to.
Speaker 2:Obviously, motivation is number one, right? If the client's motivated, you know, there's obviously like the three or four D's like death, divorce, disease or debt, Like those are the big ones everyone's looking for, Right? Um, I I think, in addition to that I'm, I'm looking to like see if I can actually transact with this person, Right, Like I have enough business going on that like we're not like completely picking who, choosing who we work with, but you need to be like a chameleon, and one day we're talking to you know a religious person, you know like a rabbi. The next, the next minute, I'm talking to someone that, like inherited a property and they don't even know what the rent stabilization laws are, Trust and estates, family offices, like you name it. We deal with all sorts of different people. So, yeah, I think, just be you know it goes back into likability and be a student in the market and provide people with updates and and just continuously add value is how you really stand out in the market.
Speaker 1:So, and then when you're feeling stuck or unmotivated, how do you get out of that kind of grunt out of?
Speaker 2:the rut, yeah, um. Well, I mean, you know, I'm from stainless missouri, like I mentioned earlier, like I moved here with a few suitcases and a few thousand bucks in my name, like a lot of people that are in the market, like come from very affluent families and that sort of opportunity wasn't afforded to me, so, like I don't have any other backup options at this point. Um, this is my life, this is what I'm doing, like I'm working as hard as I can to, um, you know, create opportunities. It's the big thing for our company. Create opportunities for ourselves and for our clients, first and foremost.
Speaker 2:Um, and it's to me it's like like go to the gym, like get a sweat on, like go find something you're passionate about and if you're getting into real estate, like make sure you're working at a company where you believe in the values of the company. And for us, like it's about being a dealmaker, being a team player, like having a winning mindset and being passionate about real estate, and those are some things that we look for. New agents, you know, ultimately, I think just just put your shoes on, lace up like you're playing a basketball game or something and get after it. I've never really had issues motivating myself or getting out of a rut. Just stay positive, it's all going to work out. And just keep grinding and eventually it'll work out for you.
Speaker 1:And then how do you handle the mental roller coaster that comes with this business?
Speaker 2:You got to like completely detach. You know, I think, people they don't always tell you everything, you know. I think a lot of it comes down to just detaching yourself and being an advisor to them. Like, yeah, we want them to sell so we can get the commission, but they also know that too. So part of it is is just being honest with them and like cutting through the like, cutting through the shit, like I think for us, or me especially, like I'm like dead honest with people, whether they like to hear or they don't. Like I'm not here to like beat around the bush like, but when they hire me, I tell them that, like you, you're hiring me because I'm going to sell us for the highest amount of money and deliver.
Speaker 2:A transparent sales process is going to result in a smooth closing and that's why you work with us, right. But I'm not like a broker it's going to beat around the bush and like to tell you what you want to hear, so that, like you don't get upset. No, this is a financial driven transaction. We're not selling like gorgeous houses and condos, like it'd be a different sale gorgeous houses and condos, it'd be a different sale. So I think, as long as the sellers will be open to listening to feedback and being somewhat coachable. Usually we can work with them.
Speaker 1:And then, in your opinion, what makes a good business leader opposed to a great one?
Speaker 2:That's a good question. So when I was working at IMG, there was this guy named Rob Prasmark. He was like he was like the guy for selling Olympic sponsorships. I mean he was doing the hundred million dollar Acer, dow, like GE, like the big global hundred million dollar Olympic deals, right, and this guy was like the man. So when I was interning at IMG, going into you know, I was in college, I did an internship in New York and I asked him that same question and he said he goes lead follower, get the heck out of the way.
Speaker 2:And I always like stuck with me and I was like lead follower, get the heck out of the way, right. So for me it's lead follow, right. Like be a leader and do what needs to be done so that other people that are looking at me know what they need to do to be successful, right. In addition to that, it's it's work hard, play hard. Like um, I'm not the most serious person. You know our company like we have a keg, we have a pool table. Like we do company outings. Like the top non-partner producer gets gets a Rolex every year. We're doing company outings all the time Like we want to make this a fun working culture and the best place in New York to work as a new agent, you know, I think, amongst the partners. You know, especially like the founding partners, like we're bringing in a lot of the business that are coming into the company. So lead, follow right, like they know that I'm going to produce, that I'm going to win deals and I'm going to sell deals. But ultimately, like I'm a team player and I'm a dealmaker and I have a winning mindset, so I want to make sure that sort of the main core values of the business I embody them, cause I know that that's going to come in to the DNA and the fabric of the business and and and try to have a place that people want to be at, cause it's, you know, working commission only in New York and the most competitive market in the world.
Speaker 2:It's a daunting task for some. So you got to work with people that you like and I've been blessed to own the business and be in business with people that I really care about and I've been to multiple weddings and brises and seen their kids and it's been really fun growing the company because we also have a responsibility to the team to provide jobs for them and make sure that they have their futures secure and that they have a really nice career built out where they can grow, and also for the brokers that there are opportunities for them to be competing to win. And so we basically have given all the resources possible for our brokers to win, and that was the biggest reason why we left the national company I mentioned earlier, you know. So I think for us it's work hard, play hard, lead by example, like just, and try to have fun. You know, we have, historically, we do like our kickoff meeting at the first week of January and you know, usually, like most companies go there and they give awards and it's like very serious Ours, you know, I get up there and basically roast everyone for 30 minutes and then we give out awards. So we try to, we try to have fun with it, um, but we're also a hardworking team and we're going to, we're on pace to sell close to a hundred buildings this year.
Speaker 2:So, um, and we're, and we're young and and you know we have a very deep bench of brokers that are very good, that are consistently delivering, um, and and I think that's um, I think, as a new agent coming in, like that's who you want to be looking for in a mentor and someone to work with and the company who you end up working for at the start.
Speaker 2:Like you only have so much time right, so you want to make sure you're teamed up with a good mentor. I was blessed, like Derek's been great for me, you know, we can see if I work very closely with for I can't even tell you how long now and we're all friends too in the office and out of the office, and I think that that's part of it. And we also just equipped our brokers with every tool possible so they can be successful and for us, like we're flexible, we can, we can move like the market. So if there's an opportunity to expand or um, there's a few areas that we're looking to expand, whether that's like net lease sales or multifamily sales out of New York or, to beef up, you know, our retail leasing division that we recently expanded on. We started in New Jersey office not too long ago with Yanni Marmonu and, and those guys are up and running and doing exceptionally well. So, um, yeah, so those are some of the some of the reasons.
Speaker 1:And then what motivates you at the end of the day? Is it money, philanthropy, what? What pushes you to go harder?
Speaker 2:um, I don't really have any options, like I don't. I don't have like a backup option, I can't like go home and and you know if I like run out of money. So for me it's it's on me, like I'm not. Like failure is not an option, and a friend of mine in college used to always say, like there is only one option, and it's true for me. Um, yeah, I think real estate is an unbelievable vehicle to create financial wealth for yourself.
Speaker 2:Being an investment sales broker, you really see the like how you do that, how you buy real estate, how you own it, how you manage it, like what the angles are, how to get lucky, um being in the right place at the right time to like um strike on a deal. Um, yeah, I think just what keeps me motivated is is working with people that I like and working in an industry that it's always changing, like the thing with the Olympics. What was really cool about it is every few years there's a new Olympics, so it was like we're working on a new venues or different organizing committee or a different group of people in an international country and working on different clients. Like that was really interesting to me when I was doing the global ticket operations. Now it's just like the clients are just completely different and you get to hear these stories of people that like came to New York with absolutely nothing and they've amassed like these incredible portfolios. And you know, I think it's it's it's fun because you know, even when I started, like there's not too many brokers that are still in the business, like even in my training class, like when I started um, so just to know that, like where I've gotten and where I've gotten to um, and just like how much more room there is to grow and and kind of where we want to take this company in the next like five to ten years, it's like I think that's what really keeps me motivated.
Speaker 2:Um, and you also have like a. You know it's. Yeah, obviously you do it for yourself, but like we're also doing it for other people and I care deeply about every single person that works at the company and and I'm not just saying that like I actually really do Um and people know that and I really want people to have the freedom and come to work and be at a place that they're proud of and that they want to, that they want to grow as well, and I think that those are some of the reasons why people stick around and we have an unbelievable high retention rate, like people who come here like they stay because they make money and and they're happy. And you know, if there's an opportunity in a business plan and and we think we can exploit it, like we'll do it and we can get creative to bring different people in at all levels of the business at this point, um, and we're we're probably the biggest privately held real estate company in this point in New York, you know. And so what started as like six of us is now like 50-something broker strong.
Speaker 2:We have a second office and you know there's blue skies ahead. Like we figured out all the processes in place. We have an amazing staff and I don't know Like I find it to be fun, like I think brokerage is challenging and it's hard. I don't know Like I find it to be fun. Like I think I think brokerage is challenging and it's hard, and but I think, once you're like executing your pitching and you're like beating other brokers, you know, on assignments, it's fun. So try to have fun and just try not to take it too seriously that that you're not enjoying your time. So Awesome.
Speaker 1:And then, on an ending note, what advice would you give your 22 year old self, looking back at where you are now?
Speaker 2:Well, if you know me, I love to travel. So I try to like check off one or two or three countries a year that are outside of the United States. If I'm 22, again, I would tell them to like try to travel before you take a job and do whatever it takes to like try to go see as much of the world as you can, right? So, whether that's like living in youth hostels or taking it out alone, don't go crazy, but like try to go travel because it's going to open up your mind, it's going to expand your perspective on the world and you'll be able to view things in a different lens than a lot of people. And also in commercial real estate, like, as I mentioned, like clients come from all different backgrounds. You need to be able to to relate to people personally and professionally. Yeah, so I think from a, from like a non work related that would be my advice from a work related Come work at IPRJ, it's the best company. No, yeah, I think I think you got to find a company where you see a, where you have a mentor that can show you the ropes, that you trust and that is going to ultimately have your back. So it's like super critical. And then I would also work in an area that you like you care about, right, because you're going to spend so much time in that market that you got to like learn it and learn everything about it. So, show up earlier than everyone, work harder. Work later, like, spend time on, learn everything about it. So, um, show up earlier than everyone, work harder, work later, like, spend time on the weekends getting organized. And the more you put into it, the more you're going to get out in the business and any most anyone will will take a coffee meeting. So if you there's someone you really want to meet, um, not necessarily owners, but, like you know other professionals in the market, like, go schedule coffee meetings with people, like people are willing to take the time to help other people. Um, linkedin is a great source for that, um, you know.
Speaker 2:But aside from that, just just be a sponge and try to absorb every single thing you can in your first year and realize you're playing the long game. So it's not. You know you can't be frustrated in the first, you know, six months if you don't have listings and deals in contract. But it compounds and compounds and keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And and next thing, you know you're, you're like working on deals all over the place and and you're, uh, and you're selling a lot of stuff.
Speaker 2:And you know for us, like trading New York was a really big thing for us because, like you know we're, you know we were in there, you know occasionally. And then next thing, you know it's like we're in trade every single week and some guy from our office is executing a deal once or twice a week. And you know, from going from five or six of us six of us to you know, basically like 50 or 60, 50 something brokers now and selling over 100 buildings this year, like it's been a really fun ride. So try to find a team that you believe in, a brand that you believe in people that you think you can grow with and people that are going to like prop you up and not keep you down. You know, because a lot of this business is about growth and we're trying to help people do that and expand their careers, and I think those are some things that I would be telling my 22-year-old self Also just sharpen your knife like.
Speaker 2:Sharpen your sword like read as many sales and books as you can. Like sharpen your sword. Like read as many sales and books as you can study. Like nonverbal communication. Like do anything you can do to. Like understanding, like real estate, investment, fundamentals, underwriting moats, worker, like what incentivize them to buy versus other guy who is a family office and they're, they're, they're um, you know, they're motivated by different things. So that that's what I would recommend to a new broker and and just go make it happen Like it's your, it's your life. Like grab the bull by the horns and try to have fun doing it. And you know, being in New York, having the flexibility that we have as a broker, you can. It's an amazing line of work if you can make it happen. So that's what I would tell my 22 year old self.
Speaker 1:Awesome, adam, thank you so much for coming on the pod. We really appreciate it no-transcript.
