We start September by sharing Five for Friday thoughts with SVN’s National Land & Development Services Product Council Chairman Ashley Bloom, from SVN Florida Commercial Real Estate Advisors. Ashley is based in Sarasota, Florida, and specializes in commercial land and development.
1. What advice would you provide to an aspiring advisor who is new to the industry?
Work hard, have persistence, and engage with as many people and properties as you can. I would also recommend to find an asset class and specialty that you have a passion for, and become an expert in the area. With that expertise, you should be able to provide value to clients for an entire career.
2. What does the SVN Difference mean to you?
The SVN Difference, to me, means that you put the client’s interest first. That difference calls for us to treat each listing as if we owned it ourselves. Within this philosophy, it means exposing our properties to the entire market, full collaboration with the brokerage community, providing quality due diligence, and going beyond what other brokers do to gain the trust of our clients.
3.What learning tools (book, blog, website, etc.) would you recommend to your colleagues to further their knowledge and enhance their careers?
The Greatest Salesman in the World written by Og Mandino. Per the description, the book: “serves as a guide to a philosophy of salesmanship, and success, telling the story of Hafid, a poor camel boy who achieves a life of abundance.”
4. Why did you join SVN?
I was introduced to SVN through a land tract I owned that we were trying to sell. The contact at SVN put together a team that was from multiple offices, but was most qualified to dispose of the land. The team was successful where the previous broker was not. That contact happened to winter in Sarasota where I am based. Shortly after, I was involved with SVN.
5. What was your most memorable deal and why?
I closed a 1,287 acre tract in June 2018 to Florida Power and Light for the purpose of becoming a large solar farm. The deal took over three years from start to finish. It had almost every challenge you can face in a land transaction. Despite these issues, we were able to extract significant value for the client by finding this alternative (and sustainable) use. The amount of learning that came from this transaction is what makes it so memorable.
Bonus: List a fun fact to share about yourself – something that people may not know and that they may be surprised to find out.
I was recruited to play football at Lehigh University. Despite my height (well under 6 feet!), I played defensive tackle, weighing 252 pounds as an incoming freshman.
Want to explore a career in commercial real estate? Start with SVN! Check out our careers page to see what is available in your area.