Intern Insights: Setting Goals in Your Personal and Professional Life
If you’ve read my previous blog post, then you know that I learned a lot about the commercial real estate industry by attending the Sperry Van Ness® Broker Boot Camp in Chicago. However, the Broker Boot Camp was not strictly about the brokerage business. In fact, one of the most interesting parts of the training for me was when speaker John McDermott talked to us about setting goals. We’ve all heard it before — setting goals is a good thing. But not many of us actually do it. As author Brian Tracy states in his book Goals!, going through the process of writing out your goals on paper can make all the difference. By writing down your specific aspirations with measurable standards, you have already committed to something tangible.
Don’t know where to start? Not to worry! I’m going to share with you 3 out of my 10 goals that I wrote down during the Broker Boot Camp to give you some ideas.
The Intern’s Top 3 Goals for Success in Life
1. Work out at least 4 times a week. In my opinion (and John McDermott’s), health should always be your number one priority. Whether you’re a high-profile Advisor working on multi-million-dollar deals or a college student like me, finding time to take care of yourself can be difficult. But maintaining good health is crucial, because without your health you can’t perform at your best in all aspects of life. Let’s be real — I probably won’t work out 4 times a week every week. Other things always seem to get in the way, such as my best friend Netflix. But having written this goal down, I now feel accountable for meeting my own expectations. (Now I have to go on a run after publishing this.)
2. Call my dad at least twice a week. Family is also incredibly important — it’s a built-in support system that no one should neglect. But like exercise, family time is often forgotten, as we tend to prioritize working hard and making money over our personal lives. Let me be clear — working hard is awesome. That’s how you get places in life. But at the end of the day, your family is all you have. Using my example, my dad is literally the smartest person I know. I would be missing out on receiving advice, motivation, and support by continuing to work through the evening instead of calling my dad.
3. Graduate magna cum laude in 2017. Since I’m going to be a junior in college, my academics are a huge priority. In the brokerage business, a similar goal could be something like “earn my CCIM designation by 2017” or “make the National Top 10 Advisors list by 2017.” Since school is my “work” at this point in my life, I’m committed to performing at my maximum potential. Hey, I might not graduate magna cum laude. Although it’s not impossible, I know it’s super hard. But now that I have this goal written down in front of me, I have something tangible that I can strive for over the next two years.
I know — my top 3 goals don’t really relate to the commercial real estate business. But that’s sort of the point. No matter where you are professionally, it’s important to keep your personal goals in mind along with your professional ones. If you’re at work, then work. But if you’re off the clock, take time to focus on your health, your family, and whatever else is important to you personally. So grab a pen and paper and write down your top 10 life goals. You never know — all 10 of them might come true.
To find out more about the SVN Broker Boot Camp, click here.
Never in the recent history of the American economy has it taken so long to recover the jobs lost over the course of a downturn. That milestone was reached in 2014, more than 6 years after the Great Recession first took hold. Employers added more than 3 million jobs over the year, finally recouping losses from the crisis-era cull in the strongest showing for job creation since the dot-com boom.
momentum in the sector’s otherwise prodding recovery. Over the next year, many of those investors will see their patience rewarded. A stronger consumer and a healthy uptick in lease signings, a dearth of new supply, and a growing appreciation for shoppers’ changing tastes are poised to lift occupancy rates and rents for well-located, well-tenanted, and well-managed properties. Risks remain, most clearly from shoppers’ substitution into online commerce for an ever-widening range of quickly delivered products. In managing those risks, the shift to destination “shop and play” retail models — and the emergence of new models including urban outlet centers — are taking on new urgency as competition for consumer dollars intensifies.
of their prospects in the job market, is also on the upswing.
early 2015.
While the impact of e-commerce on retailers has varied dramatically across product types, there is no segment of the market that is fully immune to the fundamental changes in the way Americans shop. Properties that are perceived as more resilient to substitution out of brick-and-mortar, including the most urban locations and grocery- and pharmacy-anchored properties, commanded a larger price premium and lower cap rates in 2014. That divergence in retail property values may narrow in 2015 as a better job market and rising discretionary spending lift some weaker segments of the market.
One of the mistakes I often see both new and seasoned investors make is to not properly define their investment parameters before getting started. This is important because it sets the course for the strategy and allows you to execute the plan more efficiently; and ultimately be more successful, because you have a baseline to which you can compare your investment portfolio.
Once you have defined investment parameters, the next step is to educate yourself. You need to study your respective market, in the particular product type niche or niches you have chosen. Research sale comparables and what properties are on the market for sale. This is where teaming with a trusted real estate advisor, like those at a Sperry Van Ness office, can greatly enhance the success of implementing your strategy. Picking a great commercial real estate advisor who specializes in the niche product type is critical to being able to quickly get up to speed and accomplish your goals (see our other post “
Every commercial real estate deal needs to have an exit strategy. It’s important to think about this exit strategy early on; in fact, before the purchase is even made. Granted there will be times when the exit strategy will change, due to rising or falling market conditions, or supply and demand, and you will have to adjust your exit strategy. The main point here is that an exit strategy needs to contemplated in the beginning, not the end of a commercial real estate transaction. If you buy an office building at an 8% cap rate that is 70% occupied and your plan is to spruce it up, apply aggressive leasing tactics with a CRE advisor, and increase the revenues, only to find out later that the market for those types of investments are trading at 8.75% cap rates, due to the smaller tertiary market the property is in and the smaller, shorter term leases, then your exit strategy is flawed because the market will not pay you for the work you have done. Of course, this is a simplified example. The point is, have a defined strategy to exit the investment at the proper time, and always be willing and able to review your exit strategy and make adjustments. In the words of a favorite Kenny Rogers song, sometimes “you got to know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, know when to run!” Hope is NOT an exit strategy.
About Carlton Dean – Carlton has nearly 20 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry, with a special focus in the retail and multifamily sectors. Carlton is based in Tallahassee, Florida, but serves clients throughout the entire Southeastern US. 
In addition to boasting some of the top tourist destinations in the United States, Central Florida has cultivated a thriving technology cluster in a 23-county region spanning the breadth of the state. Joint programs by regional universities and community colleges cover a wide range of technology fields, from microelectronics to biotechnology, modeling and robotics, aerospace, wireless technology and digital media. The growing workforce of highly skilled, young professionals is attracting tech employers and fostering startups, adding a significant and expanding source of well-paid residents to help drive retail sales. Tampa and Orlando share a similar overall retail vacancy rate of about 9.5 percent, but Tampa’s malls have outperformed with a vacancy rate below 4 percent and average mall rents of $25 or more per square foot. In Orlando, mall vacancy is 200 basis points higher and average rent is closer to $15. Tampa’s weak spot since the recession has been excess vacancy at strip and neighborhood centers, but falling rents in those subsets showed signs of flattening in late 2013. Orlando in particular has benefited from resurgent tourism that will increase as the economic recovery takes a firmer hold in U.S. markets this year. Investor confidence in Central Florida’s outlook has driven strong demand for net-leased retail since 2011, and would-be buyers are now showing greater interest in multi-tenant properties with below-market rents that offer good upside potential.
SVN Auction Services, a provider of date-specific sales and special asset solutions, has launched its popular and highly anticipated 
This year’s SVN Q4 event includes a wide variety of quality office, industrial, retail, land, hotels, multifamily, and NNN properties, including a historic hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas, a fruit packing facility in Orange Cove, California, a former FedEx headquarters campus in Memphis, Tennessee, and a church and school in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Assets feature a $500,000 minimum value, up to a value range of $14,000,000.
Let’s start this with a two question quiz:
Social media matters in commercial real estate in much the same way email and telephones matter. It’s a form of communication. Whether you use it or not, doesn’t stop others from doing so, which means you might be left out of some of the conversation. This may matter more or less, depending on where you are in your career.
Nearly 2 percent annual population growth and a diverse employment base are propelling San Antonio’s economy at a healthy clip, but the market lags the performance and rising profile of the other major Texas metros of Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin. San Antonio’s longstanding strength in the military and aerospace sectors, coupled with close proximity to Austin’s high tech cluster, has fostered an important cyber security sub sector. Located less than an hour’s drive south of Austin, the Alamo City has also captured a large piece of the Eagle Ford Shale energy boom emanating from South Texas, while its business-friendly climate, thriving tourism and manufacturing jobs attract new residents and fuel home sales. Office tenants were still giving back space in 2012 but absorption turned positive here in 2013. Delivery of several new office projects slowed rent growth and pushed the office vacancy rate into the middle teens last year without softening conditions enough to hamper rental rate growth. More construction is likely to begin in 2014. For investors who missed the opportunity to acquire office assets in Houston, Dallas or Austin at the bottom of the market cycle, San Antonio offers acquisition and development opportunities in a market that is in the early stages of appreciation.
Q: What inspired you to create the 5050 By 2020 movement?
