Boston, MA (July 29, 2019) – SVN International Corporation (SVNIC), a full-service commercial real estate franchisor of the SVN® brand, announces that Florida-based SVN Saunders Ralston Dantzler Real Estate has become the company’s newest franchise. The team at SVN Saunders Ralston Dantzler will join the 100+ other SVN Advisors working under the SVN Florida umbrella.
Based in Lakeland, Florida, SVN Saunders Ralston Dantzler Real Estate consists of two newly-merged sister companies: Saunders Real Estate and Saunders Ralston Dantzler Realty. The former brokers land and agricultural properties in Florida and southern Georgia, while the latter deals in traditional commercial real estate across Florida’s I-4 corridor. The firm is helmed by its founder Dean Saunders, ALC, CCIM, and Managing Partners Gary M. Ralston, CCIM, and R. Todd Dantzler, CCIM. All three have distinguished real estate careers and are recognized experts in the field.
The addition of SVN Saunders Ralston Dantzler Real Estate strengthens SVN’s overall brand and scope of offerings in Florida, especially along the I-4 corridor. It also brings significant expertise to the SVN Florida Land Alliance, a collaborative group of SVN Advisors focused on commercial land across the entire state.
“This move to SVN greatly benefits everyone involved, and we’re excited about the prospects,” said Founder and Owner Dean Saunders. “It helps our Advisors expand their influence in the state as they take advantage of SVN’s culture of collaboration. In addition, our new unified brand increases the marketing power of both our land and commercial businesses.”
“Having these outstanding professionals on board bolsters SVN’s ability to best serve clients in Orlando and surrounding markets, and provides us with additional proficiency in land, land management, agriculture, timber and related commercial real estate,” said Jerry Anderson, CCIM, executive managing director of SVN Florida.
This news release is available online on GlobeNewswire.
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.
Today, Five for Friday showcases Jerry Anderson, CCIM of SVN Florida, where he is the regional developer. He also leads the SVN Accelerated Sales team. Jerry orchestrates, guides and develops relationships for locally owned and operated offices.
Jerry Anderson, CCIM of SVN Florida
1. What advice would you provide to an aspiring advisor who is new to the industry?
I’ve got plenty of advice. First, I’d say be curious and “Lift Up Your Head” when it comes to changes that may affect the CRE industry. For example, a couple years ago, I told our advisors in Florida to contact their clients that own shopping centers and office buildings to investigate installing electric charging stalls for the wave of electric automobiles on the way. This would prove a value-add, and a reason to contact the owner to boot. I provided them the hyperlink to Tesla’s website on how to get Tesla to pay for the installation. Not all advisors took my suggestion, but today electric stalls are being installed everywhere.
Second, take advantage of the Single Family Portfolio opportunity through our SFR/BFR team out of Phoenix. There is absolutely no easier way to get started with SVN today. Turn over a few rocks, introduce the opportunity to the SFR team(Jeff Cline and Michael Finch) and watch them work the deal for you as you learn and tag along being paid handsomely for simple introductions.
Third, listen in to every single product council call and be a sponge! Even if you have no interest in the particular product, the members of the council are the top producers in the industry. Listen and learn!
Fourth, access every single webinar stored on “MySVN.” These webinars are some of the best in the industry, and Solomon Poretsky knows how to deliver information in a logical and proven way.
Fifth, take CCIM courses and learn the analytics of the business. You cannot provide good advice to real estate owners, if you do not understand it yourself. I earned the CCIM designation in 1978. As an instructor for 20 years in the CCIM program, I came away with commercial real estate knowledge that put me far ahead of any of my competitors.
And finally, tune in and/or listen in every Monday to SVN Live. I’ve been in the business over 40 years and I still learn or a thought is triggered every Monday call for me – you should have no excuse to ever miss one. (even if you only catch the recording later in the day).
2. What does the SVN Difference mean to you?
SVN has similar tools, resources and services as our other competitors. Some of our tools are better than our competitors. What is different is the way our advisors collaborate to leverage the expertise of other advisors to give their clients an advantage to bring value far and above what they could do on their own.
Look at any of the Product Council members and their leaders. These are volunteers sharing and collaborating for the success of all and the brand. As mentioned, I’ve been in the CRE industry for four decades, had leadership roles in numerous national firms and consulted or trained in one form or another with most of our national competitors before I joined SVN. SVN’s culture surpasses anything in the industry–embrace it and be part of it.
3. What learning tools (book, blog, website, etc.) would you recommend to your colleagues to further their knowledge and enhance their careers?
I love Rod Santomassimo’s consulting enterprise. For $50 a month, you get access to everything they’ve ever created. They listen to and coach some of the most successful brokers in the country, and then they package up what they learn, which are really “best practices” and sell it to you for pennies. Coaching works, and if you don’t have it locally in your office from a senior advisor or an experienced manager, buy it from Santomassimo.
Mike Lipsey’s material is very strong as well. His video series is powerful, but like all training you have to implement it.
Some of the best and easiest books on the industry are: Brokers Who Dominate and Teams that Dominate, both by Rod Santomassimo, THRIVE by Blaine Strickland, Value Add- Successful Strategies for Listing & Selling Investment Real Estate, by Brad Umansky (ex-SVN by the way), and finally any of Terri Sjodin’s material from SalesSpeak to Mentoring, to her latest, Scrappy.
4. What inspired you to open an SVN franchise? Or, why did you join SVN?
I’ve been with SVNIC 15 years. I had a number of leadership roles at SVN International during our mid-term growth years of 2003-2008. In 2008, I moved back to Florida as an independent Regional Developer to build out the state. I have been inspired by the Kevin Maggiacomo’s leadership ever since SVN was based in Irvine, California.
5. List a fun fact to share about yourself – something that people may not know and that they may be surprised to find out.
I’ve been an aviator for forty years, and have owned over a dozen airplanes from single engine Piper Cubs to pressurized twins. My ratings and experiences include Seaplane, Sailplane Gliders and Aerobatics. In fact, for ten years my SVN Florida office overlooked runway 18. Many days I flew around the pattern in the afternoon for as a stress break. In May 1997, I spent a month at Mt. Everest basecamp and climbed the Khumbu Ice Fall, which is not something I ever want to do again (20,000 feet was plenty high for me as a Florida flatlander!).
Interested in joining SVN? Check out our career page for current opportunities.
1. What is your geographic market and product specialty?
My geographic market extends from West Palm Beach to Port Saint Lucie, Florida. My product specialties include sales and leasing of Office, Industrial, Multifamily and Retail properties. I also handle national portfolio acquisitions for PI groups and family offices including Student Housing, Hotel and Multifamily.
2. What’s your latest best practice tip that you can share?
Two words – Business Development. That means going the extra distance and helping buyers/sellers with local contacts in banking, land planning and business development agencies. Being the buyer or sellers “go-to guy” has provided me with sustainability through referrals.
3. What’s been the biggest change over on how you run your business in the past decade?
The biggest challenge for me has been diversifying and adapting to market changes and client needs without going too far out of my lane and/or getting distracted.
4. What business book do you like to recommend to your colleagues?
I don’t have a specific book to recommend, but I would say to find one in whatever area best suits your strengths and interests. This ensures you can add value to your client and not be replaceable.
5. What’s a fun fact that not everyone knows about you?
I am a semi-professional poker player.
*All Sperry Van Ness offices are independently owned and operated.
1. What is your geographic market and product specialty?
My major geographic market is Florida, with Manatee, Sarasota, and Charlotte Counties being my sub-markets. I have also co-listed with other SVN Advisors on various projects outside of Florida. My specialty is in coordinating and completing complex commercial transactions with multiple players and many moving parts, such as when dealing with a 1031 exchange. I find this type of transaction interesting and challenging at the same time. It is always very rewarding to bring a complicated deal together for my clients. I have a significant amount of experience in dealing with venture capital, project finance, construction, and development.
2. What’s your latest best practice tip that you can share?
My best practice tip for Advisors is to utilize innovative thinking and collaboration. From a client relations perspective, I would recommend finding ways to nourish your relationships through embracing all the tools technology has given us, such as social media as a means for establishing greater relationships with existing clients as well a strong web presence for attracting new clients. If you are not very tech savvy, outsource it. You have to be where your clients are, and the importance of making yourself visible on the web will only increase with time.
3. What’s been the biggest change over on how you run your business in the past decade?
I would have to say technology has had the biggest influence on how I run my business as well as being a great contributor to my success. In fact, technology is changing the way everyone does business and has become a driving factor behind the shifting landscape of the commercial real estate industry as a whole. Technology has caused a major paradigm shift in regard to just about every aspect of our lives.
5. What’s a fun fact that not everyone knows about you?
Not everyone knows that I am a grandmother of two amazing grandchildren in Utah. They are an absolute joy and I frequently travel to see them just about every two months. It may also come as a surprise to most that I recently completed a 120-mile ride from Orlando to Sarasota on a Tandem bike with one of my SVNCAG coworkers, Bruce Dilges. I like challenging myself and trying new things. I always say that I will try just about anything at least once.
*All Sperry Van Ness offices are independently owned and operated.
Tony Veldkamp, CCIM | Managing Director | Sperry Van Ness Commercial Advisory Group
1. What has been your strategy for growing your firm and also your market share?
We are very fortunate in our tertiary market to not have any other national commercial brokerage brands with a presence here. The big firms dabble in our market from Tampa, but our biggest competition is three strong independents and a Coldwell Banker firm. Commercial agents in our market were seeking a pure commercial real estate firm with national strength and power, but that was still very entrepreneurial and could adapt to the local market. So Sperry Van Ness was a great fit for them.
My advisors are my best recruiters. When they are out in the market they keep their ears open to hear of any agents with good talent, who might be looking to make a move. They all believe in synergy and “activity begets activity”. So they do not hesitate to bring someone of good quality, and reputation, to my attention. Reputation and dealing fairly are very important attributes at our office.
Our market area consists of three counties with ten different cities to work in. So while we have our main office in Sarasota and a branch office in Bradenton to show good market presence in those two counties, we will expand to add a branch office in our third county so no property is further than 30 minutes from any office.
2. What are some of the unique activities you do to motivate your team?
Well you have to be self-motivated to be in this business for sure. But I do believe in accountability. I’m constantly questioning my team on their deals, market area, and specialty to have them constantly thinking about how to improve their business. I also introduce “out of the box” ideas to get them thinking about alternative ways to seek new business. I make prospecting suggestions and show them potential holes in the market that they can take advantage of. But ultimately it is up to them.
3. What’s been the biggest challenge in running your business in the last few years?
Since we are only in our 3rd year as a group working together, one of the biggest challenges has been budgeting. Determining what services we can afford to provide to our agents based on the split arrangement we agreed upon. We are now able to look back at the past two years and arrive at something everyone is comfortable with. Also since we only take on experienced agents, and we’ve had tremendous growth there in the past two years, a challenge has been trying to figure out how much coaching each agent will accept, what they need, and what they don’t need. Some folks you just need to stay out of their way, but be there when they need to bounce ideas off of you.
4. How many Advisors/Staff did you have when you joined SVN? How many (in total) do you have now?
When I joined the group there were nine advisors and two staff in one office. Now we have 15 advisors, with 3 staff, in two offices. Interestingly 4 of the original 9 left us due to poor performance. So we’ve recruited 10 new advisors in two years.
Contact:
Tony Veldkamp, CCIM
Managing Director
Sperry Van Ness Commercial Advisory Group
Sarasota & Bradenton, Florida
The Sperry Van Ness Florida Team consists of experienced Commercial Real Estate Advisors in 22 offices throughout the State. For more information on Tony Veldkamp, CCIM and his team, visit http://suncoastsvn.com.
*All Sperry Van Ness® offices are independently owned and operated.
1. What is your geographic market and product specialty?
My geographic region is on Florida’s Gulf Coast with land as a specialty. Our team is currently working through several significant land transactions with national developers & homebuilders that entail re-zoning or site plan development.
2. What’s your latest best practice tip that you can share?
Keeping building your database and stay in constant communication with it. In 2013, we had a strong response to our e-blast campaign that resulted in not only new members to our database but closings with new buyers. As part of my effort in helping to launch SVN’s Land Product Council, we are working on a cooperative marketing program to highlight the SVN brand’s presence in land.
3. What’s been the biggest change over on how you run your business in the past decade?
The biggest change in how I run my business from a decade ago can be described as “leaner and meaner.” Obviously, the advances in technology in the past decade have allowed all of us to become more efficient. Besides technology, I continue to be conscious of controlling overhead as well as time management. My team has been focusing on high quality listings that are properly priced.
4. What business book do you like to recommend to your colleagues? “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Dr. Viktor E. Frankl. It’s a book written by a Holocaust Survivor (he had the choice to escape but chose to stay with his family) and was completed in just 9 days shortly after he was liberated from a concentration camp. According the Library of Congress, this book has been named one of the 10 Most Influential Books in the United States. A favorite quote from the book is “Don’t aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue…”
5. What’s a fun fact that not everyone knows about you?
I recently volunteered to “crew” a local theater production of Peter Pan where I was responsible for “flying” kids.
*All Sperry Van Ness offices are independently owned and operated.
The Central Florida commercial real estate industry is recovering nicely from the recession reports The Orlando Business Journal in its June 28 edition. Some sectors are doing better than others, with industrial and retail leading the way. The office sector continues to struggle with high vacancy rates, however.
Miguel de Arcos, Managing Director, Sperry Van Ness Florida Commercial Real Estate Advisors
The article reports there are five game-changers for the Central Florida commercial real estate market:
Office market has changed for the good, since companies are doing more with less.
Financing is available from different sources to fund to new projects.
Industrial real estate will see an improvement.
Orlando is attractive to national firms.
The SunRail will help boost the region’s attractiveness.
The market’s recovery can be evidenced in the spectacular increase in total dollar volume experienced by Sperry Van Ness Florida Commercial Real Estate Advisors. With $73.2 million in total dollar volume in 2012, Sperry Van Ness Florida jumped from the number 16 position to number 8 position on the Orlando Business Journal’s List of Top Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Firms.
In discussing the current commercial real estate environment with the Orlando Business Journal, Miguel de Arcos, managing director of SVN Florida, says he likes the long term prospects in the Central Florida area due to the booming entertainment, biomedical and high-tech markets in the region. Miguel says “We have land and reasonable costs for real estate….Once folks realize we’re not a just a Mickey Mouse economy down here, it’s going to help.”
*All Sperry Van Ness Offices are independently owned and operated.
Bob Lovelace, MAI, CCIM, Senior Advisor, SVN Florida
1. What is your geographic market and product specialty?
I have specialized in East Central Florida commercial real estate for 30 years with a particular focus on the Interstate 4 corridor between Orlando and Daytona Beach. I have worked with a broad variety of property classes and client types. Over the past five years, I have worked primarily with distressed assets and lender REO including large land tracts, office, and retail properties.
2. What’s your latest best practice tip that you can share?
Jerry Anderson, CCIM, recently noted that SVN Advisors’ access to Real Capital Analytics data is one of our organization’s most powerful tools to identify opportunities. I was guilty of overlooking it.
3. What’s been the biggest change over on how you run your business in the past decade?
Ten years ago I set a goal to transition my full-time appraisal practice to one of a full- time brokerage. I completed the CCIM program, affiliated with some good brokerages along the way, and feel as though the transformation has culminated in my association with Sperry Van Ness Florida.
4. What business book do you like to recommend to your colleagues?
Because of a recommendation by Bo Barron, CCIM, I just finished Michael Hyatt’s “Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World”. As promised, the book delivers great guidance on how to better structure and leverage one’s marketing in the social media universe.
5. What’s a fun fact that not everyone knows about you?
I was drawn to New Smyrna Beach and Ponce Inlet many years ago because of surfing, and I haven’t left yet. Through surfing, I met and married a local girl in a ceremony at the top of the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse. This little beach town has been good to me.
*All Sperry Van Ness® offices are independently owned and operated.
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