Tony Veldkamp Archives - SVN® International

Office Spotlight: Sperry Van Ness Commercial Advisory Group in Bradenton & Sarasota, FL

Posted on April 18, 2014 by SVN

This week, we turn the spotlight on Sperry Van Ness Commercial Advisory Group with offices in Bradenton and Sarasota, Florida.

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 3^rd 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.

5 for Friday with Tony Veldkamp of SVN/Commercial Advisory Group

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Diane Danielson

Five for Friday this week is featuring Tony Veldkamp, CCIM , Managing Director of Sperry Van Ness/Commercial Advisory Group in Sarasota, FL.

Tony Veldkamp, Managing Director of Sperry Van Ness/ Commercial Advisory Group in Sarasota, FL

1. What is your geographic market and product specialty?

I’ve worked my entire 22-year real estate career here on the Sun Coast of Florida, just south of Tampa. Our market includes three counties and many cities and towns including Bradenton, Sarasota, Venice, Englewood, North Port, Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda. My specialty has always been land. I started in the business selling large acreage tracts, farms and orange groves and moved into development sites as our area grew. I say if you can sell land, you can sell anything. To sell land you have to know what apartments rent for, office buildings sell for, and what industrial space leases for. You have to understand all parts of the commercial real estate market to sell land.

2. What’s your latest best practice tip that you can share?

You need to listen more and talk less. You have to understand your client’s needs before you can help them, and to do that you have to listen. I have several stories through the years of agents I negotiated against who would not stop talking long enough for me to tell them that my client would agree with what their client wanted. So consequently, their client lost out.

3. What’s been the biggest change over on how you run your business in the past decade?

Email and smartphones, without a doubt, as they have led to staying in quick, continual contact with my clients. Years ago I would send out letters once a month with an update on their listings and the activity that we’ve had. Now I email or text them every time I have a showing. I want them to be tired of hearing from me so they understand how often I’m working on their property. So when it is time to renew a listing, there is no question in their mind that I’m working hard for them.

4. What business book do you like to recommend to your colleagues?

I’ve had all of my advisors read Brokers Who Dominate by Rod Santomassimo. I highly recommend it to anyone in real estate, even residential agents.

5. What’s a fun fact that not everyone knows about you?

I’m a first generation American and native Floridian. My parents emigrated here from Holland in 1958. They were in Holland as teenagers during the occupation by Nazi Germany, and later moved from there to Tallahassee, Florida where I was born.

*All Sperry Van Ness® offices are independently owned and operated.

New Franchise Focus: Sperry Van Ness/Reagan Asset Management

Posted on May 16, 2013 by SVN

Sperry Van Ness International Corporation is proud to announce the addition of Sperry Van Ness/Reagan Asset Management in Sarasota, Florida as its newest franchise office. SVN/Reagan Asset Management is a property management office, offering its clients a full range of solutions from strategic financial consulting to turn-key facility maintenance analysis and execution.

Founded in 2009, SVN/Reagan Asset Management currently serves investors in both central and southwest Florida in both private and institutional markets. Led by managing directors David Matthes, Larry Starr, and Tony Veldkamp, the office focuses on assisting clients through asset management, tenant retention, and operating expense reduction.

In consistently achieving operating expense reductions between 15 and 20 percent for its clients, SVN/Reagan Asset Management offers complete knowledge of building systems, value-added green technologies, debt restructurings, operating cost containment solutions, NOI enhancement strategies, and tenant retention solutions.

“Now more than ever, real estate investors are focused on the management of their assets to secure short-term viability and long-term appreciation,” says SVNIC’s President and CEO Kevin Maggiacomo. “Investors demand that their asset manager has complete vertical knowledge of everything that goes into a well-performing property. The team at SVN/Reagan Asset Management delivers that each and every day.”

Click here for more information on Sperry Van Ness® franchises.

*All Sperry Van Ness® Offices are Independently Owned and Operated.