How This New Broker Closed a $7.5M Hotel Deal Just 4 Months Into Her Career
In this episode of Commercial Real Estate Secrets, Aviva Sonenreich sits down with Sky Velez to talk about how niching down can fast-track success in commercial real estate. From breaking into the hospitality sector with zero experience, to closing a $7.5 million hotel deal just four months into her career, to overcoming imposter syndrome and building credibility fast, this conversation is packed with real-world lessons for anyone looking to stand out and win bigger deals in 2025.
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This week on Commercial Real
Estate Secrets, we have Sky
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Velez.
Sky is a commercial real estate
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broker out of Bethlehem, PA.
Sky, thank you for being on the
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show today.
Thank you for having me, I'm
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excited to be here.
I'm excited to have you context.
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Sky's husband is a badass broker
who I became friends with from
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the Internet a few years ago.
Sky has since jumped in with two
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feet and I'm really excited to
hear about your journey.
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Sky for the listeners, tell us
about who you are and how we got
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here today.
OK, so I'm newly licensed in
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December, but I'm not super new
to the CRE world because about
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six years ago I was working in a
casino cocktail serving and my
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amazing husband.
What?
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Well, back story, I was pregnant
with our first son.
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So this was like, yeah, 6, about
six years ago.
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He's like leave the casino.
Like you can stay home with the
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baby.
And I'm like bet, like that's
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exactly what I want to do.
So quit my job.
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But he was about five years into
real estate now.
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So I was just helping him on the
back end like wherever I could.
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Like he was teaching me.
I'm helping with contracts,
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prospecting, like we're
canvassing with my big belly.
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We're like walking around from
like in shopping centers, just
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like wherever I could help.
But I never adopted that as my,
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like, I didn't feel like that
was my career.
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Like that was like his thing.
And I was like kind of helping
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where I could.
So time goes on and I'm like
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ready to go back to work.
I end up back at the casino, a
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cocktail serving.
This was about two years ago.
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And after some time there, I'm
like, this is just like, I'm,
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I'm not feeling fulfilled.
I'm not, I'm putting so much
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energy and so much work into
something that's like it's not
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giving much back.
I'm like, what can I do that's
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going to like fuel the family,
cater to the family more like I
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want to be a part of like the
family business.
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Like I want us to be like more
of an empire instead of like me
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putting my energy somewhere in
him, putting his energy
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somewhere.
So I just had this like
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download.
It was like 2:00 AM one night.
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I'm home.
I think Robert was away.
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I have this like download.
It's like get license.
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I'm like, should I looking up
like real estate school?
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I did try to get license in the
past.
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I tried to do like an online
course and it was just I I went
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through it, finish it and I just
never took the test.
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Like I was like, OK, so I'm
like, let me run this back, let
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me do this again.
I know like years ago.
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So get licensed and it's
December and I'm like, OK,
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great.
Like I answered the call like
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now what I'm like do I, am I
gonna do retail?
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Am I gonna do industrial?
Am I gonna do like offices?
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Like like wasn't feeling any of
it.
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And I'm like, I didn't feel like
I could do multifamily cuz I
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felt like that was Rob's face.
I'm like, as cool as it would be
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to be missus multifamily, like I
wanted to shine like my own
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area.
So this part is like so
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embarrassing.
Robert, he's mentoring me.
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He hands me off this kind of
like off market deal.
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It's freestanding like retail,
tenant occupied movie theater,
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off market.
They're looking to sell.
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So I'm like, OK, retail cool.
So I'm reaching out to every
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retail owner that I could trying
to see like who's going to buy
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this building?
Who's going to buy this
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building?
This is the embarrassing part.
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I ChatGPT because I like I felt
like I exhausted all of the
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retail people.
Like no one was really like
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getting back to me.
Like I'm like, who else?
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Who else would buy this and
ChatGPT says reach out to
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hospitality.
I guess because this have like a
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rush movie theater had a
restaurant reach out to
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hospitality News flash, no hotel
owner wanted to buy this movie
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theater obviously, but I was
new.
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I was like naive and I didn't
even think twice about it.
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I start, I start reaching out to
every hotel owner that I can and
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they were so responsive.
They didn't want it, but they
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were so responsive and so like
just engaged and, and willing to
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have the conversation.
So, and I was already coming
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from that hospitality, like
cocktail server service
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industry, like I felt like I was
already kind of in that space
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even though it's like so
completely different.
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It just felt familiar to me.
So yeah, I just ran with it and
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ended up finding a hotel that
was willing to sell kind of, and
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about 4 1/2 months after getting
license was able to close my
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first deal.
OK, talk about your first deal,
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because it's insane.
So it was a local Fairfield Inn,
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$7.5 million.
It was, they bought it
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unencumbered of the brand.
Marriott was not renewing.
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So that was my first call.
My first call ever was with this
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very large investment firm.
And they didn't tell me that I
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could sell it for them.
They said we're going to put
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this on the market in February.
And I said, well, what if I
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bring you an offer and they're
like, we're not listing this
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with you, we're going to list
this with CBRE.
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If you bring us an offer, like
we'll look at it, but like
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basically no.
But I took it as a yes.
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Let it be.
Yes, it sounds like they want me
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to sell it like it's giving like
they want me to sell this.
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So Roberts, like, let's call, he
had a contact which was like the
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largest operator in our region.
So he's like, let's call them.
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And they just from the first
call, like they wanted it, like
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it just felt so seamless.
Wow.
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It the deal died about three
times, don't get me wrong.
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But I mean, Robert always says
every deal dies approximately 3
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times.
So I, I didn't get discouraged
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when it would die.
I was like, OK, like maybe this
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could come back.
But yeah, it was a journey of
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about 4 1/2 months and it ended
up closing May 8th, $7.5
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million.
Wow.
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I just, you know, talk to a lot
of people, everybody, you know,
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we think back on our first deal,
I don't hear a lot of high
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anything like that.
So I was very excited to see
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that your successes and hear
about your successes because
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that's the reality of this
business is Sky's the limit.
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Yes.
Oh, I like that.
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I like that.
How do you underwrite a hotel
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property?
So typically a hotel buyer,
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they're going to want the price,
the asking price to be about 3
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times the revenue.
That's kind of like a rule of
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thumb.
Like if I get financials and I
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see that they're asking three
times the revenue, I'm like, oh,
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OK, this we might have a deal
here, but it's hard right now
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like with interest rates and
just, there's so much going on
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just in the market and things
like that right now.
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A lot of times like sellers are
asking for like 4 times or more.
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And if that's just not feasible
typically for the the hotel
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buyer, especially with like cost
of goods and things like that,
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anytime a hotel is transitioning
owners, they're the brand is
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going to ask them for a pit for
a property improvement plan.
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So not only is it going to be
the cost of what it's going to
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be to purchase the hotel,
they're going to have to put
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some money into the hotel to
make sure everything is, you
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know, up to up to par with what
the brand wants.
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So that's typically what I'm
looking for is like 3 times,
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yeah.
So since you closed out your
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first hospitality deal in May,
have you gone just head first
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into hospitality?
What it?
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What does it look like since
then?
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Yeah, I think for me, I'm not
someone that can be dabbling in
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all types of avenues like I, my
brain needs to learn as much as
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I can about One Ave. and just
kind of go full speed ahead into
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that.
So I've just been continuing to
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search for deals.
I, I like to do things off
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market.
I kind of found like fun in
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that.
So I'm just kind of working with
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off market buyers and seeing
what kind of deals I can come
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across.
Drum up.
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Yeah.
You came in at an interesting
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time because it's like it's ugly
right now.
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Like I was on the phone, a guy
called me the other day.
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He said, I want to let you know
I quit brokerage after 13 years
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and I'm a 1031 guy now.
And that, I mean, aside from
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you're seeing a fallout of like
first year, second year, third
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year brokers, to hear someone
who's been doing it for that
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long throwing in the towel
because of how excruciating this
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market is was eye opening to me.
You started in an interesting
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time where it's hard to, it's
extremely competitive.
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Seller expectations do not match
interest rates or buyer
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expectations, right?
All these sellers got an
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appraisal from 2022-2023 and the
numbers are not the same here in
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2025.
And people think that real
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estate only goes up, and it
does, but it takes longer for
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some periods of times, product
types, whatever.
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So it's an interesting time for
you to get into the biz, but I
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think it's really interesting
that you niched aggressively and
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I think it's the right thing to
do.
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All we do is industrial.
So I don't get calls about
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multifamily.
I don't want calls about
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multifamily.
And no, it's smart.
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It works really well for us so.
Yeah, I do think it's important
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to niche down and just become an
expert in that area.
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Like I remember when I was
getting licensed, I was like the
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only one who was saying I was
going to be doing commercial.
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And the instructor was like, why
are you categorizing yourself to
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that?
Like you could do so much more
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if you do residential.
And I'm like red flag because no
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shade, but he's like a
residential agent who's all
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like, I guess dabbles in
commercial.
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And I just feel like some and
like, you know, everyone's going
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to do what they want to do.
But I feel like I don't want to
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be doing a disservice by
dabbling in a million things.
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Like pick something, learn your
expertise, and just like, roll
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with that.
I'm right there with you.
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So how are you getting in touch
with with people?
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What's your I?
I've talked to Rob about this.
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How?
How do you find to cut through
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all the mania to get in touch
with the right people?
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I contact people a lot through
e-mail and I find usually my
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emails, sometimes I have to do a
little bit of digging.
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I like to use Co star a lot, but
sometimes like if you get that
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bounce back e-mail of oh, this
e-mail is not no longer in
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service like I'm on true people
search like I'm like kind of
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hunting for a phone number and
e-mail.
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Any any way to get into contact?
I've thought about just like
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popping up at hotels because I
feel like sometimes the
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operators are there a lot it
depends on like what kind of
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operator they are.
I haven't been brave enough to
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do that just yet.
But you never know, Sometimes
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you might have to just pop up.
You will.
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You'll get there.
I get it.
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Are you only trying to transact
right now in Pennsylvania or are
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you thinking of expanding?
And right now, I do have more of
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a focus in PA, but I've had
buyers reach out that they're
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looking in other areas.
So if I have a buyer that I know
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is like a strong buyer and they
want in a in a certain target
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area, I have been kind of like
reaching out and seeing what I
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can find in that area as well.
I have a friend here in town.
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I should probably connect you.
She is maybe like two or three
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years into the business and she
essentially did the same thing
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like she realized when she was
contacting hospitality owners
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that So the interesting thing
about Denver where I live and
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warehousing, it's like the most
common product type anybody
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wants is a warehouse in Denver.
So our owners are really
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fatigued by brokers reaching out
to them.
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So we have to get really
creative with how we right
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approach people.
Whereas my friend Amanda and it
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and it sounds like you have
realized, oh, we can like
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there's so far fewer people
contacting hotel, motel,
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etcetera, owners that it's
easier to get a hold of them.
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What advice would you give a
first time commercial real
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estate broker listening to this
podcast?
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I think someone that's just
starting out, I think there's is
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power in being maybe new and
fresh to it.
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Kind of how with like the
ChatGPT, like I just kind of ran
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with that.
If I was more seasoned, I would
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have said a hotel owner is never
going to buy that, like never
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going to buy a movie theater,
you know what I mean?
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So I think just like going for
it and just believing that you
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can learn, putting aside the
imposter syndrome because that's
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a huge a huge one too, is just
like, do I know what I'm doing?
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Do I know what I'm talking about
as I'm reaching out to these
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owners who own like multiple.
I think just like being
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confident and just going for.
It, it's really interesting,
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like our business is a business
where historically it's been
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like fathers teaching their
sons, but recently, you know, I,
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I'm seeing a trend of fathers
teaching their sons and fathers
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teaching their daughters.
And then just like, you know, we
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have this in common our, our
significant others.
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I brought my husband into the
business.
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Your husband brought you into
the business and suddenly you're
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it's exactly like what you're
saying.
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It's like there's a whole new
eyes on this business, there's a
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whole new perspective.
Then couple that with the
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Internet and it's like, you
know, there's a lot of work to
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be done in terms of figuring out
the ways that we can use the
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Internet and navigate brokerage,
buying, selling, leasing,
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etcetera.
But we're just getting started
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and there's, like you said, new
fresh faces and opportunities.
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And I am overwhelmed by the
change that's coming because
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it's, like I said, like the
fathers taught their sons, you
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know, you hit the Rolodex, you
hit the golf course, and that
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works.
But now people are looking
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around, going, wait a second,
there are other ways to do this.
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And here, 7 and a half million
dollars later for your first
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deal, here we are.
Yes, absolutely.
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And I think just the demographic
of commercial real estate in
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general, like I don't see, I
guess I see some women I love if
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I see like a woman doing
commercial, I feel like a lot of
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times like when I said I'm
starting in real estate, people
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are like, oh, you're going to
sell houses like that's great.
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Like a lot of times like the
demographic you're seeing that's
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selling commercial real estate
is not like you or I, you know
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what I mean?
And I think that there's
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something fresh about that, too.
And I think it works really well
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for, you know, some are
hesitant, but a lot are very
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open to it.
And you just work with those
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people, double down and work
hard.
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And it's crazy what happens in
this business with a little bit
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of effort.
Yes, absolutely.
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So.
So have you gotten Rob to do
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hospitality at all or he's still
sticking to?
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He's going to stick with his
multi family thing.
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Yeah, I think if I ever need
help, like he's there, I'm
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obviously like he's my mentor,
so it's nice to have him at the
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right at my fingertips if I need
him.
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But at the same time, I think
it's good that we have our own
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like we're going to be working
together.
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We both work from home most of
the time.
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So we're together all the time.
I think it's good for us to kind
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of target our own thing, but
it's in the same kind of realm.
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So and he just like he lives,
eats and breathes multi family
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like he loves it.
He loves it and I love that for
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him.
And I'm starting to feel the
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same way about hospitality.
I'm just getting so into just
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the whole hotel operation and
just the people and the all of
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the things that go into it.
So I think we both are on like a
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good little path for ourselves.
I I agree, you have to look up,
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there is a gentleman by the name
of Sam McVey.
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He's a luxury hospitality broker
in Australia and he essentially
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like I think he said, he, he
doesn't do any transaction under
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60 million.
He only goes north of that.
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And it's like these iconic
hotels on the, you know,
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eastern, we'll say like
throughout China, Australia.
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But what I learned from Sam was
go big because the time it takes
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to do a small deal and the time
it takes to do a big deal,
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actually it generally takes more
time to do a small deal.
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So if you fish in a pond with
larger fish, you will catch
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larger fish.
And that's what I think about my
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early days as a broker, like
cold calling, like 1500 square
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foot warehouses.
And I'm just like, yeah, that
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was an interesting use of my
time, but.
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A learning experience, but it's
true.
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It's like you're putting in the
same amount of effort, like you
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said, if not less sometimes to
do like those bigger deals,
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because when you're doing
something local, something
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smaller, I think they're
expecting a lot more from the
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agent.
But when you're working with
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those larger groups, like they
have someone that's going to do
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everything, you know what I
mean?
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Like for this hotel, I remember,
I will never forget, I'm sitting
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on this call with like this
firm's legal team, like their
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attorneys and their vice
president.
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And I'm just like, they were
handling all of it, like I
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didn't have to do much, you know
what I mean?
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If that was a smaller deal, I
would have definitely had to
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have been.
But they kind of have their
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people to do that stuff.
And you're kind of just playing
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matchmaker with the deal.
But I was just like, holy
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00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:55,840
smokes, like how did I get here?
It's the it's where you belong
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and it's a great place to be.
Yeah, absolutely.
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So, Sky for the listeners, what
is your commercial real estate
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00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:09,600
secret?
OK, my commercial real estate
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00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:14,720
secret.
Be open to the opportunities,
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find your people, and just allow
what's meant for you to come to
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00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:20,560
you as well.
Amen.
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I'm right there with you, Sky.
For the listeners, where can
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00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:29,360
they find you, Follow you?
Have you sell their next hotel?
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00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:33,920
OK, so I am on, I guess it's not
Twitter anymore.
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00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:40,480
It's X that is my CRE platform.
It's at Sky Velez, under score
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00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:43,320
CRE.
The rest of my pages are more
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00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:47,360
personal just because I'm still
kind of trying to navigate how
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00:19:47,360 --> 00:19:51,760
to combine like my life with
commercial real estate.
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00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:58,160
I'm on Instagram, under score,
Sky Velez, and my TikTok is sky
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00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:01,360
dot BNB.
It's more of like a travel.
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00:20:02,120 --> 00:20:06,760
Kind of page, but that's where
you can find me and take a look
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00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:11,120
into my life.
Amazing Sky, really excited to
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00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:16,520
see you come into this business
flourish and very excited to
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00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:18,680
have you on the show.
So thank you for being here
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00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:20,760
today.
Viva, thank you so much.
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It was a pleasure.
Yeah.
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00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:25,880
And for everybody listening,
we'll see you next week.
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00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:32,480
That's a wrap for this week on
commercial real estate secrets.
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00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:37,040
If you found value, do us a
favor and subscribe, leave a
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00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:40,680
review and share it with a
fellow commercial real estate
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00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:43,200
lover.
For brokerage services or to
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00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:45,640
connect, visit
warehousehotline.com.
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00:20:46,360 --> 00:20:48,560
I'm Aviva.
We'll see you next week.