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A cookie cutter approach will not bring the results you desire! It's tired. Stale. As we know, people are inundated with emails, texts, messages, this notification and that notification. Being authentic and taking a varied approach will reap the results you desire! Utilizing an intentional approach versus the flea market approach (grab anyone and everything), you're able to connect with your ideal clients; the ones you can deliver great value. Social media is free, for now. I wonder when that will change. It's a wonderful tool to share how you can help people with your expertise in a niche, share examples of resolution to bring a deal across the finish line, guide clients to their highest/best use, represent them at municipal meetings for various approvals, answer questions, share resources and more one meeting, post, panel, interview or podcast at a time. It's hard to believe my podcast was kicked off a few months earlier, I'm happy to share my blog was officially released! I'm eager to connect with you in yet another format to be at your side in your commercial real estate NNN Leasing, Sales and Investment Sales. ABSTRACT Commercial Real Estate

I am driving back from Milwaukee this morning, and I saw a billboard. It says, drive like a boss. Of course, it made me smile because I am my own boss and have been for almost four years now with ABSTRACT Commercial Real Estate LLC. I was reflecting on it due to conversations last night. I was in Milwaukee for the CARW Holiday party. Another amazing success! There were approximately 400 people in attendance, beautiful venue, a great group of brokers, investors, associates, lenders, etc. I was talking with a couple of the brokers about ABSTRACT and, and it was nice. they commended me for taking that leap of faith that you so frequently hear about. The interesting thing that they shared, that took me by surprise, was that they said they just would never have the gumption to do that. I don't see myself as any different than the average person in CRE for the most part. I've definitely pushed really hard. I think there's a lot of people that push hard set dreams, attain goals, and create success. Additionally, there are definitely people more successful than myself financially and in other ways as well. It's always nice to have that big carrot, right? I was sharing that maybe it was different for me because I came from an extremely small firm, it was the owner-broker and myself. There wasn't a large team of other agents and a big fleet where it felt like family or a lot of collaboration nor support staff such as an assistant, marketing person, legal, etc. It was interesting and got me thinking. When I was younger, I used to think that if you left a job or career arena especially, that it was all lost, right? All that time, your energy, resources, etc. lost. As the years accumulate and we grow/progress, I realized that each of the different experiences serve to shape us. Another way I like to say it is it adds to our tool belt of resources, of knowledge, expertise, and our ability to relate to people in different ways increasing your network and life experience. It was a provocative conversation. And I think it's easy as an entrepreneur or someone that pushes themselves that it's easy at times to feel like you're spinning or not getting the traction you desire. But it's like the old adage that when there's a storm and it's blowing the tree, that that's when the roots grow deeper and it allows you to perform at a much more expansive, higher, and extensive manner. It’s really quite neat when you reflect on it. My message to people in this blog entry is to remember there are the winters of life of challenge and summers of ease. Some of the most challenging times force us to leave behind old habits or ways of thinking that are not serving us to venture into new opportunities, to think creatively, resourcefully, and do something you might not have otherwise done. And that was also a conversation with a couple different brokers of, if they hadn't had their backs against the wall, they wouldn't be where they're at because they wouldn't have pushed as hard. I could totally relate. At times, I've wished that I had a significant other or financial support to help balance some of the challenging months. Anyone in commercial real estate knows that anything can and will change. At the same time, I realized that I would not be as resourceful and resilient if I weren’t fully dependent upon my success. I wouldn't be as confident because each of those “challenging times” forced me to get creative, forced me to go beyond my comfort zone, and allowed me to grow, to become more, to have more, and to just really appreciate the smallest to the biggest things, and to foster stronger relationships with people. It's challenging being vulnerable, right? It’s not a strong suit of mine or for many people. When you're in an arena where you are one of the few women which I've gotten used to over the years, you have to toughen up. I was raised by my father which helped with this and the fact that I worked in areas of primarily men including sports like karate. It was home. It makes me think of Darwinism, the strong survive, nurture versus nature, all of those different aspects. My pivotal question to you for this month's blog is how are you showing up? How are you shifting, evolving, becoming your greatest self? If you're in that moment of weathering a storm, what is it helping you to see about yourself, to change about yourself? And what are you becoming as a result of this experience? I would love to hear from you. Please comment, like, share, respond. This is an emporium for personal and career growth, and at the root of both of those is mindset. Go get it!

I was asked for an interview by WKOW while I was in Seattle for the CCIM Governance meetings. This is a perfect example of what seems like luck, but really, what it is years of preparation that comes together in that “lucky” moment. Since I was out-of-state, I suggested having a Zoom meeting. I know the power of visibility, and that people connect more when they both see and hear someone and can learn from them. At first, we couldn’t connect on the Zoom link, the internet was too slow. The first inclination not wanting to lose the opportunity. It's easy for the mind to run rampant. I quickly redirected my thoughts to “What would it take to have clear internet connection?" Being on the 32nd floor of a large hotel tower, the timing was tight. The newscaster had an interview directly after me so we had to reschedule it to about 15-20 minutes later. In the interim, I got set up in the lobby, the Zoom link came through and we were golden! As in commercial real estate deals, there will always be surprises. It’s creating a winning solution. This blog consists of the insights behind the video interview which you may/not already seen via the evening news last week. The question was, with the new mixed-use developments throughout Madison, the suburbs, Dane County, why are they vacant? Is that due to our market only? Is it a nationwide thing? Do landlords actually want the space vacant? Are there tax write-offs, etc., etc.? Let's review one at a time. Mixed use, which is commercial at grade, residential above, is really easy to lease out in certain areas and not in others. Areas where there's high pedestrian counts, significant vehicle traffic, and great parking ratios are very conducive for it. As you move to certain suburbs, like one that I leased several years ago, there wasn't even parking at the site. There was only street parking, which was really challenging from a brokerage leasing perspective because parking is a make or break decision for tenants. It was an area where there was some foot traffic, but it was by no means in the density of downtown Madison. It took years to get leased. I'm happy to say when the leases were executed, I negotiated the full asking price and a lower TI than we had anticipated. We really won across the board on that deal. As you look to other suburbs, Verona, Fitchburg, parking ratios again come into play. And what will happen is when a property has been vacant for months or years, there's a natural assumption by people that something is wrong with the property or poor ownership/landlord, something along those lines, when really that's not always the case. Frequently, the price was inflated from the beginning or something shifted with parking. Maybe the TI (tenant improvement allowance) is small compared to what others in the market are offering. There are various factors at play. In addition to parking, co-tenancy is a significant factor too. It depends on who is on either side of the vacant space or in line for it. Certain operators will only go where there's a significant national presence. Others, when they're local, maybe regional, are typically happy to go in there as long as it's a solid operator. It really depends on ownership's vision for the property, and it's up to the brokerage to bring in the aligned operators that have the financials, the business acumen, and the products or services that will line up and bring this as an amenity not only to the property but to the residents above and the community. This is where it's really an art on a grand scale. As we shift into the vacancies, something people typically don't understand is that it's easier for a landlord to keep the vacant space than to just bring anyone in. There are two factors involved with that, one is liability. If someone doesn't operate correctly or if they're not paying rent as agreed upon in the lease, it's really challenging to remove a tenant. And then you have to go through small claims courts to which takes time, money and energy so it's a burden. At the end of this, sometimes they're not able to collect the money! Funds are not available. It's better to take the time upfront for due diligence, pulling the credit, pulling the financials, understanding their current operations, any other operations within Dane County, Wisconsin, nationwide, and go about it in an organized and repeatable process for all. There are tax advantages in different ways for different opportunities. I always say, go to your CPA. Of course, if you have several properties in a portfolio, cost segregation is definitely the way to go. I highly recommend Yonah Weiss. I connected with him years ago on LinkedIn, and he really is the guru of cost segregation. If you're not familiar or you want to learn more, Google him, you'll find him on LinkedIn. Great great guy to follow. Another thing to be cognizant of as well is that ever since COVID, it really removed the middle people. Prospects either have cash or significant funding and are ready to sign leases, buy properties, and invest or they don’t. When people are not in a financial position or even, I would say, the business mindset to begin something, they should continue their preparatory work. When people have several ideas but haven't clarified it into that “one” concept. They need to have their business plan and understand if they don't have the financing to talk with various lenders, see what's available for grants here in WI, Dane county and nationally. There’s no way to get around the due diligence process. It's not a sexy nor exciting for many people, and that's why they want to push it till the end. But it is actually one of the first things that you need to do as an operator because without a solid foundation, you're not going to be able to create the multiple stories that you desire to build on top of that foundation and increase your revenue in a repeatable and meaningful manner. So those are a few tips. Some of this was highlighted in the interview, and of course, this is an additional backstory that was shared and a little something extra for you. Log for more musings of this manner each month in my future Blogs. If you have suggestions or topics you would like to learn about in commercial real estate, specifically retail, restaurants, and/or mixed-use, I would be happy to blog on these in future months. As always, connect with me at Heather@ABSTRACT-CRE.com or call 608-239-4781 . Thanks!