By Bill Gladstone, CCIM, SIOR

This season, we should be thinking about ourselves. Yes, that’s right: We should be thinking about ourselves and our giving habits. I hope you don’t look at this as just another advertisement for some charity, one of the thousands that are out there — this is not that. I would just like you to take some time and think about what you have in comparison to what others might not have and the efforts they are making. Some are struggling to take care of their families and, in some cases, to just stay alive.

Our country’s homelessness and hunger situations always increase during the winter months and have now exploded, compounded by COVID-19. People who never stood in an unemployment line, never waited at a food bank, and never had a notice of eviction are now finding these struggles are a part of daily life. It’s common for us to hear or read stories of how people ended up in their current distressed situation. It’s mind-boggling in some instances. These are often individuals who, pre-pandemic, collected a paycheck every two weeks and had worked for and maybe even attained the American Dream. It is almost incomprehensible.

I don’t believe there is any one charity or cause that outweighs another. The only thing that matters is trying to help individuals in their time of need. Last holiday season, my Group embarked on a campaign we called “Five in Ten.” We donated to five different charities in 10 days: Caitlin Smiles in Harrisburg, Humane Society of Harrisburg, Medical Outreach of Harrisburg, Hospice of Central PA, and VA Medical Outreach in Lebanon. We tried to hit every aspect of our social strata from pets to vets, from children to hospice. We called to find out what each charity needed and our entire group personally delivered our donation to these organizations.

And this year, after recently seeing a news report of the devastating problems families are facing with evictions and paying rent, I called the organization being highlighted – We Thrive Renters in Austell, Georgia to see how our Group could assist. We decided to donate rent money that will be divided among those families most in need and also Walmart gift cards that will be gifted to them during this holiday season.

That is all I am asking you to do if you are in a position to help. Find an organization that you can support. Call, ask what they can use for their clients, and then take the time to purchase it for them. This is sometimes a much better approach than just writing them a check. Your time will help maximize the dollars of your investment into their efforts.

You can feel good about helping people take care of their families and staying alive. You may never know exactly who your product served, but you can be very proud of your efforts to resolve a need for people just like you and me who were doing just fine less than a year ago.

I hope you take this message to heart and consider helping people who need your support at this time. Bless you and best wishes for a happy NEW year.

By Bill Gladstone, CCIM, SIOR

The face of the real estate market as we knew it in February (pre-pandemic) was much different than the look it has today. And it continues to change. The market is naturally dynamic but when you add to it the circumstances of a pandemic, you are bound to get a shift. And we did.

The land market not only continues to be “hot” from a multi-family perspective but from an industrial viewpoint as well. A well-placed source notes: “Industrial land is on fire!” With the restrictions we have due to the pandemic, he is right — it should be on fire since 40% of our nation’s population can be reached from Central Pennsylvania within 11 hours. This is why we see the 1M+ SF structures being built instead of smaller 500,000 to 800,000 SF warehouses. Our area is much more than a regional hub and our growth in warehousing will continue to be explosive.

The office buildings for sale market continues to do well. Many larger buildings are selling at low numbers due to heavy vacancies, especially in the B-space sector. This allows well-capitalized buyers to invest the necessary money into these buildings, bringing them up to today’s standards. That helps attract the tenants that are active in the market and value is added. But the number of available tenants has been seriously dampened by the pandemic as some companies are debating the work from home model as a possible “go forward” strategy.

Retail has its issues, too, as some retailers move forward while others have hit the pause button. Online ordering has begun to dig deeper into retail sales. “Retail, though, is gaining back some lost ground,” according to Adam Hagerman, a sales agent with Bennett Williams Commercial in York, PA. “Shutting down only had a temporary impact. It was painful for some more than others as the “trickle down” ended up affecting bars, restaurants, gyms, and nail and hair salons the most. Bookstores also got hit hard.” But Adam indicated that grocery, auto parts, dollar, and tire stores continued to do well and were not affected quite as much as others who are now rebuilding their sales.

Investments continue to do well, somewhat unabated compared to prepandemic. As long as the investment makes sense — a creditworthy tenant, a longer-term lease, little or no deferred maintenance, and a market rate — then in this area a 7-8% cap rate is achievable. But there is a short supply of this product. There are investments masquerading as a 7-8% cap rate, but once the underlying economics are exposed, it is obvious these will never sell at the prices the owner wants.

Perhaps there are some similarities to the pre-pandemic market, but much of our new landscape has been shaped by the unique circumstances we are all currently facing. And I am not sure any one of us can predict how the current real estate climate will reshape itself (if at all) in the next six to eight months.

We wish you the best in your efforts!

By Bill Gladstone, CCIM, SIOR

It probably isn’t important why the coronavirus showed up, but just to acknowledge that it is here. The “why” is a whole different story. But now that there is more free time for all of us, what is the best way for us to use it?

We can lament that we are all losing business and we will be behind the eight ball when we get closer to the old normal that we all knew and in which we worked and thrived. Of course, depending on what we did with our time during this “new normal,” lamenting is a possible option. But if we can’t control this event, why cry over it? Perhaps a better use of our time is to focus on what we can do to push ourselves forward, taking the time to see how good we really are in the midst of a challenge the likes of which we may never see again in our lifetimes. This definitely is not business as usual!

What we need (and now we have the time do) is to discover ways of doing “business as unusual.” But what are those mechanics? How do we find the pieces to put in place so we can meet that challenge? We’ve never had to do this before and we have no printed or digital resources to study so we can put our best foot forward. So, what do we do and how do we do it?

How you decide to use this time could be the most important challenge in your life, one which you may or may not choose to face. If you are willing to accept that challenge, you will need to be very innovative. With no resources to consult, you will need to create your own path to take you where you want to be when this has all passed. But now you have the time to find that path. You will need to be inventive, creative, and driven. Look at this period of time as the time you have always wished you had to create pathways that maximize your business acumen. What are those new ideas you’ve never had time to develop or the programs you’ve never been able to install that make you more proficient than you have ever been in the past?

When this is all over, and it will be, there will be pent-up demand. Your challenge is to innovatively capture more than your fair share of that new business because you did what many others chose not to do: plan for business “as unusual.”

We wish you the best in your efforts!

By Bill Gladstone, CCIM, SIOR

It’s that wonderful time of year again, when the weather turns crisp, the lightly falling snow brings a sense of serenity, and happiness and solemnity peacefully coexist. It’s also become a traditional season of giving. But this is not the only time of year to consider giving back to our community.

We live, work, and play in our communities year-round, so our giving and community support should not be a once-and-done event. I know I am guilty of only making giving back a priority during this time of year. The clues and the reminders just seem to be there in greater abundance now rather than around Easter, Passover, and Eid.

Giving is a very personal decision. There is no absolute definition of “giving back” when you search Merriam-Webster. This is an individual reflection. You know better than anyone what giving back means to you. And it should be personal, not what you think others will want to see or expect.

Here at the Bill Gladstone Group, we decided that we wanted to not only give back, but to be personally involved in the contributions. We called it “Five in 10.” We served five charities in 10 consecutive days (Caitlin’s Smiles in Harrisburg, Humane Society of Harrisburg, Medical Outreach in Harrisburg, Hospice of Central PA in Harrisburg, and VA Medical Center in Lebanon). We selected charities that serve the medical needs of the homeless and the poor, sheltered animals, hospitalized children, homeless veterans, and those with life-limiting illness. We talked with the leaders of these organizations to learn what their needs are and then worked to help address those needs. We donated items that would be beneficial to the recipients. All six of us showed up at each of the various charities to learn more about what they do and to lend a helping hand. Without exception, we left thinking this was a great way to give back to our community, while helping to strengthen it, making it even better for our friends, neighbors, and the next generation. “At Medical Outreach in Harrisburg we were able to meet some of the humble recipients,” said Bill Gladstone. Each one of us were able to hand them a hygiene kit, socks and soup to keep them warm and also wish them a happy holiday.” Their gentle smiles reassured us that we were doing something worthwhile with our day.

That’s how we gave back this year, but there is no right or wrong way. Giving back comes from your heart and only you can determine the way you can best contribute to the community. We encourage your kindness in giving back and wish you the success and fulfillment you will undoubtedly find from participating at a higher level.

And never ask yourself, “I’m just one person, how much difference can I make?” Remember, your actions are not singular. Your children, friends, and colleagues will be influenced as they observe the ways you embrace giving back to the community. You can make it happen.

We wish you the best in your efforts!

By Bill Gladstone, CCIM, SIOR

Remember how difficult it was when you first got in the business? You sat alone at your desk and your only interaction with colleagues was when you had a question. Remember the frustration of being unsure what questions you even needed to ask?

How much faster would your career have accelerated if you had a mentor at your side —someone who knew the questions, understood the ramifications based on experience, and could shorten your very steep learning curve?

When I started with NAI CIR (CIR at that time), we were on two floors. My “cube” was in the back-left corner of the first floor in the area designated for newly hired agents. The seasoned agents (and possible mentors) were all on the second floor and there was no reason for them to come to the first floor. I spent a lot of time by myself, trying to figure it all out. I had no idea what to do, how to implement what I did come up with, or how to monetize it. Eventually I figured some of it out (I’m still learning) as now I have developed a team of six that I support.

I often wonder how quickly I could have accelerated my career if I had a mentor to facilitate my desire to learn commercial real estate brokerage. With a mentor at my side, it would have been easier to meet the demands of the business much earlier, yielding a much larger, active client base sooner.

In those early days, I stayed late because I spent all day trying to connect with people who could be instrumental in helping me move my business plan forward. I knew I had earned no income that particular day and when I got home that night, a new set of bills would have arrived. I remember going in a variety of directions which, in retrospect, I should not have attempted. Those paths took me to places of very little usefulness and provided no opportunity to earn income. It may not have been a total waste of time, as there is always the opportunity to learn from mistakes.

In the beginning, trying to move forward, learn the business, and stay motivated in the face of each obstacle, it was hard to keep a positive attitude and stay focused in an effort to make a career out of commercial brokerage. I had no choice. I was too far into it to give up and start over in a different field. A mentor would have been a real asset and could have saved me time.

Maybe you have been nodding along with my story or maybe you are at the starting line and wishing you had a mentor. If you don’t have a mentor, I highly encourage you to find one. When you are fortunate enough to have a mentor, continue to take responsibility for your own self-development. Your mentor may not always be available and you will need to use what you have already learned and do the best you can.

Using both pathways, you can gain knowledge and expertise from your mentor while assuming responsibility for your professional growth and your future. In any business, the combination of mentorship and personal responsibility will contribute to your success, but having a mentor can offer a huge advantage throughout your career.

By Bill Gladstone, CCIM, SIOR

At the moment you were born, you started learning. A lifetime of learning had begun! You became aware of your immediate environment and started reacting to it. You started to absorb what your senses were telling you and began to learn how to interact with the world around you. Your initial experiences shaped and formed you as you learned to the best of your ability.

As you got older, you started to ask questions – depending on your personality, maybe lots of questions! You developed relationships with people beyond your family. You started your formal education and discovered the ability to fill in blanks in your life as they occurred. You continued to have a more mature set of experiences that helped shape your thinking and your actions as you looked forward to becoming part of the workforce. You learned how to handle yourself in various types of situations. You learned how to maximize opportunities, learn from your failures, and handle yourself in various types of situations. All of this was very meaningful progress.

If you stayed on course, you advanced yourself, not only academically but also in the intangible life skills necessary for success, such as successful person-to-person interaction, respect, and vision. I am sure most of this was done subconsciously, a by-product of your formal and informal education to date. At this point in life, you had the advantage of combining these two arenas of your life, assisting you in determining a destiny for yourself.

You continued to discern right from wrong, and became more astute at defining the difference between moral and immoral as well as ethical versus unethical. Your future was being shaped. You began to define a path for your future that you could control. If you took advantage of educational opportunities, you were better prepared for your chosen career.

Whatever career table you are seated at now, your cumulative education will have served you well if the skill set you developed allows you to add value to your daily interactions. When you add value, people listen, ideas take shape, and results occur. Are you adding value to your workplace, to your coworkers’ experiences, to your family and community? Don’t miss your opportunity. Draw upon lessons learned, both in your formal education and through life experience. Be creative in discerning how you can add value: Identify a need and fill it. Work to exceed client expectations. Never settle for less than the best.

We all have the opportunity to add value each day. Those who do are game changers, whether they are behind-the-scenes or on the front lines. Teams are stronger when each member understands what they bring to the table and how it contributes to overall success.

Go for it! The future awaits.

By Bill Gladstone, CCIM, SIOR

In most cases, you will make the best use of your time and have the highest probability of closing an event if you take control from the beginning. You want to be able to guide the course of events so that you can follow through and make sure your transaction, presentation, or other event comes to a focused and successful ending. As easy as that sounds, it takes a combination of finesse, perseverance, knowledge, and experience.

You must understand the chemistry between you and the others involved. You need to be continually assessing that situation and constantly making appropriate adjustments.

Over the years I have seen situations where people have interpreted “taking control” in a variety of ways. Some people think it means doing the talking and directing people to accomplish certain items within specified periods of time. Some assume that having control is talking more than anyone else in the room, and some believe it means talking over everyone else. And then there are those who believe having control is obtaining the most and best information about the current situation.

Remember, people enjoy engaging with and helping others. The way individuals approach certain issues is different. Your challenge (it can be done) is to realize what each individual needs to get their highest level of participation. Once you do that, you are in control.

Keep in mind, as you try to bring others with you in solving the concerns, you want them to engage and help you with the issue. Generally, engagement is easier and offers a higher probability of a successful ending in a reasonable period of time versus “powering through it” by yourself.

But you need to find your own approach. Just because I find my best results one way does not make it right for you. Spend the time it takes to figure out your best way to be in control when that needs to happen.

Once you have control, use it to your advantage, so that people continue to listen to you and respect your position. Chances of a successful transaction increase dramatically by keeping everyone focused on the outcome. Not only do you close the event, you leave a favorable impression. In the future they will look forward to working with you again. You only help yourself by staying in control and making people glad that you are.

Years ago, there was an agent in my office who asked if he could shadow me for the day. I asked for what purpose? He wanted to learn more about what I do so he could also do it to move his career along faster. I told him I’d be glad to oblige, but he wouldn’t have to do it for a full day, perhaps only my first two appointments.

The first was a listing presentation. That went rather well and I got the listing. Next was an on-site meeting in a space for which a lease proposal had been signed. The tenant and landlord were both there. I wanted to make sure we clearly understood every business term in the three-page proposal before we proceeded to spend money having attorneys prepare and provide comments to their clients. Asking very specific questions and listening to the answers while keeping both parties on topic were essential to getting that meeting to a short and successful conclusion.

After those two meetings, I asked the agent what he learned. He named a few of the more obvious items: knowledge, finding the right space for the tenant, and listening…all were important. “Taking control” eluded him and I expected that. Until you go through various scenarios a number of times you don’t generally prepare for it. But if you want to maximize your rate of success and minimize your time in any one deal, I would suggest taking control from the beginning has a lot to do with it. Good luck!

By Bill Gladstone, CCIM, SIOR

If you look at any situation over the long (and even the short) term, there is always risk. You cannot alleviate risk; however, in both business and in your personal life you can strive to minimize any impact risk might have. Typically though, the greater the risk, the greater the reward. Alternatively, the less risk, the less the reward. Are you ready to deal with risk?

From a personal standpoint, I think back to the end of my restaurant career. I was attempting a turnaround of Dutch Pantry, the chain I was running at the time. After three years, it did not work and we went from Chapter 11 (bankruptcy protection) to Chapter 7 (liquidation). We were an old chain with a tired look and finding it hard to attract investors who wanted to help us develop a new life with a new look and become profitable again. I was the director of operations, so some of it was under my control, but only to the degree which the market would allow us to perform and to the degree other people (especially our creditors) were watching our cash flow. We had 50 units and we were in 11 states. That made the job very difficult.

I remember my last day on the job. We had filed Chapter 7 and I was unemployed. I was on the street looking for a job. Through a variety of circumstances, I was able to get a start in commercial real estate. I was about to really learn the difference between a W-2 (regular paycheck) and a 1099 (sometimes no paycheck). It was startling when I realized the risk I had just accepted having no real knowledge of the business and without any clients. At this point I was trying to support myself, my wife (who also was working at that time), and our three young children, while making two car payments and a house payment, and trying to provide enough income to pay for daily expenses. I can remember going to a bank and borrowing $10,000 to help pay bills. That money was gone in less than a week. Talk about a situation filled with risk. Ughh! I don’t think I could have found a riskier set of circumstances with so little hope of resolution in a reasonable period of time. In any case, I wasn’t looking!

In a situation like that, I believe you just put your head down, push forward, keep your nose clean and your reputation polished, and do the best you can to make the best of a bad situation where the risk just keeps rolling in and piling up. Intuitively I knew that if I successfully got through the risk I was encountering, I would have my reward of some kind. Isn’t that why we do these types of things? The reward! But I had to stay focused. I could not take my eyes off the prize. I had written goals so that I never lost focus, I worked 16-18 hours a day, and I always took that last appointment no matter how tired I was.

And it worked. My children not only grew up with the typical amenities, but I was also able to provide college educations and some travel experiences for them. I am still in the same house (paid off) with my wife. We have been able to save significantly over the years. At work, I now have a staff of four that has been with me between 5-13 years. I have been Salesperson of the Year more than half of the past 17 years. I believe I was well rewarded, certainly commensurate with the risk I took. It was a huge risk, and I think I got the reward I deserved.

Here’s my suggestion: Don’t be afraid of risks and take them as often as possible. That could be the best path to push yourself forward and make things happen in your life. You need to step off the edge and take those risky experiences to keep yourself moving forward, always positioned to better yourself.

By Jim Gillespie

Business coaching has become very popular within recent years. The idea of working with someone who can help you produce better results within your business has really caught on with business owners across America. But what really is business coaching and could it really be a good fit for you?

Business coaching, generally speaking, is when you work with someone one-on-one to help you to take your business results and your income to the next level. People who hire business coaches are people who are already successful, but know they’re capable of even greater success. With this in mind, here are three reasons why you might consider hiring a business coach:

1) You are looking for new ideas to take your business to the next level.

2) There are ideas, systems, and approaches you’ve considered implementing into your business, but you still haven’t taken the next steps.

3) You recognize that you need someone to hold you accountable within your business, because you’re not accomplishing your desired goals.

Once you’ve decided you want to hire a business coach, how do you find the best one for you? If you know anyone in your line of business who has worked with a business coach, you might ask them about their experience in working with that person, and then contact the coach directly. Or you could do an online search that includes the keywords for your profession, along with the word “coach” in the search and see if you can find some coaching candidates.

It is possible that your ideal coach will be someone who doesn’t necessarily specialize within your industry. Such an individual can bring ideas, technology, and approaches to your business that other coaches within your industry might not be aware of, potentially offering your business a competitive advantage.

Before you ever hire your coach, make sure they will inspire you to take the action necessary to move you to even higher levels within your business. You don’t want your coach to be someone who doesn’t light that blowtorch within you to get you revved up, excited, and motivated to implement new ideas. A good sports coach is someone who will motivate their team and inspire them to move onto higher levels of excellence, and this is exactly what you want your business coach to do for you.

So in putting all of this together, where are you at right now in your business? Could you use some new ideas and some inspiration, motivation, and accountability to make big things happen for you? If so, then hiring a business coach could be exactly what you need to take your business to the next level.

By Bill Gladstone, CCIM, SIOR

So many transactions, so many deals never get out of the blocks because the extra push they needed to get rolling never happened. Someone got busy, distracted, or just lost focus. The deal that could have been a huge success never materialized. And remember that success comes in many sizes and shapes, so although it is generally about the money, there are times when the lease or sale of real estate can also provide non-monetary solutions for issues of importance to a variety of people. Sometimes it separates people who should never have started a business relationship. Perhaps it allows other pieces of the puzzle to be addressed once the real estate portion is resolved. Or maybe it is a way forward for a struggling organization or association.

In any case, success requires someone who is watching, understands risk versus reward, and enjoys making it happen. That could be you! Can you see the future and do you have a desire to be part of it? Do you like to experience the thrill of the deal and believe that if you stay focused you can make it happen? Technology provides you with vast and incredible opportunities to be more immersed in your transaction. Take advantage of it!

Do yourself a favor and think of yourself as an agent of change or your own client of the future. Envision the deal the way it works for you and if you have to eventually back down to more conventional thinking, you can do so. But on the front end, be creative and innovative – make the difference! When you see these opportunities, capitalize on the experience and knowledge you have by resolving issues and making your life better. You are an agent of change! Can you make it a 10-year NNN lease with a national credit worthy tenant? Can you use your skill set to conjure up the economics of two competing investment deals, and then selecting the one most appropriate for your lifestyle? And what if a build-to-suit lease for a strong credit tenant shows up? Why should you not consider yourself as a candidate for that deal?

Remain vigilant and uniquely position yourself to utilize your knowledge and skill set to remain at the forefront of the information pathway within the marketplace. You will hear about the good deals coming forward, and you can make it happen so your ideal transactions do not slip away from being your golden opportunities. Push for the results you know you can deliver and you can’t do anything but make it happen. You will be your own agent of change, your own agent of the future.