Calling all brokers
Brokers - what type of brokerage are you in, how is COVID 19 affecting you, and how are you handling/adjusting your business to keep the deals rollin in? The virus is obviously having an affect on our economy - some will be short term, but some will for sure be long term. What type of effect do you think this will have on your market &amp; service line, and what are you going to do to make sure you are still staying at the forefront of change? I've already heard theories about how investor behavior will change, how office occupiers may downsize due to working form home being proven effective, and certain sectors of retail being wiped out, for example. Wondering how people plan to adjust!
[{"id": "fkvygbe", "text": "I'm wondering this myself. I've been stuck indoors since Friday evening and plan on being indoors for at least the rest of this week and next. I was referred a client this morning but other than that, everyone else is at a standstill. All my meetings for the past couple weeks have been either cancelled or pushed to whenever civilization goes back to normal.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fkvzmxr", "text": "Not a broker, but an operator. We are preparing to fight for our lives", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fkw59rh", "text": "Several deals/listings fell off and meetings rescheduled. It\u2019s next to impossible working from home right now with a 2 year old. \n\nI haven\u2019t taken a vacation in awhile so I\u2019ll probably sit the next week out to mentally recharge a bit. Maybe take care of some housekeeping stuff like cleaning out inbox, etc and bumping up prospect list.\n\nI specialize in office and just took a crazy amount of square feet to the market. Trying to brainstorm on how to keep that momentum and other creative ways to keep afloat. Virtual tours? Move in incentives? I dunno.", "replies": [{"id": "fkw8hi1", "text": "Maybe some incentives and offer facetime/skype meetings and walkthroughs.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fkw6z8f", "text": "I\u2019m a CRE broker in NYC, the suburbs, and NJ. ALL my deals are on \u201chold\u201d. Some very substantial ones that I\u2019ve been working on for over a year and were nearly at the finish line. This is very bad. \n\nI am also a landlord. Reached out to my tenants to tell them that if they pay timely we can reduce their rent significantly.", "replies": [{"id": "fkw90gk", "text": "Yea I feel that. Some of my clients are trying to push on as normal but I feel like we might hit a wall with the deals we\u2019re working on. I\u2019m just hoping we\u2019re back to normal by mid-late summer and all those deals that got held up start moving again", "replies": [{"id": "fkw9d9v", "text": "Fingers crossed. That sounds like an accurate timeline to me.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "fkwco45", "text": "About the same in Vegas. A lot of uncertainty which is leading to a lot of deals being put on hold and the firm I\u2019m at has seen some bigger deals fall apart.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "fl44bqh", "text": "I work at a law firm that does commercial lending. Yes, every borrower and bank keeps pushing to set a closing date. Meanwhile county clerks offices are closing and title companys cant run proper searches. They're adding language into the title loan policies that just don't protect the lender. \n\nI can't see us being cleared to close for at least several weeks.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fkw7lwr", "text": "My company manages about a million square feet, half of that\u2019s retail, and we expect that part of the portfolio to see revenues drop 25%. Personally I\u2019m running for our VP of Investment sales. He makes a good living doing receiverships and special servicer work during recessions. I feel good about where I am.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fkw9ikh", "text": "All my deals are dead or stalled.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fkwfbct", "text": "Investment sales. No one wants to discuss any possible sale right now. I\u2019m going to work on building my website and other marketing materials etc. perhaps I will do some follow ups at some point just to see how people are doing and if they want to let me know that they still have interest in a sale I will be there for them. It\u2019s so hard to gauge right now what is and isn\u2019t appropriate and I don\u2019t want to be the insensitive prick that is barking up the wrong tree when people are out there losing there health and so much more. On the flip side I have lots of hungry investors who need to be fed... what to do. What to do.??", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fkwtfxj", "text": "Office tenant leasing. Honestly, business as usual. We take about 1/3 longer to create and manage high end deliverables due to less efficient home work stations. My firm has been paperless and mobile for a while though. \n\nObviously, we're not touring or doing any client lunches at the moment, but most of our clients have requirements in 21'. \n\nThe company has 'flash calls' and emergency information being sent out daily to keep people informed. We strategize on effective client care across business lines and among individual departments, which helps immensely. We're utilizing tech more than ever and placing more value in virtual touring.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fkwy152", "text": "Debt broker in NYC. Thankfully had a strong start to the year and have a series of deals with commitments closing this week and next... but not really sure after that. \n\nI worry that banks will wake up in 20 days and realize nobody paid rent in April and now a large chunk of their portfolios are delinquent. Bankers have been talking a very big game that it\u2019s \u201cbusiness as usual\u201d but I can\u2019t imagine how. \n\nI think lenders will ultimately put new deals on pause and reassess how to price risk, how to sell paper, and which areas may suffer fundamental change as a result of this (maybe office and retail?) \n\nThe comforting thing is that this impacts everyone everywhere. This isn\u2019t isolated to CRE. The world may just need to pause, and the government may just need to destroy the US dollar to fix it.... but we\u2019ll figure this out.", "replies": [{"id": "fkx774k", "text": "What types of deals were you closing in the beginning of the year and what are you seeing across your desk now?", "replies": [{"id": "fkxaayq", "text": "So far this year has been a pretty mixed bag, but weighted towards multi. We also closed 3 midtown manhattan office deals but they were very low leverage. I\u2019ve been working on one fairly large retail deal in IL since August that was pretty close to closing CMBS but I fear now may be back at square one. We got hired on a new Palm Beach office building last week, went out to market preliminarily, but so far it\u2019s been crickets. We\u2019re also working on an owner occupied deal for a urologist in Manhattan... that may have traction. \n\nBut we were working on 2 hotel deals and they were just put completely on hold.", "replies": [{"id": "fkxassp", "text": "Very nice! Looks like your pipeline is pretty diverse so at least you\u2019re not heavy on a specific asset. How are you sourcing these deals? Are you at a large brokerage that supplies and large database?", "replies": [], "depth": 4}, {"id": "fkxmerz", "text": "Also a debt broker and have a hotel due to close next week...", "replies": [{"id": "fkxp9gk", "text": "I hope it happens for you.", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fkx3idj", "text": "Lost contact with my only buyer on one deal. She was ready to go and could close pretty quickly prior to this. Another deal buyer is hard with their deposit but just requested another extension and put another 100k up. They say their financing is all set but pretty sure it\u2019s CMBS so we will see what they have to say.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fkx4tas", "text": "Investment Sales. Obviously there\u2019s been a lot of transactions in the last few months so 1031 buyers still need to find deals. Spoke to one yesterday and they were wondering if the IRS would let them extend their identification period because of the recent disruption. Good question?  Besides that, everything has just paused. Buyers wanting to see if prices will get lower and also concerned about financing. Sellers with solid properties just sitting tight.", "replies": [{"id": "fkxcn4b", "text": "This hits close to home as I have a personal 1031 with ID period early April.  Would be incredible to get an extension on this, but I don't think folks with 1031 will be at top of list in terms of sympathy from IRS.", "replies": [{"id": "fkxdjmq", "text": "Agreed. Although one would have good arguments. For instance, if you\u2019re using the gain and putting debt on the property, lenders are in a wait and see pattern which delays you. We all thought service sector tenants were gold but now not so sure. Sellers with conceivably good tenants are pulling them off market because of the uncertainty as to where to place the capital afterwards. List goes on and on!  I do think there\u2019s gonna be more leniency moving forward. One thing I\u2019m telling my investors is that we have a president with a real estate background so one would think he wouldn\u2019t be inclined to do anything detrimental to the industry. Remember when we thought the 1031 would go away, well it did for everything except real estate.", "replies": [{"id": "fkxep5z", "text": "good thoughts.  Current president certainly was helpful with Opportunity Zones.  Maybe Kushner can get his ear on 1031 relief.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "flk69sw", "text": "slash FYI below.  Federal Disaster is an angle.  I am researching today with accountant.   \n\n&amp;#x200B;\n\n[https://nerej.com/1031-can-i-get-an-extension-on-the-deadline-on-an-exchange-i-need-more-time-to-shop-by-thomas-st-jean](https://nerej.com/1031-can-i-get-an-extension-on-the-deadline-on-an-exchange-i-need-more-time-to-shop-by-thomas-st-jean)", "replies": [{"id": "flk7d30", "text": "Let me know what you find out. I have a client with an identification period ending soon. I see where some states are being declared as \u201cmajor disaster areas\u201d but is this the same as a federal disaster?", "replies": [{"id": "flkerr7", "text": "will do.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}, {"id": "fn03su0", "text": " [https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Breaking-News--IRS-Extends-1031-Exchange-Deadlines.html?soid=1121542279009&amp;aid=PSSdswYN1AU](https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Breaking-News--IRS-Extends-1031-Exchange-Deadlines.html?soid=1121542279009&amp;aid=PSSdswYN1AU)", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fkxei7t", "text": "Retail tenant rep in Houston. Between the price of crude and corona, it\u2019s the end of the world as we know it. Three deals have been killed in under a week. The diamond in the rough is our retail availability should grow by a few points which is good on the occupier side.\n\nUpdate: four deals killed, 2 idle", "replies": [{"id": "fkxi776", "text": "That specialty ... oof.  Good luck man", "replies": [{"id": "fkxn6kr", "text": "Luckily that\u2019s my main specialty but dabble in healthcare tenant rep, disposing MOBs and land. But yes, oof indeed.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fkxnpet", "text": "I was on the capital markets side of the business in Boston until late 2017. Checking in with friends in the local market, many of whom live off of transaction fees, I mostly receive fearful replies.\n\nI'm now at a startup working on a narrower version of LinkedIn that's hyper-focused on commercial real estate. It's basically your industry resume in digital form, along with a personalized newsfeed. Suddenly seems a lot more relevant than it did two weeks ago. I encourage everyone to take a few minutes and set up a profile: [towerhunt.com](https://towerhunt.com). Most users so far are in the Boston and New York markets, but you can use it from anywhere.\n\nThe more connected you are, the better you're likely to fare when the dust settles here. Good luck out there and stay safe.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fkyazmv", "text": "6 multifamily deals under application with either agencies or a life company. All but one are in core markets, and the one that is more tertiary was built in 2018. \n\nI have faith that each term sheet will be honored, but new deals are getting priced way wide. We just got an internal blast that CMBS AAA spreads widened out 95 bps overnight, and debt funds are either experiencing margin calls or having warehouse lines pulled.   \n\n\nI'm both scared and enthralled. \n\n&amp;#x200B;\n\nGood luck everyone.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fkyeaoo", "text": "Industrial tenant rep in SoCal here. Industry &amp; manufacturing have slowed according to clients but seem to be relatively insulated here in SoCal due to E-commerce demand. We\u2019re hopefully predicting stabilization come Q3 but only time will tell.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fkz7v17", "text": "Office leasing Toronto - absolute halt. Pens down.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fl46xt0", "text": "I've spoken to probably 50 CRE brokerage firms in the last 2 weeks. Larger deals are moving forward, albeit slower. Smaller deals and top of pipeline have stalled. My personal take on long term effects of COVID is that it won't actually create it's own change but expedite techs inevitable impact on real estate. On the office side (what i know best), #WFH will move companies to utilize office space as 'space-as-a-service' where office space will end up being a central location more heavily focused on being a 'home base' reflection of culture where employees are allowed to work, but not expected. For brokers, their job's not going to disappear, it's just going to change to something more holistic and advisory in nature. Again, COVID won't be directly responsible for the change, just responsible for hitting the gas peddle.\n\nI own a software called LeaseUp that helps brokers share market data with tenant clients digitally. I think it'll be helpful with everyone stuck at #WFH to keep their clients engaged and help them keep dealflow moving. If you're a leasing broker PM me and I can hook you up with an account while we all try to navigate this.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]