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What better time or place to write a BLOG post than on an island in the Bahamas? My wife and I traveled here for our 5 year anniversary. Crystal clear water, nice cool breeze, quiet with no noise but the seagulls looking for food. The waves are crashing 20 feet in front of me and the colors of blue in the water are incredible. All that and yes, I’m typing a BLOG post (even though there is an open bar.) This is the Bennett Blog that goes deeper and where I decide to no longer limit these writing to just REAL ESTATE related topics. I know it may seem strange and most readers (if there are any) of the Bennett Blog are in the real estate industry but you are also people. Presumably people who want to get better, who want more in life, and who are looking for the why…I know what you are thinking, this dude is off his rocker but it’s all relatable. Let me explain. We spend most of our adult lives chasing our career and success. We trade our time to get to the highest level we can, we trade time with our family and our loved ones, we sacrifice our own well-being. We give it ALL for the climb. And I am no different. All I am bringing in to the fold is the WHY?

Easy answer right, you want nice things, you want your kids to be proud of you, you want self-accomplishment, blah, blah, blah. Of course, we all do. We are wired that way. The “WHY” is subjective to each person, or at least it should. It shouldn’t be dictated by societal “norms” or based on an undergraduate business course. Maybe you work so hard so you can start a foundation and donate 99% of your earnings to a good cause. Maybe you do because you want a YACHT, or maybe you do it because you (even as an adult) feel like you have to make your parents proud and validate yourself. Whatever your “WHY” is, it baffles me that you cannot think about this and have a clean answer on the “WHY”…it is literally the foundation, reason, and explanation for everything you do in business. The WHY should be determined early on, remain fluid and flexible as life events change, but it does not have to be.

I will keep it real and give you my why, first and foremost to take care of my kids and wife and give them a happy, healthy, and plentiful life. But the BIG why is because to me nothing is worth doing unless you’re doing it the best you can, 110%, NO EXCEPTIONS…I want to WIN, succeed, and be the best in what I do. I see no point in doing it if you do not have that desire. This never changes for me, this is my WHY on everything. Whether I am developing real estate or 20 years from now own a car wash, I want to WIN in any of these scenarios.

Someone recently told me; ‘How you do anything is how you do everything’. To that end, these blogs need to be better and stronger and deeper and more beneficial. If you want to read a real estate blog about someone who made millions and all of their successes but doesn’t touch on what is beneath that success, drive, and, approach then Google. These blogs are made to create thought for myself and hopefully for the people that may read these. They’re made to share with others my approach, not limited to business and maybe even help some along the way.

Take a look at the newly open and operating Wendy’s location on North Avenue in Garwood, NJ

I’m writing this because I have searched and searched for a real life, actual case studies of developer’s war stories of projects they have done in the hopes that maybe I can learn something or at least feel like “I’m not alone.” Not press releases or altered and authored marketing pieces but what it is REALLY like, written by the people who have gone through them. I have found NOTHING. Here is what it is REALLY like, blow by blow in a real scenario.

It is late 2015 and we are negotiating with one of the country’s largest department stores to acquire what is currently a 1.5-acre parking lot from them in a 1 million square foot regional fortress mall. They are one of 4 anchor tenants. It is part of national program that entails them selling off underutilized properties in exchange for capital. We have our “idea” end-user at the time as well, so we are relatively ahead of the game. Shortly after we execute a Purchase and Sale Agreement, which initially takes nearly 9 months, we come to terms with our end-user, a large publicly traded company and move to lease with them. It’s a single-tenant site and we’re ground leasing it our tenant. All looks really good. We’re doing our due diligence which includes review of 900 pages of Operating Agreement documents between the Seller, 3 other department stores, and one of the largest mall owners in the world that was originally written on a typewriter in 1976. Cumbersome is an understatement but we peeled it back. Now it’s, 2016 and after 6 months we have a fully negotiated lease with our end-user and plan to move ahead…but then the “call me when you get a chance email” comes. Our user has determined they don’t want to do the deal because they decided to cut back on openings. On top of that news, our contract requires us to mobilize and submit for entitlements, the only problem is entitlements for what?!?! We don’t have a deal….

Sound like paradise? At this point in any deal you’re faced with a decision, lick you wounds and drop the deal and move on or try to ‘solve the puzzle’…I chose the latter and we went back to the market (blindly) to start all over, from scratch, to try to secure an end user. In my world any net new retail leases will take 6 months to negotiate, and that doesn’t include the LOI process, real estate committee approvals, and any other blessings they need. Its going to be a long haul. Fortunately, it is really good dirt and 2 months in to the effort we are closing in on making a deal with a large, publicly traded restaurant to relocate to our property. After months of a painstaking negotiation/Letter of Intent, we think we’re there but then the “call me when you have a chance” email comes again! They’ve decided not to relocate and to stay in their existing location…we’re dead AGAIN!

Now its late 2016/early 2017 we are whipped, worn out, tired, and discouraged by the process. While we’re highly confident in the real estate, it comes down to time; do we have it or do we need more of it? That’s the business side, but the human side is that it comes down to 1 word, GRIT. You better have it if you want to be a developer. At this point we have incurred tens of thousands of dollars in expenses and need more time. We have clearly proven our willingness to the seller to push and unravel the web of legal documents and attempt to address every “what if” scenario including access, parking, consent rights, etc. Even our attorney is telling me that this is crazy, a mess, and one of the hardest deals he’s seen. Unwieldly is an understatement.

The Last Round

Every fight and deal has a “last round”. Sometimes you don’t know it is the end but in this case, it was pretty clear. Our land use attorney, contract attorney, lease attorney, and civil engineer were racking up the billables, but we were beyond the point of no return, we had to go for it. Real estate like this is rare and if it were easy everyone would be doing this. Its Q2 2017 and fortunately during our effort on our 2nd deal, we were simultaneously working on another deal with a theme restaurant. It was the first time we took the site to the market and the response of interest was pretty heavy. At this point we zeroed in on making this deal; single-tenant user, they take the whole site. Unlike most fee deals where a developer owns the land, they don’t have to worry about adjacent properties or uses or easements or building height or signage…get the point? Every single aspect of our user’s deal had to be cross-referenced with the legal and practical deal we had with the seller and the seller had with the co-anchors and with the mall. We did it, we got through the lease and got it signed…done right?

Extra Innings on this one

While signing a lease is a major milestone in every deal, it is just part of the formula you need to have a deal. Next was applying for all the governmental approvals. We moved relatively quickly through that process, which is rare. As I’m writing this, we are still completing our final items to begin construction before the end of this month. Construction tends to be the easy part and you can clearly see why. There is a beginning, middle, and end. It’s clear, not unknown and contractually obligated. That’s why I say, “building is the easy part” …not to demean any builders out there.

Development deals are like children, you have to cherish them, protect them, and relentlessly try to make them better. You need thick skin but more than that, you need insight, perspective, practical and legal experience, and GRIT. I know A LOT of people in the real estate business that are not developers and I don’t think I have met one that hasn’t said, I’d like to be a developer or I’d like to get in to development…I encourage them that they should, but they should be aware of what it really takes, how frustrating and fun, patient and relentless, thoughtful and fearless it is, all at once. Maybe this will help someone looking to get started. My hope is that more developers share the REAL experiences they go though.

The NUMBER ONE commodity in my personal and professional life, the most influential commodity in my life, and the one thing I wish I had more of.  Now you see my point of view on TIME and how important it is to me and I think most people would agree.  But agreeing to the value of time and acting and practicing on maximizing it are two different things.  Every day is an effort to not spend time on unnecessary things.  You may be wondering how do you do this if you’re running a business, just started a new company, or working a high-pressure job where you’ll say “this is just part of the job”.  Now I can only speak from my own perspective but when I began taking my time seriously my professional and personal life got better.

Understand the VALUE of Time

You will never get anywhere if you don’t spend the time to understand what this really means.  We all have a start (birth) and an ending, or a fixed period of time here on this earth.  When that becomes a reality you and you are aware of this you should begin to rank TIME up there with your wife, husband, kids, family in terms of importance.  It should be a top priority for you but you shouldn’t let it control you, you control it.

Set your TIME Parameters

This is a constant evolving approach as your life changes but you have a to have a TIME PLAN.  This means what is necessary and unnecessary to spend time on from a BIG picture approach.  If you’re a real estate developer that focuses on retail properties and that is your business plan, your time should not be spent on reviewing and communicating about industrial properties or single-family lots.  You have a cut quick and move on if it is not in your current parameters.  Not an easy practice when your entrepreneurial spirit invites new opportunities.

Look for TIME CREATORS

Obviously not to be taken literally since there is no such thing as a TIME CREATOR.  This is a tool, platform, technology, personnel position, new software, new car, relocating closer to work that allows you to be more efficient.  By way of example social media allows my Company to mass-market in an efficient and direct manner.  This has proven to be a BIG time-creator for us where in the past we would have to send hundreds of separate emails or phone calls.

To keep it real and honest, when I started typing this BLOG I realized my time can and should be spent on more pressing matters.  So, I paused and came back to it.  I realized that devoting my time on a BLOG in the midst of a early morning workday was not the best usage of my time.   I was able to do that because I’m aware and conscious of my time consumption on every decision I make in business.

Maximizing your TIME is a painstaking task that requires constant effort and balance. Like any self-improving practice or approach, it is hard, and you have to be your biggest critic at all times.

Someone once said, we all get the same 24 hours in 1 day, its what you do with it.

Come with us behind the scenes!

Imagine this statement in 1 sentence; the industrial market/logistics is at an all-time high, triple-net cap rates are increasing nationally, the multi-family sector is on fire in major metro markets but predicting a major change, and single-family inventory is at historically low levels, but prices have dropped overall…doesn’t make sense does it?  It never will.  Too many people are trying and always have categized the real estate market inaccurately, it is location/market specific and it always will be.  Downtown Seattle’s condo market is NOT the same as the Raleigh-Durham, N.C. market and while we are inter-connected more than ever, these predictions and assumptions of the future are dangerous if taken seriously.  I have witnessed the retail market in the Herald Square/NYC market drop nearly in half over the last year but not be as affected or even increase in the suburbs.  I have seen the multi-family market explode in secondary markets with commuting proximity to NY, then a historically retail only site get sold for a near record high for an industrial building.  Its crazy and nuts and even the markets have their own stories within them depending on what category of real estate it is.  You see that’s the thing, trends are all about the market and the category.  I’m genuinely concerned for any one that makes a real estate decisions or voices an opinion based on what they read or hear about on “national levels” or “averages” ….the U.S. is a vast and diverse market. Now I know what you’re thinking, where are your datapoints and my response is; my experiences, what I do every day.

So we are now at this weird point in history with GDP GROWTH, unemployment near record lows, interest rates still very low, but a sense that a storm in brewing in the CRE sector and perhaps it is but no one can really put their finger on it.  And in some cases, pricing is dropping, and inventory is not moving as quickly.  My underlying point is that I would caution anyone to pay too much unnecessary attention to a general statement about the real estate market.  Know your market and what’s happening in it, the jobs, the new residential, the university’s expansion or contraction of drivers.  Keep the national or averages on the peripheral and be aware of them but don’t cash-in your 401K because of an article you read in a publication or saw on social media.

A lot of work has been done on Fitness Factory in Somerset since we last brought it to you. Take a look inside as the health club takes shape. Check back for more updates!

A lot has happened since the last time we were at the new Wendy’s in Garwood. Check out the construction progress and stay tuned for updates!

Let the Norm be the Exception and the Exception be the Norm—BE DIFFERENT
~Tyler Bennett

When I started Bennett Realty & Development, there were (and still are) very few boutique integrated brokerage and development companies out there.  Launching this platform is what I wanted to do and has been the best professional decision I have made to date. It also turns out, it is different, similar to just about every decision I have ever made.    You see that’s the easy part about doing and being different. Most of the time, if you just follow your passion and do what you want to do, it WILL be different. Its when you stop and think “is this normal,” “should I do this?” that you short-change yourself from seeing different.

First of all, who wants to be normal in business?  Normal means you blend in, aren’t remembered, and are just another face in the crowd.  It’s less fun, exciting, and far less rewarding. In any business, including mine, that is a formula for lack of success and certainly lack of legacy.

The broker that wins deal of the year or the developer that wins accolades from completing the “impossible” project isn’t normal, they’re different.  Or how about the plumber who runs a small company for 30 years and raises a family? Believe it or not, that’s different! You see, the people that sit on the sidelines and judge what is different are in fact the normal ones.  The whole idea that there is a word out there called “different” that describes doing something other than what is normal is unsettling to me.

No different is too small and not every different has to be loud and acknowledge by others.  Let me give you an example. Every morning I wake up and go for a run at 5:30am. At the end of my driveway, I can go left to go down-hill or right to go up-hill.  I consciously go right because it’s different, which makes it more difficult but also makes me stronger. I do this when no one is looking and there is no one to even judge the decision.  This is when the core intent of being different matters.

For some, it’s easier, ‘different’ comes naturally and is subconscious.  But that doesn’t mean you cannot create your own path consciously and be different. The outcome is the same.  For me, it is somehow engrained in me. I am genuinely unhappy doing the societal norms. A trait my wife really loves!  

Life it too short, there are too many opportunities to do good and to make a difference to not be different.  Being different is a pattern, it’s a habit and it is not always easy to push the “different way”, especially when you see a clear path going the opposite way but stay the course and don’t give in!