Ep 350: Invest Smarter, Not Harder with Adam Sharif

Are you ready to discover a revolutionary approach to commercial real estate? Join Elzie as he explores the world of efficiency and transparency with special guest Adam Sharif, the Founder, CEO and Chief Strategist at nxtCRE. Adam shares his insights on leveraging technology to transform an illiquid market and provides valuable advice for overcoming challenges in the industry.

Adam’s journey in commercial real estate began as an investment broker, and his experience in the field led him to identify opportunities outside of traditional areas. One of the key challenges Adam faced was getting lenders to understand and embrace this innovative concept. Through perseverance and a can-do attitude, he overcame skepticism and successfully attracted lender partners across the country. He emphasizes that when pursuing something of value, roadblocks are inevitable, but maintaining a positive mindset and a strong commitment to execution are crucial.

Discover the importance of bridging the gap between debt and equity in commercial real estate. Tune in to a discussion about the power of perseverance, the significance of execution, and the need for trust in building successful partnerships. 

Episode Highlights:

02:22 – I knew I wanted to be in commercial real estate, and there are two paths there on the transaction side. One is you can become a leasing broker where you represent either the tenant or the landlord, and negotiating leases and that sort of stuff. The other one is being an investment broker. And I said, “I’m going to be an investment broker.” I’m committed to doing that and just made a lot of calls. I was a little lucky. One of the largest brokerage firms in the nation was expanding into Chicago at that time. I interviewed with them, and they hired me, and I learned a ton from that experience. In fact, anyone that’s interested in getting into commercial real estate, I highly recommend, if you can get it, start out as an investment broker.

04:44 – When I first started in commercial estate, the debt guys were debt guys, the equity guys were equity guys, and  they didn’t talk very much to each other. They didn’t communicate, and in many cases, they didn’t even like each other. I mean debt doesn’t go anywhere without equity. Equity is supreme no matter what. Yet the way it was set up, depending on your definition of the equity side, there was a sort of a caste system in place. What I discovered is that you can’t do one without the other. Yes, equity is king. I knew that. Without equity, nothing happens.

14:40 – Our challenge probably is not too dissimilar from anyone else starting something that’s never been done. Something that people ask, “Well, if this is great, why hasn’t it been done before?” Those are some of the challenges we have—getting commercial estate lenders to understand that what we’re saying is actually true. They scratch their head, like this sounds almost too good to be true sort of thing. And sometimes when people think that, they start thinking maybe they shouldn’t be the first one. In fact, our biggest challenge was getting the first lender to sign up, and then our second challenge was getting the first lender to start using us.

17:41 – I’m just saying, “Listen, you’re trusting me. If you’re going to jump on board, you’ve got to trust. You’re doing it because you trust my ability to execute.” Everyone thinks it’s a great idea, but every idea doesn’t work and every great idea doesn’t get executed. But it’s all about the execution. I mean, the idea is great, but you only want to join me if you are confident in my ability to execute. When you start attracting people based on just that, you’re not getting paid or anything like that, then you know that what you’re trying to do isn’t just you. Other people are seeing it and also are confident that it, too, will be successful. I guess they look at me and say, “This guy is committed to this concept. And so, I don’t have to worry about him six months from now ditching this whole thing because he got discouraged and I just wasted six months of my life.”

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