Insights from a Top Commercial Real Estate Broker

The Industrial Real Estate Podcast

I had the honor of being joined by legendary broker Bob Knakal. I've been a big fan of Bob's for a long time so I was absolutely delighted to have him as a podcast guest!

Here are timestamps for our conversation:

0:00 - Introduction

1:15 - The famous baseball card

3:43 - Navigating through tough years

5:53 - Today's market vs past recessions

10:15 - Bob's gameplan for navigating a recession

15:04 - Real estate is a marathon, not a sprint

16:56 - Bob's advice for buyers & sellers

23:25 - Prospecting in a market with fewer deals

26:30 - Bob's cold call strategy

32:15 - A huge success story

37:25 - What makes a good broker?

40:31 - Question from Ron Rohde about vendor relationships

43:40 - Large brokerage vs regional brokerage vs boutique brokerage

47:11 - Technology won't completely displace brokers

48:56 - Rising ocean levels affecting NYC?

51:24 - Does Bob eat Wheaties every morning?

53:04 - Twitter & ReTwit

About Bob:

As Senior Managing Director in JLL's New York office, Bob leads the New York Private Capital Group.

Bob was Chairman and Founding Partner of Massey Knakal Realty Services, New York’s #1 building sales firm. He started his real estate career in 1984 at CB Richard Ellis where he met Paul J. Massey Jr. They both left CB in 1988 to form Massey Knakal.

From 1988 through 2014, Massey Knakal closed over 6,000 transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $23 billion. To date, Bob has been personally responsible for the sale of over 2,000 buildings (generally considered to be the highest total ever for a single broker in New York) and over $18 billion in sales.

In 2014, Cushman & Wakefield acquired Massey Knakal. At Cushman & Wakefield, Bob acted as Chairman of New York Investment Sales. He was ranked the top originating investment sales broker at Cushman & Wakefield, globally, in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Bob joined JLL in September of 2018.

Since 2009, Bob has written a weekly column on the New York City Real Estate Market called Concrete Thoughts for the Commercial Observer.

Connect with Bob:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobknakal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BobKnakal

The famous baseball card: https://www.costar.com/article/2049422125/broker-takes-swing-at-combining-his-passion-for-real-estate-baseball-and-statistics

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🙋‍♂️ Chad Griffiths, MBA, SIOR

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