Commercial Real Estate Investing for Beginners: Expert Tips from Jolene Desmond

Michelle Kesil (01:31)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Investor Fuel podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil. And today I’m joined by someone I’ve been really looking forward to chatting with. We have Jolene Desmond, who’s been making serious moves in the real estate space. Jolene, so glad to have you here with us today. I really think our listeners are going to take something away from how you’re approaching commercial real estate. So excited to dive in with you.

Jolene Desmond (01:58)
Thank you, I can’t wait. Thank you.

Michelle Kesil (02:00)
Awesome. So first off, for people listening who may not be familiar with your world yet, can you give us the short version of what your main focus is these days?

Jolene Desmond (02:11)
Yeah, so our sole focus is commercial real estate. And within that space, we’re very focused on both leasing and sales and acquisitions. We really enjoy helping investors build portfolios of commercial real estate and representing buyers.

Michelle Kesil (02:27)
Awesome. What markets are you operating in?

Jolene Desmond (02:30)
So we are licensed in Missouri and Kansas and in the Kansas City area.

Michelle Kesil (02:34)
Amazing. yeah, as far as working with investors and building their portfolios, how does that work? Is that something you can expand on?

Jolene Desmond (02:44)
Yeah, so the process of that is, you know, we do see a lot of investors who are moving from the residential space into commercial for the first time, or we’re seeing investors who have a portfolio and they’re looking to grow that portfolio either way. And the process is probably very similar to what you’ve seen in your other real estate acquisitions where we are looking to really understand

your criteria and your investment, what you’re looking to achieve, cashflow appreciation, both like what risk tolerance you have, and really work to find things that work for you and put something under contract in a way that’s going to get it to the closing table. Very hands-on and due diligence. Even though we’re helping you with your first acquisition, we’re focused on your second. We want you to know what day one of ownership looks like and

help you move through to a profitable exit.

Michelle Kesil (03:36)
Yeah, that’s amazing. And I know when we chatted a little bit before this, you mentioned that you have a big team. So is that something that you can share about how that works with your team and?

Jolene Desmond (03:49)
Yeah, we have a very efficient team. So we actually always have somebody available to answer the phone, look at properties, show properties, but to assist with due diligence, but we’re very focused in what we do. So we do have somebody who is sole focus is to show up and cover what I call the client to contract phase. So

They’re keeping up with inventory in the market, what everybody’s acquisition criteria is, negotiating deals that work for you, that are structured in a way that get it to the closing table, because the deal has to work for the seller, has to work for the buyer, and we can’t forget about the lender. Otherwise, we’re not getting there. Once that happens, it moves to me and I take it contract to close. And so we’re doing inspections, all the due diligence, reviewing title work,

and really getting

that full picture of confirming all of the assumptions that were made so that you know what you’re walking into fully. We also have a leasing team and I mentor agents to become commercial agents because we all need agents in the market who really know what they’re doing. So that’s the team. My team is absolutely fabulous and

Just, I can’t say enough good things about it.

Michelle Kesil (05:48)
that’s not easy to manage, especially in this climate. What has been your key to keeping that machine running smoothly?

Jolene Desmond (05:49)
Yes.

Yeah, I mean, once the key to keeping that machine running smoothly, it takes some time. mean, I mentor agents hands on through like an apprenticeship. And so we’re really putting agents through transactions. And the way we do that is to start them off with tenant representation and then landlord representation before we move on to training of like buyer representation and seller representation. Because

Understanding leasing and the income that a property produces is the foundation of all commercial real estate and what supports the value of our clients investments. we start there and move on up. Hopefully that answered your question.

Michelle Kesil (06:38)
Yeah, absolutely.

And every operator I know had a moment where business got more real. Maybe you had a deal go sideways or you just had to pivot fast. Would you mind sharing a moment like that for you?

Jolene Desmond (06:54)
Yeah, I mean, we’re, we’re always ready to pivot, right? ⁓ Being able to pivot in commercial real estate is important. In commercial real estate, we get to play with a lot of different numbers and understanding the structures of the deal and how the numbers work allows us to do a lot of really creative things. you know, from one deal where we had like a plan A, B, D, E,

and didn’t have to execute G and getting the deal done. Or to as simple as we have a client who bought a building and the seller was staying on as a tenant and was going to keep paying rent. And there was an air conditioning unit that was older. The data plate is missing. It’s no longer even there. We don’t know how the unit is. Seller says it’s still running. They don’t want to put money into it. We know for sure.

that unit is going to have to be craned off of the building, put a new unit on within the next couple of years. What we’re able to do is increase the seller or the tenants rent by $200 a month. And at a nine cap, adds another $26,000, let’s say equity into the property.

that my client’s then able to pull from when he wants to put that back into the AC unit. So we get to do a lot of creative things. When you’re pivoting, you get to play with these numbers and be a little creative. And we really enjoy that part of the process.

Yeah, my recommendation for investors looking to get into commercial real estate, what I usually see investors do is move into or focus on multifamily primarily because that’s what they know. You understand the leases there. Again, understanding the leases that support multifamily, that support retail, that support industrial office.

It’s so very important to understand how to underwrite all of those and to understand how your returns would run in any of those asset classes because everybody is focused on multifamily and you’re going to get greater returns being able to diversify yourself as an investor in commercial real estate and not

pigeonhole yourself into just one asset class.

Michelle Kesil (09:51)
So let me ask you this. What are you most focused on solving or scaling next?

Jolene Desmond (09:58)
My main focus personally is to continue to mentor and train and apprentice other agents who would like to become confident commercial real estate agents. There is a huge gaping hole of how agents have the opportunity to enter into commercial real estate and know what they’re doing. so that’s a big part for me is

We want to continue to work with agents, you know, what they’re doing. We want to put that into the market and continue to support investors in that way.

Michelle Kesil (10:30)
Yeah, can you expand on this apprenticeship? What does it look like?

Jolene Desmond (10:34)
The apprenticeship is very hands-on. actually, me and the mentee both represent a client. Pretty much the first transaction, they’re just watching me do everything, watching and observing. The second one, they start to show up in certain ways where they are confident, especially on leasing by that third transaction, they’re running it. I get to sit back and watch, make sure things don’t go sideways.

And we do, we take agents again through leasing first as a solid foundational piece and then move on to buyer and seller representation. It’s been a very effective way to get them out of the classroom and experience transactions because every deal is different.

Michelle Kesil (11:12)
Yeah, absolutely. So let me ask you this. What is the next real goal for your business?

Jolene Desmond (11:19)
I say often that my goals are to help my clients meet their goals. It’s when I first started my business, you know, like any business owner, you’re be like, make this much money this year, do this, this and this. And then realize pretty quickly, like, I’m not here. I am here to serve and support my clients. And whatever my clients goals are, like, that’s, that’s what that’s what we get.

Right? We’re here for them. Personally, you know, I have goals around, again, know, apprenticing agents and mentoring them and doing that sort of thing. But yeah, that’s pretty much it is to, you know, help my clients build their portfolios, meet their goals, you know, retire themselves out of their W2 jobs, which is like the most fun thing to see. And that’s what we’re here for.

Michelle Kesil (12:03)
Yeah, what would you say is the most common problem that you see like your clients facing

Jolene Desmond (12:12)
The most common problem that is client facing that where my clients are not supported.

Michelle Kesil (12:17)
Like where there’s room for them to grow or where maybe they don’t see the block or the problem, but you’re able to support them through it.

Jolene Desmond (13:07)
Yeah. We do a lot of, we’ve put systems and processes in place that fully support our clients. And we have a system that I’ve built out that gives our clients an app on their phone that allows them to see every single property we look at for them on their behalf, where it’s at in the process, keeps everything about their commercial real estate and their investments all together in one place.

You don’t have to go searching through your emails, trying to find the zip code for a property. That’s been something that has been very, very instrumental in how we serve our clients. You know, just making sure that our clients understand, you know, how to read a lease and how to structure that. You know, managing their team post-closing is a big deal. You cannot.

just buy right and have a property manager in place and just expect that they will manage your investment. A property manager is not there to manage your investment. An asset manager is there to manage your investment. And a lot of investors maybe don’t realize like when you’re a property, an investment property, you have a property manager, you will probably be your own asset manager.

making sure that you’re on track for a profitable exit at the end of the day. So you have all these hats. You may have a W-2 job still. You’re still buying commercial real estate. So you’re still acquiring. And now you’re an asset manager and you’re managing your team. So we definitely appreciate each and everything our clients do to step up.

to be investors and to really do what they’re doing to help support not just their current generation, but generations to come.

Michelle Kesil (14:51)
Yeah, that’s super valuable. How are you helping these investors make the best decisions?

Jolene Desmond (14:53)
Yeah.

⁓ well, we’re very hands on and due diligence with my background in commercial mortgage backed securities. I managed a $7 billion portfolio of commercial mortgage backed securities for over 10 years before I got licensed. And I’ve been in commercial real estate almost 20 years now, but our advisory is.

is really valuable and the ability to look at a property and know like this is how a lender is going to look at it and underwrite it. is, you know, to be able to know what questions we need to ask if you were looking for to buy a property or say you’re like, hey, I want to buy an industrial property. We’re not just going to start sending you every single industrial property. They’re not all built the same, right? So we really dive in and do some pre… ⁓

underwriting understand how you’re looking at properties. So you have to put less time in on the front end. When we present a property to you, it should very much be, this is what you’re being asked to acquire. And you should have enough information in front of you to be like, yes, no, yes, this is, and this is how much I would pay for that. So that’s a lot of, I think some of the efficiency and what we strive to do for each and every client.

Michelle Kesil (16:08)
Yeah, absolutely. Now, I know a lot of people listening to this show are either early on in their journey or just looking to level up. And I think they could benefit from hearing this when it comes to growing your network and building your relationships. What has been most supportive for you?

Jolene Desmond (16:10)
Mm-hmm.

The way that I build relationships and expand my network is a little bit different. ⁓ As investors are getting into the commercial real estate space, the way that they’re building relationships and networking is going to be a little bit different than what I do. There are mentorship programs out there that will help them kind of like…

know, how do you raise capital? How do you build relationships? That sort of thing that’s that’s out of my wheelhouse. A little more so than just understanding, you know, what is what is our cap stock look like coming into this deal? but yeah, if you guys ⁓ need more information about that, reach out to me, I can plug you into some people who can absolutely give some better advisory on how

you’re going to network as an investor in the commercial real estate space.

Michelle Kesil (17:14)
Awesome. All right, so before we wrap up, if someone wants to reach out to you, connect, maybe collaborate or just learn more about what you’re doing, what is the best way for them to reach you?

Jolene Desmond (17:28)
Yes, they can email me. It’s joleen at KC commercial dot real estate. That’s J o l e n e, and then letter K letter C commercial dot real estate.

Michelle Kesil (17:41)
Perfect. Well, listen, I appreciate your time, your story, and your perspective. We really need more people in this space who are doing things in this right way. So thank you so much for being here.

Jolene Desmond (17:52)
Thank you. I love taking advantage of any opportunity I can to talk about commercial real estate and you were so fun to talk to. Thank you very much. ⁓

Michelle Kesil (18:00)
Amazing. Thank you.

And for those of you tuning in, if you got value from this, make sure you’re subscribed. We’ve got more conversations coming with operators just like Jolene who are out here building real businesses. We’ll see you all on the next episode.