Secrets of Commercial Real Estate: How Kaylan Knitowski Scales Deals & Finds Prime Miami Sites

Kaylan Knitowski (00:00)
First really understanding your market. So I’ve been selected by, you know, some of these companies because my expertise down here in the Miami market. So number one is having the relationships and knowing who to call at some of these shopping centers because majority of them are owned by some of, you know, some of the larger names and the same people. But secondly, it’s really like understanding what your tenants wanting from a sales perspective.

Dylan Silver (01:56)
Folks, welcome back to the show. Today we’re joined by Kaylan Knitowski, a commercial real estate broker specializing in retail investment sales, leasing, and site selection throughout Miami. Kaylan, thanks for joining us here today.

Kaylan Knitowski (02:09)
Hey, how are you? Thank you so much for having me.

Dylan Silver (02:11)
I’m doing great, it’s great to have you on here. What’s been keeping you busiest over the past few months?

Kaylan Knitowski (02:18)
Yeah, I would say trying to sell a bunch of properties and then also to your point finding sites for— for my tenants. So kind of a dual asset approach, but normally summer months— summer months I feel like for commercial real estate brokers are a lot slower because, you know, investors and property owners go out of town and they go on their European vacations. That is not the case this summer and I couldn’t be happier. So I am underwriting investment sales deals left and right, working on a fourteen-property portfolio and driving around Miami and finding sites.

Dylan Silver (02:49)
Now when we talk about site selection, this is something that may be foreign to a lot of people, especially on the commercial side. What all goes into that on a base level?

Kaylan Knitowski (02:59)
Yeah, so I mean, really understanding your market. So I’ve been selected by, you know, some of these companies because my expertise down here in the Miami market. So number one is having the relationships and knowing who to call at some of these shopping centers because majority of them are owned by some of, you know, some of the larger names and the same people. But secondly, it’s really like understanding what your tenants wanting from a sales perspective— who their target demographic is, is it something that’s by like a high school, or is it something where there’s older people around? So that all is very important. And then lastly, just making sure it realistically fits for their model. You know, if they’re a drive-thru model and you’re looking at places that can’t have drive-thrus, you’re probably not doing a good job at site selection. So, you know, making sure you’re actually hitting the criteria that the tenants need.

Dylan Silver (03:48)
You mentioned having a— a specific type of layout, like a drive-thru, right? And so this begs the question, you know, but what comes first? Do you have to find the commercial buyer before you can look for these types of deals, or can you find the deal and then pair it with the buyer?

Kaylan Knitowski (04:04)
Yeah, so I mean a lot of these times, sometimes you’re not even finding a buyer. So I’ll be honest with you, you know, with Seven Brew— so I rep them, they’re a national coffee company. It’s a prefabricated box that gets, you know, literally dropped in on a truck, double drive-thru, and it’s a very, very small concept. So, you know, we’re able to compete down here in these markets because it’s a less acreage that you need to take, right? But if I’m— if I’m… like I don’t need a buyer for all of those because I just want them to lease. So I’m just calling the property owners and I’m literally just saying, “Hey, let me give you money, please. All you have to let me do is be there.” And again, you’ll find in the Miami market that there’s, you know, shopping centers or parking lots where they’re so packed because there are so many people that shop there, or some of your national tenants like Publix or Five Below, or you know, just your bigger boxes, they might have no-build zones. So you literally might not be able to go there. So it’s just, you know, going across your map of Miami and basically crossing off sites and seeing what works and doesn’t work.

Dylan Silver (05:07)
Now, when we talk about leasing opportunities and you know finding clients, right? So you’re working with corporate brands and there’s of course so many national brands that are looking for leasing opportunities. How does that nurturing of those relationships work? How are you able to make those connections?

Kaylan Knitowski (06:12)
Yeah, so I would say a couple— a couple different ways. So I’m very blessed that my company, Franklin Street, you know, we have a great leasing arm. Like I was saying, led by Carrie Smith. We have a great tenant rep team that handles everyone, you know, over in Tampa from like Chick-fil-A to Mavis to all the way up in Atlanta to, you know, PNC Bank. There’s just, you know, certain tenants that we rep where those relationships are able to be passed down through the chain. So that’s definitely one part of it.

But the way that I was able to kind of get the Seven Brew relationship was me selling actually an asset on a main thoroughfare in Miami. Through that it was, you know, it’s a very expensive piece of land. And so in my head, I have to think, “How can I make the numbers work for the next person or investor, or how can I sell the dream, right?” And part of selling the dream to me was, “My God, I think I can fit like a small service coffee concept probably on a corner. Let me reach out to those concepts and see what’s going on.” So I did that kind of on a whim and then there was a hole in the market. And so I was able to basically then fill myself. I’ll be honest, I didn’t have, you know, the tenant rep experience before. I have a great team with me— Madison Cheney is one of my partners on that. And, you know, she helps me and was— came from more of a tenant rep background. So, you know, my expertise in Miami with her knowledge of that kinda is how that started and I’d like to say I learned quick. So I’ve been able to, you know, really take that and explode with it.

And, you know, now I’m repping Culver’s down here, you know, Popeyes and Brickell. So there’s definitely, you know, some other national corporate tenants and franchisee models, but it’s— I never understood it before because I just did investment sales, but like you read a lease, you understand it obviously makes or breaks the center. You understand that it changes things. You don’t really understand why people are signing things the way they do until you’re on the leasing background and the leasing side of things. And I’m like, yeah, I’m asking for XYZ because of this reason. And it’s like, okay, that’s gonna completely change the outcome of the price of something, and this is why. And it’s like, I think I was missing just that disconnect because I had never done it before. So I’m really grateful that I’ve been able to kind of learn both of those aspects and triages.

Dylan Silver (08:24)
Now you talk about having to learn new skills, right? And having great mentors along the way. And we were talking in the green room about the commercial real estate space as a whole, right? And— and one of the interesting things is there’s so many agents who would love to get active in— in the commercial space, but it can oftentimes seem like behind a cloak and a dagger. Like, “How do I get into this room, so— so to speak?” And so you’ve scaled a business quickly over the last several years and now have a brand for yourself. You know, what— what are the some of the secrets into— to getting into those rooms and to establishing a name for yourself?

Kaylan Knitowski (09:00)
Yeah, so I’ll say I didn’t know what I didn’t know before. So I, you know, for my first couple months of my career, I was just kind of trying to cold call and, you know, had thankfully within my first three months had gotten around twenty-four million in listings. And, you know, when you— when you kinda have that activity, you’re like, “Okay, I need to talk to a lot of people, right?” So then all the guys in my office were talking about this guy now called Strip Mall Guy. Had no idea who Strip Mall Guy was. Again, was very new to the commercial real estate space, didn’t know I wanted to do this before. So I start looking him up and realized that he buys what I’m basically selling or what I thought I was selling, you know. So I reached out, I’m like, “Hey, I have this great deal, XYZ, you know, would love to talk to you.” I think within 20 minutes of this like over 200,000-follower account, right, sees my post and is calling me and is in the— in my inbox like immediately.

And after we got off the phone, he kind of like reached out and was like, “Listen, Kaylan, you have a great personality. You have a great— like kind of like charisma about you. If I could give you any piece of advice, delete this Twitter account that you have,” because it was me in like a cat shirt from high school. Like it was just, again, like a— a, you know, like a little girl’s basically Twitter account. And he was like, “Make a completely new business one, post three times a day for three weeks.” I will say he completely, you know, shouted me out and definitely has been a big part in helping me grow, has given me opportunities at galas where I’ve spoken on stages with NFL players and Bob Knakal and Related Group, you know, CEOs. Like I’ve been put in rooms because of social media because of that. But it was really being like unapologetically myself. And I think it was really like telling my story, you know, showing that I did not come from commercial real estate. Like I was working nights and then stumbled into it because I graduated early from college during COVID and was studying law school. Like, there’s just so much that I just like admitted and was talking about how people are telling me like, “Go fuck myself,” on my call when I call, you know. Like I was just like saying anything and then also would just talk about personal stuff. Like, “You know, I’m twenty-four. I don’t even know how to pay my taxes. Like I don’t know what I’m doing in life.” And it really just like caught on to people and, you know, I think again, like people try to pretend you’re making a hundred thousand dollars your first year and it’s the easiest thing ever. I was working nights and days, two jobs to make ends meet. Like, and I did very well my first year. And I was still… you know, there’s— there was no way that was possible for me.

And so I think just yeah, admitting all of that, being really open with it, it’s not only garnered me kind of a level of trust, too, like when I go on pitches, I’m not really like pitching myself— people know me. I’m pitching just like my knowledge, so they already have a level of security. And I’m also getting mentors and people both on the social media world and just out there in the ether where they’re like, “I want to help you. I want to do whatever I can to help you because I see something in you.” And like, that’s crazy that I get those opportunities. Like, you know, with some people that have billion-dollar companies and they’re like, “I want to help you,” and I’m like—

Dylan Silver (12:37)
Okay. What it really comes down to— and this isn’t something else you’re talking in the green room, right?— it’s this idea of like, you know, what— the— the networking powers of golf, right? Like it’s— it’s really about where do people who have the ability to transact, where are they? I’m going to find them where they are, and then they open the door and then they’re like, “My goodness, there’s all these other people behind here who I never would have had the opportunity to have a conversation with.” Next thing you know, you’re speaking on stages with professional athletes. Now, when we— when we talk about making these transitions, I know there was some thoughts like, “Unbelievable, I’m— I’m here in this room.” Walk me through those emotions. When you were on that on-ramp, you know, you mentioned having twenty-four million in listings and, you know, getting your first commercial deals, right? What was it like at that point in time?

Kaylan Knitowski (13:23)
I mean, it was crazy because I was at like— the company that I was at before, Sands Investment Group. I started with a team, you know, these two guys, we started doing deals, we started crushing it, and it became just so fun. Like I loved working with them. I loved showing up every day and just like competing against other people. And I loved competing against them, too, because it’s like, what can I bring in versus them? So I think the first at least couple months, like the competition aspect and like just like the nuance to it and the fun and like not knowing what I don’t know… and like, I called an— like one of those listings was literally an eighteen-million-dollar listing. It’s not like I had, you know, eighteen listings that were like a million dollars each. I had one that was a crazy deal that everyone was like, “I don’t know how the hell you got this or why you called it.” And I’m like, “Well, I called it because why the hell would I not call it?” Like, you know, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. And so like, I didn’t have like the self, I guess doubt of like, “What am I gonna talk to this guy about?” He just ended up liking me, and then from there, I got an $18 million listing, and I was so close to getting that thing sold.

It was again where like interest rates were spiking and a lot of stuff was happening, kind of I’d say end of ’21, beginning of ’22, or something like that. And so I was like 250k off. And I remember my sales manager Tom was like, “You have no idea how close you were.” Like it was basically our commission was in the way, right? Because like a fee is like one or two percent. So it was basically 250K. And he was like, “You have no idea how close you were.” And all I care about is like, “Well, I’m still poor, Tom. Like I’m working nights. I’m working days. Like, this sucks. Like, I don’t care how close I was, like, I wanna like just transact.” And again, like my first year, I ended up making, you know, just under a hundred thousand dollars, which means that I made— made really under, you know, probably like forty K around there because like you split it with the house, which a lot—

Dylan Silver (15:19)
Yeah, yeah.

Kaylan Knitowski (16:01)
So like that’s another thing. Commercial deals are great, you make a lot of money, right? But what they don’t see is depending on like— like I’m at a national company for a reason, right? But part of it, at least, you know, the learning, the the tools, all of that, you don’t get that for free, which means half my commissions or like a certain percentage of your commission on a scale goes to the house. So it’s funny because a lot of people are like, “Well, you made $100,000.” And it’s like, “Yeah, I made it, but I really made less than X because all of this money goes to them.” And then I have to pay taxes on it— taxes. And so I’m like, I don’t know. It’s just funny because the settlement statement never equals like what the agent’s actually getting. And I feel like people confuse like the two things. They’re like, “You have to be rolling it.” And it’s like, I’m starting to get—

Dylan Silver (16:34)
Yeah.

Kaylan Knitowski (16:48)
—to a point where I’m getting more comfortable and I don’t have to worry as much. But I’m like, you know, I’m not someone that’s like, “Yeah, I have like a million dollars saved up,” you know.

Dylan Silver (16:57)
You know, when we talk about South Florida, too, and we were talking about this in the green room, right? South Florida is like our, you know, Dubai. Like, if I had to pitch why the United States is great, I’d be like, “Just go spend a week in South Florida, like, you’ll understand, right?” But there is that level of international attention. And so everything, it is a little bit pricier in South Florida, right? So you’re out there and you’re like, “Yeah, I love it out here. I’m willing to work two jobs, I’m— I’m willing to, you know, really cut my teeth in this space and have challenging conversations and maybe be a little bit out of my depth but learn that way.” And so you’ve been able to— to— to scale that way. You talked all— also about having to like split the fees with the house, right? And sometimes pe— people let this get in the way, even on the residential side, right?

Kaylan Knitowski (17:46)
Yeah.

Dylan Silver (17:46)
Like, “Hey, I don’t want to split this fee, my commission percentage,” so on and so forth. And you know, getting those transactions and getting th— that experience, right, it’s something that obviously you really, really valued.

Kaylan Knitowski (17:58)
Yeah, no, I— I valued it a lot. And th— it’s funny you say with residential too, ’cause we love a “Reszymarshall” agent. That’s like our— like nickname for basically residential agents that like dabble in the commercial field. And I always know because like the first thing they do when we get on a call is, “Okay, so what’s the fee?” And I’m like, “Holy shit, like okay, you know how many times I’ve been asked like what’s the fee?” And I’m— I don’t even get an offer sent to me ever. And I’m just like, “Let’s talk about the property maybe first, then we can talk about the fee.” But I just closed one of my first deals that I ever signed up almost four years ago. It was— we had ended up bringing her basically an offer the first week that we ended up closing at. And so it was more so like, you know, when you bring something so soon, they’re like, “There has to be more,” right? Again, one of those situations.

So happy that we could get it done for her. But with that, the— we ended up closing and giving half the fee to this guy, and then I had to pay $400 out of my commission to fix these like repairs on the commercial property like it was a house transaction. And I’m like… the only reason I did it because it got to a point where it was like, “Listen, I’m not gonna like let four hundred dollars like…” cause everyone at this point was heated, there was emotions. Like, I’m like, “Not letting four hundred dollars get in the way of this transaction.” But it’s like, stay in your lane— like when I want a house, I’m not asking my commercial friends, I’ll call you, like Dylan. Like, I am not doing it myself, but like, yeah, people don’t really understand that. And yeah, South Florida is crazy expensive and there’s like a crazy hierarchy of the same people own everything— something comes on market and like they own everything on that block, they’re buying it just to be like a monopoly chip and to add it to the board and to control it. So I’d say it’s… while commercial real estate is a lot less emotional, I’d say down here in South Florida it’s a different type of emotion. So it’s like, almost like an ego vengeance— like, “I’m better, I own more, I’m richer than you,” and like, that’s totally fine. But it is like, you know, something you’ll find time and time again.

Dylan Silver (19:59)
That’s the space that you’re dealing with, right? And when people talk about, you know, it being less emotional because you have more savvy buyers, right? That also comes with: they are understanding exactly where the money could leak in a transaction, right? So I’m sure you have lots and lots of, you know, stories from transactions that have been challenging and thorny, right? Because investors might try to do a backroom deal while you have, you know, properties that you’re— you’re showing them. These are all probably statched it up because of their level of savvy.

Kaylan Knitowski (20:32)
Yeah, but then I would also say, people… it’s funny, and I won’t say it’s like a— a over-the-board thing, but like, there’s certain people that because at least it’s me down here and I am a younger… you know, I’m in my later twenties, but like, I’m a younger female down here— they think I’m stupid. And so it’s funny because people have tried to hide things and like do things in a transaction. And I’ve literally like looked them up and looked different like facts up, right? Because again, like, let me just see why this isn’t checking out. Like, why are all these boxes checking but this one thing won’t work, right? And I’m like, “Huh, let me do my due diligence.” I’m like looking things up, find out like certain people live next to each other, find out certain people that are decision makers are putting certain people that like— they’re probably getting a kickback. And it’s like, you know, that’s where it’s kind of comes a little bit more on the— the trust part of things. Yeah, because like, your reputation is everything in this industry. And something that I will always stand like my ten toes on is that like, I will never do a deal— whether it makes me more money or it like does whatever— if it hurts my client. Like, I will never take a deal, whether I’m representing both sides… like, I always say that I split my fee fifty-fifty. It sucks sometimes when you do all the work and like, you have to split it fifty-fifty. But I’m like, at the end of the day, the most important thing is it gets done for my client.

And the most important thing… like, I had a 1031 transaction where I could have placed a million and eight— a million eight hundred thousand dollars. And I’m like, you know, “Mr. Johnson, I don’t think that I can find anything like that you’re looking for criteria-wise,” because he wanted, you know, these two things. But I was like, “You know, I could put you in three of these deals and I could tell you that they’re good,” ’cause he like literally blindly trusts me type of thing and I control his whole portfolio. And I was like, “I can make a commission, I can make a good like forty thousand dollars probably off of that transaction. I am not gonna just put you in a deal because I like want to make a commission or because I like need to place a 1031. I will like tell you straight up, ‘I cannot find anything, I don’t know,’ versus me putting you in a deal and you come to me two years later losing money and I’m like, ‘Sorry.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, at least I’m good, right? Like, I made my 40k.'” And so, I don’t know, I just you’ll find that a lot— like, people will try to swindle their clients into doing things for a bigger commission. And like, that’s where you— you gotta remember, yeah, you gotta draw the line.

Dylan Silver (22:56)
Yeah. In— in a case like that, what ends up happening? Because I know investors might say, “Hey, I’ll take it if it’s not the most profitable deal, because I don’t want to have this big tax bill from gains that I’m gonna have to pay.” Did— did— did he end up finding anything for that ten thirty-one, or what ended up happening there?

Kaylan Knitowski (23:12)
Yeah, so we still put stuff down, but it’s something where, like, you know, I won’t lie, it’s— it’s not a good feeling. But I’d say in the marketplace right now— and this is something a lot of commercial agents will say— while there’s a lot of transactions happening off-market and there’s a lot of things happening, the good deals on market last like a day, and they’re literally swiped up. And so like, even with like me looking every day, me asking other agents for off-market deals, like sometimes you just cannot find anything and like, there is just nothing good on market right now. So it’s like, we put three things down, we’ll see how it goes, but like at the end of the day, if it doesn’t hit the numbers that we need it to, like, we will just— he will do something else, you know, and he’ll— he’ll figure it out. So—

Dylan Silver (23:52)
We are actually coming up on time here, Kaylan. Any new projects that you’re working on? And then also, anything you’d like to mention directly to our audience?

Kaylan Knitowski (23:59)
Yeah, so I mean, new projects that I’m working on… I hope to be bringing out a 14-property portfolio across a couple different states. Those are kind of value-add, strip center, a couple single-tenant properties as well. Also bringing out a property in the Lake Wales area— so that’ll be a good, you know, stabilized with just one little vacancy on an asset. And then one of my favorite deals is a 1.16 acres down here in Hialeah on 49th Street. So that property, we’re listed at just under $10 million, but the number of tenants— both from corporate to franchise to everything in between— that I have interested is crazy. So if you’re a developer, reach out to me and we can talk numbers. And then the last thing is, I mean, if you’re a tenant looking to expand, like I said, I represent, you know, Culver’s, I represent Seven Brew— which is definitely, you know, one of my favorite tenants that I work with— and then Popeyes and some other groups like that. So like, if you’re looking for a space down here in South Florida, I would love to help you. I’d love to, you know, be a resource. And if you’re looking to buy something as well, I transact everywhere. So buy, sell, you know, lease, whatever you need, I can pretty much connect you with anyone you need. So, yeah, reach out to me and find me on all my social medias.

Dylan Silver (25:13)
Kaylan, thank you so much for joining us today. Thanks for your time.

Kaylan Knitowski (25:15)
No, thank you so much, Dylan.