Commercial Real Estate or Residential Real Estate - Which is Better?

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This week's listener of the week is Rachel Sells Tampa. Rachel, thank you for leaving us a five-star review. And for all of you listening, if you leave us a five-star review below, you might be next week's listener of the week. Week, week. Commercial Real Estate Secrets podcast. We have a very special guest with us today. This is my friend, Ciara Monfort. Ciara and I met, and missed the pandemic. Yes. On a magical evening. Yep. Where people introduced us who realized that we would work well together. And Ciara actually became my very first mentee in commercial real estate. Now, at the time I didn't realize not only was I gaining a badass mentee, but also someone who would become one of my best friends.

So Ciara, thank you for coming on the show. I call her Closer C, because that's all she does. Thanks for coming on the show. Viva, thanks for having me. I'm so happy to be here. Well. I really appreciate it. I'm excited to hear about your journey as a commercial real estate broker over the course of almost four years now. Yeah, which is wild. Yes. So tell me a bit about yourself and your background.

So I grew up in Greeley, Colorado. You know, my family, we had nothing to do with real estate at that time when I was growing up. My family was, they were cattle ranchers and they were just, they were just Greeley people, just good wholesome Greeley people. Grew up in an awesome family, you know.

I went to Arizona State University. Well, first went to Eaton High School where, you know, that school wins all the championships. Went to Arizona State. We actually played Kent Denver. Let's go Sun Devils. JK, I never played sports or at least one anyway. Okay. Well, CR is an athlete. I do love sports. Pick a ball. So we, uh.

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Yeah, went to Arizona State, was there until 2016. Got a double major in business sports management and just business communications. Thought I was gonna go into the sports world and then that did not work out. So I wanted to get my masters and I got my masters in kinesiology. So got my masters in kinesiology and was very adamant on

going into the sports world and working very heavily on athletes and their mental mindset and how they kind of function on and off the field. And I really thought, you know, kinesiology brings the mind and the body all together and connects that. And so I was really looking forward to that and learning a lot about athletes and not only working on the mind, but the body aspect as well. So that was my goal.

started working on that. COVID hit and my world kind of got upside down, kind of like everybody's. And I then went into commercial real estate. I was like, well, you know, I should get my license. You know, that's something that I always thought was interesting. I never thought about residential, only commercial. And so I went and got my license and

that took me to how I met you. It's kind of funny because now that you talk about your background in kinesiology, you and your husband both went from the athletic or physical world. Your husband was a trainer and now you guys both have migrated into the financial world, which I would kind of put real estate.

in the financial bro category. That is actually funny. I didn't even think about that, but it is true. I also would put commercial real estate in, or not just commercial, but real estate in the, you know. Financial bro sector. Yeah, I would. So, so why you had mentioned this that you never even considered residential. No. Why? Why did you not even think about residential real estate?

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To me, when I was looking for a home or condo to buy, I always felt like it was very emotional. And you hear that a lot, right? You hear how residential is emotional and how it's different from commercial. And I really didn't even have a desire with showing houses. Like, it just wasn't there. So for me, residential wasn't really an option.

I think Ciara and I relate a lot that way. Like I know a lot of residential brokers love like design. They'll like walk into a house and already have like everything hanging in their mind. Yes. And I think you and I are kind of similar and we just don't think that way. No. And which is why we. Well, I mean, I was gonna wear a t-shirt and shorts to this interview until.

You told me I was gonna be on camera, so. Well, you look great, so don't even worry. Thank you, but. I think another big distinction between commercial real estate and residential are the hours, right? Like in residence. Oh yeah, that's huge. Like one of my best friends is a residential broker, and her work week is pretty much Wednesday through Sunday. Yeah, I mean, they don't stop. Yeah, and she's like writing offers, you know.

everywhere and I'm like wow because in commercial real estate we really work nine to five Monday through Friday. Yeah we do. Most of the time. Most of the time. Which is nice. I sometimes yeah I sometimes wonder what some schedules are but yeah most of the time it is nine to five. Well yeah hey uh most people you know sometimes you have to step outside of the box to get a deal done but uh. Just keep pushing. Yeah just keep.

moving. I want my dad who was a mentor, mine always taught me you just take the ball and you put it in their court. As a broker. You know, I ever since you taught me that saying, I always think about that. Like every day, every transaction, every email. Because I'm just like, I just put it in their court. You just have to keep it in their court because you can control what's on your side of the court, but

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you know, if it's on theirs and if the deal is taking long, just you have to make sure that it's on their side of the court because you are in control of what's on your side, so you have to be careful there. Yeah, as a broker, it's not a good look if it's in your court. No, and you have like a, you haven't responded in like a week or followed up, but I really do think about that every day, so I appreciate that. I think about it every day too. So what do you enjoy?

the most about being a commercial real estate broker? What I enjoy the most is I love meeting companies that are just starting. I love to watch them grow. And you know, it's amazing that the country that we live in we're able to have these opportunities to start our own business for not a lot of money. And we, you know, it's, you know, to create an LLC here is

nothing compared to other countries. So it's amazing that you have that opportunity here and being a part of that is so cool. I love watching people come with these amazing ideas and you're like, wow, how, like how the world did you even think of this? And now I'm helping them find a warehouse and that's so cool because, you know, and after their lease is done, they'll probably need a bigger warehouse because their business is growing and I love being a part of that.

Have you ever had somebody call you and tell you like a business or, and you just were like, that sounds like it wouldn't, just like sounds like it wouldn't, it wouldn't work. Have you ever thought that when you were trying to work with someone? Okay. For sure. Yeah. And honestly, those are the ones that somehow I am getting bigger warehouses for. I, one is coming to mind.

the catalytic converter. For me? Yes, that's the one I thought of. The very, yes. Do you wanna talk about it or you don't have to? Yeah, I can. I mean, that was, I love the guy I was dealing with. He was awesome. And so he was a reoccurring client. So basically the story is Aviva sent me a referral for this guy and he's a part of this catalytic converter business.

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And it was in the heat of the time when catalytic converters were getting stolen off of everyone's car and I am representing this guy and landlords are like, what the world? They're like, is this guy the one stealing everyone's catalytic converters? I was like, no, he just works for this company that is like that.

recycles the precious metals. Like every time I was trying to explain what this guy did, it kept sounding more and more like the people that were stealing them. Right. But he wasn't the guy stealing. He wasn't the guy stealing them. And I had to prove that to the landlords that this guy is from Europe. He came from Europe. This company's from Europe. Like there's

They're very successful. They do this in Europe and they want to do it here. Like, let's just give him a chance. And so what's funny is this guy, when you referred me to him, he needed like, I think it was like 5,000 square feet or 3,000. Like, I don't know, something around there. And then six months later, he comes back and he needs, I think it was like 15 to 20,000 square feet. And I was like, wow.

This is amazing. So that deal when I first was like, okay, I hope this works out. But also, I mean, the whole catalytic converter thing, I was like, oh, this is wild. But then it turned out to be actually the company, it was awesome. I love that. I love watching companies grow and succeed. So if you have any questions, DM me @AvivaRealEstate on all social media platforms.

And if you want to learn about getting started in commercial real estate, head over to the show notes by CRS email. And you're going to see a free guide for how to get started in commercial real estate. You can do it. You can do it. We'll see you next week. See you next week. Thank you guys. Thanks, Aviva. Cool. Thanks. Awesome, dude. I love you too.

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see this is like a new hard drive where it just saves onto that thing oh really that's amazing I hope now I get up and make sure everything actually worked I'm very nervous I was moving