How Relationships Unlock Off-Market Commercial Real Estate Deals | Jaben Starnes, CCIM

Jaben Starnes, CCIM (00:00)

You need to just pair up with somebody that’s doing it. I think, you know, unless you’re a career investor— which again, maybe these people are wanting to start doing that— the problem is is you are gonna get your college education in real estate one way or another. So you’re either gonna— you’re gonna pay for it by hiring somebody to help teach you, you’re gonna pay for it by giving away part of the equity to somebody that knows what they’re doing, you’re gonna pay for it. And or you can pay for it yourself by learning the hard way at some point along the way. And you know, I would say something’s better than nothing. Like, you gotta get some reps in.

Scott Bursey (02:11)

Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast powered by Investor Fuel. Pros, today we’re delighted to have Jaben Starnes of Starnes Real Estate Advisors with us. Jaben is a powerhouse commercial real estate broker and advisor who handles investor relations. He specializes in off-market investment sales, complex commercial transactions, and site acquisitions. Pros, today you can expect to learn exactly how to navigate the complexities of industrial, retail, and flex spaces and how to get your foot in the door on the best deals. Jaben, welcome to the show.

Jaben Starnes, CCIM (02:50)

Hello, how’s it going, Scott?

Scott Bursey (02:51)

It is great having you here, my friend, and to help our listeners get up to speed, please give us the 90-second highlight reel of how your career ignited and where you’re pouring your fuel now.

Jaben Starnes, CCIM (03:03)

Ninety-second would be, you know, I— I jumped in as soon as I got out of high school, went right into commercial real estate. You know, I started from ground zero, I didn’t have any help. I wasn’t, you know, second generation. I— you know, I started cold calling, you know, developing relationships. I— I made sure everybody in my community knew what I did. And you know, over the years I— I developed a— a reputation in town as— as kind of the commercial guy.

And you know, I would pair up with brokers that had specialties in the deals that I was trying to learn how to do, and you know, I didn’t know what I was doing when I started. But I— I learned from scratch, and that’s the best way to learn, is you just get out there and you start talking to people, you start having conversations, and you let the Lord lead you down the right path. And that’s— that’s how I got started.

And you know, you— you ask what am I doing to— to, you know, pour fuel onto it. I’m really doubling down into relationships. I mean, I know that’s cliché, but you know, with everything happening with AI and— and the— as the speed of technology, relationships are— are my currency and I value them so much. And I— I just want to care for those people in my world, and I want to steward those relationships. And that’s— that’s really… I’m starting… it takes years to see the results compounding. Compounding takes time. Time is the— the your favorite… time is the most important variable of compounding. And so when you’re playing the relationship game, so to speak, time is your best friend. And so every year that goes by, the fruits of those seeds that I’m sowing are— are ripening in more and more extraordinary ways.

Scott Bursey (04:50)

Thanks for that background, Jaben. It’s clear you’ve built a foundation that really sets you apart in this space. And you know what really caught my attention about you was the way that you’ve been able to seamlessly manage off-market investment sales and complex land development across multiple asset classes. That’s just not easy.

Jaben Starnes, CCIM (05:57)

Yeah, no, it’s— you know, that’s being a generalist… I— I don’t always recommend that, but I just kind of got thrown into being a generalist because I didn’t start in a massive market. So I— I— I’m in a submarket. And so it’s— it’s a little harder at first when you get started. You don’t know what assets you like or what you don’t like, you don’t know. And so I— I just started calling people. You know, I would call a retail owner, I’d call an industrial guy, I just would find whatever I could.

And over time I developed, you know, a— a— a really strong knowledge base in several assets, mainly, you know, industrial, retail, land. Now again, I’m most proficient in industrial— I’ve done more industrial than anything— but I’ve also done a lot of retail, I’ve done shopping centers, I’ve done landlord leasing. And— and so, you know, it’s not easy. I don’t… I think you can be a generalist— sometimes you have to be— but it’s better… we are becoming more specialized in— in a sense. And I think like knowing, you know, more about a particular asset class probably will get you further, especially on the investment side. You know, if you’re doing rent— if you’re randomly investing in different assets, your— your risk goes way up ’cause you’re— you don’t know what you don’t know. But yeah, I— I would say I enjoyed experimenting in the b— early stages with different assets and I just kind of developed a— a— a pretty good knowledge base in industrial and retail and— and land, and that’s been where I’ve focused most of my attention over the years.

Scott Bursey (07:30)

Thank you for that, Jaben. And looking back at that early phase of your career, what was the one defining achievement that shifted your entire perspective on how to close complex deals?

Jaben Starnes, CCIM (07:41)

Asking for help. So— so what I realized is the people that have made it want to help other people make it. And so I was blessed with older mentors, people that have already built what they needed to build, and you know, whether that was brokers or owners, investors. And so when I ran into complexities, I had built relationships with a really solid knowledge base of experience. And so I was able to go to those people and ask for help. And they don’t necessarily always need something— they— they’ve already made it.

And so I— I surrounded my people— myself with people that have already made it, and they’ve poured in to me more than I could ever pay them. And— and they’ve helped me navigate different things— seasons of my life and business, deals that have I’ve needed assistance on or fresh eyes. And I— I just think that’s the most important thing is asking for help, not becoming so fixated and narrow and like in your own little world that you— you don’t reach out and ask— ask people for help, you know? That’s how you solve problems.

Scott Bursey (08:49)

Jaben, that is so powerful. And curious to know: what is the biggest strength you leverage to in sourcing off-market industrial deals in this current challenging market?

Jaben Starnes, CCIM (09:02)

Yeah, relationships, my, you know, human touch. God’s given me a ability to connect with people. That’s my gift. Like I have it on my board right there. My— my— my gift is connecting with people, and it’s not in a— I mean, it’s not in like a— a boastful, arrogant way. I just recognize… it took me years to boil down, “Okay, God, like what is my thing?” You know, I read a book, One Thing, Gary Keller. What’s my one thing? It’s relationships, it’s people. And that’s my gift.

And so when— when we’re talking about off-market, you know, yeah, they get calls from people or, you know, you might be the fifth person they’ve talked to, but you know, w— they haven’t talked to me yet. And— and I mean that in like a… I know how to… I feel, I can feel things, I can feel people. I under— I understand nuance and— and context, and I can read the room and I— and I know if I’m— if I’m pissing somebody off. I know if, you know, when co-owners aren’t… it’s not the right time or that, and I— I can pivot and— and— and kind of dance around however I need to show up to them in order to meet them where they are in life, meet them where they are that day.

And you know, it’s… but at the end of the day, you can’t get discouraged because… and another thing, I— God tells me who to reach out to. Like, He’ll bring names, He’ll bring properties to my mind, He’ll bring certain… He’ll— He’ll highlight certain people. And when I’m in tune with that, I’m listening to the Holy Spirit and God is— is speaking to me and I obey that voice, I can— I— I tend to be more efficient and more effective because I’m— I’m typically being rejected less and I’m spending more time on people with open and willing and ready hearts.

Scott Bursey (11:23)

And Jaben, we’d love to hear your take on where do you see the most lucrative opportunity for investors in the flex and industrial space over, let’s say, the next 12 months?

Jaben Starnes, CCIM (11:34)

You know, if you can find existing inventory that you can, you know, retrofit or value-add… I mean, it’s hard to make it pencil on new construction right now. It’s very hard. And the challenge that I see is there’s all these guys out here that are trying to just cook rental rates. And I’m on the ground floor, I come from small business, I’m talking to these people— they cannot afford for their rent to keep going up. We’ve hit a ceiling. And the old guys that have been doing it and have seen recessions, they’ve been through stuff, they’re not raising people’s rents anymore. They’re— they’re— they’re done because we’ve reached a ceiling. And so I would say, you know, finding owners that are ready to get out is huge. Again, you gotta buy it right. And I just think it’s hard to make it work, so you gotta look for existing stuff. Look for existing inventory, and you know, that’s what we do. We— we— we source that in specifically in Rowan and Cabarrus County, and that’s what I do. I— I build relationships with these owners.

Scott Bursey (12:41)

And are you seeing more value in new developments or repositioning existing assets?

Jaben Starnes, CCIM (12:46)

I mean, if you can— if you can make it… it’s all about location. For if you’re gonna build ground-up, you’ve gotta really be… you gotta keep your cost down and you gotta get… buying the right location. In terms of… are you asking about like flex, right? With flex space?

Scott Bursey (13:03)

Yes, the new developments.

Jaben Starnes, CCIM (13:04)

New developments within flex.

Scott Bursey (13:06)

Yes, new developments. Yes, yes. If you can take us down that path, what are some of your— of your strategy key points that you’re going to be implementing in, let’s say, like maybe the next 12 to 24 months?

Jaben Starnes, CCIM (13:20)

Well, I— I would say I— I’m not focused on new unless the land basis can be really good. That’s the only… the problem is land is getting so expensive and sellers are becoming more sophisticated. And so again, if I’m representing the seller, sorry guys, like, I’m gonna educate my sellers on what their land’s worth. Now, if I’m representing the buyer, you know, we’re— we’re gonna go after that stuff. So again, it… I’m in a weird spot because it depends on what side I’m on. Like, if I’m— if I’m work— representing the investor, my information’s gonna… my approach is gonna be a lot different. If I’m representing the seller, it’s gonna be a lot different. But, you know, you’ve gotta… your land basis has to be right. You can only control your— your cost so much on the development side. The one variable you can play with is your— your land basis. And so again, either finding new… finding inventory that you can retrofit or, you know, buying your land right are the two things.

Scott Bursey (15:07)

And taking a look at the landscape, what do you consider the biggest threat to successful site acquisitions right now?

Jaben Starnes, CCIM (15:16)

There’s— there’s, you know, the municipal space is interesting. You know, you can analyze a site, you can run the numbers, you can do all the things, but these municipalities have a lot of power. And so the challenge is, do you— do you have your ear to the ground with your local municipality and knowing what they’re gonna approve, what they’re not gonna approve? And it’s getting better with AI because, you know, we can read UDOs and zoning, you know, PDFs that are hundreds of pages long, and— and really kind of nail down, you know, are we in the right district? Is there an overlay here? Like, what are the risks? Is this in their master plan? Do they have a master plan? Like, really understanding where your local council is wanting to go in that particulars.

And it could change. You can have a council for four years, and then the next four years they want to go a whole different direction and they vote new stuff in. So you gotta really understand what your city want— what does your council want. And if you’re gonna go select sites, you just need to make sure that— that you are aligned with the city, because the risk is you go down the path and you haven’t chick-crossed all your T’s and dived all your I’s, and you’ve spent due diligence, you’ve tied up land, you maybe let money go hard, whatever— you didn’t structure your contract right, whatever it may be— and all of a sudden, you’ve— you’ve lost out and/or you’re fighting with the city because they, you know, have a different mental vision for that property. So, that’s probably some of the risks that I’m seeing.

Scott Bursey (16:8)

Yes, as far as the investor relations side of things, what’s the core strength that you’re focusing on right now to perhaps capitalize on in the next, you know, let’s say 24 to 36 months?

Jaben Starnes, CCIM (17:01)

You know, investors have… I think depending on where they invested, a lot of them have been burned. A lot of them have invested in syndications or deals that haven’t gone as planned or didn’t perform like they thought it would. And so in my opinion, you know, capital is a little more selective now. You know, it’s— it’s— it’s much more adjusted for risk than it probably was over the last five years. And, you know, for me, it’s about capital preservation more than anything. We don’t know what’s gonna happen with— with the economy. I— I do think that, you know, the— the stock market… a lot of these investors have lot of money in— in the markets, too, and I’m always like, “Hey, like why don’t we kinda diversify a little bit of this? Let’s take a little bit of money out of the— the— the stock market. Not all of it, just percentage. And like let’s risk— let’s diversify into some— some lower-risk type of investments.”

But everybody has a different tolerance and that’s where you have to… it’s not a one-size… I mean, you talk to one investor and they’re all about protecting their capital and— and not losing principal. Then you got another guy that’s more aggressive and he’s starting his career and he’s more risk— risk-hungry and he’ll— he wants the higher return. And you know, a lot of times when they want the higher return, they— they may not have always experienced the downside of the higher return yet. But, you know, it— it… there’s guys that execute very well. I mean, I’ve— I’ve seen guys that are consistently generating twenty-plus percent returns over decades, and it… you can do it, but you gotta know what you’re doing. You gotta know what you’re doing.

Scott Bursey (18:46)

Jaben, if somebody’s listening and they’re thinking to themselves, “Hey, this is somebody that I really like, you know, would like to partner with or, you know, collaborate with,” what would you like them to know first about your business?

Jaben Starnes, CCIM (18:58)

I’m in the deals. Like, I— I’ve mentored people, I’ve been a part of… I’ve done trainings, and I was with a company and was contributing to training their people, and I’ve— I’ve mentored brokers over the years, and— and— and… I’m in the deal, though. I’m not in the education business— I’m doing the deals. I love to educate and I love to teach, but it’s a very small time percentage of what I’m doing, and I’ve done it that way on purpose because I never want to lose touch with what’s happening in the market. Doing the deals keeps you sharp, and then teaching and mentoring people like sharpens you even more, because it’s just Karate Kid— wax on, wax off. If I’m having to walk people through the b— the fundamentals, I never get loose with the fundamentals. And I think that’s really—

Scott Bursey (19:48)

Changing gears, what does your professional network look like right now?

Jaben Starnes, CCIM (19:52)

It— it’s my community. I’m— I’m very involved with, you know— you know, non-profits. You know, I— I worked with our— our local municipalities, local government, EDC, you know, business owners. I mean, gosh, coffee shops! I’ve got this one coffee shop that I’ve— I’ve probab— I’ve spent more money in coffee than anywhere, and it— I mean, for years. I’ve studied there, worked there, have meetings there, eat there, and you know, that’s a— that’s been a hub. I’ve— I’ve— I’ve done deals with business owners, you know, like ’cause you gotta think about, you know, who’s coming into a café on a Tuesday morning or a random afternoon, like who, you know, or bright and early… you know, a lot of times it’s— it’s— it’s business owners, it’s entrepreneurs, it’s people in town that have run companies, and— and I’ve been able to build relationships with people like that.

There’s also our CCIM network— I’m a— I’m a Certified Commercial Investment Member. You know, that’s a really tight-knit, strong community. So, you know, different places, different places. Church.

Scott Bursey (20:59)

Jaben, thank you very much for that great explanation. And Jaben, digging into this: if an investor has capital ready to deploy but is sitting on the sidelines, what is one specific action they should take this week to get closer to a winning deal?

Jaben Starnes, CCIM (21:17)

You need to— you need to just pair up with somebody that’s doing it. I think, you know, unless you’re a career investor— which again, maybe these people are wanting to start doing that— the problem is is you are gonna get your college education in real estate one way or another. So you’re either gonna— you’re gonna pay for it by hiring somebody to help teach you, you’re gonna pay for it by giving away part of the equity to somebody that knows what they’re doing, you’re gonna pay for it. And or you can pay for it yourself by learning the hard way at some point along the way. And you know, I would say something’s better than nothing. Like, you gotta get some reps in.

You know, for me, you know, the first deal I did, I didn’t do… I haven’t done by myself. I— I brought in… I brought in partner, I did… I diversified the risk. I didn’t just go all-in myself. I— I— I— I was a part of it and I ran it pretty much, but there was oversight and there were some checks and balances in place to keep you from getting too far off the— the path. You know, put up the guardrails on the bowling alley, like, yeah, you might not hit a strike, but you’re not gonna gutter, you know what I mean? That’s kind of the— kind of how I look at it. So just get— pair up with somebody, like, “Hey man, I wanna invest, I got money ready to go, I don’t really know what I’m doing— help me.” That’s— that’s how… that’s what I would do, or put it… would just give it to somebody that— that you trust.

But at the end of the day, you do have to learn how to do it. And any— any advisor or broker or person that is not teaching you how to do it yourself, I would stay away from if they don’t have that— that heart posture. You know, you’re never… you need to underst— whether you actually end up doing it yourself or not, you need to understand how it works and you need to be able to come to those decisions intelligently, in an educated manner on your own, not just because you trust somebody. It’s “trust, but verify,” you know— one of the presidents said that. Trust, but verify. How are you going to verify if you don’t understand what you’re talking about? So make sure they’re teaching you.

Scott Bursey (23:25)

Jaben, thank you so much for breaking that down. And for those of our listeners that want to keep this conversation moving, what is the best way for them to reach out?

Jaben Starnes, CCIM (23:37)

My cell phone number is (704) 380-7963 … my email is jaben@starnesrealestate.com or Starnes Commercial (jaben@starnescommercial.com), either one. Yeah, I’ve deleted all my social media, so I’m not on there. So if you try to reach out to me on Facebook or Instagram, I’m not gonna be on there, but text or email is best.

Scott Bursey (24:02)

Jaben, thank you for joining us today on the Real Estate Pros podcast. This has been an absolute clinic. Thank you so much.

Jaben Starnes, CCIM (24:10)

Thank you, Scott.

Scott Bursey (24:11)

And to our listeners, we appreciate you. If you receive value from today’s episode, please subscribe. We’ll be filling your tanks with a lineup of elite guests, just like Jaben, who are accelerating and setting the pace for the rest of the industry. Until next time, keep your standards high and your vision clear. We’ll see you on the next episode, everyone.