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Hey everybody, welcome to Spotlight Vancouver, Washington.

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I'm your host, Doug Vareenest, a licensed realtor in Washington and Oregon.

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And today on the show, I'm super excited.

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Have my first guest, Andy Costello, commercial real estate broker and owner and operator

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of Venture Commercial Real Estate.

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Super happy to have you on the show, Andy.

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Welcome.

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Thank you so much, Doug.

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I'm honored to be your first guest.

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I didn't know that.

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I have that honor of being on your show as the first one.

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So thank you for having me.

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I appreciate it.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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And thank you.

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I appreciate you taking the time to chat.

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I want to congratulate you because recently you were voted, so voted, through a democratic

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process, the top commercial real estate agent in Clark County.

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And I believe this is two years in a row.

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It is two years in a row.

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Yeah, the Vancouver Business Journal's annual, I guess, business recognition program.

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So yeah, I'm always surprised, to be honest, because I don't hardly even know that the

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process is going on and the votes were coming in.

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And then I get emails the last two years that I think look like spam.

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You know, like, hey, it doesn't seem real.

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And then I go back and do a double take and I'm like, it is real.

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And then they send me a decal in the mail.

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And yeah, so it's quite an honor.

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It feels good to finally have the hard work paying off.

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Yeah, well, that is quite the accomplishment.

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I'm curious, like, what the process is for being nominated and how does that work?

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Like, what do you have to do to become...

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To be honest, I have no clue.

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To be honest, I don't have a clue.

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I think the Vancouver Business Journal puts it out.

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I think people can write in names and then there's a voting process.

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But to be honest, I don't know because I've never voted for myself.

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So I don't even know what that looks like.

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I just normally get the notification that I won, but I don't even know that it's happening.

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So somebody had to nominate you and then people are secretly voting for you.

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Like, you're not campaigning for this award or anything.

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I don't even know what's happening, to be honest.

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Yes.

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You literally get an email in your inbox that says you won commercial real estate agent.

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That's incredible.

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So the first time I won, I actually think I deleted the email because it was junk.

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And a friend Facebook messaged me and said, hey, congratulations.

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And I was like, what happened?

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And then she screen shot the announcement and my name was spelled wrong.

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And so then I emailed them and I said, hey, my name spelled wrong.

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But yeah, so I found out from somebody else last year.

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And then this year when I got the email, I was like, this is, I think what I got last

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year that I deleted because it just seems, I don't know, so surreal.

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Yeah.

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Well, congratulations.

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That's amazing.

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Thank you.

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You've had a gang buster year, it sounds like, at venture commercial real estate.

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So congratulations on that too.

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That's quite the accomplishment.

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How can you take us on a journey of what led you to commercial real estate and founding

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your own brokerage?

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What was that like?

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Yeah.

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So I spent 15 years in local government and in 2017, I was fired by my city council and

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was trying to find a job in the career.

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And I thought to myself, I was going to be moving a lot.

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You know, the average 10 year of a city manager is only two to three years.

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And I always wanted to move to the Pacific Northwest and the careers hadn't brought me

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here.

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And unfortunately at the time I was going through a divorce and my ex husband said to

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me, well, if you want to move to the Pacific Northwest so badly, why don't you just do

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it?

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I said, no job and house is sold and we're getting a divorce.

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So what's really stopping me and picked up and moved to Vancouver and didn't know anybody

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here.

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I didn't really know exactly what I was going to be doing.

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I thought about going back to law school, but I didn't want six figures of debt to get

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out of school and not really make a whole lot of money and basically start over in another

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career.

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And I thought really, what's the only thing I know anything about?

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And it was real estate.

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And I tried to get into commercial real estate.

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I called a bunch of commercial firms and nobody called me back and didn't really know what

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I didn't know.

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And at the time I was like, well, I need to start earning some money and I need to eat.

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And I knew it was a very long sale cycle in real estate, even though TV makes residential

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seem so easy that you'll just show up and selling sunset, put a sign in the yard and

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you know, well, I made 15 grand and didn't really do anything.

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And I knew that really wasn't the case.

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But I was like, well, I better start doing something.

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So I started on the residential side of the business and I just grew my business through

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networking and connecting with people like yourself.

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And eventually I was connected to my now business partner, Fortune Commercial Real Estate, and

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we started working together.

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And not long after we started working together, we became 5050 business partners and in, see,

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I don't know, fall of 22, I found an office building and I kind of jokedly, I printed

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it out and I put it on his desk with a sticky note and I was like, we should buy this building

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with a little smiley face.

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And it was kind of like tongue in cheek, but he came back to the office and he's like,

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welcome over there and drive by.

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And then he calls me, he's like, right up an offer, we should buy that building.

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So we didn't really have this grand visions of, you know, it was really not a plan thing.

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And so then when we decided to buy the building, it was like, well, maybe we should open our

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own office.

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Like, should we put somebody else's name on the sign?

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And that's kind of one thing became another.

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And fortunately, he had on the brokerage and been before, so he kind of knew what he was

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doing.

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And it's been a lot of learning along the way.

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And, you know, I've always kind of had my own way of wanting to run more of a relationship

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based business and in an industry where the stats say that less than 30% of people in

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the industry are women or maybe it's 30 to 35%.

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I don't feel like that's an accurate number.

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Maybe in other markets, certainly not in the Portland metro area.

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So you know, as a woman in an industry, pretty male dominated, which is similarly similar

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to my last industry too, less than 13% of women were city managers.

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You know, it's not unique to me, but I just I wanted to build a different type of environment

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that would help people feel welcome.

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It was kind of a tough journey to break into commercial.

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And I want to demystify it a little bit for people that are interested in, you know, starting

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on the commercial side or, you know, getting out of the residential side of the business.

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Residentials can be a great business.

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But you know, it's not for everybody.

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And so I just wanted to find a different way of doing things.

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And so I think that's kind of what we're building here and more of a culture of collaboration

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and helping each other, you know, figure out how to succeed.

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Where were you coming from before?

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Where were you living previously?

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And you said you were in politics.

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Was that?

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Well, I was a local government.

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So I worked for elected officials that then appointed a city manager.

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So kind of like, you know, somebody, a CEO to then run local organizations.

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So my I moved up here from Central California.

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But before that, I lived in Arizona for 12 years.

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I was in Sedona and Gilbert.

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And before that, I was back East outside of Philadelphia.

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And yeah, it was a great career until it wasn't.

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And you know, national politics is pretty vitriolic.

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But at the end of the day, you know, politics is really local.

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You know, more people care about what's happening in their backyard than what's happening in

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the national landscape.

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And, you know, just it's something that I don't necessarily see that getting resolved

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in our lifetimes, to be honest.

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I think we've been down this path for a while now.

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On this of what side of the national aisle you're on, you know, just finding some peace

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and you know, with your neighbors, it's tough.

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So yeah, so it was it was good.

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And that's how when people ask me, how did I know I wanted to come to the Northwest?

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It's like, well, I've lived a lot of places.

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I've been fortunate enough that I've been to all 50 states.

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So you know, when you travel enough, you know where you want to be.

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And so it was, you know, I'm hopefully in a place where barring something totally unforeseen.

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I know I'm hurting myself.

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I'm in a big, big group where I love living here.

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And I love what the community has to offer.

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I love how giving the community is.

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And you know, I feel like it's a small town, right?

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I mean, we're like one degree of separation.

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And I feel like as I'm building my network in Portland too, I mean, even on Portland's

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a, you know, maybe a second tier metro city or a second tier size city, you know, it's

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kind of the same thing over there.

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It's not too hard to find who you need to know.

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Yeah.

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Had you always, I mean, going from politics to entrepreneurship, it sounds like it's

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a big leap or a different leap.

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Had you had some entrepreneurial background or did you just kind of jump in?

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It's a great story because it really sounds like things just kind of happened and fell

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in place.

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And I find that when you, you know, have the right mindset and you put yourself in the

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right situations and you're open to things and they happen, but had you owned a business

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before?

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No, I've owned some residential rentals.

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So I knew like about the market and knew about investing like from that perspective.

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You know, unfortunately, I think our school system really teaches us how to become employees.

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And I didn't really understand that, you know, and my parents were employees.

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So that's how I was raised.

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I was not raised around entrepreneurship.

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And you know, I think when I talked to people that went to college for business and, you

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know, things like that, I'm like, well, did you learn about entrepreneurship?

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And most of the time they tell me, no, they were taught like big business, you know, also

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to still go to college, you have a business degree to go become an employee at corporate

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America.

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And so I think our school system really does do a disservice and, you know, unless you're

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fortunate enough to grow up with self-employed parents or family members that you're close

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to to see what that journey is like.

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I really wasn't exposed to it.

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But I think, you know, if you're a hard worker, I know being self-employed, people think,

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well, you know, you can dictate your own schedule and you can make a lot of money and you don't

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have to work really hard.

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But I think that it's really more about like, you just have more time, flexibility and control

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over what you're doing instead of going to an office from 8 to 5, you know, Monday through

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Friday, you know, maybe if you're a night owl, you can, you know, maybe out o'clock

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in at 10 and, you know, work into the evenings kind of thing or, you know, I'm going to work

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on the weekends so that I can take Wednesday off to, you know, take my kids to the doctor

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or something like that.

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So it's not working less.

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It's just, you know, having time flexibility.

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And, you know, I was always a hard worker in government.

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I mean, you know, working 60 hour weeks, you don't get bonuses.

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You hardly even get a thank you for what you're doing.

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And basically it's nonprofit work.

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You know, you have good health insurance and good benefits for the exchange of not being

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compensated what you would be in the private sector.

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But, you know, it comes with a lot of stress.

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So I think if you know that you're a good employee and you're always giving more to your

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employer than you're really giving back, I kind of was like, well, geez, if I was a hard

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worker over there working for somebody else and working for the man, you know, I don't

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have any problem doing that for myself.

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And so I feel like, you know, if you know that you can do that, now there's some employees

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that are like, hey, I'm just happy to go and clock in and do my 40 and go home.

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But there's nothing wrong with that.

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But, you know, if you're motivated to, you know, that type A personality that can do

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more and wants to do better and improve things, which has always been my personality, it's

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not been too big of a jump.

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I mean, my biggest regret is that I didn't become self-employed sooner.

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I'll be honest.

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But, you know, you don't have any exposure to it.

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I don't know that you know that, right?

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I mean, again, our school system, your parents, you know, your environment, like, that's just,

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we don't really know any other way.

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It's like, go to school, get a job.

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Go to school, get a job.

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It's not go to school, learn a skill, learn a trade, learn how to think critically or

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anything like that to then solve a problem to create a business.

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And so I think, you know, if you look at it from the root of that, it's like, well, how

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do you know any different unless you're put in that situation or, you know, take the leap

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of faith and believe in yourself to go do it.

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So yeah, I think just my biggest regret is that I didn't do it sooner.

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I mean, I didn't start in East Sub-Avoid 12, you know, 36, 37, you know, but then you

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look at people like, you know, Colonel Sanders, who started like Kentucky Fried Chicken, I

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think he was in his 60s, you know?

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So he's like 60 something.

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60-something.

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And I think even the Henry Ford was probably in his 40s when he started Ford Motor Company.

237
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So I mean, it's like, okay.

238
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JK Rowling?

239
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Really?

240
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Okay.

241
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And I think it was like a 40-something, you know, when she wrote the Harry Potter series.

242
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So, you know, it's never too late.

243
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I could agree more about the public school system and how it's a mindset like that they

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teach to be a good employee rather than like solve a problem.

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Like the goal is always a job and the job's kind of this ambiguous thing where it's not

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framed and like you're solving a problem from somebody or you're providing value.

247
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And, you know, so I do think that framework isn't given to most people.

248
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And I think that's fascinating that you bring that up because I really do.

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And I'm a product of the public school system and just, yeah, owning your own business and

250
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having that mentality, it's been a big shift for myself as well, being self-employed and

251
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learning what that means.

252
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And it's a big mindset shift.

253
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Yeah.

254
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And I think, you know, even when you think about some of the simple math problems you

255
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might have learned to do math, we're always like these esoteric things that you're like,

256
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well, how fast am I going to get somewhere?

257
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You're traveling A to B, driving this speed or something like that.

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It's like, well, why aren't we giving students math problems to like figure out other skills

259
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or other interests?

260
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Right?

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You know, and I think it's a bigger problem we're not going to solve today.

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But, you know, I think that that's where parents can step in and expose their kids to other

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things other than going to school and getting a job.

264
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Because even now jobs aren't safe, right?

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You don't get your retirement plan at the end with your gold watch, right?

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There is no guarantee that you're going to work somewhere for 40 years and retire with

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a nice retirement and retiree health insurance.

268
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You know, there's no loyalty from the employer side either.

269
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So yeah, it's an interesting thing.

270
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And that's why I love talking to other business owners because I also want to know just like

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you're doing, it's like, well, what's your story?

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How did you get into this?

273
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Right.

274
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Yeah.

275
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And everyone has a unique story.

276
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I know that you're involved in the entrepreneurial community for women and supporting women entrepreneurs

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in the Vancouver area.

278
00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:05,840
Can you tell the audience more about that and sort of what you do in that realm?

279
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Because you do a lot for the community.

280
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I really want to bring that up because you work with the rotary, you're involved with

281
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Habitat for Humanity, you're really out there giving back to the community.

282
00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:21,800
So yeah, tell me a little bit more about what you're doing and what you're kind of seeing

283
00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:25,680
out there, especially for women entrepreneurs in Vancouver.

284
00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:26,680
Yeah.

285
00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:32,240
And then my new project is I'm on the inaugural board of launching the Women Council of Realtors

286
00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:39,200
Vancouver Network and helping women connect in the real estate side of the business.

287
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I think women are the fastest growing segment of business owners in the country.

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Unfortunately there's more opportunity.

289
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And I think unfortunately because they're forced to work outside of the home because

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we can't really live on one income in this country anymore.

291
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And that's not a political thing.

292
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That's just reality.

293
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It's really expensive.

294
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And so women are trying to find their way into not only the workforce but into entrepreneurship.

295
00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:03,920
And I think again, it's like we don't know what we don't know.

296
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So is there a way we can learn from each other?

297
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And I don't necessarily have time during the day to figure out what's the best payroll

298
00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:11,000
system.

299
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So if I can talk to another business owner that's like, hey, I'm really happy with what

300
00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:17,480
I'm using, well, hey, then let me run a trial and see if that's something that's worth looking

301
00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:18,480
into.

302
00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:21,880
And so I think that we have an opportunity to learn a lot from each other.

303
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Unfortunately women want to do business with other women.

304
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We want to learn from each other.

305
00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:29,560
And women are generally better connectors than men.

306
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I think the fact is women like to hang out and all that.

307
00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:38,000
Again, it's just I think humanity and how we interact.

308
00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:41,600
And so I think they're open to sharing and helping each other.

309
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And so I kind of lean into that and lean into the clients.

310
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I found it easier to do business with other women because they want to do business with

311
00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:50,200
me.

312
00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:53,000
So I don't feel like I have to push the boulder up the hill as much.

313
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And so it's fun to watch them and see.

314
00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:57,520
I'm in a woman business owners that have kids.

315
00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:03,360
I mean, I don't have children and I don't know how women run households and do all the

316
00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:07,680
things that a mom really does because like, well, especially when kids are younger, they're

317
00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,920
relying probably more on mom than on dad.

318
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And it just is like, well, I don't know how you have time in the day to run a business.

319
00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:19,200
Sometimes like all I can do is just wake up and put my pants on one foot at a time, right?

320
00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:20,200
Yeah.

321
00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:23,720
I mean, my wife owns and runs a business.

322
00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:29,360
So I can definitely relate to how many hats she wears and what she has to do with having

323
00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:32,040
two daughters and running the business.

324
00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:36,560
And I mean, it's amazing to me as well.

325
00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:39,480
It's incredible what people are capable of.

326
00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:46,560
I mean, men and women, but the roles that women have to play, especially with family,

327
00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:48,120
but it's a sounding.

328
00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:49,800
So I definitely agree.

329
00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:54,280
And I think that's wonderful that you're supporting women entrepreneurs in the community.

330
00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:55,440
We need more of that.

331
00:16:55,440 --> 00:17:01,720
We need more entrepreneurship all around, I think, but especially for populations that

332
00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:06,440
might be underserved or could use some community and some support.

333
00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:12,480
Just switching gears, I wanted to kind of talk about like commercial real estate.

334
00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:14,840
And for one, what is commercial real estate?

335
00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:19,120
For those out there who may be unfamiliar, I think people think of like skyscrapers and

336
00:17:19,120 --> 00:17:23,080
stuff, but there's quite a number of other aspects to it.

337
00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:24,400
What is commercial real estate?

338
00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:28,600
Well, if you look at commercial real estate from maybe a lender's perspective, it would

339
00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:33,400
be anything that's considered five units or more on a multifamily property or anything

340
00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:37,440
that's not a single family home or like something that could be used as a primary residence.

341
00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:43,080
So, you know, a condo, town home, single family detached house, that's residential real estate.

342
00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:46,240
And commercial real estate would really be anything considered not that.

343
00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:51,400
So even if it's residential development land, commercial development land, you know, industrial

344
00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:55,880
buildings, office buildings, retail strip malls, you know, anything basically that's

345
00:17:55,880 --> 00:18:02,280
not a piece of property that you would live in as a primary residence or residential investment

346
00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:06,200
property, basically somewhere where somebody's not living is how I would kind of broadly

347
00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:07,200
define it.

348
00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:08,200
So it covers a lot of things.

349
00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:10,000
And then it also covers leasing.

350
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:14,640
So tenant and landlord leasing for folks that are purchasing property.

351
00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:19,600
Yeah, I wanted to touch on the leasing because I've been doing some research on leasing and

352
00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:21,680
learning more about that process.

353
00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:25,880
And we know we were just talking about entrepreneurs and getting started and running businesses.

354
00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:34,080
I was amazed and I just didn't know this how important the lease is to a business's success.

355
00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:40,640
And if you have a bad lease, how that can completely torpedo a business.

356
00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:46,880
Can you provide a little more detail on that because I was astounded at just going through

357
00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:52,680
how complicated some of these, how a commercial lease can be.

358
00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:57,840
And you know, it's really an art to negotiating and coming up with these leases and making

359
00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:03,040
sure that everything is spelled out very specifically, especially for a small business.

360
00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:04,840
Can you speak a little more on to that?

361
00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:09,160
Yeah, I was actually just looking now because I have a client right now looking to purchase

362
00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:13,640
a piece of property that has a Starbucks lease and the lease is like this thick.

363
00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:16,240
You know, it's 130 plus pages.

364
00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:20,680
And you know, in that case, it's a very tenant friendly lease because it's Starbucks, right?

365
00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:22,920
They can write their own terms.

366
00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:26,840
But for a small business owner that doesn't have the leverage of a Starbucks or a national

367
00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:31,840
corporation, it is really important that tenants understand what's in the lease.

368
00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:39,680
And most leases are very land.

369
00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:31,760
Well, and it's also like when you're able, the hours you're able to.

370
00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:35,360
operate and who's paying for the signage.

371
00:20:35,360 --> 00:20:41,040
I mean, there's a lot of details around things that you take for granted or wouldn't think

372
00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:46,120
that can really cost a small business owner quite a bit of money.

373
00:20:46,120 --> 00:20:50,040
You really need somebody who's looking out for your interest when you're drawing up the

374
00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:53,280
lease and signing the lease and going over it.

375
00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:58,640
I was pretty amazed at the level of detail and what's not assumed.

376
00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:02,840
I can't operate on these days or the tenant wants me to work on Sunday.

377
00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,240
I mean, there's a lot of details.

378
00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:09,560
So I imagine for a business owner, you're just like, yeah, sign a lease.

379
00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:10,560
The rent's this much.

380
00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:12,080
I can do whatever I want.

381
00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:13,080
It's really not the case.

382
00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:16,920
You really have to pay attention to the lease terms.

383
00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:17,920
That's correct.

384
00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:18,920
Yeah, you really need to make sure.

385
00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:22,840
I mean, I do reviews for my clients and make comments and notes on it, but at the end of

386
00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:27,200
the day, you still need to understand what you are signing before you read it because

387
00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:28,840
there can be a lot of restrictions.

388
00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:31,880
Just like we were talking earlier, school doesn't prepare you for that.

389
00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:37,040
A lot of us go shopping or go to office buildings or our dentist and we don't have any clue

390
00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:42,520
what went on behind the scenes for that business to operate at that location and what's costing

391
00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:43,520
them to be there.

392
00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:45,960
So when you go somewhere and you're like, wow, this is really expensive.

393
00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:47,200
It's like, wow, payroll.

394
00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:48,440
They have their lease.

395
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,440
They have all these expenses with operating their business.

396
00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:57,160
Unlike big business who corporate America can offshore their proceeds and dodge taxes

397
00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:01,280
and do all those things, it's a little harder for small business not to say that they can't

398
00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:03,240
do deductions and of course things like that.

399
00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:07,760
But there's not as many tax abatements and incentives for small businesses as there is

400
00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:09,600
for big business.

401
00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:12,200
You need somebody looking out for you.

402
00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:17,880
I'm curious what the commercial landscape is in Vancouver because I guess when I think

403
00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:21,920
of Vancouver, it's a little bit more sprawl.

404
00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,880
It's more of a one-story city for the most part.

405
00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:31,200
What are you seeing in the commercial landscape in Vancouver specifically and how do you see

406
00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,840
it moving forward?

407
00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:35,040
What's it going to look like?

408
00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:36,040
Yeah.

409
00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:40,640
So I think the one thing about a commercial that can be a little tough is it really depends

410
00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:42,640
on what asset class you're talking about.

411
00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:45,520
So it's sometimes hard to talk to speak in generics.

412
00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:47,560
Unfortunately, Vancouver is a growing community.

413
00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:54,200
So I think all asset areas, whether that's industrial retail office, our multi-family,

414
00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:59,640
BC apartment complexes going up all over the place is growing in all areas of commercial

415
00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:00,640
real estate.

416
00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:03,480
Some of that has been the benefit of what's happening in downtown Portland.

417
00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:11,600
There's been a huge exodus from comes when it's safer and he has more ability to control

418
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:15,840
what could happen to his equipment and his gear in Vancouver than he would in Portland.

419
00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:19,240
So I think we have a lot of advantages here.

420
00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:23,000
Housing is still a little bit less expensive than maybe the Portland metro area.

421
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:28,920
So there's also some opportunity for your employees to relocate here at less of an

422
00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:29,920
expense.

423
00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:34,840
I mean, I'm very, very bullish on the Vancouver commercial real estate market.

424
00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:38,320
I used to think I'm like, I'm going to sit there bullish on the market here.

425
00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:39,320
Oh, which animal is it?

426
00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:40,320
Which animal is it?

427
00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:41,640
And I'm always like, oh, okay.

428
00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,200
And so I do think that there's still a lot of opportunity.

429
00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:49,640
I mean, we're seeing infill projects go into small properties just so that they can get

430
00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:54,160
built and developed and so I think that there is a lot of opportunity here.

431
00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:57,720
And even with interest rates staying where they are, as we were talking about with leases,

432
00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:02,400
if you are an owner user of a leasing and you're looking to buy, you know, you don't

433
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:06,400
really have a whole lot of ability to play the market because if you've signed a five

434
00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:09,840
year lease and your lease is coming up, you now either need to commit to another five

435
00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:13,840
years or you need to make a decision to buy or to find another place to lease.

436
00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,040
And both of those come with costs, of course.

437
00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:22,040
And so I think, you know, the market is there's a lot more movement in the market in commercial

438
00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:26,880
real estate because you're just less affected by other market forces because of your business

439
00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:28,160
is forcing you to grow.

440
00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:32,800
You have to do that almost at any cost of what's happening in the market because if

441
00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:34,360
you're growing, you need to do something, right?

442
00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:37,920
You're either going to need to open a second location or move into a larger location or

443
00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:39,160
purchase something.

444
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:43,720
And so I think that at least for the owner users, you're a little bit more motivated

445
00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:46,520
because you can't just be like, well, I'm just going to stay put for another year and

446
00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:48,080
let's see what's going to happen in the market.

447
00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:50,320
So I think there's still a lot of opportunity.

448
00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:53,520
Obviously, Richfield, I think is still the second fastest growing city in Washington

449
00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:54,520
state.

450
00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:57,440
So, you know, as part of Clark County, there's still a lot happening up there.

451
00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:03,040
And, you know, as the shoe gold waterfront gets built out and that plan starts happening,

452
00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:06,000
I think there's just a lot of activity in the county in general.

453
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:07,000
And of course, I'm being Hoover.

454
00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:11,440
I think it's a great time to be in the commercial real estate market and benefiting from unfortunately

455
00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:14,400
what's happening in Portland, which has been great for us.

456
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:17,200
Yeah, I'm also bullish on Vancouver.

457
00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:19,920
Obviously, a lot of potential here.

458
00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:24,360
I wonder, do you think that Vancouver is going to be a little more vertical?

459
00:25:24,360 --> 00:25:31,960
I look at like Highway 99 and just see a lot of, I almost see Highway 99 as like a mini

460
00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:38,600
Williams in Portland where, you know, a decade ago it was one story and kind of flat and

461
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:40,640
now it's really built up.

462
00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:41,640
Is Vancouver going vertical?

463
00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:43,720
Yeah, I think that's a really good question.

464
00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:46,960
I think there's a lot of opportunity on Highway 99.

465
00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:50,160
It is an opportunity zone, so it is eligible for some tax credits.

466
00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:57,480
I think really until the used car lots are bought out and that industry is dismantled,

467
00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:03,000
you know, until those basically go away, you know, that's really what I think is stopping

468
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,960
like the redevelopment from happening on Highway 99.

469
00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:12,160
I think, yes, as we start running out of land, we are going to have to go vertical and, you

470
00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:14,760
know, housing is going to keep it somewhat affordable.

471
00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:18,840
It's going to have to shrink or, you know, apartments are going to have to go higher.

472
00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:23,040
Townhouses are going to be three stories to give this poor footage without sprawl.

473
00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:27,680
So yeah, I think from a multi-family housing perspective for sure, you know, and maybe

474
00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:31,760
even from an office perspective when it comes to industrial, you know, obviously warehouses

475
00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:33,560
can't really be two stories.

476
00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:37,200
And so I think, you know, some of those things are going to still need to, you know, a strip

477
00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:41,560
mall isn't necessarily going to be two stories unless it's a mall mall, right?

478
00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:44,520
So as a strip mall, you're still going to need that space for retail.

479
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:48,000
And so I think it just really depends on, you know, what kind of asset class we're talking

480
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:49,000
about.

481
00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:53,320
There is still a ton of opportunity in Vancouver for redevelopment projects and for, you know,

482
00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:55,880
the small infill spaces that have been left behind.

483
00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:56,880
Yeah, absolutely.

484
00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:01,320
A lot of opportunity here because we have the land and the ability to build vertically

485
00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:07,960
with those legacy owners kind of cashing out or, yeah, the used car crowd kind of selling

486
00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:13,840
or, yeah, tons of opportunity, which kind of kind of leads to venture.

487
00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:17,440
And you guys have had a big year at a venture commercial real estate.

488
00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:20,960
How was your year and where are you going in 2025?

489
00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:23,920
Yeah, so we did end the year strong.

490
00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:25,760
We've got three brokers on board.

491
00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:31,080
And so that's been really helpful to kind of take on helping with some of my client

492
00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:32,080
overflow.

493
00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:37,040
I think for next year, you know, we have some focus up some more targeted cold calling and

494
00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:42,680
kind of focusing on some more listing assets of certain asset classes and maybe even working

495
00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:45,480
outside of the North West market.

496
00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,560
Just because there's more opportunity, one of the benefits of being in come up, I'm not

497
00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:53,840
really tied to the states that I'm licensed in, you know, a lease is a lease.

498
00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:58,320
And so I think there's a lot of opportunity that I have been remiss in going after.

499
00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:03,160
So I'm kind of excited about changing my own business plan and making some targeted growth

500
00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:04,160
in my business.

501
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:08,600
And then of course, growing the brokerage side and bringing on some additional folks

502
00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:09,600
into the office.

503
00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:11,640
And so yeah, we've got our business.

504
00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:14,640
We did some business planning last week.

505
00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,880
Got my marching orders and we're bringing on a new assistant the first of the year.

506
00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:21,600
So looking forward to that, that'll help free up, you know, as I told you, I was running

507
00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:26,440
a little late scanning some seller documents for a client and, you know, kind of freeing

508
00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:28,800
up some of the time of the administrative.

509
00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:29,800
Yeah.

510
00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:30,800
So that'll be great.

511
00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:32,760
But yeah, so I'm excited.

512
00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:34,080
I'm hired a business coach.

513
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:39,280
And so looking forward to, you know, using that to leverage my business for some really

514
00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:41,800
good growth next year.

515
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:43,080
I'm sure it's going to be a big year.

516
00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:45,560
I saw that business meeting you had at Scamami Alodge.

517
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:49,720
I was a little jealous because it looked like a lot of fun and what a great location to

518
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:50,720
have it.

519
00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:51,720
Yeah.

520
00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:58,840
Andy, I want to just end by thanking you for your service to the community because you

521
00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:03,320
really do a lot to help other entrepreneurs and the community in general.

522
00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:08,280
I really do think you're a pillar of the Vancouver, Washington community and the greater Pacific

523
00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:09,440
Northwest.

524
00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:16,040
And again, congratulations on winning commercial agent of the year twice in a row.

525
00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:17,040
I appreciate that.

526
00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:18,040
Thanks for the compliment.

527
00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:20,960
I wouldn't be here without the help from others.

528
00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:25,360
So if I can get back, I'm always willing to do that because I think, you know, we're

529
00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,600
all just trying to make it the best we can in this world.

530
00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:32,520
And if there's a way that I can help somebody or, you know, take an hour of my time, I mean,

531
00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:36,720
I know time is money, but I think, you know, good karma, putting good karma out to the

532
00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:38,240
universe is really important.

533
00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:42,480
So just like, you know, helping you out with your podcast, people used to do that for me

534
00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:43,760
when I had a video series.

535
00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:46,360
So, you know, anyway, I can get back always happy to do that.

536
00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:48,480
So thank you for the opportunity to be here today.

537
00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:49,480
Yeah.

538
00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:50,480
I appreciate it.

539
00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:51,480
Thanks for the people out there.

540
00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:54,040
Where can they find you and get in touch with you?

541
00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:55,040
Yeah.

542
00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:57,720
So I've got my own website, AndyCastello.com.

543
00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:03,480
That's A-N-D-I-C-O-S-T-E-L-L-O.com or at venture-c-r-e.com.

544
00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:07,080
But you can reach out to me on either of those sites.

545
00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:10,040
All right, Andy, all the best to you in 2025.

546
00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:11,040
And thanks again.

547
00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:12,040
Thanks, Dad.

548
00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:13,040
Same to you.

549
00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:14,040
Take care.