From martial arts to real estate. (Profile of the Week).

MARCO LALA 

MASSEY KNAKAL REALTY SERVICES

When he was looking for space in Westchester County a few years ago, Marco Lala never expected to find a new career along with a new home for his martial arts studio.

"I remembered when I was looking for space for my studio I thought, 'there really is something to this real estate business," Lala said.

A few years later, Lala earned his real estate license and started working part-time as a broker in Yonkers. A few months ago, Lala left the small brokerage firm, WRA Properties, where he worked in Queens to join Massey Knakal where he specializes in Northern Manhattan and the Bronx. With the company's future plans to open an office in the area, Lala sees his current job as a "ground-level opportunity."

"I notice that there is a lot more velocity of sales in this area, but not the level of sophistication," he said.

He said he's closed on the sale of 25 apartment buildings in the last 18 months and boasts a number of exclusive listings.

But, even though he's working full-time as a broker, Lala hasn't completely left his martial arts experiences in the past. More specifically, he's brought the same direct marketing skills he used to sell his martial arts training videos to his brokerage job.

About six months ago, Lala released a booklet entitled "Deadly Mistakes Building Owners Make When It's Time to Sell," which offers potential sellers tips on getting the most out of a sale.

"Insider tips on how to sell your multifamily property for the highest price, in the shortest time, with the least amount of brain damage," the subtitle reads.

Lala offers case studies to support the methods he says can result in thousands of dollars in extra cash on a sale. For example, one case study involves the sale of two properties Lala handled in the Bronx. The buildings were 2463 Valentine Ave., a 25-unit with four stores on the corner of East 188th Street and 2310 Valentine Ave., a 27-unit between 183rd and 184th Streets.

Within 48 hours of generating the income and expense reports for the buildings, the seller had nine qualified offers, he said.

"We accepted an offer and contracts were drafted. The sellers felt a little uneasy about some foot-dragging on the part of the buyer and we instantly engaged back-up offers," he says in the report. "This is what I mean about the benefits of a 'silent bidding' environment. You don't have to put all your eggs in one basket when dealing with a buyer. One of the back-up offers was finally accepted, with any contingencies."

The buildings were sold for $2.325 million on a rent roll of about $464,000. That's about five times the rent roll and approximately $42,000 per unit.

By comparison, about the same time, another building at 2685 Valentine Ave. just north of Fordham Road was sold for $1.1 million with a gross income of about $297,000. The purchase price was less than four times the rent roll or $26,800 per unit. Lala did not handle this sale.

"This (the 2685 Valentine Ave. building) was a disastrous deal for the seller," he notes in the booklet.

He said the booklet is a way to brand his services and get the word out about his and his company's brokerage services. He has done post card mailing that mention how to contact him or order the booklet.

"I don't know if it's resulted in any exclusive listings but, at a minimum, it gets people thinking about the process," he said.

The booklet also alerts him to potential sellers in the market.

"Is somebody orders this book, they're looking to do something with their property," he said.

As far as the future, Lala sees good things happening in Northern Manhattan and the Bronx, in part because of the auspicious sales market citywide.

"All the stars are aligned. There are strong rents, low inventory, few new construction projects, low interest rates and a weak stock market," he said.

But he also sees continued good fortunes in his newly chosen career.

"It may sound corny, but I really turned my life around with commercial real estate," he said. "I'm buying a house for my family and I couldn't have done that without being a broker."