Merry Christmas! We wish you a very warm (we are in South Florida after all), healthy, and happy holiday season full of memory making! In this episode we highlight Black Friday and retail sales at this time of year. Year end sales tell us a lot about the commercial real estate market, the health of the economy and give us a glimpse of where we are heading at the beginning of next year. We give a brief overview of Visit Florida's 2024 report to get a glimpse of how tourism affects our local cre markets. We also do a lot of name dropping! Beth Azor, DeLea Becker, John Crossman, Spencer Levy and Mrs. Claus, and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer all get a shoutout.

2025 was the first full year of real estate under the new NAR rules, it was also the year when AI really took off. Changes overall are happening rapidly so what does the Broker of the Future look like? Join us in this episode where we discuss some of the challenges and opportunities for real estate brokers.

In this episode of Between Two Chairs, we sit down with Jennifer Gerson, Director of Community Engagement at Dade County Federal Credit Union from Dade County Federal Credit Union (DCFCU) to explore how a long-standing financial institution is driving community empowerment throughout Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Fernando and Jennifer are passionate about the power of community—growing it, nurturing it, and helping people and small businesses thrive—and DCFCU embodies that mission through financial literacy, accessible lending, and deep local engagement.

Listeners will learn what makes credit unions unique, who can become a member, and how DCFCU's programs—including the RISE Small Business Loan initiative—are unlocking opportunity for underserved entrepreneurs.

In this episode, Fernando gives us an overview of the economic data and policy topics presented at the National Association of Realtors Annual Convention. He touched on Lawrence Yun's presentation on the national commercial market and the economics behind it. He touched on the office market, retail demand, industrial and multi-family markets. We compared it to our local Miami MSA and touched upon the national issues with flood/hazard insurance and federal tax policies.

Melissa Kirsch, the deputy editor of Culture and Lifestyle at The New York Times, wrote an article about the Chain of Gratitude. The “consistent and intentional effort to acknowledge the good things in your life” is so important for our health, emotional and mental well being. In her article, Melissa challenges us to take gratitude a step further by tracing the origin of that gratitude.

In this episode we dive into our chain of gratitude and count you, our listeners among our blessings. Wishing you a warm Thanksgiving full of new memories, good food, and time to spend with family and friends.

In this episode, we sit down with Andrea Davis, CCIM—broker, educator, and author of SimpLEASEity and Simply Own It! The American Dream. With decades of experience helping business owners and investors in Metro Phoenix, Andrea brings a rare combination of clarity, practicality, and inspiration to the world of commercial real estate (CRE).

Andrea breaks down why owning commercial real estate remains one of the most accessible and powerful paths to building wealth—and why it continues to be a core piece of the American Dream. From buying her own office condo for Davis Commercial AZ, to guiding countless clients through leasing and ownership decisions, Andrea offers a step-by-step roadmap for anyone looking to understand or enter the CRE space.

We also dive into one of the biggest economic drivers in the western U.S. right now—the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) plant in northern Phoenix. Andrea explains how this massive project is reshaping demand, pricing, and investment opportunities across the region.

Whether you are a business owner, getting started in real estate as an agent or investor, or a seasoned pro, you will gain valuable insights on the process, potential and pitfalls of CRE.

Dear Street is a perfect book for Miami at this point in time. Miami has been booming and, though we don’t have 4 seasons here, we do have a lot of people who have been grumbling lately about Miami. Some of the things they grumble about include: traffic, affordability, construction, climate (heat, humidity,), traffic...This book reminds us:

1) to appreciate our community

2) the acts of one person can have a positive effect on the community overall

3) find the positives in an area, property, person, event

If you are finding a lot of negative issues in your community or deal, figure out how you can fix, address, or offset the negatives. Not only will you solve the issue, you will feel good about doing so. Resolving issues is always better and more productive than grumbling about them ;-)

Spoiler alert: We’re starting this one at the end — because our guest, John Crossman, closes with a challenge that perfectly sums up the spirit of this episode: “Be more like Robin Webb," a broker, CCIM, and amazing human that we lost earlier this year.

In an industry often seen as competitive, commercial real estate is, at its best, deeply collaborative. And few people embody that more than John Crossman — CEO of CrossMarc Services, industry thought leader, and passionate advocate for faith, leadership, and community.

In this episode, John, Fernando and I talk about:

• The importance of impact
• Why the retail asset class is not just about shopping centers, but about serving communities.
• How the classic film “It’s A Wonderful Life” beautifully illustrates the connection between community and commerce.
• The power of keeping your head in a space you can impact, and why perspective is everything in both leadership and life.

John’s insights remind us that real estate — like life — is about far more than transactions. It’s about transformation.

If you’ve ever wondered how faith, purpose, and community fit into the world of commercial real estate, this conversation will leave you inspired to lead with both heart and impact.