New property? First step—get in your car and hit the streets. I ask all my rookies to do this, and you should too. Why? Because no market study is complete without YOUR eyes on the ground. Here’s how to map your market like a pro: ✅ Start with your property’s flyer. Good ones have a Google map built in.✅ No flyer? No problem. Google the address. Boom—a map pops up with nearby shopping centers, regional malls, and big box power players. Make a note of them. Then drive. Safely, of course! And as you do, observe: You’re not just collecting data. You’re creating a full picture of the health, vibrancy, and opportunities in your market. Pro tip: Cast a wide net. You can always narrow it down later. But knowledge of the entire trade area will make you sharper—and more valuable—than the agent who only knows what’s happening on their site. So what are you waiting for? Go map your market. Your deals depend on it!

I get it. You can’t exactly swing by your Kansas City shopping center every Tuesday if you’re based in Ft. Myers. But let me be crystal clear: you cannot lease what you don’t understand. If you’re repping a property outside your local market, here’s your non-negotiable game plan: ✅ Spend at least one full week “living” in the market.Drive every center. Walk your property morning, noon, and night. Notice who’s shopping on Tuesday at lunch versus who’s there Saturday afternoon. Those are your future tenants’ customers—know them. ✅ Meet the locals.Introduce yourself to neighboring leasing agents. Tour competitor centers. Shake hands with the city’s economic development director. Show up to a chamber breakfast. Become part of the community, even if just for that week. ✅ Make regular return trips.Quarterly visits are a must. Monthly if your center’s hurting. You can’t stay on top of the market from behind a desk. And if your boss doesn’t believe in investing in market knowledge? Hand them this tip—or better yet, have them call me. I’ll set them straight. Bottom line: Out-of-market is not an excuse for out-of-touch. Market knowledge is what makes you a leasing rockstar, no matter your zip code!

Want to know the very first step to being a successful leasing agent? Get in your car and hit the streets. I drive by my properties every single day. Why? Because I want to see what’s happening with my own eyes. Lines out the door? Closing sales? New “For Lease” signs? These are the clues that tell you where the opportunities—and the challenges—are hiding. Before you make a call. Before you send an email. Before you pitch a prospect. You better know your market inside and out. That means:✅ Drive every center.✅ Walk every competitor’s property.✅ Call the brokers on the signs.✅ Pay attention to what’s working—and what’s not. This is not a copy-and-paste-from-Google exercise. A proper market study is boots on the ground, real-world research. Because when that prospect starts negotiating with you on rent and says, “But the center down the street is charging less,” you don’t need chutzpah—you need FACTS. The only way to negotiate from a place of power is to know more than your prospect. More than your tenant. More than your own owner. So, Leasing Rockstars, if you haven’t done a deep dive into your market lately, stop everything and START HERE. Then watch

Chutzpah can be great—it can help you pick up the phone, walk into a store, and make that bold ask. But without knowledge to back it up, it can cost you BIG. Trust me, I learned this the hard way. Remember my “HA!” moment? When I arrogantly dismissed a caller asking about space for a video store—only to later find out he was Wayne Huizenga, founder of Blockbuster? Yeah… that mistake cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars. Chutzpah alone isn’t enough. Preparation + Knowledge = Real Confidence. Here’s why knowledge wins: So, before you pitch, before you call, before you canvas—prepare. Because confidence built on knowledge wins over chutzpah every time.