Jalena Butler is not smiling as she explains why she’s a commercial broker rather than a residential one.
“The difference has to do with the emotional investment you make when buying a home. You can say, ‘I want a house with three bedrooms and three baths,’ but in the end, you’re going to base your decision on how a home speaks to you. Buying a home is not just about nuts and bolts.
“But commercial real estate is about hard facts. You say, ‘I need a building that’s this size and is in this area.’ You’re looking at logistics, proximity, and visibility. That’s more appealing to me than decisions based on emotion,” she says.
As Butler talks, her eyes are focused and her expression is direct. The strict movements of her hands also convey her intent as she emphasizes, “logistics, proximity, and visibility.” Then a smile lights up her face.
“But I love it,” she says. “A commercial real estate deal is like a puzzle.”
In real estate brokerage since 2003, Butler is now the director of sales and leasing at Keller Williams Commercial. Her areas of specialization include industrial, office, retail, and investment properties.
The variety of the transactions with which Butler deals is a big draw for her. “When you sell a home, it’s bigger, or it’s smaller, or it’s one style or another. But in commercial real estate, you end up selling different property types, so every deal is unique. You never write the same contract twice. That means you have to be on your toes at all times,” she says.
As a Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM), Butler says she has the commercial experience she needs to handle a variety of complex deals. Also, she says the in-depth financial analysis involved in earning the CCIM designation gives her and her clients common ground, which helps them to have confidence in her.
“A broker needs to be someone you know. You’re giving them a lot of information, it’s a fiduciary relationship, and you’re trusting them to bring in the best possible deal. So when you don’t know a broker personally, the CCIM designation gives you a commonality of knowledge. You know what you’re dealing with,” says Butler.
Butler started out in residential real estate, so she has felt the satisfaction that comes with helping someone find a home. But she says commercial real estate is also fulfilling. She describes a textbook commercial transaction that brought her a tremendous amount of gratification:
“It was an industrial property spread across two blocks, and it involved different kinds of spaces built in different eras, some of which had been maintained well, and some of which had not been maintained well. When I took on the property, the owner wanted to sell it.
“Only a few spaces were leased out, so I created a map of the space and measured everything so I knew what I was dealing with. I even knew where the doors were, how many doors there were, how tall and wide they were, and how operable they were. And then I leased it out.
“In so doing, I brought up the value of the property and was able to market it at a much higher price. An investor from California bought it. Everyone was happy.”
While a sample of Butler’s client list includes many medium-sized and large companies, including Unum, JAK Foods, CitiFinancial, and others, she also works with smaller clients. In these cases, she’s able to offer her creativity as well as her business acumen.
“I helped a lady design her space. She was a start-up, and didn’t have a lot of money, but that was fun, and it built a relationship. I love that’s she successful today, seven years later,” she says.
Prior to her career in Chattanooga real estate, Butler worked in the retail industry as an executive responsible for site selection, project management, and an assortment of operating responsibilities. After taking over a decade off to be a “tennis mom” to two children, she started a business buying and renting houses. Soon after, she moved into commercial real estate.
Butler holds degrees in business management and design, and is a licensed in Tennessee and Georgia.
She has served as president of the Southeast Chapter of CCIM and as president of the Downtown Council of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce. She is a past member of the Tennessee Association of Realtors Commercial Forums Committee and is a graduate of the TAR Leadership program.
Butler’s professional affiliations include the local, state and national associations of Realtors, the Chattanooga Women’s Leadership Institute, the CCIM Institute, and its local board of directors.
Butler also takes great pride in having participated in Keller Williams’ Red Day, the next of which is scheduled to take place May 9 at Children’s Home/Chambliss Shelter. Last year, she helped to prepare a room for three siblings.
“I was never so proud to be with an organization. I’m not one to even speak like that, but there’s such a difference between writing a check and being there to see the need and do something to help. Our hearts went out to those kids,” she says.
Butler can come across as being all business. She only quickly touches on her childhood in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now the capital of Serbia), where she was born, mostly as a springboard for explaining how her family wound up in Maine, where her father worked as a veterinarian and a pathologist. She mentions how her son is working in Chicago, and her daughter is living in Atlanta. And she says her leisure time consists of walking her two dogs.
But then she’s back to discussing real estate.
“Being a commercial Realtor is challenging. There’s always the dirt. Is it clean? Since Chattanooga has been a manufacturing town, I always recommend a phase one environmental report. Then there are surveys, lots lines, elevations, whether the use is going to be loud or noxious, whether or not there will need to be a variance on zoning, how long that will take…”
Butler continues, her eyes focused and her expression direct. Then she smiles and says, “I love it.”