April Newsletter: Lending a Help Hand

Each year, Black Diamond Realty provides an incentive trip intended to reward team members who meet individual and company goals. 2024’s destination was Paradise Island of the Bahamas. The six days included lots of sun, playing beach volleyball, endless beverages, exploring the shops over at Atlantis and so much more! Our team returned to Morgantown recharged and excited for another successful year.

Black Diamond Realty has created a family-like, teamwork-oriented culture in which our team is vested in each other’s success. Our process is detailed and diligent but it surrounds core values and beliefs that are summarized by the acronym, HIT. “ H ” stands for honesty, hard work and humility. “ I ” stands for integrity, intelligence and innovation. “ T ” stands for teamwork, tenacity and technology. Maintaining a consistent focus on honoring our HIT value system, BDR’s team works tirelessly to achieve our clients’ goals. Recharging the battery is paramount to providing a high level of service.

Thank you to all our clients and referral sources for trusting us with your projects. Check out some of our favorite moments below.

January Industry Newsletter: Now is the time to Invest

January 26, 2024 4:20 pm Comments Off

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January Newsletter: Reflecting and Projecting 2023-2024

January 19, 2024 1:57 pm Comments Off

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November Newsletter: New Team Member for Martinsburg

November 21, 2023 2:17 pm Comments Off

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November Newsletter: Black Diamond Realty’s Customized Process

November 6, 2023 8:39 pm Comments Off

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Why Choose Black Diamond Realty? Our Customized Process

October 23, 2023 8:30 pm Comments Off

It’s highly unlikely to win a game of pool just by hitting the break. Likewise, closing a commercial real estate transaction takes planning and careful execution. At Black Diamond Realty, we understand the uniqueness in every property we market, in every deal we secure, and in each client we serve. That attention to detail is not unlike that in the game of pool, where each shot must be meticulously designed according to the terrain of the felt, the balls in play, and the pockets.

The Black Diamond marketing team works diligently from the start to create custom flyers, engaging posts on various social media platforms and other marketing efforts to advertise our clients’ assets. We provide our agents with an arsenal of materials so they can be proactive in seeking the right tenants or buyer for their location. With each marketing presentation, we craft a story that appropriately aligns with our clients’ goals and promotes the attractive elements of their assets. These exclusive, personalized marking presentations are critical as we reach those in our local market in addition to tenants and investors outside of the north central West Virginia and eastern panhandle communities, through nationally recognized CRE marketplaces like LoopNet and CREXi.

The talented individuals on our marketing team have a combined 13 years of experience in the real estate industry and 23 years of experience in advertising and design. When it comes to marketing our clients’ assets, we sink the eight ball every time.

Black Diamond Realty: A Decade of Achievement

October 13, 2023 3:57 pm Comments Off

Black Diamond Realty is celebrating its 10^th anniversary – an occasion to celebrate and reflect. Ten years of successful service, dedication, and growth is a testament to our firm’s foundation, team, clients, innovation, culture, and communities. It has not been easy, yet we embrace challenges as learning opportunities, which lead to refined processes that better serve our constituents. Theodore Roosevelt said, “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty…”

The firm’s growth has been organic, strategic, and partnership based. Our team prides itself on continual learning and innovation, all while staying true to our core principles rooted in integrity. Black Diamond’s model delivers high-quality client service and authentic connections within our communities.

Reaching the 10-year milestone is thrilling. We look forward to raising the standard and elevating expectations, over the next decade. On that note, let’s highlight ten of Black Diamond’s elements for success.

Presentation
We do it the best. Our three in-house graphic designers deliver exceptional presentations for every property. We work to craft marketing materials that align with our clients’ goals and make their assets shine.

Process
We are proactive. We use market data and analysis to brainstorm appropriate buyers/tenants for a project and actively pursue them.

People
Black Diamond’s team is the difference. Each Associate and marketing professional is comprehensive, committed, customized, and connected. Teamwork is at the core of our culture and instilled within our playbook for success.

Values
Black Diamond’s mission is instilled with HIT: H stands for hard work, honesty, and humility; I stands for integrity, innovation, and intelligence; T stands for trust, teamwork, and tenacity.

Mission
Our mission is to enhance the well-being of individuals and communities through our team’s service and by empowering clients to achieve great success in both their professional and personal lives through commercial real estate opportunities.

Vision
Be the dominant commercial brokerage firm in the region, all while embracing our core competencies, focusing on our formula for success, and providing unparalleled service.

Comprehensive
The Black Diamond team delivers on every angle by taking a detailed approach to achieving our clients’ goals.

Committed
The Black Diamond team is dedicated to service that ensures the success of our clients and community.

Customized
The Black Diamond team designs personalized plans, based on client and community needs, to provide the highest level of service.

Connected
The Black Diamond team possesses a unique network of resources that continues to grow through community involvement, contribution, and transforming developments.

Thank you to our clients! We treasure our relationships and understand they are built upon trust, transparency, and dedication. Cheers to triumphs we have experienced with you and to the success we pledge to achieve in the years ahead!

Article written by: Mark J. Nesselroad, Broker

Newsletter: Celebrating Our 10th Year Anniversary

October 4, 2023 6:58 pm Comments Off

A Decade of Deals!

Black Diamond Realty is proud to be celebrating ten years of excellence! It’s hard to believe that a whole decade has passed since we’ve first opened our doors in October of 2013. According to trends by the U.S. Bureau of Statistics, only 30% of small businesses survive to celebrate their 10th year in business. Double digits takes a talented team focused on providing value to the people and communities it serves. We are thrilled to be part of the communities we serve and are excited to continue growing for years to come.

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September Newsletter: Black Diamond Realty Will Quarterback your Deal Across the Goal Line

September 6, 2023 2:12 pm Comments Off

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Why Choose Black Diamond Realty? We are Proactive

September 1, 2023 2:20 pm Comments Off

Black Diamond Realty Will Quarterback your Deal Across the Goal Line

Every successful football team is led by a quarterback. Quarterbacks think on their feet, capitalize on the strengths of their team, call audibles when necessary and read and anticipate the defensive strategies of the opposing side, all with one goal in mind: getting into the end zone. Commercial Real Estate (CRE) transactions, both simple and complicated, need a strong quarterback to get deals across the goal line.

Much like a defense on a football team, some ‘defenders’ are both working directly against you while others are working to protect their own interests.

Defensive Team in CRE

Safeties – Time and Regulations

Line Backers – Zoning, Inspections and Utilities

Cornerbacks – Financing and Legal Issues

Defensive Ends – NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard) and Surveys

Defensive Line – Sellers and Buyers

A good quarterback will assist you with the challenges that arise during a touchdown drive. Reading the safeties before the play, calling an audible when the line backers are lined up staring you down, checking down to your 2nd and 3rd wide out when the corners are in position to shut you down, nimble enough to escape the defensive ends when they blow past your lineman, and most important keeping the defensive line from blowing up your play or drive with a sack or tackle for loss.

With over eight years of experience and wisdom, I have quarterbacked dozens and dozens of deals across the goal line. I have seen that you not only need a winning quarterback to consistently lead a championship team, but the team he plays for needs to have a winning culture like Black Diamond Realty. Very few deals have lined up like ‘the perfect play’ where everyone maintains their assignment, the perfect pass is thrown and caught for a 65 yard TD. Reading the challenges that lay ahead, thinking on my feet, directing receivers where to go is what separates a championship quarterback from one who is just good enough to be there.

Black Diamond Realty has the experience and expertise to help navigate your commercial real estate deal, play-by-play, first down after first down, to get across the goal line. We offer a championship caliber lineup of top-notch quarterbacks that design winning game plans and ensure successful transactions while leading with a winning attitude. As another exciting season of college football is upon us, Team BDR is suited up and ready to lead you and your team to a win on the field of commercial real estate.

What’s the Difference Between Commercial Real Estate and Residential Real Estate?

August 22, 2023 4:31 pm Comments Off

What’s the Difference Between Commercial Real Estate and Residential Real Estate?

Contrary to popular belief, there are quite a few differences that ultimately affect the outcome of your real estate journey. David Lorenze, Principal at Black Diamond Realty, and Melissa Hornbeck, Broker of White Diamond Realty, sit down to answer some important questions that help differentiate the two.

While anyone in the state of West Virginia who takes the real estate exam can practice both commercial and residential real estate, we believe there are a number of large differences between the two and that it takes specialized expertise to navigate the two fields

Having Black Diamond Realty to specialize in commercial real estate, and White Diamond Realty to specialize in residential real estate, means that each of our teams can focus on honing their skills to give our clients the best possible service no matter what side of the table they’re on.

Watch the Video Here

August Newsletter: Love all, Serve all

August 8, 2023 5:08 pm Comments Off

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Why Choose Black Diamond Realty? Our Negotiation Skills

August 2, 2023 7:51 pm Comments Off

Love all, serve all.

I started playing tennis with my parents at a very young age. It was a way my family and I spent time together as well as with other friends and neighbors in our community. In the game of tennis, both players begin with a score of ‘love.’ To start a game, one player serves the ball to the other player, then the volley back and forth begins. Negotiating a commercial real estate transaction has similarities to a tennis match. One party must ‘serve’ an offer to the other, then the volley back and forth begins. Also like in the game of tennis, a good commercial real estate professional seeks information to learn about their opponent and their strengths and weaknesses. This informs the delivery of the initial serve (or offer) and the anticipated reaction. This helps when ‘serving’ an offer on a property.

I recently played the negotiation game for a new business in Morgantown. This retailer has over 29 locations nationwide where they provide the ultimate shopping experience and a unique selection of clothing and merchandise for the entire family. They have now grown to become the hometown college store for some of the greatest fan bases in the country. I knew they would be perfect for one of our most popular shopping centers here in Morgantown. My client and I worked together to come up with the perfect initial ‘serve’ to start the negotiation game. We went back and forth with the landlord several times before we landed on terms that worked for all parties involved. My client is set to open their doors the first weekend in September so they can ‘serve’ WVU football fans for the first home game.

‘Love all, serve all’ is actually the Hard Rock Café slogan, but it has always reminded me of tennis and how all players begin their match on equal ground. To the Hard Rock Café, the slogan represents their commitment to embracing diverse communities and to promote health, wellness, and environmental sustainability throughout their regions of operation. Similarly, Black Diamond Realty works to embrace and understand our community to serve all of our clients with love.

July Newsletter: Life is a marathon, not a sprint.

June 28, 2023 2:59 pm Comments Off

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Why Choose Black Diamond Realty? We are Committed

June 27, 2023 2:07 pm Comments Off

Life is a marathon, not a sprint.

In the daily race of my life, I often think about the famous idiom; Life is a marathon, not a sprint. As an active runner, I appreciate the connection to the various cadences it describes. As a commercial real estate professional, I appreciate the reassuring motivation it brings to ‘staying the course.’ Regardless of whether you associate the adage with mental or physical navigation and speed, being reminded of the importance and payoff of patience and persistence is always reassuring.

Navigating a successful commercial real estate closing or sale often brings twists and turns, complicated scenarios, and unexpected lane changes. These hurdles and the obstacle course of the deal are an exciting challenge for me, as I maintain patience in pursuit of the goal on the horizon. As with any race that I begin training for, I study the course, understand the terrain, and build a roadmap of my training schedule, all with the end in mind. I do the same with my work in commercial real estate closings. As a committed commercial real estate professional, part of my job is to assess the course, to learn, understand, and anticipate the hurdles, and to persevere under pressure. This commitment to time, talent, and patience is what sets me and our BDR team apart from others running the race.

Recently, we successfully negotiated the sale of a property that was near and dear to my heart. This client was my first client upon joining Black Diamond Realty over three years ago. The client and I became very close, so much that my week didn’t feel complete if I hadn’t spoken to her. The property she wanted to sell was a very specialized asset and was going to take a buyer that was ‘just right.’ We actively marketed this property for nearly three years. We utilized letter campaigns, targeted marketing, postcard campaigns, cold calling, carrier pigeons (just kidding)— you name it, we did it! When we finally found the perfect buyer, the fun really began. Getting the purchase agreement signed was the first hurdle of the deal and getting to the finish line was a true test of patience and endurance.

After ten months of perseverance, the property changed hands. Time has shown me that when things pop up on appraisals or inspections, it is important to be patient, to stay the course, and to continue to push forward to find a successful resolution. When the dust finally settled and we closed on this sale, we achieved our clients’ goals AND the buyers’ goals as well. This is what we strive for with all of our transactions.

Every property is different. Every transaction is different. Every race is different. However, there is always a path that ends at the finish line and Black Diamond is the commercial real estate team that knows the way. Have our team join you on your next commercial real estate journey, your next race. No matter the distance, we know how to stay the course and get you to the finish line.

June Newsletter: The “HIT” Approach to Success

June 1, 2023 1:10 pm Comments Off

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Why Choose Black Diamond Realty? Honesty Integrity Teamwork

May 31, 2023 4:23 pm Comments Off

Building a Winning Strategy: Black Diamond Realty’s “HIT” Approach to Commercial Real Estate Success

As one of the newest Black Diamond Realty (BDR) members, I am proud to step up to the plate and be part of a team that embodies the core values of Honesty, Integrity, and Teamwork. In the game of commercial real estate, these values are the foundation of our success. And in the game of baseball, where every “HIT” counts, Black Diamond Realty delivers exceptional results for our clients. Our commitment to “HIT” positions us as the finest choice for commercial real estate services in West Virginia and Southwestern Pennsylvania. Allow me to share a few personal experiences that illustrate how the power of “HIT” has boosted us to consistently achieve success for our clients.

Stepping Up to the Plate with Honesty

In my journey as an agent at Black Diamond Realty, I quickly learned that honesty, with my team, our clients, and myself, is the first base of trust. It is stepping up to the plate and facing the pitcher with unwavering confidence. Early in my career with BDR, I recall a situation where I was representing a buyer who had recently sold his businesses and wanted to 1031 exchange into a relatively passive multitenant retail investment property occupied by a strong national tenant that seemed promising on the surface. However, after conducting thorough research and analysis, I discovered potential pitfalls that the client was unaware of, including a broad restrictive covenant in the national tenant’s lease that could have severely impacted the ability to lease other vacancies in the future. Just like a batter recognizing a curveball, I quickly adjusted my approach. I was upfront with the client and explained my findings, even though it meant advising against the investment and the potential for a substantial commission. This transparent approach solidified the trust between us and set the groundwork for our next ‘at bat’ together.

Covering the Bases with Integrity

I represented a client in the sale of his mobile home park recently. He relied on me to deliver on multiple tasks that were outside of my position as an agent but vital for the deal to progress. Just like a pitcher covers first base on an outside ground ball, I committed to upholding the integrity of my role and our team with my reach of strategic planning, transparent communication, and dedication. I maintained professional integrity and the integrity of the deal by building trust, fostering positive outcomes, and nurturing long-lasting relationships. At Black Diamond Realty, we embrace integrity as our winning strategy, ensuring that we pitch a perfect game by upholding our commitments and going the extra mile for our clients.

Hitting a Grand Slam with Teamwork

By collaborating with a diverse group of professionals, we unite unique talents and perspectives to establish a culture of success, a culture of hitting grand slams for our clients. In a recent project, our team resembled a well-coordinated infield, smoothly offloading a complex investment portfolio. We covered every angle and anticipated every opportunity. By knowing each team member’s strengths, we were able to quickly divide roles and strategically adjust our playbook for this opportunity. Through consistent communication and scheduled scoreboard reviews, our team was able to track the progression of the deal, troubleshoot challenges, and hold each other accountable. Everyone proactively took charge of their role and played their position flawlessly, from prospecting to due diligence and closing. Together, we hit a grand slam for our client, surpassing their expectations and showing the power of teamwork in achieving real estate victories.

In baseball, every hit has the potential to change the game; and although HIT carries a different meaning with Black Diamond Realty, it also reflects our team’s winning strategy. As an associate at Black Diamond Realty, I have witnessed the power of “HIT” in action. It is evident that through our commitment to these core values, we consistently deliver exceptional results for our clients. Step up to the plate with Black Diamond Realty and together as a team, we will swing for the fence.

BDR Reward Trip 2023: Aruba

March 3, 2023 9:43 pm Comments Off

The Black Diamond Team Heads To Aruba

Reward Trip 2023 – Aruba

On February 6th, the BDR crew departed for their 2023 Reward Trip to One Happy Island, Aruba! The team spent six amazing days in the sun together making memories and reenergizing for the busy year ahead.

Each year, Black Diamond Realty provides an incentive trip intended to reward team members who meet individual and company goals. 2023’s destination was the island of Aruba. The team soaked up some much needed sun at the ocean front Riu Resort. The six days included lots of sun, exploring of the island via Jeep tour, endless beverages, late night live entertainment on the pier and so much more. Our team returned to Morgantown recharged and excited for another successful year.

Thank you to all our clients, customers and reliable referral sources for trusting us with your projects. Check out some of our favorite moments below.

BDR Reward Trip 2022: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

March 9, 2022 1:14 pm Comments Off

The Black Diamond Team Heads To Mexico

Reward Trip 2022 – Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

On February 24th, the BDR crew departed for their 2022 Reward Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The team spent five unforgettable days in the sun together making memories and reenergizing for the busy year ahead.

Each year, Black Diamond Realty provides an incentive trip intended to reward team members who meet individual and company goals. 2022’s destination was Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The team soaked up some much needed sun at the ocean front Riu Palace Resort. The five days included lots of sun, amazing tacos, beverages, entertainment and a boat tour to the arch of Cabo San Lucas, lover’s beach and divorce beach. Our team returned to Morgantown recharged and excited for another successful year.

Thank you to all our clients, customers and reliable referral sources for trusting us with your projects. Check out some of our favorite moments below.

BDR Reward Trip 2021: Key Largo, Florida

April 21, 2021 11:47 am Comments Off

The Black Diamond Team Heads To The Keys

Reward Trip 2021 – Key Largo, Florida

Each year, Black Diamond Realty provides an incentive trip intended to reward team members who meet individual and company goals. 2021’s destination was Key Largo, Florida. The team soaked up some much needed sun at the Key Largo Bay Marriott Beach Resort. The five days included lots of sun, amazing food, beverages, entertainment and a jet ski tour through the local mangroves. Our team returned to Morgantown recharged and excited for another successful year.

Thank you to all our clients, customers and reliable referral sources for trusting us with your projects. Check out some of our favorite moments below.

BDR Reward Trip 2019

March 8, 2019 4:41 pm Comments Off

The Black Diamond Team Heads To Jamaica, Mon!

Reward Trip 2019 – Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Black Diamond Realty has created a family-like, teamwork-oriented culture in which our team is vested in each other’s success. Our process is detailed and diligent but it surrounds core values and beliefs that are summarized by the acronym, HIT. “H” stands for honesty, hard work and humility. “I” stands for integrity, intelligence and innovation. “T” stands for teamwork, tenacity and technology. Maintaining a consistent focus on honoring our HIT value system, BDR’s team works tirelessly to achieve our clients’ goals. Recharging the battery is paramount to providing a high level of service.

Each year, Black Diamond Realty provides an incentive trip intended to reward team members who meet individual and company goals. 2019’s destination was Montego Bay, Jamaica. The team soaked up paradise at Secrets St. James. The five days included plenty of sun, food, beverages, entertainment and pool/beach time. Jeff Stenger wins the networking award as he was dubbed “Mayor of Montego” by the end of the trip. Our team returned to Morgantown recharged and excited for another successful year.

Thank you to all our clients, customers and reliable referral sources for trusting us with your projects. Check out some of our favorite moments below.