Local Perspective with… Mez Birdie

Today’s featured NAI Global professional is Mez Birdie, CCIM, CPM, CRX. Birdie is the Director of Special Assets at NAI Realvest, the Orlando, Florida, Office of NAI Global. The counties of Volusia, Seminole, Lake, Orange, and Osceola are all served by NAI Realvest.

Birdie has 30+ years of experience in commercial real estate (CRE), with more than half of that at NAI Realvest. 

Certified expert

Birdie also holds a number of impressive credentials, including being a Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM, designated by the CCIM Institute), a Certified Property Manager (CPM, designated by the Institute of Real Estate Management), a Senior Certified Shopping Center manager (SCSM) and Certified Retail Property Executive (CRX), both designated by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

Finally, he holds a Florida Real Estate broker license and a Bachelor of Science degree from Embry Riddle University in Daytona Beach.

Questions & Answers

  1. What does a typical workday look like for you? 
    Canvassing  receivership and special servicing assignments
  2. Tell me something you love about your job or your location.
    Florida has a high growth rate with approximately 250,000 annual new residents each year. Affordable real estate prices, lovely climate and no State taxes are the main drivers.  Am fortunate to be working in Florida commercial real estate receivership, brokerage and management services for the past 30+ years.
  3. What CRE trend or change are you keeping an eye on at the moment?
    Receivership and special servicing work. .  While population growth in Florida offers lots of real estate opportunities, the pandemic has created troubled properties needing work-outs.  This has created receivership and special servicing opportunities, especially in retail, office and hospitality properties.
  4. Where will I find you on a typical Saturday morning?
    Doing yoga and meditation, followed by golf (with a last name like mine, if only I could make some birdies 😊). Lucky to be living in Florida and thankful for many blessings.
  5. Please tell us about your specialty?
    I have been doing receivership and special servicing work since Resolution Trust Corporation’s (RTC) days in the early 1990s. Other receivership cycles have been opportunities in the early 2000s and the great recession of the late 2000s. I am working on receivership and special servicing opportunities this year and beyond.

According to the CCIM, “receiverships offer a lucrative opportunity for educated, savvy real estate professionals to assist lenders with their distressed assets. In addition, a mutually beneficial relationship between brokers and receivers is gaining in importance.

They continue: “Those who become familiar with the receivership process can gain a significant competitive advantage.”

To contact Mez Birdie, email him at mbirdie@realvest.com, or visit his Realvest profile page here.