Commercial Investment Real Estate September/October 2019

CCIM Q& A Breaking Down Barriers by Nicholas Leider working multiple jobs to make ends meet. Now, Chong is pres- ident-elect of the Northern California Chapter of CCIM and authoring a book, as well as being selected to join the Forbes Speakers Platform to share how she succeeded in the U.S. by breaking down barriers as an immigrant, minority woman, and mother. CIRE: Graduating with an economics degree, what path did you take to the real estate industry? Chong: I worked at a pension consulting firm for nearly five years, where we handled several huge institutional clients. But in 2002, when the dot-com bubble burst, I saw a lot of people’s pensions drop in value by 50 percent or more in a flash. That was a wake-up call for me. I have always valued my financial indepen- dence, and I wanted to work toward that freedom. To see these people lose so much, I thought, “What if that happens to me?” It was then that I started looking at other types of investments, and I fell in love with real estate. I feel like it gives you more control over your own financial future. CIRE: What challenges and opportunities are unique to Northern California? Chong: Compared to the rest of the country, California has low cap rates. It’s also relatively costly to do business in the state. We are seeing international interest because California is still considered relatively inexpensive compared to other parts of the world. 12 September | October 2019 COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT REAL ESTATE I n real estate, the distinction between commercial and resi- dential can be a wall that’s not easily traversed — many feel you’re either on one side or the other. But those who oper- ate in the “commercia-dential” space strive to excel in both arenas. Commercia-dential refers to the growing trend of profes- sionals working in both commercial and residential real estate. Helen Chong, CCIM, began her real estate career in 2005 and founded Haylen Group in San Jose, Calif., in 2012, with a primary focus on residen- tial opportunities. But being an apart- ment investor herself, she sees ample potential in the multifamily market. Chong received her CCIM designation in 2017 while building the commercial side of the business — a side that now accounts for more than a third of Hay- Helen Chong, CCIM len’s volume. But Chong’s story isn’t just about thriving in the hypercompetitive Silicon Valley and Bay Area markets. Born in Hong Kong, she survived early family and financial hardships, moving to Indonesia and escaping a deadly ethnic riot during the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. She then relocated to California alone to attend UCLA while

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