The gamer: an ex-Air Force pilot uses a game to mimic commercial real estate risks

Risk & Insurance, Sept 15, 2008 by Michael Fitzpatrick

With a background in demolition, weapons and explosives gained through a career in the Air Force, Jeffery Bollman, a broker with Las Vegas Real Estate Professionals, brings a different perspective to risk management. The Las Vegas real estate consultant and broker, who sustained injuries in the 1996 terrorist bombing of the Dhahran air base in Saudi Arabia, knows first hand that risk is always a presence.

He's taken that background, which included serving as superintendent of weapons safety and developmental projects manager in the Air Force and applied it to managing the risks inherent in commercial property and real estate. "I was able to take those things and apply them to the focus of my company," Bollman said. "One of the things that we provide is assessment of facilities. I've done it for McCarran Airport, I've done it for the Department of the Air Force at Nellis (Air Force Base) ... I've done it for a number of different large utilities and entities to evaluate their commercial property with respect to the things that can happen both natural and unnatural."

In commercial real estate, Bollman has developed a process for evaluating the risks inherent in a particular property for buyers, sellers, potential lessors and lessees. In his consultations, Bollman goes over the client's goals and develops a commercial risk analysis and reduction statement for a particular piece of property.

"I try and look at things with respect to particular properties. Where are they located? What goes on there? What are the tenant mixes? What is the neighborhood supporting? What is the demographic? And you start to look at these data points ... and then you're looking at it in such a way that you apply it to risk on a particular property."

This leads to a comprehensive report on a particular piece of property that lays out what the most likely risks are for a certain piece of property, whether it be economic concerns, problems with crime or other issues.

"People get involved in things and they really don't have a good command of what it is they're looking for," Bollman said. "We try and provide those things in such a format that we let them know that 'you're at risk for crime,' for example, 'you're at risk for these particular events.'" In addition, Bollman has developed a commercial property management profile that is similar to the disclosure form that sellers must provide in a residential transaction, but in the form of a 10-page document.

"If you can do things like this then the chances of litigation down the road for a particular negotiated contract, whichever side you're on, are going to be much more diminished," Bollman said.

He also has developed a CD training program that discusses commercial property risk management from a total perspective, as well as a board game to help clients learn about risks involved in investing in commercial property. The training program addresses potential catastrophes, both natural and man-made, that can affect a commercial property as well as outlining certain scenarios and deciding what actions or precautions are necessary, such as providing training for onsite property managers, what to do about criminal activity, disgruntled employees and bomb threats.

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Bollman's board game, called "Aspiration," takes up to 12 participants through the commercial real estate investing business with a view to identifying and mitigating the potential risks. The game starts with the participants seeking to amass money and then begin to invest in real estate.

"You start to acquire property and you can do building and you can do zoning and all these things that are an essential part of the development of any project. You go through the process and throw in some curve balls and see how people react," Bollman said, "and they learn a lot."