Growing up, Cade Weiler was constantly around blue collar folks who value persistence and hard work in all endeavors. Now, a property manager for Latitude Commercial, Weiler recalls being inspired by a visit to one of his close friend’s father’s multi-family construction sites, one that shaped his early career.
“Ever since I was really little, I’d wanted to be a guy operating big equipment like excavators and stuff because I just thought it was awesome,” he said. “I actually got the chance to do that during college as a payload operator for an agronomy Co-Op in Starke County, IN.”
The work was good, important, and enjoyable, but Weiler realized that it was not exactly what he was looking for.
“I wanted to get my feet wet in agriculture since it makes up most of the Midwest, but I realized it wasn’t for me,” he said. “I’d seen that a few of my mentors and people they admire get their starts in commercial real estate. I figured, if it was good for them, it might be good for me especially having grown up so close to Chicago, one of the largest US cities.”
He finished college at Purdue Northwest with a bachelor’s degree in business management and started making calls.
“I made a couple of cold calls to commercial groups that I thought were going to grow a whole bunch, from what I was reading the news, Latitude was one of them,” he said. “I spoke with Meghan Delacruz, the office manager at the time, and she said that she’d let the team know I called and was interested. A week later, I got a call telling me they had a marketing position open.”
Eager to learn, Weiler jumped at the chance and joined the team, knowing there was plenty of room for growth.
“I thought it was the perfect place to start, compared to diving into the deep end competing against people who’ve been doing this for decades,” he said. “So, I started out in sales, learning from the team with the aim of working my way up.”
Just a couple of years later, Latitude Commercial’s growing property management team needed an additional pair of hands. Weiler stepped in to fill the gap and quickly proved himself a successful manager.
“One thing that’s really helped me in this new role is being adaptable,” he said. “You’re always encountering new people and situations. Such as recently, where we’ve had to encourage a select few struggling tenants to seek additional resources to help them get their rent paid due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Another key factor for Weiler is his diligence, be it scheduling lawn care, janitorial service, or snow removal; every part of the job needs the same level of attention.
“I’m always striving for excellence in everything that I do,” he said. “It sounds easy when you’re only dealing with one property, but the challenge goes up once you’re dealing with a dozen properties. That’s why you have to make sure you’re organized and decisive. If you’re asked for a specific document, you should be able to pull it out within 30 seconds or less. That way, you’re always efficient and bring more value to the table at the end of the day.”
To learn more about Latitude Commercial, visit latitudeco.com.
