BEVERLY HILLS, CA-“Last year, 83% of your deals didn’t sell. This year, it feels like 83% of your deals are selling and that is a massive swing,” said Kevin Shannon, vice chairman of CBRE Investment Properties to an audience of top executives at Allen Matkins’ third annual View From the Top. “Things feel good again,” he continued, pointing out that there is a lot of product, lots of deal flow, and “our business has doubled.”

Shannon served on a panel moderated by Tony Natsis, moderator and partner of Allen Matkins. For Shannon, as well as others on the panel, “the optimism has returned.” Shannon said that the opportunity right now, as a buyer, would be to “look to put my money where other people are not right now.” Other panelists included Christopher Peatross, president of Swift Realty Partners LLC and Richard Ziman, chairman of AVP Advisors.

Peatross, who was president and CEO of Equity Office Properties only 60 days ago, talked a bit about opportunities for the entrepreneurial type, pointing out that his company is looking at assets that are industrial, office and R&D that can trade at a historically low value—50% of its previous transaction price in 2007. “Lots of times, the owner has these assets, which are under water, and the owner can’t put money in the asset,” he said, adding that a local player with capital can make all the difference.

The problem, according to Peatross, is the debt side of things for those types of assets. “There is a dislocation in lending right now,” he said. “If you have a core asset that is 70% leased or occupied and there are good characteristics, people are clamoring. It is a far different environment than assets that are 40% or 50% leased. You have to figure out how to make a difference on some of these assets.”

Some of Swift Realty Partners’ deals, Peatross explained, are also coming from off market sources. On the subject of on or off-market, Shannon said that if a seller has a core asset, “it would be foolish not to take that to market and see what harvests there,” he said, “because there really isn’t enough class A core stuff out there.”

Ziman, who is an adviser to American Value Partners, a $500 million real estate fund covering all sectors of real estate investment throughout the US, spoke a bit on the economy, and said that “there will not be a double dip,” but he called it more of a “dip along.” As far as the overall economy is concerned, the job picture is still really puzzling, Ziman said. “One month, things are up, and one month, things are down.”

Another couple of worries for Ziman, are the amount of debt in California, education—which he expects to get worse before it gets better—and California’s Proposition 25, which is a ballot initiative that changes the legislative vote requirement necessary to pass the state budget and spending bills related to the budget from two-thirds to a simple majority. Ziman, and other industry leaders throughout the day encouraged audience members to take a look at Prop 25, stating that “it is a back door to affecting our industry significantly.”

But on the positive side, Ziman said there are some really unique opportunities in the market today, such as debt opportunities. “The low basis gives you a big edge to the guy next door,” he says, adding that “if you are a good operator and have a good track record, you can attract money and attract debt.”