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So, let me take a wild stab at your future career goals here:
- You want to make a lot of money…
- And ideally own a building or 3 with your name on them one day.
- And while you wouldn’t mind working the killer hours required in investment banking, you’d like to avoid it if at all possible.
If you want to do all that and skip the “Kill yourself working all-night” part, commercial real estate brokerage (aka CRE Brokerage) might be a great option for you.
As an added bonus, you don’t even need to go to a top school to get started – as long as you’re good at hustling your way to the top.
And you might even end up with your own island one day, if you play your cards right.
Today we have an interview from a young broker who’s making his way into the brokerage scene – and who can tell you how to do all of the above and more:
The Origins of a Commercial Real Estate Mogul
Q: So what drove you into the commercial real estate world in the first place? Fantasies of multiple skyscrapers with your name on the front?
A: Hah! I think that’s a ways away… but to answer your question, working with real estate was always more interesting to me than say, stocks and bonds. The tangibility of the assets was something that really drove me to the field. It also helped me understand the industry and the processes behind it.
When I was younger, I had some friends who were already in the industry. They were a few years older than me, so I had a chance to see if they were enjoying their career path and making good money. It turned out that they were doing both.
There are some industries out there that employ some really miserable people, but all my friends in real estate seemed like they genuinely enjoyed what they did.
Q: So how did you break into Commercial Real Estate Brokerage?
A: I started off in brokerage straight out of undergrad. I was doing office leases for a while when I got the buy-side itch. I had been doing brokerage for a few years, and was staring down two paths.
I could continue to do brokerage and see where that took me, or I could go back to business school to make the transition to the buy-side.
I ended up going back to business school, and finding a job with a real estate development firm. After spending a little bit of time there, I realized that what I really wanted to do was own property for myself. And I saw brokerage as the best way to generate enough cash flow to do this.
After a few months of networking, I landed a job at a multi-family brokerage as a sort of apprentice to the established brokers.
Q: Great. And just to clarify, what exactly do you do as a CRE broker?
A: It’s just like what investment bankers do, but for properties rather than companies.
So they connect buyers and sellers of investment-grade properties, and earn commissions for getting deals done.
Each property is unique and brings a different value to potential investors, so it’s trickier than it sounds to find the right buyer in each sale.
You have the best shot at “making it” in this industry if you have connections and resources and are great at networking and connecting people.
You must also be good at real estate market analysis and figuring out the best regions, property types, and buyers and sellers to focus on.
Degrees and Pedigrees For Commercial Real Estate Brokerage
Q: In some industries, like investment banking, having the right pedigree (school, connections, etc.) helps tremendously in breaking in. Did you find that this was the case in commercial real estate?
A: Yes and no. The specific school that you attended doesn’t really matter, especially in brokerage. No one cares what school you went to if they are confident that you can get the deal done.
It’s also generally easy to get your foot in the door in brokerage, at least compared to fields like IB and PE.
The hard part is flourishing once you are in.
Connections, on the other hand, are everything because CRE Brokerage is all about who you know. You can’t get big property deals done unless you have a wide circle of potential buyers, sellers, and financiers.
To that end, going to a top school will generally expose you to more people who could one day be clients/investors/partners.
As a broker, you are constantly chasing new deals. It’s sort of like networking to break into investment banking, but you are gunning for a deal instead of a job offer.
Q: Is there a certain “path” that most real estate big wigs take to get to the top? It seems like a lot of the head honchos are “old money.” How does the “new money” float to the top?
A: There isn’t really one path that real estate gods take to get to the top, but there are common themes. I would say that most people who find great success in real estate have an end goal of owning income properties themselves.
There are actually real estate investors from all walks of life – the key is to find something that you can be initially successful in, so that you are able to generate enough cash flow to own properties yourself.
If you are interested in CRE from the get-go, brokerage makes a lot of sense since it is very lucrative and lets you become involved with the assets themselves. Many successful brokers own investment real estate on the side, and some even transition to full-time investors if they do well enough.
For someone who is interested in CRE as an undergrad, analyst and support positions are definitely the best way to break into the industry. These positions give you a great opportunity to learn about a wide range of real estate transactions.
“Making It” In Commercial Real Estate Brokerage… and Getting Paid for It
Q: You face an uphill battle starting out as a broker. Many burn out before closing their first deal. Why is this?
A: To answer your first question, it’s mainly that it is very easy to get discouraged. There is a ton of uncertainty around when that first paycheck will come in when you are a new broker.
Going back to the analogy of networking into finance, it’s very similar here: you exert a ton of effort and time up-front, with no certain outcome. And as that initial outcome takes months and months to materialize, some people just give up.
This uncertainty, along with the possibility of going broke, pushes many would-be brokers out the door before they even get a fighting chance.
Another big reason for the burnout is the hiring practices of some firms. There are definitely firms out there that do shotgun recruiting, hoping to get as many candidates as possible, and seeing which ones sink or swim. It’s like a scene straight out of Glengarry Glen Ross or Boiler Room, except it’s arguably more ethical.
Companies can afford to do this because there isn’t much overhead in hiring a new broker. While some brokers don’t mind that and just need a desk and a phone to get started, I wanted a little more hand-holding. In that respect, smaller firms are generally the way to go.
The experienced brokers at my office are slowly showing me the ropes while I assist them with their deals. As a younger broker, the most important thing is to have a leader you can look up to while trying to build your business.
Q: So how much should an established real estate broker expect to get paid, and what does the commission structure look like?
A: Everything is on a sliding scale. When the deal is first completed, the broker gets a commission based on the transaction price. This generally starts at ~5% for smaller deals, and the percentage gets lower as the deals get bigger.
Every deal is different though, and there can sometimes be nuances that change the fee structure. Once the broker gets paid, he owes the brokerage firm a cut.
This is on a sliding scale as well, but this time around volume works in the broker’s favor. The percentages differ at each firm, but you can expect to have at least 50% of your commission taken by the firm when you are starting out.
As you start to bring in more deals, you have more leverage and can start taking more and more of your own commission home.
If you are looking for hard numbers, an experienced broker in investment sales (one who has been doing this for a handful of years) should be making $250K at the minimum.
Rock star brokers can make millions of dollars per year, depending on their deal volume and average deal size.
You won’t see brokers who make hundreds of millions or billions of dollars a year, though, unless they actually move over to the investment side and start to buy and sell property for themselves.
Q: Do you have any specifics on what the commission figures might look like?
A: Honestly, I’m not sure of all the numbers because they differ depending on the broker and the deal.
Generally the commission starts at around 6%, but that quickly drops to 4% after the $1 million USD level, and then that scales down to around 0.5% for very large deals (say, over $70 million USD).
When you’re first starting out, you’ll be doing more high commission percentage, but low dollar-value (under $1 million USD) deals and then that will shift in the other direction over time.
Deal Making In Commercial Real Estate
Q: It seems like the average pay is lower than what you see for mid-level professionals in investment banking careers, but the “ceiling” is similar, at least at most firms.
How do you analyze real estate deals to make sure the numbers work?
A: Investors generally look at three things when the analyzing a property:
- First, they look at what the building is currently doing – how much income it has been generating and what the property-level expenses are, which gives you the Net Operating Income (NOI).
- Then they look at the property to make sure it can maintain its current income. It’s one thing to have generated strong income in the past, but sometimes factors like mismanagement, demographic shifts, or changes to the local area can drive a property right into the ground.
- Finally, investors project what the building could do in the future to increase income and/or cut expenses.
Depending on what kind of deal it is, investors will focus on either the current income or the projected income. For example, on a stabilized deal that isn’t expected to see much upside, current rents are the key valuation driver.
On a bank-owned REO (real estate-owned) deal, projected income is the driver because often the buildings are vacant and dilapidated.
Q: I see… well, it’s good to know that there’s at least one industry where investors actually care about past performance in addition to future expected performance!
You mentioned “stabilized deal” and “REO deal” – are these the two main deal types you generally encounter?
A: There are four main deal types I encounter:
1) Stabilized deals, also known as “core real estate,” are the blue-chip stocks of real estate investing. These buildings are generally recently built, and currently have a stabilized yield, e.g. 7% or 8% per year.
When investors look at these buildings, they are generally looking to maintain the income that they’re currently producing. There isn’t a lot of risk with a stabilized deal, but also not much reward.
2) The renovation deal is the next type. A property that is a candidate for a renovation deal would be an older building in a nicer submarket (one that can support higher rent prices) that could get significantly higher income or value from renovating the units or the entire building.
There is more risk involved with these deals than a stabilized deal, because investors are banking on the upside of renovating the property, and then reselling it to another investor.
3) Then, there are REOs – basically, bank-owned properties. These usually need a lot of work (the units or the building itself is in bad shape) and are underperforming. Often, these building will have huge vacancies, so the projected income is a big factor in valuation.
REOs carry even more risk than a renovation play because the building needs work AND it is already underperforming.
4) Finally, there are new development deals. These are just what they sound like. Development happens when an investor wants to take the raw land, evaluate what can be built on it, and what kind of return that can generate.
Development deals have the highest risk, but also carry the highest return.
As previous contributors here have pointed out, you don’t necessarily make the most money with development deals, because of the inherent risk and uncertainty – so don’t assume that highest risk = highest bonus in your bank account. It’s not true in private equity, and it’s not true here.
Modeling, Valuation, and Due Diligence For Commercial Real Estate Brokerage
Q: How does the real estate financial modeling process differ? Are the numbers the primary focus? How detailed does it get?
A: Valuing a property vs. a normal company doesn’t actually differ that much. Whether you are buying real estate, stocks, or bonds as an investment, you are primarily looking at cash flows and returns. In real estate, the property itself will produce the income for your return.
You calculate the cash flow differently in commercial real estate, though – since the building is the “product,” rent is the gross income for the investment. After that, expenses such as landscaping, maintenance, turnover, and management fees are incurred, leaving you with a Net Operating Income (NOI).
That number is essentially the return. Once NOI is established, you can model out many scenarios with different financing to get cash-on-cash returns and do a discounted cash flow analysis based on Unlevered Free Cash Flow.
While the numbers are generally used to support valuation, comparable sale analysis is king when valuing properties. Any investment, whether it’s a stock or a piece of property, it is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
With real estate, rather than using a traditional valuation multiple you use the Cap Rate, also known as the Yield in some regions, which is defined as Property NOI / Property Value. So if the NOI is $10 million and the property’s asking price is $100 million, the Cap Rate would be 10.0%.
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learn moreQ: Thanks for explaining that. Cap Rates seem to be the primary metric in property valuation. Why is this?
A: Mostly it’s because Cap Rates are a very simple way of calculating the return on a building. Essentially, they tell you what percentage of the funds you paid for the building comes back to you annually.
It’s just an easy metric to use; for example, if you have a 6% cap property, but it’s at a 6% debt interest rate, you can easily see that it isn’t returning any money.
Cap rates do have flaws, however. The biggest one is that everyone assumes cap rates in a specific submarket to apply to every property within that submarket.
And that simply isn’t the case. Every single property has its own nuances that will make it more or less appealing to potential investors. If you get too hung up on the cap rate, you could either be over or undervaluing your building.
You really need to analyze each building and the market thoroughly to get a sense of how much it is truly worth.
Another weakness is that while Cap Rates are fine to use in a region like Manhattan where buildings are constantly being bought and sold, there’s considerably less data in other regions without as many sales taking place, so the numbers may not be reliable.
Q: Thanks for explaining that. It sounds like you need to do a lot of due diligence for all these property deals – how does due diligence change in the real estate setting compared to what you see for companies?
A: Basically, with due diligence, you are just making sure that the deal doesn’t have more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese. Sellers want to sell their property at the highest price, and brokers have an interest in closing the deal, period.
Buyers have to protect themselves, or they could get the shaft.
Due diligence is generally broken down into two components. You analyze the property in the micro sense, and then again in the macro sense.
In the micro sense, you look at the building itself. You check the market to make sure that projected rent prices at the building actually make sense, and that people are paying those prices at similar buildings in the area.
You might dig deeper and also make sure the tenants are in good financial shape themselves. This is especially true if you are buying a single tenant building, or if you just have larger tenants in general.
For example, if you buy a commercial building with a Starbucks and a Quiznos currently leasing the space, you would want to check the financials of those businesses to make sure they are stable.
Next, you look at macro trends. You look at what other investors are paying for comparable buildings to make sure you aren’t over-paying.
It’s also important to look at macroeconomic trends in the region you are investing in to make sure the submarket can sustain positive economic growth over time.
For example, it would be considerably less risky to buy a building in New York or San Francisco than it would be to purchase the same building in Detroit, even if the price is much lower there.
Q: Any final words if you want to become a CRE broker?
A: Becoming a competitive CRE broker is no easy task. It is arguably more difficult to find success than investment banking, because of the ease of entry (lots of hungry young brokers trying to make it big!).
However, those brokers who do succeed can find great wealth, with an outstanding work/life balance, in an interesting and rewarding field.
Q: Awesome, thanks for the interview.
A: Of course! Any time.
About the Author
Brian DeChesare is the Founder of Mergers & Inquisitions and Breaking Into Wall Street. In his spare time, he enjoys lifting weights, running, traveling, obsessively watching TV shows, and defeating Sauron.
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Hey Brian,
I’m a second year computer science major, but I’ve realized I’m much more interested in sales and investing as a profession. Now, my grades are good enough and I understand the material well enough that I believe I could graduate with my CS degree. My question is, should I?
I’m interested in real estate brokerage and private equity. I don’t know exactly how I want my career to play out, but I want to chase deals, and I find coding to be a bit tedious, though the logical problems are occasionally pretty interesting. I also like finance and watching the markets. Economics is really an interesting field of study to me.
Do you think it’s a good idea to swap to a business administration with economics focus as a major?
On the one hand, I don’t think I’ll enjoy software engineering work very much. It’s interesting, but I don’t like the idea of grinding out code day by day. The money is great, but I want to have interest in my work. I find finance interesting, and I think it would be a better foundation if I end up working in real estate private equity.
On the other hand, I’ve heard that engineering is considerably stronger as a foundation, due to its rigorous coursework. Software engineering/tech is clearly the way of the future, and it’s creeping into every industry as well. I don’t want to be on the wrong side of development, and I want to have a strong foundation as I sort through careers.
I might also be able to get a civil engineering degree and leverage that into real estate development, but I don’t want to end up on the construction side, I want to end up on the finance side.
It won’t take me much longer to graduate if I swap now, but I’m quickly approaching the point where I have to make a decision. I’d also like to note that I’m currently at a non-target, and given your post about the accelerated recruiting in investment banking today, it’s pretty unlikely I’ll make it into one.
I’ve considered tech sales as well, but I think I’d eventually like to scale into working on investment buy-side, and I’m not sure how that would translate.
Thanks for any advice you can give. Your site is pretty awesome.
The issue here is that if you want to get into a finance role, you need to act ASAP because recruiting takes place a year in advance of internships, at least at the large banks. So if your second year is currently *ending* then it’s probably not a great idea to switch right now. Overall, you should probably just stick with your current major, maybe do a finance/accounting minor on the side, and then try to win internships in a few of these industries ASAP so you can figure out what you want to do.
I have worked as a part-time rentals agent for 1.5 years. Very part time. I know basic CRE terms and concepts (like cash flow, cap rate, strategies, etc.)through Youtube/Webinars/Online readings. Otherwise, I have no experience or knowledge about the CRE Brokerage. How can I truly prepare myself to step into a job at a CRE Firm and start making coherent cold calls.
Lawyers go to law school, doctors to med school, where’s the commercial Real Estate school? How do people learn the trade? What can I do right now that can increase my knowledge in regards to Commercial Real Estate?
PLEASE ANSWER THIS
The issue is that real estate does not require the same level of intensity/practice that fields like law or medicine do. You do not have to complete a “residency” to learn how to evaluate properties, buy them, and start operating them… you just do it.
Most people get into the industry by networking and doing enough reading and case study/model practice (see all the examples on this site) to prove that they know what they’re doing. You don’t need a Ph.D./J.D./M.D. to do it, and advanced degrees are often counter-productive.
We have a comprehensive course on Real Estate Financial Modeling, but you could also look at books and plenty of free sample exercises online.
Brian,
Do you think that CRE brokerage will still be a lucrative field going forward? Or will there be pricing pressure on fees? If so, which firms do you think will lead the market (I’m guessing CBRE, Eastdil, HFF, and JLL).
Thanks
Yes. There will be some pricing pressure, but real estate will be much harder to disrupt with technology than, say, hedge funds. The top firms should continue to do well. See:
https://mergersandinquisitions.com/
Great interview. What would be the expected commission percentage for someone new to CRE?
“Q: So how much can an established broker expect to get paid, and what does the commission structure look like?
A: Everything is on a sliding scale. When the deal is first completed, the broker gets a commission based on the transaction price. This generally starts at ~5% for smaller deals, and the percentage gets lower as the deals get bigger.”
Excellent
Great article, this is much appreciated.
What were the reasons you decided to pursue investment sales as a means to reach your goal of owning commercial real estate rather than staying in leasing brokerage? I assume it is because of the deal exposure and income potential, but I ask because I have aspirations to become a full time multi-family and commercial real estate investor and I think it would be best to “get in the game” early but I’m torn between which type of commercial brokerage would best put me in a position to achieve my goals.
Thanks again!
I believe the interviewee wanted more deal exposure and felt it would be more helpful than staying in brokerage.
I would like to break into the CRE industry. Would you recommend going into commercial mortgages or commercial brokerage. Thank you.
I am not 100% sure, I’ll leave readers to answer your question.
Commercial brokerages can be a big stepping stone, average commission is roughly 3% per property. Just today I spoke to a top 4 CRE firm broker and he was telling me how management level Execs make roughly $1M-$3M per year. Plus, the guys at the big 4 CRE firms work on bigger deals from firms like RBC, TJ Max, Wal-Mart and large pension funds or REITS.
But it’s a sales position so you must be willing to be meeting CEO’s and wealthy investors constantly 7 days/week.
Would really love to see one of these for real estate private equity. I’m considering taking a role at a top reib, but am trying to get a better understanding of the possible exit ops first. Struggling to find information on lifestyle/work/pay/promotion structure of the job
We have an article that you may find useful: https://mergersandinquisitions.com/real-estate-private-equity/
I was thinking about getting into the residential side off the real estate industry but as i didn’t really do good in school but i got a Level 1 qualification in Business, Retail and Administration, i was wondering if that would help get me 1 step closer into the real estate industry or would i have to go back to college and maybe get some other qualifications to help me land a job in residential real estate?
This is a good article, thanks. I am almost finished my Ontario real estate license and am thinking about going to school for business while I try to sell some real estate. I also have about 50k to invest and I’m not sure if I should A : make the move and start investing in small rentals or B : use the money to go to school and obtain said business education. Any thoughts/suggestions??
Tough call. Depends on what your goals are. I can’t comment on A though if you really want to get a business school degree yes Said is a good school. You may want to examine into why you want to get an MBA first though. You may find that you really don’t need it down the line and this can help you make a better decision. Ask yourself this question – Will I regret not getting my MBA in 5 years?
Hello Nicole,
Are there any tax deferred strategies to investing in commercial real estate?
Mike
I’m not 100% but I did a search and http://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/89-tax-deferred-strategies-for-real-estate popped up
could anyone please explain what the beginners role in in CRE brokerage really entails? let’s say I start out at CBRE or Jones Lang Lasalle as a junior broker (like an analyst in IB), how much do I make first years and what do I do, also average hours per week would be nice to know? how long does it take to become a real broker with a decent over 100k salary?
thx
Informative blog! Your every point in this blog useful for every investor. Thanks for sharing with us
You’re welcome
Hello Brian & Nicole,
Firstly I’d like to thank you for sharing your thoughts on the industry and your knowledge of commercial real estate.
I am interviewing with Brokerage firms in the investment sales team as a sales analyst. I would like to know during the interview process, should I demonstrate the qualities of an excellent sales support, or prove myself as a self motivated, entrepreneurial future sales rep. Thank you.
I think all the qualities you mentioned are important. And demonstrate the amount of revenue etc you generate – this is important. Also show your leadership skills and ability to be “thick-skinned” i.e. persistent
I think it’s important to make a distinction between investments sales and commercial leasing. These are two completely different roles in brokerage. In investment sales a broker represents investors in the buying/selling of properties. Commercial leasing deals solely with leasing properties and can further be broken down into agency leasing and tenant representation. In agency leasing, a broker represents a landlord to market and lease a landlord’s (investor’s) property. Tenant representation brokers represent tenants (occupiers, companies/corporations) to find the right location for their business and negotiate a deal with agency brokers. Although the nature of work differs between each area of the industry, pay for all subsets of brokers is similar; the top 10% make millions with the average broker bringing in between 125k and 225k.
Thanks for your input!
Great article – I feel like I have a decent idea of what CRE Brokerage is all about at a glance. Thanks.
Thanks for visiting!
Do I have to work at a brokerage to become a REIB? Is there a way I can take courses, get a license, and become a private broker? Thank you so much!
Hey Brian,
Thanks for posting this article, it is very insightful.
I was wondering if you can provide a list of top brokerage firms ( or CRE firms in general) in the NYC area. I am having trouble finding this info.
Thanks
I found a list on commercial real estate broker firms on loopnet: http://www.loopnet.com/New-York-commercial-real-estate-brokers/
Do new brokers actually make a salary at first or is it 100% commission? I know in residential its 100% commission.
Not 100% certain on that, but I believe it depends on the type of property – for residential it is pretty much 100% commission, but for other sectors the structure may be different.
At top tier brokerage firms new brokers start out making a salary or a draw plus commission. They could earn commission in two ways: first, and most common, as a percentage (1-5%) of the total net commission of the team they work on-think end of year bonus; second, on a deal-to-deal basis. For that reason, starting pay in brokerage depends largely on the performance of the team your on.
At small(er) firms the mentality is often burn and churn. Most are 100% commission and people works as contractors of the firm.
To answer your question in two words: it depends.
This was very informative, thank you.
I have a question surrounding the lending side of the CRE world:
I have an opportunity to (1) move to Chicago or LA to do commercial mortgages (multi-fam/retail dev/mixed-use, etc, up to $15MM; internal transfer, I work for a BB) or (2) move to NYC but staying in Resi Mortgage Banking, (was told “pick any office in Manhattan”) 6+ years running in resi — becoming brain-dead.
My question is this: Does commercial mortgage experience/work/knowledge provide better “leverage” (couldn’t resist the pun) for a future in Private Equity/Venture Capital down the road, or stick with resi, get feet planted in NYC, and network into something from there later? If so, where would you go, Chicago or LA?
Thanks a million in advance!
I think readers may be able to give you better suggestions
Hmm, I don’t think either one would necessarily make a huge difference if you’re trying to get into PE/VC down the road. I would definitely stay in NY if that’s your goal because it’s much easier to network into finance roles in NY.
hey brian thanks for this great insight! :)
was wondering if you have any information on CRE market in canada? would that be similar to this?
Readers may have better insights to the above
I believe it’s fairly similar in North America in general, so yes. But as Nicole said, Canadian readers may be able to offer better insight.
Brian,
This seems out of topic but could you please explain me why gain/loss on PP&E sales are non-cash items? Isn’t that cash items since those gains will be redeemed in cash in the end? Thanks!
Gain/Loss on PPE sales is just the profit or loss recognised from the disposal of the PPE. A simple equation would be as follows: Proceeds – Carrying Value of the PPE (Cost minus accumulated deprection) = Profit or Loss on disposal. The proceeds amount is what, assuming the transaction was settled for cash, is paid into your bank account ie the cash flow. The profit/loss is purely an accounting entry and, as you can see above, is not in itself a cash flow.
What Ben said. There is more detailed coverage in the modeling courses and interview guide.
But basically it is being re-classified out of the company’s normal cash flows and listed in Cash Flow from Investing instead (which reflects the full proceeds from the sale).
So if you have a $10 gain on the IS and you sell PP&E for $110 (so the book value is $100), Net Income goes up by $6 assuming a 40% tax rate.
On the CFS, Net Income is up by $6 but you subtract the gain of $10 to reflect that you paid additional taxes but did not truly record something that’s related to the company’s operations.
And then in the CFI section you record the $110 number to reflect both the gain on the sale and the actual book value. So at the bottom, cash is up by $106.
On the BS, cash is up by $106 but PP&E is down by $100 so the Assets side is up by $4. And then Retained Earnings on the other side is also up by $4 due to the increased Net Income so both sides balance.
Technically I guess you could argue that it is not a true cash item, but I think it’s easier to think of it as something that’s “re-classified” out of Cash Flow from Operations and listed elsewhere instead. Similar treatment applies to items like Excess Tax Benefits from Stock-Based Compensation.
Interesting…but forgive my ignorance please.
What is the difference between a CRE Agent & a CRE Broker?
I believe there’s a lot of overlap, but brokers are sometimes “above” agents and can operate independently whereas agents usually work for brokers. But someone who knows it better may be able to confirm / deny this.
Yes, brokers can have agents doing deals under their license – the broker gets a cut of the commission from each deal an agent closes. A broker can also act as an independant agent doing thier own deals and collecting 100% of the commissions. An agent must ‘hang’ thier license with a brokerage firm and cannot operate on their own – less risk but also less commission. Hope this helps.
Brian, another great article. Question for you. Currently in CRE finance as an analyst working with REITs, REOCs, and development firms. Also have worked in the workout/foreclosure/REO group at a large commercial bank. Wanting to make the move to RE Investment Banking. Any suggestions on breaking in – networking, back to school for MBA, combo of both? Would breaking in be simular to ‘normal’ IB?? Thanks!
Thanks. It really depends on how long you’ve been there – if it’s 2-3 years or longer, a top MBA program may be the best bet at this point. Networking could also work but RE is very specialized, as you know, so you might have to focus on smaller firms that are RE/REIT-focused… which could be tough since few boutiques do that given that many deals are capital markets-related.
Hi Brian,
thanks, great article!
I wonder if you have any information on the CRE market in Europe. Is it similar to what you described here?
Thanks! I am not sure offhand – I think the mechanics are similar but the numbers, commission percentages, and so on may be slightly different. But many of the same concepts still apply and I know that RE development, for example, is the same even though sometimes the terms are slightly different (e.g. “Yield” is used instead of “Cap Rate” in some countries).
Great interview.
I work in the CRE market (brokerage) in Paris and it is very similar to what is described here. However, many firms are now leaning towards higher basic salaries with end of year bonuses rather than a commission based approach, but it varies.
Thank you for your comment
My take:
“But if you are interested in owning your own Tower in the future – or
at least want a few other buildings with your name on them – then I
can show you the path.
A great first step is getting into commercial real estate brokerage”
There I do not agree the only way rather is to get into small scale ccial real estate investing…this stuff takes time and there is plenty of learning ahead…
Yes of course it takes time. My emails are designed to make you interested in the topic and curious in learning more. It wouldn’t be as attention-grabbing if I said, “By the way, if you want to learn how to work really hard for 30+ years to have a shot at succeeding, I have a long and detailed guide that requires a lot of hard work and sacrifice from you.”
Excellent response :-)
As a college student soon to declare a major what’s better to major in real estate or marketing ? Finance is not an option
If you love real estate, do it. If you don’t really like it, I’d probably choose marketing. RE is probably more useful for IB roles though, especially if you want to break into RE IB, or even work for other real estate firms
Nicole,
If finance was an option, would you choose that?
Versus?