WHY BECOME A COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE BROKER?
By Bruce Kaplan
Senior Broker Associate, Premier Commercial Realty
A career as a commercial real estate broker has its plusses and minuses. Allow me to tell you why I like it and can’t fathom doing anything else.
After 43 years in the “commission only” business, I should pretty much know if I’m going to stick with it for the long haul. The “hook” for me was FREEDOM.
I worked in the corporate world after college for four grueling years. Someone else set my hours, my salary schedule, my days off, etc. I hated playing corporate politics, trying to please my superiors in hope of a promotion, having to ask for a raise.
In real estate sales, you are your own boss, free to do what you want each hour of each day or every week. Nobody looks over your shoulder, clocks you in or out, or tells you when you can take your lunch.
Once I set myself free from “the man”, I loved being able to attend my kids’ sports and school events when most dads were on the job or commuting home. I was inspired by the concept that I could work as hard and make as much money as I wanted—nobody was holding me back or charting my career path.
For the first 10 years, I straddled the line between residential and commercial real estate. I now call that kind of broker a “resi-mercial” broker. I had an appetite for both. However, residential was a relentless treadmill of seven days a week, weekends, holidays, evenings. It was definitely not conducive to a family life.
Commercial brokerage tended to be more in line with my preferred lifestyle. It was based around corporate hours, Monday thru Friday, 8 am to 5 pm. No weekends, unless I wanted to.
Commissions per transaction were potentially huge, five figures sometimes, although not quite as frequent. There was not so much “emotion” in the decision process.
Not as much competition was another factor. Of 1,000 members of the local Board of Realtors, only a handful specialized in commercial brokerage. The satisfaction gained by orchestrating a complicated transaction and helping someone through the maze of hurdles and helping them build wealth was, and still is, a process that gets my juices flowing. When that same client comes back to me or refers someone else to me, it is even more gratifying.
The composition of the existing mix of commercial brokers in this Far NW Suburban area of Chicago consists largely of males in their sixties or seventies which means there is a lot of room and, in fact, a NEED for new blood, including women, coming into the business.
If there are any downsides to the business, I would have to say it’s the relatively long learning curve. In my own case, I did it the hard way. I had no mentors or in house training programs. I learned from the school of hard knocks.
Now I recommend that you start out at a firm where you can get training and maybe apprentice under someone for a year.
To sustain yourself financially during this learning curve is a challenge, and probably the biggest reason why more people don’t do it. There are sometimes long gaps between paychecks. You do have to get licensed and you also have continuing education requirements. The ongoing monthly costs for data base memberships (a requirement in most offices) can also make it hard. You are an independent contractor in most offices, but that means you have to possess discipline. Why? Because there are a lot of distractions that can derail you and get you off your planned day.
The other downside is the economic swings. The business is tied to the economy. If interest rates zoom up, transaction volume tends to slow down. During recessions, when consumer and business confidence is low, there are fewer deals to be done. Right now, the economy is booming, we are at full employment and both consumer and business confidence is high. It is a good time to get in.
We are always on the lookout for new motivated brokers. I hope this peak into our exciting business causes you to take a closer look. If you are a residential real estate agent and have thought about doing commercial, I would encourage you to talk to me about making the transition as seamless as possible.