Marcus & Millichap, Here I Come!

So, the news of the week is that I have decided to hang my commercial real estate broker’s license with Marcus & Millichap.  I have had good experiences working with brokers from this firm in the past and I believe they have an excellent training program for getting new agents up and running quickly and with best practices.

Why This Real Estate Agency?

After interviewing several other commercial real estate brokerages in Seattle and Bellevue, I liked Marcus & Millichap because I believe their platform creates a lot of data that will support the property sellers’ ability to price their properties well, optimize income and minimize expenses, and anticipate changes in the market places, all so that they sell quickly and for maximum profit.  Basically – by working there, I will be able to provide a lot of value to my clients.

The company has a niche in working with primarily sellers (rather than representing buyers, tenants, landlords, etc.) and specializes in properties worth $1 – $10 Million.  In the Seattle real estate market, most buildings that fit this classification are owned by individual investors (like me!) rather than corporations, REITs, full time real estate professionals, or  institutional investors.

Since I really enjoy *connecting* with people, and being able to relate to their needs, I am looking forward to working with this type of client and being able to provide them services that *I* as an investor myself, would also appreciate.  I think that is exactly what I’ll be in the position to do with this firm.

Getting Started as A Commercial Real Estate Agent!

I start working at Marcus and Millichap at the beginning of September and my understanding is that my first task will be to choose a market area and become very familiar with it.  I’ll be driving the properties, taking pictures of them, finding out what rents are, talking to tenants, chatting with neighbors, and generally putting on my detective hat to get the lay of the land.  It should be a lot of fun and I am pretty excited.

At this point, I’m thinking I might specialize in apartment buildings in the north end of Seattle.   Why? Residential rentals are the property class I have the most experience with and the north end being where I live.   I’m open to changing that, though, based on where the opportunities lie.  Maybe I’ll end up working in mobile home parks, self-storage, retail strip centers, or something I haven’t even thought of yet.

The Biggest Challenge of All:

The hardest part of the whole thing, I think, will be not being home with Blake all day.  Now, working from home, I get to watch him smile when he wakes up from a nap, sing to him, make funny faces at him while we eat lunch together, and smell his sweet baby scent.  I will miss that while I am working, but I know when he is older (his talking, walking toddler years seem like they’re approaching all too fast!), he won’t find it fun to idle away his afternoons sitting in his bouncy seat and watching me work from home the whole time. 

I think he will come to enjoy preschool, learn from the other kids and teachers there, and we can all treasure our time together in the evenings and on weekends when we have time to focus on each other exclusively.  Perhaps by the time that baby number two comes around, we’ll end up having Ben stay home to be with the kids and work on his writing career.  There are lots of possibilities!

So, off I go, embarking on my new career as a real estate agent.  I’m moving quickly and am ready to learn!

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