May

Networking With Real Estate Brokers

By Emily

As a big 9-months pregnant lady, I figured, "What better to do this month than use some of my down time during doctors appointments to start networking with professionals in my industry?"

Not entirely logical, given the added exertion of riding the bus downtown and tromping around to formal office meetings in my dorky maternity clothes wasn’t exactly going to do wonders for my sore, loosening hip joints. But I considered it something fun to do to get me out of the house before the baby comes and I am emotionally chained forever after to a wonderful new baby who I will never want to leave even for a minute or for a business meeting…

So, since early May, I have been conducting "informational interviews" with folks working in the real estate and personal finance arena here in Seattle. In part, this is to be more "businesslike" about connecting with new people, and not just hiding out in my office with my online and telephone business associates. It has also been driven by my consideration of getting my realtors license (for use in commercial real estate). I have been investigating what it’s really like in the commercial real estate industry and wondering whether it would be a good match with my skills and interests.

Here’s what I found about being a commercial real estate leasing agent…

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to do the job. – The people that I met were both very nice, professional and came across as intelligent and hard working. However they both specifically SAID, "you don’t have to be a rocket scientist." So I’m taking them at their word.
You do have to be very competitive. Because commissions are so high in commercial real estate, most folks in the industry are really willing to jump through a lot of hoops to win a contract. You have to be so committed to "winning" work that it hurts a little bit when you don’t.
Contacts aren’t everything, but they help. I was told that a lot of people in the field are "fraternity members from the University of Washington."
The commercial leasing agents that I talked to were both NOT from this background, but recognized that it represented a significant part of the industry. They said they made lemonade out of lemons by capitalizing on the "I’m different" angle and creating a niche and marketing plan (cold calling out the wazoo!) that was not based on being local. They did however, go to networking events, serve on boards of charitable groups, and do other social/business activities to get themselves out there in front of potential clients.
"The Guys Have It?" – Apparently 95% of the people in the field are men. Don’t know why this might be? Perhaps a female would have an "I’m different" niche advantage?
Slow to build, but big income opportunities. The agents seemed to think that a new agent in the field could expect 2-3 lean years as he was building his book of business, cold calling, helping more experienced agents as a "runner" and otherwise gaining momentum. However, within 2-3 years time, one would expect to have a 6-figure income and be poised to do "much more" in the near future. Good agents near the top of the field in this area can make 7 figures a year.

All-in-all, I determined that my interpersonal and communication skills would be more of an asset in this field than my math or economics skills. I’m not sure if I’m enough of an extrovert to consider myself a true natural in this business, but I think with strong discipline, a long-term horizon and a career-minded outlook I could be very successful. My next course of action is to continue talking with leaders in the field and perhaps start sending out some resumes and investigating firms I may be interested in joining.

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