What is a commercial real estate brokerage? Here’s everything you need to know on how to start your career and dominate the industry.
In this article:
- What Is Commercial Real Estate?
- What Is a Brokerage in Commercial Real Estate?
- How Do I Get Started with Commercial Real Estate Brokerage?
Commercial Real Estate Brokerage | How to Get Started
What Is Commercial Real Estate?
Commercial real estate is a piece of property investors lease out to tenants solely for business purposes. Unlike residential properties, tenants cannot use commercial properties as a living space.
What Is a Brokerage in Commercial Real Estate?
A CRE brokerage firm assists customers and clients in the leasing, buying, and selling of commercial real estate properties. They are experts in the field of CRE that investors go to for professional advice.
How Do I Get Started with Commercial Real Estate Brokerage?
Now that you understand the basics of what a CRE broker does, it’s time to learn how you can become one. Here are some of the most helpful tips for aspiring CRE brokers in 2019:
1. Learn More About Commercial Real Estate
You cannot assist investors if you barely know anything about the industry itself. There are hundreds of CRE brokerage companies in the country and investors cannot afford to waste time working with the wrong one.
Before you even think of becoming a broker and starting your own brokerage firm, you need to understand at least the basics of buying and leasing commercial real estate properties. Even after you become a licensed CRE broker, make sure to set aside some time every day to learn something new.
If you don’t stop learning, you’ll soon master the ins and outs of the industry. Gaining unparalleled industry experience and knowledge will set you a notch above the rest.
Tip: Work with a trusted mentor. Network with more experienced brokers you can learn something from.
Heed their advice, understand how they work, and pattern your own program with theirs. Once you get a firmer grasp of the topic, that’s the time you can start to experiment and create your own system.
RELATED: Commercial Real Estate Sale And Purchase Agreement | Everything You Need To Know
2. Know Your Priorities
A professional CRE broker should know what their priorities, responsibilities, and duties are. In line with this, you should never make money the main source of your inspiration.
While there’s nothing wrong with wanting to earn millions in commercial real estate, you cannot achieve that dream if you don’t understand what it truly means to be a broker.
Your main goal and duty should be to provide viable commercial real estate solutions to your clients. Pattern your studies and workflow to help you offer topnotch brokerage services with the goal of helping people out and providing solutions to their commercial real estate needs.
3. Become a Trend Spotter
Nobody really knows what the next big trend in real estate is. Not even Warren Buffet would know how the market would behave.
But you can acquire the skill of spotting trends. Learn to read market activity to determine what piece of property is best to invest in.
For example, if a transportation company will place a bus station somewhere in Florida City, then wouldn’t it make sense that the market value of that specific area would soon increase?
Higher foot traffic translates to higher zonal values. Keep this in mind when trying to map out which areas are the best places to lease commercial real estate properties in.
Tip: The farther out you can spot a trend, the better. Clients will thank you when you offer them tips on the best pieces of property that may increase their ROI exponentially.
4. Set Your Goals
Working without a goal is like driving without a destination. You’ll only waste your time, money, and effort.
Is it your goal to make it onto the country’s top brokerage firms list? Do you want to eventually become a commercial real estate investor yourself?
You should know what your goals are as a CRE broker. With this, you can take on tasks that align with your long- and short-term goals.
At the same time, ditch the tasks which have no bearing on your improvement. These will only waste your time.
Also, once you set your goals, find successful people in the industry who have already achieved them. Learn from the mistakes and experiences of others, then apply them to your commercial real estate career.
5. Network, Network, Network
Your success in building a CRE brokerage firm heavily relies on your ability to create and maintain professional relationships. You’ll have to learn how to deal with agents, clients, and prospects, among others.
It doesn’t matter how good you are at spotting the latest trends or closing deals if you don’t have anyone to talk to. Remember that prospects are the lifeline of your career in CRE.
Here are some of the things you can do to get your name around:
- Create an Online Presence: Set up your professional Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts to become a credible online broker. It’s surprising how many prospects you can reach over the internet. Plus, you can consistently share tips and tricks about the industry. That will help you create a steady amount of followers you can constantly interact with.
- Attend Networking Events: At a networking event, everyone has the same goal: to meet new people that may be beneficial to their career development. Unlike marketing at gatherings with your family and friends, it won’t feel out of place to talk about your career. In fact, that’s the whole point of a networking event, right? Be yourself, dress nicely, and maintain an air of professionalism people around you would respect.
- Ask for Referrals: Are you sick of selling or working with friends and family? Then don’t force yourself into doing it! Instead of directly working with them, ask for client referrals. Nothing’s worse than having your friends and family look down on you for trying to work with them. Don’t solely focus on your natural market. Try to build, create, and expand a circle outside of your friends and family.
6. Practice Patience
Try to understand that Rome wasn’t built in a day. You cannot create a million dollar-earning company in the span of one year.
Set small, achievable goals that will help you reach your ultimate financial dream. No matter what life throws at you, try to understand that there will always be a solution to whatever problem you’re facing.
Also, never let your emotions get the best of you. How can clients and agents work with full-service brokers who are emotionally unstable, right?
These are just some of the basics on how to start your own commercial real estate brokerage firm. As you progress, you’ll start to learn new things that will help you overcome even greater challenges.
Just remember that the only way to succeed is to practice and hone your skills every day. Do your best to become a topnotch, educated CRE broker and business will naturally come to you.
Get known, connect instantly, and win more business! In this webinar session, Bo Barron will show you how presence, a great value proposition, and a targeted prospecting campaign can grow your business without chaos! You can watch the webinar here.
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