Question for the brokers on this board.
How many of you guys/girls want to eventually be an investor who puts up your own money and does your own deals?

I mean is that the ultimate goal for most brokers or do you enjoy what you do and feel like you get paid adequately?

I'm a self taught investor with no formal education at all and everyday I come across shitty brokers, average brokers, and great brokers.  It always blows my mind when I come across a great broker who knows infinitely more about the markets than myself but may make a lot less money.  So I guess ultimately I'm asking the brokers out there, who know they are great,  does it ever bother you that you're the guy with all the knowledge in a deal and yet the person doing the deal is making what you make times X ?

And if so, what is holding you back ?
[{"id": "dh0h5ey", "text": "Yes it's bothersome. Money is holding us back. I want to specifically invest and develop. Everything I work on is to help me gain autonomy and break off on my own \n", "replies": [{"id": "dh1ytl0", "text": "How many deals do you see that make you think \"If I could do this deal, I would in a second\"\n?", "replies": [{"id": "dh25mcy", "text": "I'd say every few months I come across one, but I'm looking at this from a development standpoint specifically. I see all kinds of great opportunity that requires a little cash and some elbow grease and a lot of imagination and a little patience. People can be really short sighted in their vision of what will work in a space and alot of individuals never explore opportunities to capitalize on emerging trends because they don't or can't easily decipher between long term trends and short term fads in real estate and place making. They let fear choke them and don't pull the trigger or pull too late and miss the 'ground floor' opportunities \n\nTLDR; enough - I see enough. ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "di8f8h3", "text": "How long have you been in the business? I'm considering getting into commercial - (no experience, but will study for CCIM). I'm curious what your story is.", "replies": [{"id": "dickqyc", "text": "I've been in commercial real estate for 4 years and have been on the brokerage side for just over 1 year now. I work primarily in retail investment sales and development. The company I worked for previously had employed me as a research coordinator- I had a ton of experience working rooms with senior brokers, analyzing data, writing reports, summarizing market shifts and trends, etc- all things that are desperately important to understand when you are working on a development deal ( or any deal, really). When I went out on my own the large international firm I was at was not hiring new brokers so instead of waiting until they were hiring, I went out and searched for someone who would take on a new broker. The company I work for now is a MUCH smaller  brokerage firm(still with a national presence!) but the great thing here is that I get paid on brokerage deals, construction and development as well. Most places only pay brokers on the brokerage portion of a deal- or give a nominal 'finders/referral' fee for construction/development. I can make 10% of the development fees, no splits on that or I can choose to take a 5% equity share of the project (if it is one we are investing in ourselves- the company is also a buyer and has an equity fund to boot). I can source a project and get paid more handsomely on the development fee sometimes then on the sale itself. I'm working on a very large Class A office building, a large retail center and a handful of smaller strip center developments right now. They won't all pan out- as that is the nature of the 'game' however I have serious traction on more than a few of them and so I'm becoming much more confident in my ability to identify opportunities that others are overlooking. I'm in a waiting pattern (development takes patience, so I'm told) and one day hope to reap the benefits of all this hard work. In the meantime I sell commercial property (retail) to investors. Late last year  I closed my first large deal- a $7.15M Kmart (freestanding) where I sourced the seller and the buyer. It was a quick one- listed for less than 2 weeks before we had a buyer with back-up offer. We closed inside of 3 months with the original buyer. Came within 4% of list price. I was very excited and now I'm hooked. I hope to one day do enough on the development side to step out on my own. I am essentially able to leverage talent, money and time at my firm now to get the skills I need to venture on my own in the (near!) future and do my own deals - start to finish. Hope that helped to answer your question.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dh0jcxq", "text": "Without knowing you're specific situation I can tell you the odds say the great brokers don't make less than you. ", "replies": [{"id": "dh0wtbr", "text": "I'm not saying there aren't brokers out there making well into the 7 figures, every year like clock work, but I would guess that these brokers would eventually want to being doing their own deals and with that kind of personal money, why aren't they ? ", "replies": [{"id": "dh1t38g", "text": "Maybe they don't want to risk their own money. Maybe their money is already tied up in their lifestyle", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dh0n595", "text": "What do you consider a great, versus awful broker. What do you like hearing from your brokers?", "replies": [{"id": "dh0x7bc", "text": "A great broker thinks like an investor (or whoever his clients are) and anticipates what information will be important to buying/selling a specific property. A great broker knows the market inside and out and NEVER tries to shovel BS.  When I ask \"what do you think about this deal?\" , A great broker will give you their honest opinion without fear of being wrong.  They always pick up the phone or at least call you right back.\n\nI can't tell you how many brokers that I deal with who have no idea what the actual sq footage is on a property, or the NOI, or if the owner will hold paper, or current lease terms, and this could be on a $8m listing.   I find that to be painfully unprepared. ", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dh0s737", "text": "I work with plenty of people making 1+ annually. They're all different. Some don't seem to know anything at all. Others seem are vast knowledge banks. The common denominator in all of them is that they work harder and longer than anyone else. 15 hour days, weekends, holidays. They have so little time that trying to have a conversation can insight a temper tantrum. Yes a lot of them act like children in the office. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dh4ye7e", "text": "Just like in any field, 90% of the people have no clue and they don't want to improve themselves other than just collecting their checks. I am a commercial real estate broker and I deal with these suckers everyday. From ignorant attorneys to bankers to so called investors... 90% have no clue and suck at what they do, period...  ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dhs0yb7", "text": "Disclose, disclose, disclose. And then do the deal yourself. I've done deals where the broker commission was, say, $100k. But as an investor/wholesale deal, it was worth 5x that amount. Guess which one allows you to do more of your own deals? Do the deals yourself. Just make certain disclosures are signed. ", "replies": [{"id": "dhs35xo", "text": "That's the exact situation I'm describing ....how can a broker watch deals go by, where they're making $100k but the investor doing the deal is making $1m ?  \nYou seemed to have gotten it and wanted the big payday for yourself .... why don't more brokers do that ?", "replies": [{"id": "dhsc2qb", "text": "Fear of the deal, is my guess. Plus, taking the commission is less risky. If you know what you're doing, there's pretty much zero risk. Being licensed does carry some ethical/moral obligations. But not when I'm the client! I prefer my broker to rob the shit out of the seller. You make your money when you buy. Just **disclose**, and then get it in writing. ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]