Attn Brokers--What do you do all day? Considering becoming a Broker
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[{"id": "hn14tvm", "text": "ADD sucks when you\u2019re in school but my girlfriend has it and kills it at med device sales.\n\nTotally depends what type of commercial real estate you do and focus on. I\u2019m in commercial retail. Class A stuff so lots of big REITS for landlords I work with or national tenants I rep. Lots of excel for tracking site info or tracking interested parties for listings. Admin does most of it now for me but that shit is a time suck. \n\nSide note- girlfriend asked what I was typing since i rarely comment on here and she says the task Managment would be brutal with ADD\u2026", "replies": [{"id": "hn16ul8", "text": "Can confirm, task management is brutal, but I have to wear so many hats (underwriting, data analysis, client interface, cold calling) that it sometimes helps me bounce around.\n\nAs to the original question you have to be intelligent, good at reading and speaking with people and be able to be knowledgeably discuss complex items related to RE. It\u2019s not for the faint of heart.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hn1ayfq", "text": "OP, I think it would be helpful to identify what segment of brokerage you\u2019re referring to, if you have one in mind. Tenant rep, LL rep, debt, and transaction focused brokers all have very different roles. Many out there have done more than one of the above, but my experience has been nearly all specialize in one of those categories.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hn1y50z", "text": "Do you have a real estate license or have you done any real estate in the past?  \n\nWhat others have said is all true.  It's very asset dependent on what you will do.  No matter if you are on a team, small firm, big firm and etc. there is a solution for all the weaknesses if you find the right match.  Task management can be handled by a transaction coordinator.  If you don't like doing the underwriting, you can use an analyst.  \n\nThe bottom line is you have to be able to deal with high net worth individuals and can talk numbers.  \n\nIf you have any specific questions you don't want published, PM me.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hn27mo6", "text": "What do you mean about % rates? Interest rates or inflation? \n\n\nI have learned how to source and find good properties from being an agent. I don't get a salary. If I don't close deals, I don't eat. \n\n\nToday I will spend most of my day making follow-up calls with a variety of clients, managing their expectations, telling them what the team did for them this week, asking some of them to make a decision on some deals. Plus putting out anything that catches fire between now and 5. I don't generally get into a lot of new business development on Friday.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hn2tde2", "text": "Golf mostly", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hn2y1jq", "text": "As others have said, it can vary a lot dependent on what kind of broker you want to be. I am going to talk about sales because that is where my experience lies.  There are some positions where you may have a base salary, get leads handed to you, have staff backing you up, etc. Usually those positions have lower splits, so you are getting something more akin to bonuses than commissions. \n\nTraditional brokerage is commission based. You may get an annual or quarterly draw you have to pay back (salary which has to be paid back as you make commissions). It also usually sees the broker being responsible for their own leads, at least until they have a well established track record to be trusted with incoming firm calls. At the beginning, 70% of your time is cold calling and trying to set meetings. Cold calling is your bread and butter. Your ability to establish relationships and sell owners on why they need to meet with you is the single most important talent for a broker. I've known guys that couldn't math their way out of a wet paper bag but who can sell ketchup popsicles to a woman in white gloves on the phone and they are now millionaires. If you can't convert contacts to meetings to listings, you're fucked and you will fail. Period. \n\nTo your specific questions: rates and their effect on the market - no one has a fucking clue. White knuckle it and pray. There are no such thing as \"good\" properties. Everything can be sold. I've sold properties that I wouldn't go to without a gun on me and I've sold deals where the Tenant shit gold bricks. There is a buyer for everything, your job is to know who the most likely buyer is and convince the Seller of the price the most likely buyer will pay. Taking meetings and underwriting deals is what helps you to UNDERSTAND properties, which helps you sell them. Doing deals is what lets you understand who the buyers are. Salary, see above. If you don't close deals you're fucked and you starve. \n\nBrokerage, ultimately, is sales. Regardless of product type, spot in the CRE transaction/ownership process, ultimately it is all selling yourself. Brokers of any kind are a commodity. You are selling you abilities. It is a grind of a different kind, but it is still a grind.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]