How to survive my first year
Interviewing and close to getting a job in CRE hopefully. In brokerage and multifamily.  
  
How did some of you brokers survive your first year esp without pay? Also I was told on average the first year at a firm I interviewed with they make around 60k but I am guessing that's after the first year. Like I assume he was referring to the deals and listings you get your first year and then the checks come after when they close.  
  
My concern is motivation. It's impossible for someone to artificially stay motivated for long but I feel like seeing senior brokers and my co-workers closing deals and seeing that it can actually happen and that it's a real thing that people can make obscene amounts of money will keep me motivated.  
I'm also thinking that maybe breaking it up into steps would keep my focus sharp. Getting my first listing would be motivating, getting my license, getting my first meeting, and so forth.  
What other tips are there for making it through the tough times?
[{"id": "cpxfel7", "text": "If you don't have at least a years worth of savings, you're screwed before you even begin. \n\nIf you're *only* motivated by the money, you won't make it. The checks are nice, but you better have something else to keep you going when those checks aren't coming. ", "replies": [{"id": "cpxhwdb", "text": "Thanks. I have the means to survive for a year but I'm talking more along the lines of making it and motivated to see past the first year mark so you succeed.  \nIt's not only the money although a lot of CRE brokers and managers seem to want to hear that when they interview. The money is a big part of it but I actually do love real estate and it's about a billion times better working in RE than finance or any numbers or derivatives market.  \nI wouldn't go into brokerage if it wasn't for the money but let's just say.. if I had to work 50 hours a week doing accounting which is my background, or 50 hours a week doing CRE brokerage making the same thing, I would choose CRE. So certainly not doing it because I dont dislike it, but I feel like I should be proactive about my motivational sources to make it. I can't imagine it's easy going day after day calling and calling and people saying no. You don't have a listing or deal in sight after 5 months or something, could start to doubt yourself. \"maybe i'm not good enough? Maybe the market is fucked? maybe the other guys got lucky?\" ", "replies": [{"id": "cpyg0yt", "text": "Persistence wins... Everything else is extra. ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cpxg51u", "text": "Set a schedule. For me, I do my cold calling on Tues &amp; Thursday from 2-4. I don't schedule anything else during that time, not even client meetings. Automate your schedule. I dedicate Fridays to getting lunch with other people in the biz (lawyers, CPAs, bankers, etc), they aren't necessarily prospects, but can be a good referral source. If Thursday rolls around and I see I don't have a meeting scheduled, I send out a quick email and invite someone to lunch. \n\nSet a morning routine and live by it. Get to work everyday by 9 at the latest. Read your local paper, track your google alerts, and look at recent activity on the mls BEFORE you start the day at 9. I typically do this while drinking my coffee first thing in the morn. You should also be working until at least 6 and attend as many \"after hours\" networking events that you have the energy for. Your first couple years of brokerage needs to be a 60 hour/week gig. Resist the urge to leave the office early. I struggle with this, especially when spring fever hits.  \n\nSet specific short term goals with actionable steps to achieve them...\n  - Get 1 quality multi-family listing by June 1 of at least $500,000\n          - Call 20 potential sellers every week\n          - Book 2 meetings per week\n\nAnd when you get that first commission check DON'T BLOW IT and stash 30% away for taxes. In fact, do this with all of your commission checks. Just be frugal for the first few years. \n\nSomething I do that's kinda lame is print out pictures of things I want and stick them on my desk. I really want a new patio for my house, so I printed out a fancy patio with people having fun grilling out and drinking beer. Whenever I feel like leaving early I just look at my picture. \n", "replies": [{"id": "cpxi3o9", "text": "Thanks, I actually was thinking the picture thing myself. Keep me focused on the things I want or desire.  \nI imagine the hours or the schedule that is set largely depends on what the firm wants me to do. I know from what I hear M&amp;M is like 5 hours on the phone a day.  \nAlso, say you work 8 hours and it's 6pm, isn't it tempting to just go home and eat dinner and hit the gym and shower and sleep? I mean because the fruits of your labor of doing additional work aren't really seen immediately, I feel like it would be hard to stay after work. I mean after 6pm, you certainly aren't cold calling anyone I'm guessing? Maybe if there are deals or research, paperwork to be done?  \n  \nI will keep the schedule thing in mind. I have a feeling my first year there's going to be cold calling every day for hours. At least that's the vibe I got when i read things online.  \n  \nSo it's normal not to be PAID by 1 year but what do you think the average time is for you to get your first listing? What about your first meeting? Id' like to set some motivational goals. If I'm hitting the phones and I don't have a meeting with someone after 3 weeks I'd be pretty disheartened. but if I know that on average it takes people 1-2 months, then it gives me a better idea and pushes me to keep going.   \n\nGood idea on not blowing the money. I'm planning on keeping it so I can buy a house or property of my own day", "replies": [{"id": "cpy1cg3", "text": "I'm an investment sales broker at a national Real Estate Investment Sales Co in Manhattan. We learn that it's all about focusing on the non monetary metrics for the first couple of years (i.e. Number of cold calls/week, number of meetings/week, number of proposals/week). Touching more people helps find the diamonds in the rough and will lead to finding more opportunities. Focus on the metrics and everything else will fall in place. I'm trying to find ways of being frugal, while still projecting the image of being a successful, highly sought after broker, so I'm going to keep an eye on this thread.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}, {"id": "cpybfa0", "text": "I should take some of my own advice here, but the hours before and after the business day and the weekends should be some of your most important hours. When you go into the the business you have everything mapped out in your head and you feel like you know exactly what you need to do, sadly as soon as you show up to the office and you have everyone else buzzing around you and staff people bugging you you start to lose track of things and hours tick away quickly. That's why those hours after and before the work day are crucial, you are usually the only one in the office and you can really get things done without all the pressure to look busy when your boss or somebody walks by. Hours before 8am and after 5pm should be delegated for research, blogging, CRM/database/call list building, calendar scheduling, driving the market, reading training material and books that will help you, and other things that don't necessarily make you money but make you a better broker. Between 8-5 you should be calling and taking care of clients, prospecting, meeting other people, going to seminars and other related things where you can network and set up your pipeline. \n\nAt M&amp;M your goals will pretty much be set up for you with the Pace Setter program which is 16 weeks to do the following: 250 calls/wk, 2 listings, 10 BOV's, and 20 appointments. (It could be different I'm going off only what I can recall.)\n\nAlso you will have some fees to pay, their education program you have to buy and it's not cheap I think it's around $200-$600 IIRC. You may need to sign up for NAR which runs around $800 total (Local+State+National). Your CRM program will cost a bit, REA9 ~$650 ACT CRE ~$600-$800. And then they don't provide you a computer so you may have to supply that. This is all based off when I interviewed with them, things might be different now since they went public recently. \n\nMake your calls, I heard that management at M&amp;M will look at the phone bill to see if you're getting them done. ", "replies": [{"id": "cpyp0u4", "text": "Thanks. So I take it you work at M&amp;M? How do you like it? If you want you can PM me if you don't want it out in public. I had heard it was $1000 for the training and the pacesetter program. What are BOVs? \nSo at 250/calls a week, that's 4000 calls for the 16 weeks. 2 listings would mean a conversion rate of .5%. Yikes.. I guess you're still getting 20 appointments and so forth but still, easy to see how you need to be motivated.  \nHow long have you been a broker?  \nI actually don't have a problem with the research, blogging and the other \"extra\" stuff that you do. I have an obsessive personality and I tend to find that when i get into something I do this naturally. I imagine when I start this is how I would go about things knowing my personality. But I can see how hard it would be if you work 8-5 on top of that.  \n  \nSo during the first 16 week program, what exactly do you do on a daily basis? Do you get paired with a mentor? Or do you get the sales manager just breathing down your back and telling you to make calls? I am visualizing you coming in at 8, setting up your computer, finding phone numbers and calling for 5 hours. Maybe an hour for other things, lunch, research and so forth. And if you end up actually getting an appointment, then spending time with your mentor preparing for it? You also need to get your license on your own on the side right?  \n  \nDoes m&amp;m give you a list or access to a database depending on your territory or is that basically compiled alone by you and kept to yourself? I know some firms that are smaller will have territories and will already have a database built-in.  \n  \n\nAlso, one of the downsides that I could think of was the lack of autonomy mainly with bigger firms. Why can't you leave early or work from home on days you want to? I mean I get the whole benefit of coming in but for a big place, I'm surprised they care so much that you come in everyday. You don't get paid a salary and are paying for the training so it's not really like they're losing anything if you wash out right?\n", "replies": [{"id": "cpyz2z0", "text": "I haven't worked for M&amp;M, my manager was their previous regional manager so I learned most of what I know about M&amp;M from him. I also Interviewed with them a couple times and learned a lot there as well. The program is $1,000!!! wow that's a lot, you don't pay for Pace Setter it's just a performance gauge and if you manage to make the goals you get to say you are a Pace Setter (They feel that if you don't meet the goals you won't make it in the business). \n\nThe .5% is higher because you may get deals where you represent the buyer. Listings are harder to get that is why it's set at 2. You might get on with a mentor, which is really one of the only ways to survive there. If not, you are on your own. They do not provide you with a list to call from, that is on you. And from what I was told in interviews there are no boundaries on markets so you will be calling people who other brokers in your office may have just called. Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but at M&amp;M they focus on investment sales meaning they only work with clients who will be selling or buying a property, they don't work on leases, so it's easier to get calls done because you just ask if they are buying or selling if not hang up. Investments are nicer to work on because escrow holds the money and you don't have to chase down landlords to get paid. \n\nAbout the Pace Setter program, I don't know if the amount of each of those categories is correct, the 250 calls and 2 listings are correct though. BOV means broker opinion of value. Basically you pull up comps and try to determine a price for your clients building (you can't do this without a license in CA). You will need to at least show up to the office every morning. When you are young they expect you to devote all of your time to building your career. Yeah technically you are an independent contractor and you can do what you want, but they need to see you there to know that you are working, once you build rapport and they know you are always working then you can come and go as you please. They might delay the start of your Pace Setter program until after you get your license, I don't know this though. Most managers meet with each broker once a week to make sure they are on track. You don't put together your call list right before you call, you need to set up your call list on the weekend or after hours and make sure you have some info on the company or property. Ideally your schedule should be completely set up before coming into the office on Monday morning so you know exactly what you are doing throughout the week. \n\nM&amp;M is one of the most cutthroat companies in the business. They typically hire younger guys and not necessarily people from the best schools so it's seen as the company to go to if you want to break into the business. A lot of other firms don't like M&amp;M because they don't have market boundaries and stress making so many cold calls that they sour the market and piss off landlords and company owners and make other brokers look bad. I like working at companies that prefer client relationships over boiler room cold-call-everyone-you-know companies. I chose not to work with M&amp;M, but only because I already had the best company in the industry on my resume. In your case you should definitely do it and try your hardest because it's very hard to get your foot in the door anywhere else. They will fire you if you even think about starting to slack off, don't give them a reason. And at M&amp;M sucking up to your manager is very necessary, they have big egos they need to keep inflated. That last part was a joke, but still kind of true.", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "cpyfnku", "text": "Follow this business plan *for real* and you'll build a solid pipeline within a year. I got complacent after a few years and /u/Smalls244 just reminded me to step back and work *on* my business and not just *in* it. Thanks!", "replies": [{"id": "cpyoj2w", "text": "Ugh, I did the same thing last year. I had two huge deals last year that took up a lot of time. I guess I got busy and then kinda arrogant and stopped working on my business. Pipeline dried up early this year and then I went into a panic mode. Trying to pull myself out of the hole now. ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "cpz1iga", "text": "**And when you get that first commission check DON'T BLOW IT and stash 30% away for taxes. In fact, do this with all of your commission checks. Just be frugal for the first few years.** +1 to this. My mind was blown when I did my taxes my first year in the business. ", "replies": [{"id": "cpzmws5", "text": "my mind is blown every year I do my taxes in this business......  \n\n**hides and pretends april 15th is far far in the future**", "replies": [], "depth": 3}, {"id": "cq0avkc", "text": "I met with my accountant this morning and realized I owe DOUBLE what I saved. I almost threw up.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "cqd8emu", "text": "When you cold call.  Are you cold calling property owners/buisnesses for listings or are you cold calling for information?  Like.. How much did you buy this property for and other information.  Or are you cold calling to market your properties you already have listed.\n\nI'm trying to really get a good understanding of when/how to cold-call.  When i'm cold calling people with an actual good product (Listing)  they usually listen and are keen to hearing what investment opportunity I have to offer. When I'm cold-calling for info its usually hit or miss. When I'm cold-calling digging for new listings its usually just miss. Thanks for your help.", "replies": [{"id": "cqerim4", "text": "I typically call property owners trying to get new listings. If I need more details on comps, I email CoStar and ask them to figure it out. \n\nCold calling for new listings is tough. You might be \"asking for the business\" too soon. That was my mistake on the phone at first. \n\nI have two different pitches, I'm attempting to see which one works better...\n\nHi Property Owner, my name is Smalls244, I don't believe we've met before. I'm in the business of helping property owners fill vacancies and sell their properties. I'm calling today to see if I can be of help to you. Will you share little bit about the future plans you have for the property. (they will say the first things that comes to mind and will then pause - DO NOT TALK DURING THIS PAUSE-they'll continue spilling the beans and just transition into asking questions, thus starting a conversation, \"Do you have any vacancies? What are your major concerns with the property? What are your thoughts about where the market is heading? Tell me more about...xyz etc\", keep this convo going until they signal that they want to hear more from you. Answer any questions they might have and then transition into this...) well, based on what you said what you said, I can help you with x, y, and z (whatever they mentioned before). It sounds like we should get together. Does Friday at 9 work for you? \n\nThis pitch takes some practice in order for it not to sound scripted. The other one I use is this...\n\nHi Property Owner, I'm Smalls 244 with XYZ Realty. I've just completed my 2014 Year in Review report for (insert city) which provides a lot of detail that could help you assess your property and strategize for the future. I don't believe we've met before so I'd like to stop by your office and drop this off and introduce myself. Does Friday at 9am work? \n\nI use the second one more often and it feels a bit more natural. However, I go into the meeting blind. At least with the first pitch, I know how to prepare and what subjects to talk about. If they say \"just email me your report\", I'll say something like \"oh, sorry about that, I only provide them during meetings.\n\n\n", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]