Attach yourself to the goal, not to the company, position, or mentor
I'm a little over a year into the CRE brokerage business and enjoyed it up until the pandemic. I work with a partner who is also my mentor and we focus on retail centers and shopping centers. Our deals are all on hold or moving very slowly. Over this time, I've had a lot of doubts and lack of direction in how to even start my day. I call owners and get nothing. Understanding it's a numbers game, but it feels like the definition of insanity of doing the same thing over and over expecting new or different results. I thought about joining a different brokerage but know it's going to be so different on the mentorship and for sure on the splits. I have a pretty good arrangement with my partner so I want at least a couple of our bigger deals to close, and I want to build up my portfolio so that I can get my CCIM designation. At this time, I'm focusing a lot of my attention on getting that designation, and not on trying to stay with the company or stay with the mentor. At the end of the day I just want to earn a great living and get that designation and see where life takes me from there. I don't plan on being with my brokerage long-term, and I'm sure my mentor will retire in the next few years. Does anyone else feel like this?
[{"id": "fyzbxa1", "text": "Dude \n\nThis is happening across every brokerage and PE/Investment firm around the world right now. You're only a year into the grind. It takes at least a solid 3-5 years for your business to starting building momentum. It sounds like you had it pretty well before the wheels fell off. Why are you doubting yourself now? \n\nThe game right now is all about survival. For everyone. In EVERY occupation. Shit happens. This is it. Brokerage and CRE in general has about a 93% attrition rate. It's a tough business to hack when times are good, let alone during a worldwide pandemic. \n\nTo me, after reading your post a few times, sounds like you're just in this business for the money. You may know someone who lives a great life in this business because many do. The grind takes so long. The designation will only be beneficial if you plan on doing investment real estate. The designation (I have mine) doesn't bring me business, it's just a testament to my knowledge and skill set. \n\nIf you're questioning this career now, you might be in the wrong career. The hard times are hard but the good times are good. I also don't know how much I like hearing that you're not that loyal to someone who has spent a considerable amount of investment into you.. that is a pretty big red flag for me. \n\nBest of luck to you. You're young and I think you may be in this biz for the wrong reasons. Not once did i hear you talk about why you enjoy real estate or why you wake up. It sounded like a blame game from the start.", "replies": [{"id": "fyze7bg", "text": "This is exactly what I needed to hear, thank you. I know it's a little hard to gauge my interest in real estate from just a short post but I left a corporate position that I didn't have a passion for to focus on my dream of owning commercial real estate, specifically in the office and retail sector. I wake up every day knowing it's going to be tough, but stick it out because each day that goes by is another day closer to my dream of investment CRE. Also, I am committed to my mentor, but he has told me in the past and as recently as a couple weeks ago that he only has a few years left and he wants to retire. Honestly, he doesn't need to work at all because he does really well in his own investments and has saved up a lot over the years. I want to work with him until he retires, but I also need some cash flow to save up for my own investments. You're right though, everyone is affected by this. I only recently started feeling this way. Just got to grind it out.", "replies": [{"id": "fyznaxf", "text": "First, that is a good goal to have but a lofty goal. There are only a select few brokers who have been or are able to make the transition over to the equity side full time from the brokerage side. As you know, this is a long game business and a very relationship driven business. Of those two testaments, I see you lack both. The long game of this business is very real, especially if you do not have any family or capital around you. The barrier to entry is just sky high, which is why everyone wants to be an owner. Also, as far as relationships, they are key. I see and hear your thoughts about your \"mentor\" but honestly why would you not want to latch onto that and learn as much as you can from him if hes as successful as you say he is in not only his practice but his investments. Why would you ever ever EVER want to jeopardize that relationship? Your written thoughts in your post lead me to believe others can sense this. \n\nIn my humble opinion, if this is what you want to do, you need to re evaluate everything in your practice and your life because you are going the opposite direction. If you were my junior and I heard what you just said, you'd be annexed and I think lots of other seniors here would agree and share the same point of mind. You want to disassociate yourself from someone who has been highly successful in areas of your practice and who also owns real estate that you want to one day? \n\nWake up brother. This is not corporate ladder bullshit. You make, say, or do the wrong thing now it could have a long term impact on everything. This is a relationship and long game business. Do not buy into many of the posts you see on this thread bc most are bullshit and do not fall into shit you read or hear online. Your mentor is living your dream and you've been lucky enough that hes brought you in. People would kill for that I am sure. \n\nTake this downtime to work on yourself. Also hope you're not in my state or board for CCIM because this is not the type of person we want associated within the organization. \n\nIf you made this career change because this is what you want to do, than detach yourself and start reflecting. You're only a year in. You should be making next to nothing and it should be that way for some time until your practice gets ramped up and if how you feel is how you treat others, that is never going to happen. People can get very jaded very quick in this biz. Do not let that happen to you.", "replies": [{"id": "fyzqp7z", "text": "I didn't mean to come off as unappreciative of my mentor. I'm working with him because I know I'm going to learn a lot from him, and have already learned a lot from him. I have no intentions of leaving him, but I was just saying in my post that I thought about it only because I'm not making any money and my life goals are a little different because I'm in my early 30's, married, and my wife and I want to start having a family soon. In order to do that, I need to start bringing in some income. I know I have to stick it out so one day I'll reach my long-term goal, but I have some short-term goals as well. It was just a moment of weakness when I considered leaving the brokerage and my mentor, and not something that I'm going to act on because I'm in this for the long haul. I'm not at the level or worthiness of CCIM just yet, but more experience and conversations like this will help me get to it. I do hope I am in your state and hope we get a chance to meet in person down the line. I can only hope that I have earned my place by that point.", "replies": [{"id": "fz0a3j0", "text": "If you're in your early 30s, married, and want to start having a family, you definitely might picked the wrong career. I started at 22 and didn't start making good money until 27 and great money at 31. Wasn't married until well after that.", "replies": [{"id": "fz0d3qx", "text": "I appreciate your advice but early 30's is still pretty young. I've come along this far to not just give up.", "replies": [{"id": "fz0iksk", "text": "Well you're the one complaining about not making any money and the reality is you're still probably 4-5 years out from making serious money. If you're trying to start a family and have a kid at this stage in your brokerage career that just is not going to happen.", "replies": [{"id": "fz0j38a", "text": "Crazier things have happened. Doesn't sound like you can relate to my struggles. I wish you well in your career and in life.", "replies": [{"id": "fz0pce8", "text": "This guy seemed to start off good then gradually slip into being a curmudgeon... I started off in brokerage, but for numerous reasons including a work culture that didn't fit me, I switched to a medium PE shop and it is the best thing I've ever done. You can make money a lot faster in brokerage, but long term I like the ownership side because I feel like I can still live my life. Also I get paid more now (but my trajectory isn't nearly as steep anymore and I'm OK with that). It sounds to me like you're doing well man, keep it up and explore your options. You'll find the right thing.", "replies": [{"id": "fz0r9dd", "text": "Basically is what I am telling him to do. Do not knock me I gave him sound advice. Different strokes for different folks. If this guy wants to be a broker I will cheer for him, but I'm also not naive enough to think that his position in life is suitable for this type of career because it's going to be hard for him. Not sure how that classifies as a curmudgeon.", "replies": [], "depth": 10}], "depth": 9}, {"id": "fz0rmst", "text": "You too man. You'll get there. Just realize everyone's worried but a good broker sees this as a golden opportunity. It's hard to make good money in a steady market. This volatility is how you make a name for yourself as a hustler and creative broker that solves people's problems. \n\nJust remind yourself to stay the course and it will pay off and if you want it bad enough the trajectory will happen everything might just have to be delayed. \n\nI've seen people in your shoes many times before. Some make it some dont. The ones who do make it have what you desire. You'll get there.", "replies": [{"id": "fz0scfa", "text": "Thank you!", "replies": [], "depth": 10}], "depth": 9}], "depth": 8}], "depth": 7}], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fyzd44o", "text": "I\u2019m in a very similar situation, have deals on pause, have some fantastic projects down the road. Right now I took on a side gig selling private insurance to try and get through the other end, even though everything looks pretty open ended right now. My goal is to stay in commercial bc there is going to be some crazy action in the years to come, with all the disruption, but as a realist, you need to take an honest look over these next 6 mo and realize if your going to be able to close deals and even more important, collect money. I\u2019m still making calls and keeping my relationships open, but there are not a lot of certainties in the CRE industry right now and you gotta make sure you can float yourself in the meantime.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fyzjg6d", "text": "'I have a pretty good arrangement with my partner..'\n\nHi! Care to share what kind of arrangement b/c I need to settle this at my end soon, so any data would be helpful.\n\nAs for the other pc of advise - Just latch on and this downside will soon have a massive upside- dont forget pent up demand...", "replies": [{"id": "fyztfkz", "text": "He covers my monthly CoStar payment and pays for all team expenses. I'm on the hook for just my monthly office dues. We have a 64/36 split, with mine at 36% and that's whether we work on a deal together or if we work on it alone. However, we have yet to work on something alone and have done everything together, so that part is irrelevant. I work in the details and he works in the bigger picture and helps close the deal. He's there for guidance and support, although sometimes it's hard to reach him in a timely manner. Before the pandemic, we started our days in the afternoon and would work late into the evenings. We were starting to get a routine of meeting early in the days and leaving by early evening, but for now we're just working from home. We're planning on meeting back up soon, and hope we can get back on a consistent schedule.", "replies": [{"id": "fyzxgws", "text": "&gt;He's there for guidance and support, although sometimes it's hard to reach him in a timely manner\n\nSounds fair arrangement here only concern is his availability in crucial times..? Anyhow, thanks for sharing,\n\nWhy do you choose CRE or Resi which has a higher churn IMO, where you at ? (loc.)", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fz08a0p", "text": "This is tough, but others have said it, there are lean times and 3 years to get established is what I see as well.  I have had mentees and watched a lot of young brokers both as peers when starting out and now in my mid-career and having a solid team is maybe the most important differentiator in success vs. not.  This is assuming the hard work is there already.  The combination of a well respected Mentor, who will take time to teach you the business vs. sink or swim mentality at other shops with junior broker hustle is huge.  I've seen a number of individuals start strong and switch shops into a bad position where they simply flame out of the business because the top of the team was weak.  Doors will open once you have experience and shown track record.  Only thing that may give me pause in what you describe is that these times will take a bit of creativity and re-invention and someone at the end of their career may or may not possess that ability/desire.  Another thought, if they are easing out of the business, I would consider what legacy business they have that you may be able to slowly have transitioned to you as there is value in that.", "replies": [{"id": "fz0doly", "text": "&gt;Another thought, if they are easing out of the business, I would consider what legacy business they have that you may be able to slowly have transitioned to you as there is value in that. \n\n\nHe's already told me that he's trying to get me up to speed as quick as possible so that way I can take over his book of business as well. That's another reason why I don't want to leave. There's just some miscommunication sometimes because we hardly get to talk at a timely hour whenever a deal or client is on the line. When I'm hardly making much money, every deal feels more and more important. I guess I just need to look at this from a short-term versus long-term approach, which one do I value more. This is giving me a lot to think about. Thank you for your response.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fz0qpev", "text": "It's been tough across industry. On a side note, if you'd be interested to look at national and regional trends in the commercial real estate space, let me know.\n\n[https://www.thinknum.com/resources/casestudy/real\\_estate\\_investing](https://www.thinknum.com/resources/casestudy/real_estate_investing?utm_source=Abdus&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=reit)  \n\n\nHappy to share some free insights", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fz1bcjt", "text": "Retail is dead homie", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fz1qzpv", "text": "Best thing I ever did was take a much smaller split at a new company that forced me into a training program; even though I had been making money before, and held some records.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fzb1bgn", "text": "My first year too but I\u2019m guessing we\u2019re probably in slightly different places. I\u2019m 40. Have an asset base already built up. I would have never done brokerage if I couldn\u2019t afford to make $0 in my first year. That said, this is a GREAT time to be in brokerage. There\u2019s going to be a lot of musical chairs in the next 12-18 months. It\u2019s not my first rodeo, in 2009 I went broke but I learned a ton, namely, there is way more opportunity in a down market than a bull run. Stick with it man. Sales is not always obvious. As brokers we deal in information disparity. Focus on accrual of information. Who\u2019s looking for what, who\u2019s selling what, who\u2019s got vacancies, etc. It\u2019s all about connecting the dots.", "replies": [{"id": "fzcmg3m", "text": "This is an excellent comment and made me a feel better about where I am in my career and in life. I wasn't battle tested in 2009 so much because I was in school, so this is my version of it now and hopefully I can inspire someone down the line from what I learn in my experiences. Best of luck to you!", "replies": [{"id": "fze6ubk", "text": "2021 is gonna be fun. Focus on distressed assets, shopping centers, anything adversely impacted by Corona. Now is the time to think about and act on what\u2019s going to happen after liquidity dries up for ownership.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]