CRE Brokerage Analyst curious about commission splits
I’m an Analyst at a top brokerage shop roughly 1 year into my career. I work directly with arguably the best office investment sale broker in my city. My day-to-day mostly consists of running Argus models, putting together BOVs &amp; OMs, reaching out to buyers, facilitating due diligence etc. Our team of 4 people does around $4 million gross in investment sales production a year. To this point I have not been rewarded a share of any commissions for deals that I have been heavily involved in. Is this something that just comes with time or do I need to make it clear that I believe this is something I deserve? I’ve heard the saying “Closed mouths don’t get fed” but I’m worried I will come across as greedy being that I’m so early in my career. I make a fine salary of ~60k but when I compare myself to some of my peers in the industry I feel I may be getting the short end of the stick. Any other CRE brokerage analysts who have been in a similar situation? Were you eventually able to break through and get a share of your teams fees? Any insight or words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated!
[{"id": "hkyblfb", "text": "If you are on a dedicated team they should be getting you gift cards at least. I would wait until January and if you don\u2019t get 1k in American Express gift cards I would consider leaving. Shared support gets little, but many dedicated support get a significant share of their compensation in bonuses. \n\nAnd if they are good brokers, the company pays your salary not them, so you are probably an interchangeable cog in a machine. Talk to your predecessor to see what you can expect,", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hkyc4ll", "text": "The way it works at my shop (Big 3) is if you have your RE license, you get a cut. If that\u2019s the case you should be getting a slice of the pie. Those licensed positions tend to be on call/working extra when big deals are happening \u2014 thus the extra comp.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hkyg8eo", "text": "Do you live in a high COL city? \n\nBonuses in investment sales are difficult because the producers are independent contractors, so that decision lies solely with them.  That being said, if a team is bringing in $4M in gross commissions, they can afford to spiff you out \\~ $20k - $50k in bonus comp, especially if you do a good job running their deals.\n\nI worked for a MF IS team that did similar volume and ultimately got zero bonus, while my fellow analyst on the debt side got bonused out $40k. Needless to say, I now work on the banking side and earned a similar bonus during my first year. \n\ntl;dr - you deserve more; debt better than IS.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hkyknmt", "text": "Can you clarify a bit? Do you mean the gross commission income for the team is $4mm?  \n\nOn 3% commissions, it would mean your team is selling $133mm a year which isn't really a whole lot.\n\nBrokerage is ultimately a sales business that prioritizes producers.  They can likely replace you for the same cost or farm out the work that you do to independent contractors. (sorry if this is coming off cold)\n\nUltimately, you only have a years worth of experience.  Try to add value like bringing clients in or find angles on properties you're selling that your principals don't see.  Things like re-development potential or information on the rising stock of the subject property's local area i.e. new development, income growth, employment growth..", "replies": [{"id": "hkz17lb", "text": "Commercial doesn\u2019t charge 3% on multi million dollar transactions like residential would. \nMy firm is selling circa $300m and the commission is 0.0075 or $2.25m.\nIt would be unrealistic (and stupid of the investors) to pay 3% or $9m in fees......", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hkzjttf", "text": "Shut your mouth you lowly analyst. You don't get commissions with a base salary.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hkzws5f", "text": "You are not in a production role and therefore should not expect any commission splits.  Maybe a holiday or end of year bonus.\n\nWorking hard for peanuts is part of the gig in the beginning.  Sometimes even years.  Hate saying it but $60k is very fair for an entry-level analyst job.  There are talented kids in my city who would work for free to be on a top team.\n\nI am not trying to be rude, but you are easily replaceable at this point.  If you remain humble, keep your head down and grind it out, in time you will be so crucial to your team and team\u2019s clients that it will be time to discuss either a seat at the table or big raises.  \n\nKeep in mind your broker is paying you out of his/her pocket.  He/she probably worked hard and for a long time to get where they are.  I would caution against asking for a slice of the pie at your stage.\n\nAlso stop comparing yourself to your friends.  The income disparities at your age are 100% meaningless.", "replies": [{"id": "hkzxver", "text": "Really appreciate this response. Needed to hear this.", "replies": [{"id": "hkzye9o", "text": "We\u2019ve all been there dude.  Good luck", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hl2m29t", "text": "Totally depends on the team and your market. With $4m gross sales a year, that's miniscule even for a single broker. It doesn\u2019t really even matter if it\u2019s the best you can do in your market, it\u2019s just a small amount of commission. That's not a team where you'll expect to get anything more than a polite gift card.\n\nContrary to what's been said here, though, there are teams in top markets that pay decent cash bonuses/commissions to their support staff (including admins/coordinators, marketing, analysts).\n\nAt firms like Colliers/Newmark, the company doesn't put that much money into support staff...so brokers will supplement the shit salaries/corporate culture with a team performance incentive. It helps attract semi competent people that will hustle.  \n\nJLL/CBRE/Cushman pay their support staff semi-decent salaries/have more corporate perks and take a larger split from commissions, so the brokers err more toward cash/gift card holiday bonuses but investment/mf will generally pay a little commission.\n\nNow if your team was pulling $4m in commission, you\u2019d start to see these bonuses. That means they need to do like $325M+ in sales a year at a brokerage with decent splits. My friend\u2019s team had support staff on a 1% commission which means when the broker pulled a $50k commission on a $2m-ish deal, his admins, marketing and analysts got about a $1k cut each. That generally fluctuates betwee 50-150k above their base depending on the year.", "replies": [{"id": "hl2mgay", "text": "$4 million in gross commissions not gross sales sorry for the confusion", "replies": [{"id": "hl2pa41", "text": "Have you had a holiday season with them yet? You'll probably get something, but first years generally get way less if they're not specifically on commission.\n\nYou do really have to be working for a specific broker team though, it seems to get messed up if you're hired across teams (unless they work together and pool for the holidays). If you join industry career groups you can meet other people your age/position to talk about it.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]