Creating A Commercial Real Estate Firm
Hi Everyone,

Brief Bio:
Age: 25 

Education: Finance MBA(Non-Ivy) 

Occupation: Securitized Products Group Internal Auditor at a Big Firm.

Mitigating risk within, CMBS &amp;
Tax Oriented Investments(Structured Housing,Direct Affordable Housing)

Finances: I recently made a good amount of money in the stock market 1/4 Million(thanks r/Weedstocks)
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Intentions: I've had a deep passion for Real Estate for a long time. As a result, I want(will) to create a Commercial Real Estate Firm.
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I come to the pros to ask: How do you all recommend I go about creating a Commercial Real Estate Investment Firm?

Considerations:Real Estate Cycle, Would like to begin in Central Florida

edit:location

[{"id": "e9u50xm", "text": "What market do u want operate in ?", "replies": [{"id": "e9u562l", "text": "Central Florida", "replies": [{"id": "e9u5ex1", "text": "If u don\u2019t have a brokers license. First step is to find a partner who has one. And get ur salespersons license [BROKER INITIAL APPLICATION](https://www.myfloridalicense.com/CheckListDetail.asp?SID=&amp;xactCode=1014&amp;clientCode=2501&amp;XACT_DEFN_ID=806) ", "replies": [{"id": "e9u5lh3", "text": "Thank you for this. May I ask it's purpose/necessity?", "replies": [{"id": "e9u5tk3", "text": "To have a registered real estate company you must have at least one active Florida Broker ", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e9u5wtr", "text": "I would first look into the commercial real estate type you want to go into and start researching. This would be office, industrial/flex, retail, singles tenants, and apartments (some consider this commercial so I threw it in).\n\nThen take some time to learn about how these property types are run. What are included in expenses, what are the timelines for improvements (roofs, electrical, parking lot asphalt vs concrete etc). Look at 5/10 yr cash flows and how to back into the numbers.\n\nVisit the property types you want to look at and start looking at the property. Look at the ground, look at the structure, and then look above. Start noting improvements you would make and what to clean up.\n\nLook into professional organizations that may help and start building your book of contacts. Real estate is a very personal business and usually the community is small.\n\nTo escalate this learning I would rlly consider getting a job with a larger firm in your area. Don\u2019t tell them your status. Use it as an education. There is a lot of nuances in real estate that can hurt you if you don\u2019t plan for them. \n\nGet friends and people you know to invest in your new business. This way you can get 2+ properties. Get ready to be a handy man too. Best way to cut expenses is to take on projects yourself. That weekend you wanted off use it to paint your building. \n\n", "replies": [{"id": "e9u69sr", "text": "Thank you for this. How do I present myself in a way that a CRE firm finds me attractive in an interview. What do I say is my reason is for applying? Something that's stumped me as of lately ", "replies": [{"id": "e9u78jk", "text": "You have the degree. The trick would be selling your current job and how that would help you start in commercial real estate.\n\nThe best way would be to find the top firms in your area. They would probably be JLL, CBRE, Cushman, Transwestern, HFF, and NAI etc. Then call the head of the department, usually a VP of sorts, and take them to lunch and talk to them about it. You can be open about your goals and how to best accomplish them. These guys are busy but from my experience I have never been turned down to have lunch with them once I got them on the phone. \n\nAlso go to networking events. Professional organizations will host some every month. Get your name out there. Make simple business cards to hand out with a professional email account. No darkslayer4738@gmail.com. \n\nGetting a job boils down to knowing people in the industry and it being the right time. I knew a guy in school who got his job from his teacher (teacher was a real estate appraiser). It boiled down to the teacher having someone move on and my friend mentioning being interested in appraisal and bam he got a job.", "replies": [{"id": "e9u94c2", "text": "darkslayer4738@gmail.com is a neato email lol. \nAlthough, I understand and appreciate the wisdom. Any information on Financial modeling in the CRE application process?", "replies": [{"id": "e9u9ywk", "text": "CCIM will give you the best education on Financial modeling and it\u2019s a designation I strongly encourage to get. At least do the classes for education purposes and the work on the portfolio when you\u2019re in the industry.\n\nMy previous interviews I talked a lot about deals I had worked on at the job I was in and what i did in school. (I have a MBA with a focus on CRE). It was really focused on evaluation since what I was going for was an analyst for selling properties. They made sure I knew the lingo and the numbers such as NOI, leverage, IRR etc. The head broker usually interacted with clients and the analyst created the packets and modeling with Argus.\n\nIf you go into the tenant brokerage side they would interview you about your sales and negotiation skills. More heavily on the sales though and how you interact with people. If you\u2019re good at sales tenant rep wouldn\u2019t be a bad gig and since you wouldn\u2019t rlly need to take a salary you can start straight commission and make a good bit of money while learning. Knowing leases is good for owning property too.", "replies": [{"id": "e9ub0pv", "text": "How is it that CCIM will give the best education? Just curious, as I was looking at NYU,Fordham,Baruch,Columbia, and Cornell online Real Estate Courses. \n\nAlso, as far as designation are you referring to the actual CCIM Credential or the CCIM education?\n\nAnd I'm looking towards the evaluation/analysis and acquisitions. ", "replies": [{"id": "e9udcbc", "text": "CCIM has courses that teach you the numbers side of real estate and appraisal. Without knowing you\u2019d be going to college classes, CCIM is the best non college education and sometimes better then college real estate programs.\n\nSay you go to Florida and say you took RE classes at the colleges you mentioned. They may know of them but I doubt they know how much of a quality education you received. Tell them you have taken all CCIM classes and they know where you stand. \n\nNot saying college is bad I did that. Just CCIM is well known and held with high regards. \n\nI am referring to the CCIM education that is part of the required work for the designation.", "replies": [{"id": "e9ueeya", "text": "Ahhhh Gotcha, makes sense. Will do.\n\nWhat about Argus? How does one best approach that? I have no experience. I've considered taking the online e-certification program ", "replies": [{"id": "e9ufd7z", "text": "Couldn\u2019t help you there on Argus. I think CRE companies are a bit unreasonable when it comes to their expectations with someone knowing Argus. Though I picked up Argus budget software in a couple of days. I can also make a excel sheet that does exactly what Argus does from scratch. Certification program is probably the best just to show you have some knowledge of it.", "replies": [{"id": "e9um8j8", "text": "Understood, your insight is extremely valuable. Thanks Kind CRE stranger lol ", "replies": [{"id": "e9uzbf7", "text": "You\u2019re welcome. Good luck!", "replies": [], "depth": 11}], "depth": 10}], "depth": 9}], "depth": 8}], "depth": 7}], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}, {"id": "e9u8srn", "text": "Honestly I believe getting a job offer with a CRE firm is pretty easy. I had a degree in finance also and when I got out of college I was offered 5 jobs, mainly because all I did was network. Just like it\u2019s been said email them, take them to lunch, be interesting. ", "replies": [{"id": "e9u8xkb", "text": "Understood. How about financial modeling and such? Did you have to practice that before hand?", "replies": [{"id": "e9ubv6l", "text": "I\u2019m a broker, honestly I do not do much modeling. Once I have enough income to start buying commercial properties I\u2019ll be getting deeper into that. I was offered a few analyst jobs and all they wanted was basic excel skills. Now to get a job at an REPE that is large and in primary markets I\u2019d imagine you\u2019d need a lot of modeling skills. ", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e9v3o6q", "text": "Get a brokers license. You\u2019ll definitely need to leverage your capital. 1/4 million isn\u2019t enough. \n\nCRE is finance intensive... you gotta be smart with modelling programs... excel and Argus.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ebkr60y", "text": "I am a broker with 15 years experience and a CCIM.\n\nCCIM will teach you stuff you can't get anywhere else. They are known for after tax analysis, which very few schools ever even touch on. But it's one of the most important things you need to know about if you want to be in commercial real estate. This is because commercial real estate directly competes with bonds, except in commercial real estate you get a tax and leverage advantage.\n\nSomeone else here said look into what type of commercial real estate you want to get into. If you do CCIM before joining a firm you will have the opportunity to look for a firm and team that work in the specific area you want to get into. Most big firms have different divisions for multifamily, single-tenant retail, shopping centers, office, and some have industrial divisions. Knowing which one you're interested in first, will help you learn. I started out in multifamily at Marcus &amp; millichap, and then once I realized that my clients were selling their apartment buildings and 1031 exchanging into single-tenant retail, I started to learn retail. Then I got into transferring businesses as well as real estate and found a whole world of industrial real estate which was tied to the business that own them, so I started learning the ins-and-outs of industrial. This also lead to learning office since most industrial buildings have some amount of office space.\n\nLearning how to sell businesses is a whole world of commercial real estate on its own. I joined the IBBA and became a CBI or certified business intermediary, which is like the CCIM of commercial real estate. While most big commercial real estate firms don't transfer businesses, the sector is just as lucrative if not more so.", "replies": [{"id": "ebktl7o", "text": "Awesome Insight! Would you say that you're more prepared to create a Commercial Real Estate Firm than someone who went the Aquisitions or Management route? ", "replies": [{"id": "ec4213g", "text": "really depends on what you mean by \"firm.\" I have my own firm and my clients are REITs and high net worth investors including billionaires. that said, it's just me, no other agents. CCIM is the best school in the country for agents in my opinion, but helpful in all areas.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]