Are there any Tenant Rep brokers in NYC that wouldn't mind me asking them career-related questions?
I am currently going to college in the midwest, but want to eventually get into tenant advisory/consulting for office leasing. I come from the NYC area and find the market to be fascinating and exciting. However, I know it is unlike any other city (fast paced, competitive, etc.).

I guess my questions is, have any of you worked in other cities before working in NYC? What is different, what extra skills are required to be successful? Anything I should know about this career path?

Thanks!

[{"id": "czu45s9", "text": "I'm in the sf bay so I guess same thing? going by my experience in this crazy market I would say a couple things:\n\nJoin a big firm and learn everything from them. Name means everything in the market. Ive lost big prospects to bigger firms even just because of their names. The splits may be shit but you'll make that up with experience and then you can go to a smaller shop or out on your own.\n\nJoin ICSC asap. You'll get a database and contact info to the big boys of the industry. Target some of the big boys that your market may be missing and present an offer to them to find them a space or let them know a big space is available for them at xx location and you'll be happy to get them to set up shop.\n\nTenant rep is literally pounding the pavement nonstop. It's interesting but for the love of god screen your clients so you're not wasting your time. Learn how to cold call and have a marketing plan in mind to succeed in this business.\n\ntarget landlords. The best way to get tenant rep clients is to become a landlord rep. My first listing I got about 15 clients in about 6 months. Granted, the landlord of that particular space didn't have any interest in renting the space out so I was thankfully able to keep my sign up for months on end without issues.\n\nBeing a tenant rep is hard is a very competitive market. I've had clients recently in oakland/berkeley who were being kicked out of their units because their leases are up and now they can't afford the market rate of the areas they want to be in. They either have to pay a lot more rent, move somewhere farther away and restart their client base, or completely shut down their business. You need to be very professional with your clients at all times, let them know the potential pitfalls, and have them be prepared to do anything necessary to survive in the market they are in.", "replies": [{"id": "czuouv1", "text": "Hey thanks a lot for the response and tips. I do have two followup questions:\n\n Would ICSC be worth joining if I am interested in office property work? \n\nAlso, I've always thought (in bigger cities) that brokers must choose between tenant rep or agency work. Your advice to get a few landlord listings goes against this - am I wrong to assume this?\n", "replies": [{"id": "czvb3h7", "text": "Good question. I would say keep ICSC in the back of your mind and possibly join NAIOP. I don't have much experience with NAIOP so I can't really say much about them. Find SIOR designated mentors to teach your about office space work. The game is essentially to get your name and face in front of as many people as possible and also getting taught by the best in the business. \n\nYou are right in your assumption to a degree. It depends on the culture of the office you work out of. Here, there are brokers from national firms that focus on just one or the other, and then there are brokers that do both, as well as sales. The guys I come across who make the most money do everything in terms of leasing and sales in their niche. The guys with the best reputation focus on only one aspect like exclusive tenant rep.\n\nI do both tenant and LL rep and it honestly made my career a lot easier. You will learn both sides of the deal and it'll help you navigate negotiations easier for the most part. As a landlord rep, you will definitely have business owners calling you when they see your sign or whatever for a possibly space in your listing, and if they aren't a good fit, it is easier to convert them to a client to find a space for them elsewhere. \n\nOne thing I HATE about tenant rep is that you are at the mercy of listing agents. Whoever the LL rep is can take their sweet ass time to get back to you or may never call you back no matter how many messages through how many mediums you send them. So MAKE SURE YOU GET FACE TIME WITH OTHER BROKERS AND REPS IN YOUR AREA. There will be meetings, breakfasts, lunches, etc, that brokers go to once a week or once a month where they talk about their needs and their haves, and this is where you strike a relationship with them so that when you need to work together with them, it'll make the transaction easier. CCIM meetings here and broker breakfasts are great for this. \n\n", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]