Stuck doing CRE in a residential brokerage and can’t seem to land a gig at any big firm at the moment as either an analyst or broker. I have an opportunity to join a retail team with Marcus and Millichap. Should I take it?
So little background, I did residential for only a few months and then went into doing commercial at the same brokerage. I’ve sold about $2.5 million in commercial real estate so far since joining. I live in a fairly small city and there’s tons of competition but it seems like a lot of places aren’t hiring right now. I’ve applied as an analyst to a few firms but haven’t heard back yet from anyone. I’ve been out networking with local CCIMs, principles, SIORs, etc and all they keep telling me to do is network and educate myself and I’ll eventually land somewhere. I potentially have an in with the Marcus and Millichap retail team here. One of the younger brokers I spoke to said that they knew M&amp;M has a bad reputation, but they’ve never heard anything bad about the team here. I know it would be a grind and a lot of cold calling but this is what I want to do. Should I stay where I’m at and wait for an opening with these bigger firms like CBRE, Lee and Associates, etc or take the risk with M&amp;M. I have absolutely no one who I can ask for advice so y’all are my last hope. I’m really stuck in between a rock and a hard place and I just don’t know what to do.
[{"id": "idlikdp", "text": "It sounds far more advantageous to be in at a sink-or-swim firm like M&amp;M over staying as a commercial person at a residential firm. Plus, team is far more important than company IMO.", "replies": [{"id": "idlknyx", "text": "That\u2019s where my mind is kind of at as well. Better to get the experience and have an actual commercial firm on my resume than just the residential brokerage", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "idllfk5", "text": "Congratz, the first deal is the hardest. M&amp;M is good for people to learn the business and for nnn or mf sales. If sales with no repeat customers is fine, and you are ok coldcalling, then sure. Not sure if you will make any money, since M&amp;M is notorious for screwing over young people, but if you are not making anything where you are at, then it is a wash, and you get the exercise of updating someone else\u2019s crm for awhile and you see what works and what doesn\u2019t. \n\nIf you are in a small market, making room for yourself will be tougher at one of the bigs. There is always someone\u2019s nephew that will work there for a year or two to get the foot in the door. \n\nI would network with someone your age at lee and ask them what their thoughts on the market is and who may be hiring. \n\nYou have a license, you are a player with some track record so network and start marketing yourself.", "replies": [{"id": "idlpntq", "text": "Thank you. That\u2019s what I figured. Good place to get more exposure and knowledge at the very least. The retail team here is apparently pretty strong from my understanding. Right now I\u2019m cold calling and canvassing anyways, but I\u2019m sure I\u2019d be taken a lot more seriously with the proper branding behind me. I\u2019ve heard that they\u2019ve had a reputation for screwing people over, but I feel like that may be very location dependent. The market I\u2019m in I wouldn\u2019t necessarily call small, just the city. The industry is booming here. I have a few meetings with people next week so I\u2019ll pick their brain on it. I met with someone from CBRE the other day and they gave me a few people to reach out to for potential positions. \n\nAny advice on how to market myself better?", "replies": [{"id": "idlrg3u", "text": "Add people on LinkedIn, look at local groups that brokers are members of, is there a regional mls or is it all costar? Use your company while you have it, what resources are there that you can use? Any templates, branding, oms, brochures, flyers, leases, ect. Take what you can and what works. \n\nFigure out a niche, industrial or office or retail, pick a market, and then start figuring out who the players you need to know, brokers, owners, developers, city leaders, ect", "replies": [{"id": "idlrho6", "text": "\nHello! You have made the mistake of writing \"ect\" instead of \"etc.\"\n\n\"Ect\" is a common misspelling of \"etc,\" an abbreviated form of the Latin phrase \"et cetera.\" Other abbreviated forms are **etc.**, **&amp;c.**, **&amp;c**, and **et cet.** The Latin translates as \"et\" to \"and\" + \"cetera\" to \"the rest;\" a literal translation to \"and the rest\" is the easiest way to remember how to use the phrase. \n\n[Check out the wikipedia entry if you want to learn more.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Et_cetera)\n\n^(I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Comments with a score less than zero will be automatically removed. If I commented on your post and you don't like it, reply with \"!delete\" and I will remove the post, regardless of score. Message me for bug reports.)", "replies": [], "depth": 4}, {"id": "idlsbh1", "text": "Okay, I\u2019ve already been doing all that. As far as niche goes, I\u2019ve tried to focus on industrial but most of my clients are retail tenants and I was kind of forced into a take what you can type type scenario so I\u2019ve done retail, industrial, land, and a small MF deal", "replies": [{"id": "idltu5a", "text": "Industrial is my fav of the bunch. So see if there is a naiop or sior chapter, those brokers will be the top ones in your market. \n\nThe hardest part is getting people to take you seriously, and the ideal spot is landlord rep. You put your sign on the building and wait for the phone to ring. That guy has all the relationships and has worked those buildings for decades. \n\nThe small box brokers are mostly property managers lite , putting people into 2k units and dealing with a million annoyances. \n\nThe tenant rep brokers are mostly missing from industrial, and that is walking buildings, meeting with owners and beating up landlords. \n\nIf you cannot get traction on the landlord side, work the tenant side. You grow with you clients and you are their guy. You understand the pain points of their business and can help move them into a space with an eye on future needs. \n\nAnd they don\u2019t pay anything, you get a cut of the landlord rep fees, and everyone will try to screw you out of those. \n\nSo get your title guy to pull up a list of all the small industrial parks, see which ones are being leased by the owner, and see if you can make introductions to be their guy who handles all the sign calls and bullshit they don\u2019t want to do. \n\nIf you have a few listings it is easier to jump to cbre or the big companies.", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "idlokqi", "text": "It\u2019s very rare that a broker from a residential firm is taken seriously by our side of the business. Unfair but true. Starts you at a disadvantage. Like having an AOL email address", "replies": [{"id": "idloqzi", "text": "Yup, that\u2019s what everyone has told me. So I\u2019m guessing that your vote is to go with M&amp;M just to get my foot in the door", "replies": [{"id": "idmerdy", "text": "They are gladiator academy. You will cold call and will follow the program. If you can survive a year with them, you will be on your way. Only negative , you are pigeonholed into investment sales only. \n\nNot often do MM brokers do anything else in the industry", "replies": [{"id": "idmkp1u", "text": "So if I wanted to do something else other than investment sales, what would be the best route to take in my situation", "replies": [{"id": "idmqyat", "text": "Franklin Street, SRS, one of these firms that have  investment sales but also other disciplines as well.", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "idlyc17", "text": "Somewhat related (and hilarious)- my biggest client has (as a backup) an aol email.", "replies": [{"id": "idmcvz8", "text": "I have bought a few deals recently where the seller attorneys had these AOL emails. Old school all the way. Would probably prefer a fax to email", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "idndesj", "text": "@AOL \nPfft, just pretend you\u2019re 80 years old. Free pass.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "idpojuo", "text": "It is kinda fair because every time a broker at a residential brokerage is on the other side of the deal it's soooo painful. Sorry OP", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "idm2m5q", "text": "If you can really grind and survive 6+ months without any income, MM's training program is pretty good and it is an effective way to get your foot in the door into the commercial world. Be prepared to build a huge database and make 50+ calls/day to landlords who will likely just want to hang up on you. But if you have that drive and hustle, it's proven to be an effective program for many.", "replies": [{"id": "idm4p9d", "text": "I have a fairly large database already that I would bring over (250+ properties) and cold calling sucks but it\u2019s not an issue. Thanks for the input!", "replies": [{"id": "idm4y0f", "text": "They\u2019ll assign you to an asset class and market / sun market and you\u2019ll probably have to building up a database of 5,000+ landlords", "replies": [{"id": "idm7jo4", "text": "Oh wow. Well you got to do what you got to do to make it in this business", "replies": [{"id": "idmqt3c", "text": "this isnt necessarily true for every office. one i am familiar with had you run your on stock and velocity reports, market reports, interview seniors, and chose your market/product type while in training.", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "idmwp5q", "text": "Socal?", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "idn217t", "text": "Take the millichap deal.  I do appraisals of their sales and those are some sweet deals.  And a lot of them.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "idnchk1", "text": "Yes", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "idnpy6k", "text": "Get your self an AOL email and become a regular at the country club plus the nursing home", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ido02r3", "text": "Ex MM here... Your experience and money making will have more to do with the team you join vs the firm itself. If you can land at a team\nWhere the leaders care and teach you the ins and outs of the business, that will be fare more valuable than a higher split somewhere else. It really is the best firm for training and taking off.\n\nJust Be prepared to cold call till your ears hurt and put in the work. You control your destiny...", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "idom0iv", "text": "Dude absolutely. M&amp;M has a great reputation in a lot of places. This is your opportunity you\u2019ve been waiting for. If moving to a \u201cbetter\u201d firm is still the goal, then you\u2019ll be able to show that you survived at MM. Chances are, you can join a great existing team and make great money. Take this opportunity and get experience, then the sky is the limit", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]