What's the best path to becoming a CRE broker?
So I finished up an accounting program, was going to get a CPA but I don't want an office job. Bachelors in Econ. I want badly to get into CRE after reading a lot on here. What is the best path to becoming a broker? Small, medium, large I have no real preference. I don't have work experience in comm real estate except personal rehab and flipping of residential with managing contractors, etc. Also the Econ and Accounting background and business internships are viewed favorably.  
  
I'm looking on my school's career website and there are a few CRE stuff but they all seem slightly different. Some seem very shady and have bad reviews on glassdoor like finding distressed property, etc.  
  
1) There's a pretty big and upscale CRE firm here in LA. They're looking for a summer intern in acquisitions. If they like you, it can lead to a FT acquisitions analyst position. I have no idea if they want you to be an analyst first before becoming a broker. But judging by their list of brokers (a LOT. like 100+ on their website, some affiliates), doesn't seem the case. Their new dev group seems more "corporate" with the CEO, VP, Directors all working as a team and you would be the 1 or 2 analyst. Would this position lead to a broker position?  
  
2) There is a Keller Williams commercial real estate agent looking for an assistant. They're saying you would do MLS stuff, marketing, drafting, so forth and expected to get your license so you can join their team. Is KW Commercial any good? This particular agent does multi-home and apartments it seems. I know KW has a Commercial department but I can't help but think it has a residential type of feel to it.    
  
3) Some smaller firms are looking for "Commercial real estate associates" or "agents". Talks about making $100k+ but you need to be able to cold call all day, hand out flyers, be ok with rejection, have hunger, etc. Sounds about right lol.  
I guess you would just start as a broker from the get-go but unsure of the training they provide or what is expected really. 100% commission.  
  
I live in Los Angeles, CA. The analyst positions or internships for commercial real estate may be a good opportunity to get my feet wet, but I don't want to get pigeonholed into it. Obviously brokers need analysts and assistants so I think sometimes it's not in their favor for you to move out of that role.  
  
What is the best way to get into the broker path? What are some ways or clues that a newbie can look into to make sure the brokerage firm is going to be a good place to start? I can deal with 1 year of no pay but I'm not getting any younger so hopefully it pays off.  
I just don't want to find out after a year of long hard work that I ended up joining a bad or shady brokerage or didn't consider something like my age/sex/height/race/whatever
[{"id": "cpo7eqc", "text": "I got started doing GIS &amp; market research for a national firm. It was great experience because I worked hand in hand w/ every broker in the company and was able to ask their opinions &amp; motivation behind every deal. Commercial real estate is extremely competitive and you are dealing with some of the smartest professionals in the business landscape. You'll want to find out what sector of the industry you like the best and allow yourself sufficient time to learn every component of the market you'll be working in. IMO the most crucial key is working under a broker that is a rockstar in their field and have them mentor you. Exposure to working big deals is the only true way to understand how commercial real estate transactions are put together.", "replies": [{"id": "cpo7q6z", "text": "Thanks.. It looks like the #1 advice is to find someone who can mentor you. Easier said than done but I'll take that into consideration when I start applying and maybe interviewing at places. ", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "cpod5yn", "text": "Whats GIS?\n\nWhat firms do you recommend?", "replies": [{"id": "cpool9x", "text": "Geographic Information System.. every County has one. it's an interactive map with layer overlays such as parcel data, owner names, lot descriptions, etc. I would recommend playing around on your local gis. it's a good resource to be aware of ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cpogt6v", "text": "Brokerage covers a lot of things, and I'm not sure what it is about brokerage that you're attracted to.  There's investment sales (probably what you're looking at), tenant rep/leasing and other roles that fall under the brokerage umbrella.\n\nIf you're looking primarily at investment sales, the big key is to hook up with a firm that does a lot of deals.  It's very rare for someone to take the lead from the get-go.  Most grads start off in an analyst position and they move up into an associate and then a VP position.  As you move up, you do less of the analysis and spend more interfacing with your clients and potential buyers.  I wouldn't say you get pigeon-holed; conversely I think the experience you gain early on doing the analysis is critical to moving up later on.\n\nIf you're really serious about this, start networking by going to ULI events or other industry events.  If you can, get your hands on Argus (CRE financial modeling software) and play around with it.  If you're familiar with CRE financials at all, the program should be fairly intuitive.  I'd recommend taking an Argus course but they tend to be very expensive.  If you can get one for cheap, I'd highly recommend it.\n\nRE Alert has a list of rankings of the top brokerages.  When you're young, seeing as much dealflow as you can is the best experience you can get:\n\nhttps://www.realert.com/rankings.pl\n\nFYI, I'm a former CPA (actually I'm technically still a CPA) working in CRE now if you have any relevant questions.\n\nGood luck!", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cppklr1", "text": "It's a tough career to get into. The more brokers there are the less deals each broker gets. That's what each broker/manager is thinking.\n\nWith that being said it is always going to help to know somebody. Both times I got a job (I'm still relatively new in the industry) I knew somebody. The first person I knew because I decided to intern for the guy's congressional campaign. I knew that he was pretty well known in the commercial real estate industry and that I would probably easily get an intern position because I had a political science degree from the best University in the city. He sent a letter of recommendation to about 5 different brokerages and the next day I got a call from the best in the industry. He gave me a mock interview which was probably the most important thing. When I was asked why I wanted to be in CRE I would just say my dad was in sales and that my mom sells new homes. He told me that there is only one answer the manager is looking for: To make a lot of money.\n\nWorking for that company even for the short amount of time I was there helped me out greatly, I got my foot in the door at a company people spend their entire careers trying to get into. The next job I got was because my mom's best friend asked the owner of the company when he was in city hall (where she works).\n\nPersistence is key, I had to interview for over 5 months before I got my first job. They want to make sure you are serious about working there. Also anytime you go to an interview ALWAYS follow up with an email. I didn't think it was that big of a deal until my mom pointed out that most of the older generation of workers want to see follow ups. It works well, and not just for the older brokers. Also if the person you are interviewing with doesn't answer call back in a few days. Sometimes I would have to call back 3 or 4 times. They want to know that you have what it takes to be persistent with your prospecting. In the book Brokers who Dominate, which I suggest you should read, one of the guys says he won't answer a phone call from somebody trying to get a job until they have called 7 times!\n\nOnce you get a job awesome! But the hard part has yet to come, prospecting and finding business is a tough thing to do. I would suggest looking or asking around to find out who the great brokers are and try to work with them. There are very few books that teach what to do so your number one asset when starting out is an experienced broker you can learn from . It also doesn't hurt if they have enough business that they can throw you a bone every once in a while. \n\nAnother thing I did that I think helped a lot was that I tried to get into the business at the right time (well the right time in my mind). It was around 2011 when I started trying to get into the business. Everyone at the time was against Real Estate, I remember telling friends my plan and they would tell me I was crazy, but I knew what would happen when the market turned around again. Sure enough the market is back and now there are a ton of freshly licensed people trying to get in. If you can't get in right now work in a closely related field and wait for the right time.\n\nAlso as you said in your post I would stay away from the researcher position. Talking to other brokers it is very rare for someone to go from researcher to broker in the same company. Most of the time you have to go to a different company if you want to switch to brokerage.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cpsrbu8", "text": "I started as a residential assistant and worked my way up to commercial brokerage. I should have been more humble early on and joined a team. The upside of being more independent is that my commissions went all to me, but came at a slower pace haha. In any event, I learned a lot and hopefully will be picking up my first commercial property soon. ", "replies": [{"id": "cpsrk2w", "text": "Did you find that being a residential assistant helped you make the transition at all? How did you find or know which brokerage to join? Marcus and millichap gave me an interview but from what I'm reading you gotta pay $1000 for a training program and another $2500 comes out of your first commission for mentor fees? but you get paired up with a senior, just need to make sure he/she knows what they're doing. ", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]