NYC - how do I get customers? I'm new to CRE brokerage
Should I cold call businesses asking them if they want to expand? Or should I be out more, talking to business owners (for example, at places I go to when I'm out)? Not sure where to start.

Also, when it comes to listings, should I be looking online (on services such as Exceligent and Loopnet), or is it mostly via connections?

Recent college grad (economics), 24
[{"id": "ditjrnc", "text": "A 24 year old in NYC should have a senior broker to lean on. Get comfortable on the phone. Create value with every call you make by sharing intel on what you're seeing in the market. ", "replies": [{"id": "diuf25v", "text": "This is right, but sharing market knowledge is the toughest part when you are starting out. You may not have the answers to a lot of follow up questions and it's tough to convey that you are a real estate expert they should work with until you have that deeper knowledge base to draw from. Get a good senior broker and get involved in every deal you can. The experience is much much more valuable than what you are getting paid at this point in your career.", "replies": [{"id": "diwz0ku", "text": "This is very true, but the experience you describe isn't only gained by working with the senior broker. The more calls you make, the more you learn about what other buyers and sellers are looking for and seeing in the market. That knowledge is used in calls moving forward. ", "replies": [{"id": "dj42ert", "text": "What should I say when I make calls?", "replies": [{"id": "dj6wm9c", "text": "What is you niche? Office leasing, multifamily sales, industrial site selection? It all depends on what you're trying to accomplish. ", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ditqyt0", "text": "Find a mentor! ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "diu1edh", "text": "All of the above. \n\nThe most successful client relations manager that deals exclusively with brokers at my firm is a 60+ year old guy who is constantly sending out emails, follow up emails and setting up meetings in person. Making small talk about sports or certain state trends is fine. Be active on linkedin. \n\nCostar is the best place for listings, Real Capital Analytics is a great (albeit expensive tool for Company Names that own certain properties). RCA is also great for comparables to see what certain assets in a given area are selling for and with what cap rate, if available. The owner information is correct about 90% of the time in my experience. Reonomy is great for quickly finding LLC names and it is a very cheap option, $25-$30 a month if you don't mind searching google for the LLC names. \n\nLet's see, what else, if you are looking to close a deal that involves one party assuming a CMBS loan, hire 1st Service Solutions to expedite the process and make sure it closes and you get paid (shameless plug, but it would be free to you as long as the buyer and/or seller pays us). \n\nStay up on trends, read the quarterly brokerage reports for your area and property type (or the macro reports if you dont have a property type yet). CBRE, JLL, Cushman &amp; Wakefield, Transwestern and Colliers all produce great, free reports. You are expected to be an expert for rent $/ PSF for different property types in your area, cap rates in your area, etc.\n\nAlso, learning Argus is a valuable tool for modeling out cash flows for your clients. There is no secret formula or super complex formula that people use to create these, they just use market information for TILC's and market rents, 2-3% inflation rates for revenues &amp; expenses, 70-30% Renew/Dont renew probalities, 2-3 months free rent, basic NNN, net or Gross Rent leases etc.\n\nAnyway, also start really utilizing a solid CRM to keep track of people you talked to and take notes on what a given client is interested in so you can build a network of people that you can call on for a given situation.\n\nAnyway, I've only been in CRE for 2 years but I have absorbed an awful lot. There are plenty of \"property fundamentals/CRE Nerds\" but there are also plenty of casual business people that just happen to work in CRE. Its largely a relationship business and in my experience, the majority of your business will come from referrals. \n\nMan, I wrote a lot, anyway, message me if you want to chat about this more.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]