More lucrative: Landlord/Tenant Rep or Investment Sales?
I’m currently a senior in college with aspirations of working in brokerage. I have two offers. One is with a STNL investment sales shop and the other is for a tenant/landlord rep position for a major regional brokerage shop. My question is: what position would be more lucrative long-term and which position would have see a paycheck sooner?
[{"id": "hz2r5le", "text": "Depends on what you want to do.  I would say the Investment Sales will tend to be bigger pops at infrequent times, while the tenant rep will be more consistent CF.  That said, depending on how you're structured you could have consistent CF on the investment sales side, while having inconsistent CF on the tenant rep, but ultimately both sides are lucrative, although if you're really successful at the investment sales side you're looking at greater paydays in the long run.\n\nBut both will provide lucrative pay, provided you're good at it.", "replies": [{"id": "hz3mhz9", "text": "\u261d\ufe0f", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hz2yfj9", "text": "Tenant rep hands down. The best compensated brokers in any product type are those that do large regional and/or national tenant rep deals. Leases always roll, but buildings rarely sell. I know several seasoned brokers in my market that have an annual $1M+ GFI from renewals alone.", "replies": [{"id": "hz3k3tz", "text": "So starting out what kind of compensation could I expect starting out as a tenant/landlord rep?", "replies": [{"id": "hz3md8x", "text": "Probably nothing in your first 12-18 months while you learn the business unless you find a brokerage or a team willing to put you on salary or a draw.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}, {"id": "hz3tseu", "text": "If you go to a nationally branded brokerage, expect a slow climb up the ladder. In that case, you\u2019d be salaried with maybe some small opportunities to source deals. Plenty of regional and local brokerages will let you start calling early into your first year. Every first year at my firm last year took home over $50k from deals they sourced (mainly lease expirations) so the whole YOU WONT MAKE ANYTHING FOR A YEAR line is old and inaccurate. Also not sure what the other guy is talking about. Just about any building in any market across any product type is statistically more likely to transact in a lease rather than a sale. The top top guys in CRE are doing national tenant rep. Period. Would you rather have 30 clients with multiple locations expanding and renewing or do half a dozen big sales a year? That\u2019s reality.", "replies": [{"id": "hz883ai", "text": "I completely disagree with this blanket statement. Clearly, you're a tenant rep broker, lol. You can't make a blanket statement that the top individuals in CRE are tenant rep and not end-user and/or investment building sales. There are too many variables. Additionally, the YOU WON'T MAKE ANYTHING FOR A YEAR line for the most part is not old and is still accurate. \n\nOP- Either way you go has the potential to be lucrative. Just know the first couple of years will be tough but if you put in the work, learn the business, learn the market, prospect your ass off to add value, and develop relationships it will continue to get better. Instead of focussing on what's more lucrative, I would spend time getting to understand the roles and responsibilities of each and decide what's a better fit for you. - Good luck!", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "hz3m34x", "text": "Building rarely sell isn\u2019t an accurate statement and lease renewal checks don\u2019t just roll in. I have clients I\u2019ve sold numerous building to and sold building for. \n\nI don\u2019t believe you can say one is more lucrative than the other. To many other factors at play. OP should research and get an understanding of the roles and responsibilities of each and determine what\u2019s a better fit for him.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "i4w2t8p", "text": "Maybe if you started in the 90s. Pretty much every midsize company has already a good relationship with a tenant rep broker", "replies": [{"id": "i5ewifu", "text": "You said the key word, \u201crelationship\u201d. They don\u2019t happen overnight and they don\u2019t come easy. Plenty of opportunity out there, just have to consistently bring value. The alternative is to not go after it and be fine being mediocre. Most people choose that option.", "replies": [{"id": "i68xk0t", "text": "I\u2019m just saying.. the barriers to entry isn\u2019t high as a tenant rep..I\u2019m saying that as a tenant rep myself", "replies": [{"id": "i69f8vk", "text": "And I\u2019m saying that it\u2019s not just the good ole boys club of the 90\u2019s that have those relationships and that those clients are winnable. The barrier to entry is the ability to consistently bring value over several years. Very few people do that. Those who do are rewarded. Doesn\u2019t matter if you start in the 90\u2019s or 2 years ago.", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hz6k5rv", "text": "I\u2019m also in college looking to go into brokerage. I do have a few questions as next year is my senior year if you don\u2019t mind answering them. Are you going straight into brokerage or working as a analyst first? Did you have family in the industry already? Did you have relevant internships?", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hz7gqnl", "text": "Depends on the deal size", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]