It’s hard to believe that I’ve been a commercial real estate broker for close to a year now. I’m shocked at both how fast it’s gone by and how long it feels like it’s been.
In this first year, I’ve realized this is an incredibly rewarding and challenging job. At it’s core, brokerage is about serving people. In this first year of work, I’ve had the privilege to work with a litany of great clients.
Each deal was different and the goals of each client were unique, but the common thread is that they each decided to take a risk and as a result they created value for themselves and their community. To have even played a small part supporting these impactful projects makes going to work every day a genuine pleasure.
To name a few, this year I’ve had the privilege of working with the following clients:
- A husband and wife opening two franchises around the metro Birmingham area, both growing a family-owned enterprise and creating jobs in a great environment.
- A partnership of minority-investors who purchased a retail investment sale at a competitive cap rate that brought geographic diversity to their growing portfolio.
- Three different small businesses branching out from subletting space to signing a lease for their own retail space for the first time.
- Two local businesses who were under-utilizing space that they owned. We sold those buildings at competitive prices and the owners were then able to redeploy those funds through a 1031 exchange.
I wish I could go into detail about each client, but my point is this – commercial real estate can change lives when service of others is the focus.
I also thought it might be fitting to include three top lessons I learned and three mistakes I made this year. For those just starting or thinking of jumping into brokerage, I hope these will be informative. For veterans in the business, maybe they’ll serve as a reminder. And for those who aren’t in this industry, hopefully it will give insight into your business and life all the same.
Three Top Lessons from Year One:
- Make the Call – You never know when you are going to talk to the right person on the right day. There are a lot of things you can’t control in this business, but talking to people is one thing you absolutely can.
- Above all else, serve the client’s needs – A few months ago I witnessed a fellow broker lose a potential listing because it was not in the owner’s best interest to sell at this point. The broker communicated that to the owner and I saw how that honest interaction built the owner’s trust in this broker because they could sense that their interests were being put first.
- Operate with integrity – We are all susceptible to doing what is easy or self-serving over what it right – it’s human nature. I’m still learning a lot, but I am confident that no amount of success or expediency is worth hurting someone else or ruining your own reputation.
And Three Mistakes:
- Not making the call… The flip side of the coin. Some of the hardest lessons came in seeing an owner list a building that I made the conscious choice not to call on for one reason or another.
- Have the hard conversation, do what’s right, right now – I’ve had to learn the hard way on this one. It’s difficult to have tough conversations in the moment, but the damage only grows the longer you put it off.
- Choosing what’s comfortable over the hard thing that will grow the business – I previously mentioned this job is challenging. There is no short-cut to becoming a better broker, as great as that would be. Some of the best advice I’ve received is to “become comfortable being uncomfortable.”
All in all, it’s a joy to come to work every day. I’m thankful for mentors who’ve been patient generous in teaching me. Shannon Waltchack values developing young, inexperienced brokers and gave me a chance to do this for a living, to serve clients who’ve put their trust and confidence in me.
I’m also incredibly grateful for a wife that has been the most supportive partner I could have asked for. Not only did she not laugh at me when I said I wanted to pursue a job with no consistent paycheck, but she made sacrifices to help me get there and makes me a better broker day in and day out.
Year 1 was a great year and I’m eager to see what happens in Year 2.
