Becoming a Commercial RE Agent

[Lilian Chen]

Hi everyone, I juat graduated from college and currently have a full time job in commercial real estate fInance. I am trying to save up for a down payment and am thinking of becoming an agent on weekends. I felt that my quantitative background can give me a great advantage because I probably spend more time on excel analysing and building models than most agents out there. From my full time job, I’m also staying on top of developments in the neighborhood, since I live where my company is at and invests in. However, the two biggest worries is that I simply may not have enough time for being an agent. I usually get off work 7-7:30 PM, which is probably too late for any showings or prospecting. The other issue is I simply don’t have a car, and am hesitant to get one because it’s a big cost even if I get an old car. My questions are: 1. How can I become a commercial agent, and how is it different from becoming a residential agent? 2. Do I even have enough time to do this well - being responsible, making calls outside of work, etc. I don’t want to do this half heartedly. 3. Do I need a car, or could I possibly bike? Thank you so much in advance!

[Christopher Phillips]

@Lilian Chen

Interesting question. 

Here are some thoughts...

Commercial is a little different form residential. You're not showing properties all hours of the day. So, you can manage around your schedule.

Most of what you'll be doing is building relationships. It will also depend on if you do residential commercial like apartment buildings vs. retail space (warehouses, plazas, gas stations). Most people tend to specialize. I know a few people that only do gas stations. 

Most people do not start in commercial. It can take a long time to get your first sale if you don't know someone personally that is looking to do business right away.

You can still sell houses as well. Every person that is looking to buy or sell commercial property is usually doing something with their personal property as well.

I'll give an example of how it can work. I know an agent that started and had a friend that wanted to sell his bar. So, that was his first listing. It sold pretty quickly.

So, make friends with business owners. Or start ups looking to lease space or buy.

Other ways to do it, shop and eat in the same places. Make friendly with the owners. "How's business?" Let them know if you can ever help them in anyway. If they are looking to sell or looking to expand, you'll be the go-to person.

Listings also expire. So, you can call expired listings and see if they still want to sell.

Sometimes, owners will go the for sale by owner route. You can call them too.

Longer play, some national companies are always on the lookout for space. They usually have website pages dedicated to what they are looking for and how to submit potential property locations. As an example, Starbucks and 7 Eleven like very particular types of spaces. So, if you spot something, you can submit that to their corporate real estate department.