Starting In Commercial Real Estate

[Kendra J.]

For the Commercial Agents, how does a new RE Agent start in commercial properties? Or is it something you do after time in the Residential market?

[Joel Owens]

It's something you have to have a passion for. The deals are much bigger but so is the knowledge required and the stakes to be able to negotiate them and pull them off.

I always get a great sense of accomplishment brokering larger and larger deals and working through problems.

When you get licensed there are really two types of brokerages.

Those that do residential and have a commercial department as an afterthought. These types of brokerages run into mom and pop type businesses, some subdivision development, and listing smaller land parcels.

The other type of brokerages are commercial only and highly specialized. They do those types of transactions day in and day out and nothing else. So you will find for example King Realty here in Georgia focuses on industrial only properties.

Stan Johnson company only triple net. ARA realty advisors only larger apartment buildings etc.

You have to decide as an agent what you want to focus on. As a principal broker and owner I focus on triple net with retail properties and then larger multifamily buildings. If you do not have the connections and are just starting out I recommend working at a commercial only firm versus a place that has a commercial division spinoff.