New To Commercial Real Estate

[Max Bates]

Hi there!

My name is Max, I'm 20 years old and have recently started working with a commercial real estate agency in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. I work closely with one agent in particular who has been involved in CRE for over 20 years and has given me a chance to learn about the business under his wing.

I have been interested in real estate in general since I was 18, however I mainly focused on studying rentals and wholesaling on the residential side of things. Now that I am working directly with commercial real estate, I am discovering there are lots of differences between the 2 and feel a little less confident than I was originally going into the job. Does anyone have any tips or advice about how to pay down the tax of ignorance as quickly as possible to accelerate the learning curve, while also showing my mentor and the agency that it is worth their time and energy to keep me around? I just want to provide as much value as I can so that I can continue to learn.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! And if there are any other fellow Haligonians in the BP forum, I would love to connect!

Thannks!

 

[Joshua Michael Hauman]

Hey @Max Bates!

The tax of ignorance is paid down by time and experience. What has made me an asset in the eyes of my mentors and previous employers are my initiative, commitment, skill development and coachability. Its really hard to argue that someone isn't worth the time an energy if they are doing the following:

Take initiative: Don't wait for your mentor to give you tasks or assignments. Instead, be proactive and look for ways to contribute. You can do this by volunteering for projects or suggesting new ideas. Listen to what they complain about or where the problems exist then do research or bring those struggles to the BP community for feedback and alternate solutions.

Show commitment: Demonstrate your dedication to your mentor and the work you are doing together. Show up on time, meet deadlines, and be reliable. This will show your mentor that they can depend on you. Loyalty is hard to come by and holds its weight with high value individuals. 

Be receptive to feedback: Your mentor is there to guide you and help you grow, so be open to feedback and willing to learn from your mistakes. Take their suggestions seriously and apply them to your work. Its served me well to do a task I'm unsure about to the best of my ability and then ask my mentor or my boss what they thought of my performance on a scale of 1 to 10 and what can I do differently in the future to make it a 10. 

Develop your skills: Identify areas where you could improve your skills and seek out opportunities to do so. This could involve taking classes, attending workshops or conferences, or practicing on your own. Even though I had several bosses and multiple mentors I still spent tens of thousands of dollars getting coaching for areas I felt weren't up to par as well as acquiring specific skills that would make me more valuable if I had them.