S Corp Rules for Fee-Development Co. - Is a broker's license req?

[Matthew Miller]

All, I'm starting a fee-development company for commercial properties.  We'll act as third party consultants and manage build-to-suit projects for our clients...  The plan is to coordinate only with Real Estate Brokers to find, secure, and close on properties on our clients' behalf; the brokers will contract directly with our clients, not us.  We'll be compensated by taking a percentage on the total development cost.  And perhaps, we'll try to take a finder's fee from our clients' broker for setting up the deal.

For questions are as follows:

We were told (by a qualified developer) we must file as a S-Corp, not an LLC in California. Is this true?

Are we required to be Brokers to perform such work as a third party, or have someone in our organization with a broker's license?  If so, does that person need to be an owner or member or employee?

Thanks so much for your feedback!

Matthew