All Forum Posts by: Evan Rossi

@Michael K Gallagher thank you for the feedback, much appreciated.

I've held my license since 2023, but I only dabbled in joining a residential brokerage (mistake, there were several reasons I did, but hindsight is 20/20). I ending up burning some money for the things you described (NAR membership, brokerage fees, quarterly MLS charges, etc), just a lot of things I found I wasn't getting any value from, I decided to simply put it on full stop and take a year to really reallocate and figure out what I needed to do. That's what leads to now.

Brokerage and development of urgent care centers is definitely interesting. If you don't mind me picking your brain for some generics, what's the general volume and scale of your operation? Are you located in a metro area? And is it something you see yourself sticking with long-term, or do you plan on exploring other asset classes?

Florida, as a top spot for retirees, seems to be heavy with growth in medical office, urgent care, larger scale clinics, and so on. It would be cool to learn about that more, even if your work is in another state.

Although I'm not married to the idea of working with any asset, I've had some interest in industrial space. This led me to having lunch with a warehouse developer not too long ago. He was approximately a million years old (certainly in his 90s) and gave me some insight into how he started primarily as a CPM. Unfortunately, aside from that, it was mostly brag talk about his portfolio, how he was firmly anti-debt, and how much money he had coming to him from his CDs that he was going to use to develop--you would have guessed it--another warehouse.

Trying to get into the nuts and bolts of how he was trying to source a location, project size of preference, what type of financial modeling he does, what kind of tenants he was hoping to attract/the strategy behind it, if he was doing any joint ventures or had done any in the past, if he had taken part in any syndications, what management strategies he was implementing with his current properties to maximize lease uptime and profit, what types of leases he generally favored contracting for his properties--all of that was like pulling teeth. Ultimately I didn't learn too much I didn't already know after taking a few courses and reading a hand-full of books, and with most of people I've met and tried to talk with, it's been a pretty common experience that conversations go a lot like that. 

I think it's generally because I don't have a real estate background or any connections, maybe just because I'm pretty much "nobody." I'm hoping that I can find some professionals in the field that would take me as an apprentice, a helper, a call chaser, but be willing to actually have those conversations with me. Above just the assumption that it'd be far more of a corporate environment, I just don't think that would happen at a larger shop, at least not for quite awhile, and I do think I would generally be more at home with a smaller office of people (smaller being relative to multi-national, or coast-to-coast, I suppose).

Personally speaking, do you find that you're in that type of environment with a boutique brokerage?

I'm a licensed sales person in the state of Florida (located closer to central FL, Space Coast area if you are familiar), with intent to enter the commercial real estate brokerage industry as soon as I can find footing. I know commercial property acquisitions and trades are slow right now for a variety of reasons, definitely making it a harder entry for a no-experience salesperson, and I also have my doubts that many would be interested in my resume when none of it relates to the real estate industry. That said, I do work in a commission-only sales position right now, of which I have no issues with, and have studied on topics of underwriting/modeling, finance, development, among many others. I have much to learn, but I believe I have some solid foundations. It's the industry I want to be in, I see it all as well-worth learning.

Now, I have a few questions for the community here. Probably some you've heard a few times before, so I apologize.

1. How would you identify what commercial brokers are doing consistent business in your market? Ideally, these would be the types of people I would want to work for--the habits, the ambition, the processes, the personalities. I just want competent mentorship in the space, and I believe the first step would be to narrow the selection.

2. How would YOU go about finding an opportunity under those people, if you had no ins or connections? I've contemplated just cold-calling some to ask, and would be my next step after some feedback. I have already met with and spoken with a couple through my current work (both active and recently "retired") that didn't seem all that eager to get into the topic, or interested even offering advice beyond "I wouldn't recommend it." I've heard that one a couple times now. I understand the industry is challenging, especially so when the market makes it hard to pencil a profitable deal.

3. What kind of monthly costs should I be expecting, and what kind of value/tools should I expect to receive for those costs? I've heard many places have desk fees or training cost, and there seem to be tools on the market commonly in use (Crexi, Costar, Buildout, etc), that make commercial real estate information more accessible than it normally would be. That information seems to be very important when doing things like volume prospecting. As I understand it, many brokers provide this software to their sales agents as well. I just want the perspective of a more experienced agent so I know what's real and what's fluff, and don't get my pockets clipped. 

I have additional questions but am running short of time drafting this post. Thank you.

@John Karg, @Henry Clark
I thank you both immensely for the input, and Henry, I definitely wasn't expecting a couple of books to be a comprehensive education into such a large and expansive industry--that would be impossible. Just any resources that someone experienced in the industry might think would be a great pick-up, for any specific topic/process they may have found difficult in the past, and may reference back to in the present. I much appreciate the suggestion of the indexing method and extensive list of topics I should be researching, as well.

There seem to be a LOT of resources, youtube channels, courses, brokerage education, etc. for residential agency, and not even a tenth as many pertaining to commercial brokerage. I've been reading as much as I can on the subject, particularly the commercial investment/sales front as that's the field I would like to enter into, or operate primarily in, but I'm curious as to what self-education sources an ACTUAL commercial broker might suggest to a junior/inexperienced agent looking become a competent CRE sales professional in the future--without having to harvest a kidney in order to pay for it.

Particularly, on the second half of a CRE deal, such as after initial negotiations, after LOI/offer is agreed upon, whenever lawyers may become involved (or not, in some edge cases?) to draft contracts, and then the sometimes months (if not years) long process of "finalizing the deal" and specifically what the broker's role is during this period. Due diligence, leasing/income based contingencies, closing organization, documentation, title groups, broker responsibilities, among other things toward the middle and back end of the transaction.

How, as a commercial broker in the sales side of the industry, can I most effectively EARN the commission I'm asking for? How am I servicing my clients or the transaction here after connecting buyer and seller and getting them on agreement to some baseline price, terms, and contingencies? Am I ever even going to TOUCH a contract in the State of Florida?

Also, any resources for how I can prevent accidentally working myself out of a commission? I've read many times that it's simply included in the LOI terms and clearly established/negotiated with listing agents whenever present... but what if the LOI isn't legally binding? There are a lot of questions I have that I haven't been able to find a clear answer to. Obviously trial by fire is probably the solution, and I'm getting ahead of myself, but I have some pretty bad analytical paralysis. I assume there must be some good resources to answer these questions, right?

I thank you for your patience in the long-winded read. If there's anything a commercial real estate broker or even experienced commercial investor could share on this topic, it would be greatly appreciated.

There seem to be a LOT of resources, youtube channels, courses, brokerage education, etc. for residential agency, and not even a tenth as many pertaining to commercial brokerage. I've been reading as much as I can on the subject, particularly the commercial investment/sales front as that's the field I would like to enter into, or operate primarily in, but I'm curious as to what self-education sources an ACTUAL commercial broker might suggest to a junior/inexperienced agent looking become a competent CRE sales professional in the future, without wanting to harvest a kidney in order to pay for it.

Particularly, on the second half of a CRE deal, such as after initial negotiations, after LOI/offer is agreed upon, whenever lawyers may become involved (or not, in some edge cases?) to draft contracts, and then the sometimes months (if not years) long process of "finalizing the deal" and specifically what the broker's role is during this period. Due diligence, leasing/income based contingencies, closing organization, documentation, title groups, broker responsibilities, among other things toward the middle and back end of the transaction.

How, as a commercial broker in the sales side of the industry, can I most effectively EARN the commission I'm asking for? How am I servicing my clients or the transaction here after connecting buyer and seller and getting them on agreement to some baseline price, terms, and contingencies? Am I ever even going to TOUCH a contract in the State of Florida?

Also, any resources for how I can prevent accidentally working myself out of a commission? I've read many times that it's simply included in the LOI terms and clearly established/negotiated with listing agents whenever present... but what if the LOI isn't legally binding? There are a lot of questions I have that I haven't been able to find a clear answer to. Obviously trial by fire is probably the solution, and I'm getting ahead of myself, but I have some pretty bad analytical paralysis. I assume there must be some good resources to answer these questions, right?

I thank you for your patience in the long-winded read. If there's anything a commercial real estate broker or even experienced commercial investor could share on this topic, it would be greatly appreciated.

Looking to find out if anyone has some good, reliable title companies they'd like to refer some future business. I want to get into wholesaling, primarily on the east coast of Florida (West Palm up towards Titusville), so if anyone has some suggestions for some title companies they like that can service those areas in a wholesaler friendly capacity (assignments, double-closings), it would be much appreciated!