Broker Compensation

Regarding compensation, it’s all over the map. For the majority of brokerages, minus a few such as Eastdil Secured, it’s 100% commission. You really can’t give an average. With that said, if you are familiar with the titles at each firm, and what gross commissions go with those titles, you can take a guesstimate of what that producer makes. For instance, if you know that to reach Executive Vice President at CBRE in Manhattan, a producer must have a minimum average gross commission income of $1.8MM over five years, you can guesstimate what they net. He advised, the range to the next level might be $4MM dollars. So your net figure could be off by a large factor. But it’s a good minimum starting point. 

Regarding question 2. Sure, you see if happen. But it is personality dependent. The two part answer: 1) Acquisitions and brokerage are similar but different. Both are sales roles. But in acquisitions, you also have the analysis aspect many people enjoy. You have internal selling. You can pass on bad deals. In brokerage, you don’t care as much about analysis. It’s all business development. Build a team to do the analysis and execution so you can go find more clients and make more money. 2) It’s really hard when you’re senior level to pick up and move to a full commission job. Sure, you could make a lot more money. But you’re leaving a salary + bonus + healthcare + 401 K and other benefits for full commission. And you probably have a family at that point and need a lot of your salary to live off of. Although people do it at all stages, it’s easiest to become a broker when your income needs are lower as you will hopefully reach what you need sooner. Remember, brokers usually make good money (subjective), but there is survivorship bias. No one hears of a struggling broker because they don’t last.