Looking for Advice – 100% Commission Role at Boutique Mortgage Brokerage (Building New Commercial Division)
Hey everyone,
Would appreciate any thoughts on a role I’m considering — especially from anyone who's been on the mortgage brokerage or debt placement side.
I’ve been offered an opportunity to help build a commercial mortgage division from scratch at a small boutique firm in a HCOL market. The company has been around for 30+ years, run by a founder who specializes in working with foreign nationals purchasing U.S. residential real estate (in HCOL with a lot of foreign investors). The current setup includes ~5 MLOs on the mortgage side and ~9 residential brokers. The founder is licensed in nearly every state.
He wants to expand into commercial debt, and I’d be helping him start this division from zero — building the entire operation from the ground up. His vision is to carve out a niche by helping foreign nationals obtain financing for commercial real estate purchases in the U.S., and he already has a few connections with agencies abroad. My role would involve working closely with him to identify a specific product focus (e.g., small stabilized multifamily, industrial, strip centers, etc.), tap into his local bank relationships, and source new lenders as we go.
He also plans to offer strong referral fees to brokers to help us build deal flow until we gain traction. There's no investment sales piece — this is strictly debt-side, so no deals would come from an in-house sales team.
Most deals will likely be in the $1M–$5M range, focused on small-balance commercial loans in the South Florida market. Comp is 100% commission, 50/50 split initially, with the potential to move to a 70% cap after one year as a team lead.
My Background:
- NYU real estate finance degree
- Experience underwriting $100M+ CMBS/SASB loans at a consulting firm in NYC (clients were bulge bracket banks)
- Strong on underwriting, packaging, and presentation — areas where this firm badly needs help
What draws me to this is the entrepreneurial upside. I’m not chasing prestige. I want:
- Long-term income potential (at least $250K a year)
- Career independence
- Flexibility (vs. endless ladder climbing at bigger firms)
My Question:
Given the market right now, does this kind of setup actually have potential? Or is this too risky for where we are economically?
Would really appreciate input from anyone with mortgage brokerage/debt placement or entrepreneurial experience in CRE.
Thanks in advance.
I took a gamble on a similar role recently and my biggest takeaways are that your firm plays a big role in your ability to do business if their processes/ pricing sucks it will hurt your ability to get deals.
With no existing book or large pool of personal connections it can be hard to start a book from scratch. If you’re okay with grinding it out and pounding the pavement the job may be good but I doubt it will be a pay increase for the first while.
is it just me or does it seem like a lot of risk for a comp ($250K) that is not that much. I mean there are jobs in CRE (it's one of those if you know you know kinda things) where you can coast, have a good work-life balance and still get to $250K+ comp (base plus bonus). If your comp being an entrepreneur is say $500K+, then the risk is worth it, but at 250K or even 300K, I am not seeing the benefit because even at the jobs I mentioned, you get a lot of freedom and flexiblity, that's why you see lots of lifers in those roles.
Sounds low to me too. By the time he grinds it out to $250k he'd likely be making $200-300k with PTO, benefits, and no real responsibility.
can you elaborate on the "I mean there are jobs in CRE (it's one of those if you know you know kinda things" part? Would love to know the roles you're talking about.
Have a great day!
Bro is gatekeeping on an anonymous internet finance forum
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