Personality wise, what's the difference between a broker and a developer?

I've seen some topics around the forum of people identifying other individuals as fit to be a broker or a developer so it got me wondering. What is the difference in personality between a broker and a developer? Shouldn't they be the same?

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Best Response

That's like asking what's the difference between Steve Jobs and the used car salesman in the town you grew up in.

I kid, I kid.

There is of course tons of overlap - both work in real estate after all and are involved in deals - and there are of course exceptions to every gross generalization, but in general developers are managers and brokers are salesmen. That's the main difference.

A broker is a third party person. They get paid on deals so they chase deals. Whether they're leasing or selling, their job is entirely deal-focused and they're expected to know everyone in the market and everything going on in the market. You almost have to be an extrovert to succeed in this, whether you're gregarious and outgoing or not, because your entire life is relationships.

A developer is the owner, the man, the person putting their reputation and net worth on the line in hopes of a massive windfall via the promote. A developer chases deals on some level, but it's maybe 1-5% of their job. They hire a broker to do that. As a developer, you have to have a vision, hire the people (architects, contractors, designers, etc.) to execute that vision, and deliver on that vision somehow on time and on budget. Developers vary more in personality, as there are "rockstar" developers always in the media and boring developers who don't even have a website and both are successful. What they aren't though are chasing every new squirrel that pops up. Developers have to be deliberate, big picture, coordinators. It's not deals, deals, deals, it's my deals.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

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