What makes a top broker?
Would be nice if we could get a book written by a Spies/Harmon/Jordy/Dustin type character but we'll have to wait.However, what are some bits of advice from successful brokers on what things have attributed to their success and also mistakes made along the way?Further, what do you think separates an all star broker in any given market and the likes of the top dogs (Spies, Harmon)?
Being a cunt.
“Brokers provide no value” is the take insecure REPE guys have when they learn that somehow a sales pro makes more than them.
None of which actually points to any value a broker provides. Every function an investment sales broker provides could be obviated with a MLS. I'm sure some 19 year old made a ton of money because they invested in a meme coin; earnings =/= value.
And yes, I am sure that Aaron Jungreis makes more than me, for example - but he's also sitting at the top of a literal pyramid, so that isn't surprising; he's a business owner and not a broker at this point. As for the rest... I'm not in REPE and I make more than enough to feel secure in my earning power. And I'll say again, brokers provide no value.
Brokers are not fiduciaries. If you meet a counterparty who isn't repping to what they're telling you/selling you, you can conclude fairly easily that they aren't actually doing anything. That is in life as well as real estate - if you've got no skin in the game and refuse to put any in, then you occupy a role that can be done away with without losing, well... anything. If every IS broker on the planet quit tomorrow and an MLS took their place, nothing would change.
I perhaps have a very biased view since I grew up in capital markets brokerage (on the buy-side now FWIW) having worked for multiple teams at the big firms on both coasts in major markets. Have also worked on pitches and deal execution in Europe in joint-coordination with overseas colleagues and teams.
This has given me a unique vantage point which has allowed me varying degrees of direct access to the inner workings or “best practices” of some of top brokers at CW, CBRE, HFF, Newmark, and Eastdil (eg. Stacom, Harmon/Spies, Shannon, Longo, Borzi/Silk etc.) via deal staffings, mentorship, and personal relationships with colleagues who worked at said firms.
I generally think of brokerage or advisory assignments falling into two different categories: (1) Pricing exercises (2) Complex “special situations” and as such…. are two types of corresponding brokers profiles who add value: (1) Project Managers (2) Problem Solvers
IMO the big name brokers I referenced above merely run “pricing exercises” at a high volume (think 50-100 deals a year) and their teams are set up to project manage and organize an efficient market-making process. This is brain dead work where they rinse and repeat the process for each deal over and over. They don’t have the capacity to work through complicated situations at scale where the senior partners can give dedicated attention to each deal. It’s impossible.
The amount of inventory they control in the market gives them good intel on pricing, active buyers / capital sources, and most importantly leverage to make people step up and pay or give strong terms for certainty of execution. They run a quid pro quo game.
Surprisingly, the most valuable brokers I have met work at small boutiques and deal in large complex transactions that require a deep-level of focus from senior partners, analytical expertise and structural or financial creativity. At these firms, you’re paying for strategic advice from a senior problem solver who is engineering a solution for you and getting the market to buy into deal under the proposed structure. These guys are analytically rigorous and go deep on the numbers/market data and make huge fees. People generally don’t feel as bad when paying these guys in my experience.
Also FWIW: We all shit on brokers and say they aren’t worth paying to run a process, yet every single buy-side professional would rather buy an off-market deal than a deal marketed via an institutionally managed bid process. That tells us everything we want to know.