Career Crossroad CRE Brokerage (looking for advice)

I'm 20 and have been in cre for 2 years working together with a reputable agent sending him leads and maintaining a strong database of property and owner information in turn getting referral fees for closings (he's paying for the software). Going into this relationship he gave me the impression I'd be able to transition into working with his clients to close deals but clearly there's a conflict of interest. Let me add that I have a strong personal relationship with this guy but I feel I've become too valuable to his business for him to give me a straight answer on where I should focus my efforts outside of our partnership.

I feel that I can continue this business model individually on a larger scale (with multiple brokers in other cities in my state) because I have an eye for property and know how to talk on the phone. At the same time I feel I need to take the next step, work the whole process, and close a deal with a buyer but feel unconfident because of my age and lack of experience. Maybe try to join a brokerage as an associate and work my way up?

I'd love some criticism from people deep in the game. Keep on with my current gig and see where it goes, do my own thing, or try to get on a different route? Thanks.

 

Yeah this is a bit of a red flag for me. You are saying you're 20 years old and are 'sending him deals'. Does that mean you are talking to the sellers/owners/tenants, getting the business, and then referring them to this guy? Or are you simply generating reports from the software, filtering them/packaging them and sending them off to him as 'leads'? Two very different things.

"Who am I? I'm the guy that does his job. You must be the other guy."
 

Both, I put together a spreadsheet of owners then cold call to find out who's a seller and who isnt. I then find out where their expectations lie, we submit an loi, and if they accept it my partner works the rest of the deal for his client when its under contract and I get paid a referral fee at closing.

 
Best Response

Got it. That's great experience for your age and I don't mean to belittle it, but the reality is that is not sourcing a deal. My guess is, since you're writing the LOI's (I'm assuming you mean listing agreements) with the senior partner, is that you are essentially calling to say something along the lines of 'hey mr owner, I work with x, and he's done y amount of transactions, and he can do xyz for you if you want to sell.' If that is accurate, then you are trading in on his rep. Think about that just for a minute - you haven't done anything past the initial prospecting. If you were to go out on your own, would you know how to handle the actual marketing process (underwriting, OM packaging, etc.)? How to approach/contact a pool of buyers and how to navigate a bid process? How to read various 3rd party reports (zoning, title, environmental, PCA's, seismic, etc.)? How to handle questions from the buyers and the implications of different requests (deposits, retrades, time extensions, etc.)? There's a reason the burnout/fadeout rate in brokerage is so high. Real estate is an apprenticeship business on both the brokerage and principal side, and unless/until you are completely ready to fly solo, it's very difficult to make it on your own without having a lot of deal reps under your belt. Not saying it can't be done, but just know that going into it if you decide to do so. If it were me, I would stay for a bit longer and learn as much as you can on the actual transaction / execution side. You've already mastered the prospecting side which is a big plus - a lot of people don't do well with that, now you just need to take some time to learn the process.

"Who am I? I'm the guy that does his job. You must be the other guy."
 

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