Tenant Rep - Most important Aspect in Selecting a Firm
When choosing between a few shops ... what would you say is the most important thing to consider as a newbie broker? Furthermore, what sort of team split is "acceptable" when dealing with a rockstar team? Should one sacrifice % for the experience/mentoring? Assume major market and any thoughts on "boutique" shops would be appreciated as well.
I know it's a laundry list of subjective questions, but just trying to gather as much info as possible prior to selecting.
The most important aspect will be the senior broker(s) that you will be working with. The broker(s) will be the ones who mentor you and teach you everything. If you don't have a senior who will work with you and be willing to answer questions / coach you on the art of the cold call, you will have a difficult time. Splits on the team need to be large enough for you to actually make money. It depends on rents in your market. I would say you should probably get around 15%-30% to start. 30% is probably on the high end though and will only happen if your seniors are generous.
Also, I think it would be smarter to work on a team in which there is a VP level person. If it is you (the young guy) and a senior broker, the senior broker may not want to take as much time to work with you and probably hasn't been at your level in a long time. It would be smart to come onto a team that is at least a senior and a VP. Therefore, there is always the middle guy who will be a guiding person for you and be more accessible than the senior broker to answer all your questions.
Just be mindful of culture. Make sure you put yourself in a team environment and not one where everyone is 100% out for themselves. As in, there are some senior brokers who are known to screw over juniors because money is money. Granted, this happens in every industry, but just make sure you find yourself in a good culture.
The two most important things are culture and team work. The money will come in a few years if you have people who will teach you the business.
Someone once told me that in brokerage, you take what you can grab. Some brokers truly think like that and just be mindful that it is a world of sharks.
Thanks pudding ... that hit a lot of what I was hoping for.
To follow-up on that, assuming both are small team setups, would you say deal size or culture is more important?
Larger deals are better because it is more money per deal, but if one team is doing 2 deals a year for 50,000 sq ft and the other is doing 10 deals a year for 5,000 sq ft, you will learn more doing more deals. With that said, it is good to learn how to 'kill' the larger deals. However, this is also a volume business, so having a pipeline of little deals means more paychecks and you aren't reliant on one deal to close. Sorry if that was a ramble, but it depends on your personality in regards to that aspect. Also, for larger deals, they are usually more complicated, so it will be harder for you to get a larger piece of the commission at the beginning. With that said, if you were to join the team which is doing larger deals, within a year or two you could be working on your senior broker's larger deals and trying to kill your own small deals to supplement your income.
But...to answer your question, I would argue culture is more important. You are the CEO of your business in brokerage. You determine how much you work and if you want to try to make more money this year. I would argue culture is the most important because a good culture will hopefully lead to good mentoring. And good mentoring will lead to learning the business which will lead to more money. A bad culture can be very hard to get out of, especially if you are on a draw and your senior broker won't allow you to work with others in the office.
With that said, if the team that you are speaking of has a terrible culture, but is going after and winning the largest deals in your metro, go with that team. You will learn how to kill the largest deals. But...be warned burnout may come quick if the team members have sharp personalities and don't care about you. But if you work on some of the largest deals and can get 'in' with the top producer and figure out how to make it so he needs you and that you are invaluable to him, you can make a large amount of money.
In the end, it is really up to you what matters most.
Brand. If you can get in to a CBRE/JLL/HFF/Colliers/whatever is big in your specific market then don't pass it up for some shit company to work under a guy you like. They get the best deals and you'll actually have exit ops if you end up hating brokerage.
I worked in a place that stressed "culture" and how "team oriented" and "nice" everyone was. They still managed to fuck me out of a deal when the dollar signs got big enough. Thankfully the name was big enough for me to leave and never look back.
The non-national brand name is far from a shit company. They are very reputable and land just as big of deals, just not known nationally. Maybe deal flow isn't quite as large, but certainly not shit and much better splits. I honestly don't have concerns of being f'ed over at that shop and great ppl/team.
At the [national] brand name shop, it's the all-star team, just afraid that splits will always keep me in the slums even though they are pulling in large deals. The cutthroat aspect doesn't scare me and I like the ppl as well, just a small part of me is concerned that I'm being brought in to make them money and my future isn't of importance. Obviously money is the game, but obviously I want to get rich myself.
I wasn't responding to anything other than "what is the most important thing to consider as a newbie." Didn't know there was an actual choice here.
Mr. Cheese there has the right answer for that situation.
Can you LinkedIn anyone who has ever worked with either team before? Maybe that will help you decide.
I think part of it comes down to what your longer term plans are. If you are considering b-school, or one day want to move to REPE/AM, then the exit ops are going to be better at the big name firm. And really, if you are using them as a gateway anyways, then it is fine that they are using you, because you are using them (if you get nothing else out of it).
If you think you will always be in brokerage, then I would argue that the senior you work for is more important. You are your business, not your flag. You see things like "x person just left y firm to join z firm" as a press release. That person's clients didn't stay with y firm, they went with the person.
I would pick the broker you admire/like the most, has a business you want to emulate, and you understand/connect with the most (at either brokerage). Is one a 50 year old that reminds you of your favorite uncle or a family friend? Does someone on the team just piss you off? Are they all very preppy/frat boy, but you aren't, or Visa versa?
As for the split %: there really is nothing that says you can't renegotiate this as time goes on. It is your job to convince them you are worth the raise. If you are good and are bringing in business, it should be pretty simple.
You are your business, not your flag. You see things like "x person just left y firm to join z firm" as a press release. That person's clients didn't stay with y firm, they went with the person.[/quote]
I will say that this is far from a guarantee, and some places might not even let you take your clients. Most of the time, if not all of the time, your client is going to be a client of the firm with you as the point man. Obviously if the client really prefers you and you move, the client can switch, but I'd caution against assuming this.
True, it will be a mixed bag - not all clients are going to pick up their business and leave with you. However, I do believe that generally speaking, if you have built good relationships, it will work out in your favor.
I am in a major market (SF), we don't do much leasing. However, I say I put in about 50-55 hours a week in. Haven't worn a tie once, and rarely have to wear a sportcoat.
sf.cre thanks as well. Any chance you know if your industry is likely in line with office? Do you ever work weekends?
I've yet to "work" a weekend, we show our sites during the week. I'm sure it will happen occasionally down the road. My broker focuses on investment sales, mainly multifamily, retail storefronts and smaller offices. He doesn't like having a big team so it's just the two of us. So there is computer work that gets done on he weekend. Sounds like on a firm your size you shouldn't have to do too much weekend work. You will be going all over the place showing office space and presenting to clients. This could fall on a weekend here or there.
Tenant rep in office can be very profitable. I know guys that do the leases down in the financial/downtown areas make a killing. They've been getting 1 or 2 deals a year that have over a million in commission.
I WANT THAT ... all jokes aside, I will be screwed if I don't kill it with this group.
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