The Power of a Commercial Real Estate License
Specializes in providing actionable insights into the commercial real estate space for investors, brokers, lessors, and lessees. He covers quarterly market data reports, investment strategies, how-to guides, and top-down perspectives on market movements.
What does professional power look like? This year, that’s a question that we think everyone has to answer. Things are changing rapidly, and technology is truly taking no prisoners. There isn’t a single industry that isn’t changing on some level due to technology. Now, we’ve covered the bare bones of getting your commercial real estate license before, but we wanted to make sure that we really set you up for success.
New Year, New You? Sure, why not? Let’s start the year out with some positive mental attitude, as W. Clement Stone used to say.
Good Agents, Great Agents
When you become a real estate agent, you’re throwing yourself into a huge ocean filled with other agents. Truthfully, most new agents flounder their first year because there’s not enough said about what turns a good agent into a great one.
But the industry knows what a great agent looks like because their impact makes waves. It’s characteristics like:
- Excellent follow-up: they know how to keep up with a wide range of people in the CRE ecosystem, including the title company, inspectors, appraisers, and other entities.
- Strong negotiation skills: First offer a little flaky? Concessions growing without getting any closer to a deal? Skilled agents get it done not with the gift of gab but the gift of precision.
- Determination: great agents go to any and all legal and ethical lengths to get the job done, focusing on efficiency and working the process properly.
- Immense subject matter expertise: an agent well-known for office buildings gained that reputation from understanding their quirks inside and out. If you can specialize, the phone never stops ringing.
- Growth mindset: the best agents don’t rest on their laurels; they go out and learn even more to continue sharpening the proverbial sword.
When you’re working with a top-tier professional, it shows through how seamless the working relationship becomes. Being able to perceive needs and execute without direction are two skills worth their weight in gold. They are also part of strong leadership; agents that can lead their clients and serve their best interests are the cream of the crop.
Cultivating Stronger Networks with Helpfulness
Have you ever been to a professional meeting? You know the type: snacks in the middle of the table, business cards exchanged, and a lot of pitches. Unfortunately, sitting in a room with other professionals that are also more focused on sharing their info than sharing value isn’t going to take your real estate career very far.
Since we write about commercial real estate, that’s where we suggest specializing. Immerse yourself into CRE to the point where you’re knowledgeable. After all, the chances are good that while all of your colleagues know someone in real estate, they probably don’t know anyone who specializes in commercial properties.
Speak Up!
How do you start providing value? Presenting insights based on your own research tends to get attention quickly. These days, data analytics is red hot. Getting your hands on consistent data, reading commercial real state news, and analyzing trends on your own terms will attract people that naturally want to know more.
So you unlock immense professional power through not just the commercial real estate license but becoming a subject matter expert that’s more than happy to share what they’ve learned. If you bought a few properties, then you can apply some of what you’ve experienced personally into your presentations.
People like to learn from others that have done things they haven’t tried yet. Even if you think that you do not have enough experience to speak, remember that everybody starts somewhere. A new agent that’s passionate about the subject is far more interesting than yet another icebreaker or some other party game that doesn’t really feel authentic.
Take Ongoing Education Seriously
We can’t drive the point home any harder than this: continuing education is your friend, not your enemy. The state-required CE is one thing, but that shouldn’t be where the classroom stops as far as your real career is concerned.
You should be reaching out to other people in the greater real estate community, both online and offline. There are plenty of Facebook groups devoted to real estate investing as well as discussions around commercial real estate. Don’t just stop at Facebook either: get on Twitter and participate in the conversation.
Giving your opinions and supporting other professionals helps new connections bloom. Everyone wants to feel heard and valued; letting other people into the conversation makes them want to also be helpful.
Your potential deals can come from places you have not thought of. Let’s say that you get into a Twitter discussion with people that aren’t living in your state. Bummer, right? Since you aren’t licensed anywhere else, you’re limited to doing business in your state. However, we never know the strength of other people’s networks until they open doors for us.
Someone getting interested in what you have to say may have people that are in your area. This means that when they make an introduction on your behalf, the other party is much more receptive to what you have to say because they know someone they trust also trusts you.
Above All, Trust Yourself
Jumping into the world of commercial real estate as an agent means that you’re taking a risk. Sure, it’s a risk that we believe in and support, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t scary. The same advice we would give to any other business owner applies here as well: if you’re working on commission, you need to be able to handle your day-to-day living expenses without stress.
Before you decide to become an agent, make sure that you are working the numbers of your personal budget. An emergency fund, even if you have other sources of income, is very helpful as you start your agent’s journey.
Remember, that’s exactly what this is: a journey. You’re going to make mistakes. Document your steps and reflect on what you can do differently. Leverage your brokerage for the knowledge they have: that’s the whole point of the brokerage system. You don’t have to go completely alone. Your broker has plenty of experience and can help guide your journey.
Trust yourself. The benefits are better than you could ever imagine.
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