What’s a Typical Day in the Life of a Commercial Real Estate Agent?
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.
Commercial real estate provides a world of fulfilling careers that can reward motivated and independent individuals, and being a commercial real estate agent is no exception.
If you’re thinking about a career in commercial real estate, you might wonder what a typical workday looks like. While it varies from agent to agent, it tends to be a mix of fielding meetings and contacting clients before moving on to visiting properties and performing research in the afternoons and evenings
So, with that in mind, here’s our take on how the typical day goes in the life of a commercial real estate agent.
Commercial Real Estate Agent Duties
Daily duties for a commercial real estate agent are a mixture of administrative, communication, and marketing tasks. Brokerages might split these duties between agents and other professionals involved in the firm.
- Scheduling meetings;
- Answering/making emails and phone calls to clients;
- Submitting real estate offers;
- Finding lucrative properties;
- Researching markets and generating trend predictions;
- Visiting and showing properties;
- Managing databases of real estate information;
- Finding and following up with leads;
- Inspecting and managing properties; and
- Negotiating with clients over contracts.
You might not be performing all of these tasks every day. For example, most agents won’t have properties to show every day. Also, being an agent gives you a lot of flexibility during the workday, so it’s up to you to figure out how to best allot your time.
A Typical Day for a Commercial Real Estate Agent
The open-ended nature of commercial real estate means that the typical day for an agent can vary significantly. However, there is a general pattern that can shed some light on what it’s like to be a commercial real estate agent.
Beginning of the Day
Most agents start their work day between 7 AM and 8 AM, and a good portion of agents work from their home offices. Generally, the first part of the workday is spent addressing emails and voicemails that clients might have left. After getting back to clients, you’ll probably check your cold call schedule for later in the day.
Many agents also spend the very first part of the day checking for news and breaking information about the state of commercial real estate. It’s imperative that agents stay on top of trends and recent events as they can have ripple effects on the wider state of the commercial real estate market.
Meetings With Colleagues/Clients
After getting things set in order for the day, the next block of time is usually spent meeting with colleagues and clients. Real estate agents primarily deal with people, so a significant portion of their daily schedule on most days will involve discussing strategies, deals, and goals with colleagues and clients.
For example, brokerages often have employee meetings near the start of the day to delineate the day’s tasks and goals. This is the time you can ask colleagues about their projects and what they have in the pipeline. Meetings with clients typically cover finances, current transactions under contract, and plans for future investments.
Looking for Clients
Once the day’s meetings are finished, it’s time to start networking and building your client list. Most commercial real estate agents generate the majority of their income via commissions, so their productivity is directly correlated with how many clients they have under contract. That’s why cold calling and cold emailing potential new clients are such a big part of the typical agent’s workday.
Basic tips for successful cold calling include using a script and practicing using engaging vocabulary. Cold calls should be tailored to a specific clientele that is looking for properties in your geographic location and area of specialization. The more niche your services are, the more likely you are to land committed clients.
Lunchtime
Far from being dead time in your schedule, real estate agents can turn lunchtime into a convenient way to meet and network with clients—that way, you can kill two birds with one stone. You can also use your lunchtime to touch base with your team for the day and figure out what still needs to be done for the day.
Afternoon Tasks
After lunch, it will be time to handle regular clerical duties, like checking emails/voicemails and checking the details of any deals that are under contract.
Most agents spend their afternoons checking in with clients and checking on the details of their current projects. Also, many agents use meeting-free afternoons to visit and show the properties they represent.
If you don’t have any meetings or properties to visit, you can use the afternoon to perform in-depth research. Maybe there is a particular property you’ve had your eye on, or you want to keep tabs on what moves other major institutional brokers are making.
Evening Housekeeping
The last part of the day is usually spent addressing marketing efforts and checking out deals that are closing. It’s important to close out deals that are urgent as you’ll have to wait until the next day if you procrastinate. The last thing you want is for something unexpected to happen and not be prepared.
If need be, you’ll also go through a tentative schedule for the next day. Set up meetings and calls for tomorrow and make any modifications to your cold call list. You might also have an end-of-the-day meeting with your teammates to figure out what got finished that day and what you all will need to work on tomorrow.
After the Workday
A commercial real estate agent’s day might not end once they leave the office. Many real estate agents use their evenings at home to perform extra market research and find more potential clients to work with. The end of the day is also a good time to make non-urgent calls and send non-urgent emails.
Lastly, many agents use this time of day to work on their marketing efforts. Marketing for a commercial real estate agent involves both digital and traditional advertising platforms, like email, social media, newspapers, pamphlets, and more.
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