Poker and CRE brokerage.

Time is currency. It is all you have. To succeed in CRE you must know where to place your time, where to place your bets. No deal gets done unless you put in a big chunk of time. The level of success you achieve is dependent on you spending your time on the right deals.

Tenant rep is a dangerous place to be in a hot market like Long Island’s industrial market. The odds of you finding any business a space is very low. There are few spaces available and landlords are picky and clients are rarely loyal.

Now for example you get a phone call from a company that is looking to do auto repair. Hang up immediately. Unless you are prepared to go to the ends of the earth for this guy and search everywhere, and show him tons of space it is not going to happen. It is bad odds for the broker. You spend a ton of time and most landlords don’t want this use because it is dirty and can create environmental and insurance issues.

You are always figuring out the payout. If this is an auto repair business that has been in business for a long time, is well financed and is looking for a long term lease on a large space this may be worth your time. If the potential payout is high, give it a second look. Know your market and even if the potential payout is high but the requirement is hard you still move on.

Consummating a lease difficult. It requires a tenant that is really looking to move. They have a real need. They have money, their credit is good. I always leave exceptions for tenants that have high level determination. If someone gives you the feeling that they truly are going to rent a space, that may be worth your time.

The only way for you to get a deal is to go all in. If you make a decision to work with this client, you go all the way. You put them at the top of your list and make sure you spend your time and mental energy on them. If you have the right tenant and you go all in in terms of finding space for them you can succeed.

The question comes back to odds. What are the odds of this happening and based on how much time and energy it will take for you to achieve this, is this a good bet?

I always give advice to brokers not to waste time on wild goose chases. Your time is your currency and if you are putting your time on a low odds bet you are making a mistake.

Nothing wrong with folding and moving on to the next hand.

Specializing in a specific area or property type allows you to become an expert odds maker. I always get residential brokers calling me with low odds requirements. They do not know the market, they don’t get that they are going on a low odds adventure. They get a client looking for something that will take a very long time to find if they find it at all. Another broker will probably steal their client or the client will contact another broker or landlord directly. I immediately tell them that their time would be better spent working with a home buyer in their geographic area of expertise.

I am not making the case to sit on the sidelines and wait for a perfect deal to come to you before you get going. You must be doing high level prospecting and building up your data base. Keep seeing opportunities and when the right one presents itself go all in. Fold, fold, fold then go all in if the odds are good. You don't need to play every hand, but you better be seeing a ton of hands.

I see everything in analogies. It’s like you are in a fishing competition. You have a certain amount of time to compete. You are scored by size and quantity of fish you catch. When you get a small fish in your line that seems tough to reel in, let it go, fast. Do not waste your time and energy trying to reel in this tough fish. If you get your line back in the water, you will find a plump easy fish which will give you a high score.

When I first started in the business a long time broker gave me this advice. You always hear about customer service, all customers are important and a small customer may come back and become a big customer. This is very true. However we are here to make as much money in as short of a time possible. There is low hanging fruit and there is the fruit which is hanging 30 feet in the air where you need two ladders to get it. Grab the low hanging fruit. Keep looking for the low hanging fruit. Again and again. Leave the high fruit for someone else.

Yes, the high fruit is good. We are taught not to leave this fruit hanging. What we are not taught is the value of our time. When we take too much time trying to get this fruit we have less time getting the low hanging fruit.

Success in CRE brokerage comes down to playing the odds. The hard part for new brokers is knowing the odds of completing a particular deal. Specific knowledge of a local market, understanding the vacancies or buildings that are for sale, is important. Asking direct in depth questions of your clients is also a must (I still struggle mightily with this.) You have to know how real your client is. When you put everything together you get much better at placing your bets.