Posted by ray@lcorn on September 08, 2003 at 07:41:13:
Gantry,
Congratulations on your RE sucesses, and your decision to make a career change. The hardest part is deciding to do something different.
If I were starting over and wanted the broadest exposure to the market and the players in the shortest time possible, I’d do the same thing I did years ago. Go to work for an independent real estate development company, preferrably one that also has management and brokerage operations and is owned or headed by a longtime developer. It’s hard to teach new dogs old tricks, but you’ll have the best chance with someone who has been around a while.
I went to work for just such a firm as a utility player… I did whatever needed doing. In turns I worked in sales, acquisitions, leasing and project feasibility research, whatever was needed at the time. Along the way I was put into situations I knew very little about, including city ordinances and commissions, finance sources and investor relations. I quickly learned how the many pieces fit together. I drew from the knowledge base within the firm, and the guidance kept me from making too many serious mistakes.
I also worked cheap… very cheap. I wanted the education, and didn’t have to worry about a family at the time. So I took a very minimal salary, and angled for ownership pieces of the deals I was working on. It took a while, but it paid off.
We also have readers here that have done very well in classic brokerage (e.g. CB Com, etc.). The nature of the business is such that once you become involved in a deal from any standpoint (e.g. buy, sell, lease), you will gain experience from the other elements as a matter of course. The exception to that is development. You won’t get much exposure to that side of the business in pure brokerage.
ray