Commercial Real Estate June 21, 2021

A Week in the Life of a Commercial Realtor

If you looked at the physical aspect of my job, you would see it consists of phone calls, emails, texts, and meetings.   Since that describes the work of over half the people I know, I started compiling a list of what I do, to differentiate my job from other office jobs.  Over the past week or so, I kept a log of the activities I was involved in, and think it gives a great representation of the work that commercial real estate professionals do.

  • I met with a prospective client to discuss selling her building.  I evaluated her property to give her the value of the property and tell her how long it might take to sell.  I also spoke to two other prospective sellers on the phone about their properties and emailed them detailed marketing plans showing how I would help sell their properties.
  • I met with three groups of people to show them spaces for lease.  Two were looking for office space and one was looking for a space for a new restaurant.
  • I received nine calls from prospective buyers and tenants requesting information on properties that were listed for sale or lease.  I sent them information on the ones they called about as well as other properties that might fit what they were looking for.
  • I negotiated with a tenant on behalf of a landlord who wanted to lease space in a building.
  • I helped a buyer understand the income and expenses they would incur from 3 different investment properties and determined the future net operating income the buyer would receive after accounting for new expenses, including property tax uncapping.
  • I called the zoning administrator and township planner to see if a use was allowed in a certain building and what the requirements would be to change the use.
  • I called an environmental company to set up a time to do a Phase I for an office property.
  • I called a title company about proration of taxes for a closing and helped my buyer close on their development property.
  • I called six past customers to see if they have made decisions on moving, buying, or selling.
  • I wrote a letter of intent to lease a property and counseled the tenant in different lease types, build-out negotiations, due diligence items, permits needed, and lease terms to ask for.
  • I ended the week doing an excel spreadsheet that showed the benefits to a land contract sale versus a lease with an option to purchase and analyzed various payment and interest rate scenarios.

So, what was missing this week?  Meetings in my office and lunch with a client.  Maybe those will start again soon!

 

Dan Stiebel, CCIM