Motivated Millennials Return to Brokerage Services

Ellis Murray (Joel and Granot Real Estate/CORFAC International, Atlanta GA) worked for a company that staffed manufacturing facilities before switching to commercial real estate sales.

Part 1 of 3 Recessions are job killers, particularly so for the CRE industry. While the 2001-2002 and 1981-1982 recessions were relatively light, the 1975 and 1990s recessions were brutal periods for the brokerage profession, says CORFAC. After each of those recessions, there was a dearth of young professionals entering the brokerage business following the four-to-five years as the economy recovered. That started to change in recent years as it became apparent within CORFAC International that many of the affiliated firms started reporting new hires and training rookie brokers. Subsequently, we learned that the commercial real estate network conducted original research to learn what made these young professionals choose careers in real estate brokerage. The Millennials-targeted survey reached out to all CORFAC affiliates throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. The research was intended to discover what motivates young brokerage professionals (beyond money), if their career choices were influenced by family, the kind of training they received, how they got through the first year or two financially as mostly straight commission people and a few other related questions. Additionally, there has been a great deal of conversation and written commentary out there on what Millennials want out of work. In some cases, it is different than Gen Xers and Baby Boomers while all generations seem to share some of the same workplace values. The survey queried whether beginning brokers could get what they want and need out of brokerage careers, and how that might compare or contrast with Millennials from the general workforce. The survey replies from young professionals (“Millennials”) in their 20s and early 30s indicated that most of them started in brokerage right out of college, though others, like Kyle Espie (Bradford Companies/CORFAC International, Dallas TX) had briefly flirted with a career as an investment advisor selling stocks and bonds while Ellis Murray (Joel and Granot Real Estate/CORFAC International, Atlanta GA) worked for a company that staffed manufacturing facilities before switching to commercial real estate sales. Nearly half (47%) have a parent or family member that worked (or still work) in commercial real estate. Max Stone (from the Voit Real Estate Services/CORFAC International San Diego office) wrote: “I would be lying if I said my Father had nothing to do with my career choice. I wanted a career with no ceiling and I have always been interested in getting to know new people. I have no doubt that I would have ended up in some sort of sales position with a commission element but because my father was a broker and I saw the potential to make money, real estate was an easy choice.” Joel and Granot’s Murray has an uncle and cousins in the CRE industry but his career path was more directly influenced by his high school and college mentor (David Hagan, now with CBRE but he mentored Murray when he operated Hagan Properties/CORFAC International in Greensboro NC). Later, and after Murray moved to Atlanta where his family of six generations is from, his father introduced him to a fraternity brother and principal of Joel and Granot – Alan Joel. The interview and subsequent job offering from Joel “ignited a fire in myself that I still have today,” Ellis wrote. To learn what motivates these young professionals, how they trained in the brokerage business and survived financially—and how careers in commercial real estate are aligned or conflicted with Millennials values, please check back in the next day or so for Part 2.