Brophy: “San Diego is a fairly disparate market, but nobody's really providing a centralized source of information on this market, so there's a hole there we wish to fill.”

GlobeSt.com: What other markets are you considering for expansion and why?

Kobierowski: For a lot of the reasons Tom just mentioned, and for people looking for higher cap rates and better returns on their money, many will look into L.A. and the Bay Area, but those markets are a little more difficult for us to go into. There's more competition and not direct synergies. Once the San Diego office is open, we will transition there and also the Inland Empire. We have clients in those markets already.

GlobeSt.com: What are the challenges to multifamily brokerage in the San Diego market?

Kobierowski: One of the most glaring challenges is that buildings don't transact at the same pace as they do in Phoenix. There are quite a few properties in the San Diego market, and a majority are smaller buildings, but they don't turn over as fast as they do in Arizona. Arizona buildings will sell about every five years, whereas in San Diego, people will own things for generations. Longer-term ownership is challenge, but we fully anticipate that changing over the next decade. You hear about the graying of American real estate, with a lot of the ownership in some of these markets being in one generation, and the next generation doesn't want to be saddled with the challenges of owning property, so more owners are relocating their money to other markets and hiring third-party managers. In Phoenix, you can buy a 150-unit building for $3 million in equity, hire third-party management and have stronger cash flow. It's the upside of going into that market.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about this expansion?

Kobierowski: We're in San Diego to stay. We're renting in that market because it's good market to grow and expand in, and we're opening an office large enough to accommodate a large office and build teams that work together—that's our goal: collaborative brokerage, to work together as a team.

Brophy: That's the new model, collaborative. In the past, everybody was pitted against each other, but we have always relied on each other to facilitate a deal, and one person can't necessarily facilitate that best. You need to find the top dollar for buyer and seller, and how do you effectuate that? That's the defining characteristic of our firm.

Kobierowski: We are a team that works together and complements each other. We want to continue to grow and expand and become viable brokers for decades; that's our plan.