Pay It Forward: "Find A Good Mentor and Stick With Them"
"The best lesson I have learned is to be patient," says Michelle Abramov, managing director of RIPCO Real Estate LLC.
Michelle Abramov, managing director, RIPCO Real Estate LLC, New York, NY
Michelle Abramov is a managing director at RIPCO Real Estate with a focus on landlord and tenant representation throughout the New York Metropolitan region with a concentration on the Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx and Long Island markets.
Area of expertise or focus: Retail Advisory & Brokerage in Metro NYC
What has been the biggest challenge in your particular role/? How have you overcome those obstacles? Rather than calling it a challenge, I have been faced with a positive adjustment stepping into this position. I came from working at my own brokerage, Asset Commercial Realty Group, to joining RIPCO. I had to learn how to adapt to the firm’s collaborative and large team environment. This adjustment has been made easier with the openness and collaboration amongst the team members.
What about your current role at the company are you most happy with? Many things drew me to RIPCO, but a few specific things stood out. The first was the opening of the Queens office. This was an exciting chapter for RIPCO that I was able to be a part of. In addition, the collaboration and amazing Investment Sales team were something that made RIPCO a very appealing place to work. Lastly and most importantly, something that I am most happy with at RIPCO is my partner, Greg Batista, who I look forward to working with every day. Our partnership is filled with synergy, understanding and similar mindset on goals. In addition to that we have a close friendship that makes the stress of work a little bit less stressful. Together we have been focusing on Queens and have a lot of interesting opportunities and new developments in the works.
What is the best piece of advice you have received that has helped you succeed in your industry? Also, do you have any advice specifically for the next generation? The best piece of advice I have heard was not a direct one. My first commercial brokerage employee, Christen Portelli, was a guest on a podcast and said, “The beauty about commercial real estate brokerage is that you truly do not know what the day will bring you, and its the most fascinating and terrifying parts of being in the field.” Not verbatim but you get the point.
My advice to the next generation would be to find a good mentor and stick with them. A great team to learn from is extremely valuable in this field. Don’t worry about making money immediately, soak up all that knowledge and make those relationships that will last in the long run.
Would you advise any younger person to begin a career in CRE? YES! Start young! That’s what I did. I think I was just about to turn 21 when I jumped into a commercial real estate brokerage. I didn’t have any major bills to pay which helped being in a mainly commission only field. My advice would be to join a good team that is offering any position and learn as much as you can. It’s important to understand the streets and neighborhoods as if you could draw them out yourself.
Please share with us the best lessons learned or a surprising component of your unique journey. The best lesson I have learned is to be patient. I had to learn this the hard way and sometimes even caught myself overworking an opportunity when it was best to just let it be.
In your opinion what takeaways did we learn from the COVID-19 crisis? What force majeure means. Let’s start defining this better.
How would you describe your work mindset? I would say the words that describe my mindset are “pick up the phone”. This is because you never know the opportunities, deals and money it may bring you.
