Everyone Needs a Tight Cadre of Informal Advisers. Here’s Who Should be on That List

Conventional wisdom says that to have a successful career you need a tight cadre of informal advisers. When coping with a market environment as volatile as the current one, being surrounded by sound advice is even more important. 

Globest.com canvassed our recent 50 under 40 winners to find out what an ideal ‘A team’ of advisors would look like. 

“With a good team around you, you can figure out any situation and put the client first,” says Clifford Blanquicet Jr, founder and president of Blanq Real Estate.

“A good network is important in real estate,” agrees Jimmy Silverwood, president of Affirmed Housing.

He says his super-slate of advisors would include “a broker who knows your business and you can trust and rely on; a designer who can whip up quick studies as you go after sites; a construction manager or general contractor that knows your product well and can provide reliable pricing; and a lender and investor so you can stay up to speed with the latest financial metrics, which can change very quickly during period of economic volatility.”

Matea Bozja, partner at Skadden, also agrees with the necessity of listening to a range of expert voices. “It’s important to have colleagues both within the CRE field and across other practice groups to be able to run ideas by them, knowledge-share, and help identify pitfalls that you may not be thinking of (for example, calling on a litigator colleague to work through a difficult provision to make sure you thinking of all angles and potential litigation risks),” she says.

There is a general consensus about the importance of legal and tax advisors as well as brokers.

“On the legal side, you need to have a strong list of local counsels in each state, that are quick to respond in a pinch, and that you can rely on for informal one-off questions as well. Second, you need to have knowledgeable title company contacts, including zoning and surveyor contacts, and ideally a broker contact as well (particularly for market questions on leasing for example),” Bozja says.

“It is crucial to be able to call on these contacts, particularly at the title company, for questions as you work through the early stages of a deal (or perhaps a smaller deal) where you don’t necessarily have someone formally engaged in this role for your client.”

“I lean heavily on our tax advisors, our internal legal team, and LPAC from our funds, that have some very smart people across our investor base,” says Scott Everett, founder and CEO of S2 Capital. “Also, it is critical to have an internal investments team not afraid to challenge you and each other, which is very healthy and to avoid confirmation bias for yourself.”

Blanquicet Jr says he relies on guidance from his commercial real estate attorney, commercial insurance broker, commercial lender and  business broker.

Meanwhile, for the legal avisors themselves, they also need their own circle of trusted advisors. Ali Krimmer, partner at Arnold & Porter, says, “As an attorney, having a partner or partners who can teach you, support you and mentor you as you progress in your career, regardless of your seniority, is key.  Also, having the benefit of peers in the industry to discuss the business side of the market and deal points that arise is very important.”

Rayanne Charles, partner and controller of development and investments at Foundry Commercial, offers a succint list of ideal advisors. “In this industry, you need four people: a mentor, a counselor, a sponsor, and most importantly, a friend,” she says. 

The list for Brett Reese, managing director of CP Group, includes a mentor, trusted colleague, construction/development expert, modeling specialist, legal advisor, marketing and PR specialist and an architect.

Paul McManus, vice chair at Colliers in San Jose, believes in getting a cross-section of generational viewpoints. He recommends a roster that includes “someone who helps you from getting too old and stale”.  This would be “a junior associate who you can count on to keep you in touch with the next generation: what they care about, how they think, how they work and someone who helps you feel young and invigorated by this challenging business”.

Added to this would be “a senior mentor who has not only been in the business a long time but someone who has a similar life situation” and “a colleague of similar age and experience who you emulate, who pushes you to be the best version of yourself”.

Coaches and mentors are oft cited as being crucial.

“I think the most important asset to have is a mentor that’s been in your shoes before and still active doing the same things you are doing on a daily basis, so for the purposes of the brokerage business, that would be an experienced senior broker,” says Nick Krejc, partner and co-founder of Core Industrial Realty.

“You need to have other assets on your team to help best service your clients, so in addition, you would want to have really good relationships with a contractor, architect, engineer, attorneys, etc,” he adds.

Garrett Lee, president of Jamison Properties, seconds the point about the need for “a good, trustworthy contractor, ideally, in-house, if possible.”

Travis Boothe, executive director at Cushman & Wakefield in Dallas, highlights the helpfulness of having a business coach.

“Every professional at every phase of their career can always be learning — learning how to do things better or to be more efficient,” he says. “My business coach has helped us turn brokerage into a business.  We now have systems in place that has streamlined tasks.  Each team member on our team knows their roles and responsibilities.  With some outside coaching we have learned to all work better and more efficiently together.”

For some, the job titles of the dream team of advisors is less relevant than their personal attributes. 

David Plummer, vice president of leasing and brokerage at Retail Specialists, recommends a “small group of successful, ethical, and morally grounded individuals that one can unequivocally trust”. “There is nothing better than having these allies that you can go to for advice, help or guidance whenever needed,” he says. 

“It’s all about the people,” says Ethan Elser, executive vice president at PACE Equity. “I’ve always put tremendous value on having a strong and diverse group of people I can trust. I can’t underscore what a difference that has made, and I would encourage anybody to seek people like that out.”