Any advice for a commercial real estate internship?

Question

Any advice on getting into commercial real estate?

I am currently doing a commercial real estate internship this summer. I want to get the most of my time with this internship.

What should I focus on the most?

Taryn Spiller · Answer

Hi Ethan,

I have experience working with college students looking to get into brokerage. In my opinion, some of the most important topics to focus on are cold calling, sales strategies, financial analysis, legal principles, and business planning in order to get a better understanding of what it is like to be a commercial real estate broker.

Mike L. · Answer

For my answer, I will assume that you are looking to become a broker.  The best way is to learn from an experienced broker.  See if you like what specialty he or she works in (retail, industrial office, etc).  Learn how the senior broker builds a database of contacts, and see how he or she makes cold calls.  Learning how to cold call is a very important part of this business, so it would be beneficial for you to learn how to make those calls.

Most people hate making calls, so if you can psych yourself up and make lots of calls and set up meetings, then you will be a rock star.  It should be your goal to set up meetings where you can bring along your mentor, and then your mentor can close the business.  Hopefully you can share in some of the reward if your calling leads to a deal that closes.  Deals in CRE take a long time to close so you might get a check when you are already back in the next school year!

Let me know if you have any other questions.