Commercial Real Estate Career Advice
Getting started in a commercial real estate career can be both exciting and challenging. There are many different paths you can take to get into this field, and it is important to do your research to find the one that best suits your skills and interests.
With that in mind, we interviewed professionals in the commercial real estate industry to get their thoughts on a wide range of questions relevant for those who are just starting their careers and have an interest in commercial real estate. They include professionals from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences including CEOs, senior vice presidents, real estate agents and brokers, and real estate alumni board members.
Questions Overview
- Classes and skills
- Common career path
- Internship and job opportunities
- Networking with professionals
- Types of CRE companies and organizations
- Career advice for young professional
- Surprising aspects about CRE
- Fulfilling aspects about CRE
- Future of CRE
- About the Contributors
1. As a student looking to get into commercial real estate, what types of classes should they take and what skills should they be working on developing?
If an interested person does not have a college degree in CRE, there are many professional designations that can be achieved while working in the field. Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) is a great, well rounded, series of classes that teaches financial and marketing methods for our industry. Society of Industrial Office Realtors (SIOR) is a series of classes that specializes in the office and industrial elements of commercial real estate. If commercial management if of interest, there is the Certified Property Manager, another series of classes that promote the skills for property management. The bottom line in this profession, however, is the ability to have people skills to develop relationships and not be afraid of a social environment.
Eric Rosekrans, Martin Commercial
Classes to take:
- Real estate investment. Economics. Financial modeling. Contract law. Deal analysis. Data analytics.
Skills to develop:
- Client relations, in-person and via phone and email. Interpreting market data. Reading news and identifying trends through macro and micro economic lenses. Networking. Interviewing skills.
Teresha Aird, offices.net
A great start for students would be to take courses that focus on the fundamentals of real estate valuation and law. Understanding how to attain value from a property and property law are the foundations on which commercial real estate is built.
Mark Fogel, ACRES Capital
At the heart of it all, commercial real estate is an investment. The most important class a student can take is a course devoted to commercial real estate finance. What makes students stand out in internship and job interviews is whether they can speak to the way money moves in and out of a building. This knowledge is attained through a solid understanding of how a discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis works.
Rachel Ivers
There aren’t a lot of specialized courses in college for real estate, let alone commercial real estate, but if your university offers any of those they would be obvious choices. But beyond those, anything that pertains to finance is hugely beneficial, as having a solid grasp of financial and market fundamentals is important in a real estate career. Also, and this is less obvious, but any courses that strengthen writing skills, communication, and your understanding of human behaviour – think psychology, law, etc. that have a writing component. Lastly, being technologically savvy and being able to do proper analysis and research are important skills for the job, especially early in your career when you’ll likely be in more of an analyst role, so taking courses that help you develop those technical and analytical skills are key.
Joe Rosati, Lee & Associates
Students should take courses that provide a general understanding of the terminology and concepts used in the industry, develop their financial modeling and market analysis skills, and provide foundational tools for understanding financial and operational decision-making. Courses that then take those foundational concepts and provide opportunity to apply them in “real-world”-type situations and cases will help students see the relationships between all of them in making good investment decisions.
Collete English Dixon, Roosevelt University
In addition to the legally required education to obtain your real estate license, students who wish to pursue a career in commercial real estate should study finance and business. The most important part of commercial real estate is the due diligence process. Being able to evaluate the deal will require knowledge of accounting as well as general business knowledge.
One of the most important parts of commercial real estate is the financial side of it. While the ability to assess property values, interact with tenants, and network effectively are all essential, understanding the way that real estate investors finance purchases, handle taxes, and actually make their money is essential.
Leonard Ang, iPropertyManagement
2. Is there a common career path for someone in commercial real estate? If so, what could it look like?
CRE is very challenging to get started in, mainly because it is a relationship business. It is important for anyone who is just beginning to try to start with an experienced person who they can work under and follow for a few years to develop the skills and intuition needed to be successful.
Eric Rosekrans, Martin Commercial
My career path differed greatly from the other brokers I know, so my knowledge on typical career paths isn’t coming from personal experience. As I understand it, and from my observations of their career trajectories, it seems common that starting out as students, they tend to have budding interest in real estate more generally. Their interest takes them down the rabbit hole of investigating market trends and realizing CREs advantages from a fiscal security perspective. Then, the completion of undergraduate degrees in business, finance, corporate law or investment categories usually follow, while acquiring experience doing internships.
Graduates usually find it easy to land entry-level positions with these qualifications if they have accrued sufficient experience, and can even nab one of the highly desirable spots on graduate programs with prestigious international firms. Following a couple years of learning the ropes, graduates usually progress to becoming analysts, associates, brokers or agents.
After more time in these roles, you’ll level up to supervisor, in-charge and manager status after some years before finally becoming directors after about 10+ years within the same organization. It’s harder to reach D- and C-suite positions if you’re jumping around between companies every year or two, you usually won’t be considered for the higher-level positions of responsibility without an extensive tenure and track-record of high performance in at least one company.
Teresha Aird, offices.net
As real estate is an amalgamation of so many disciplines, I don’t believe there is a “common” career path. For example, I am in the process of working with the team at University of Delaware to develop a real estate minor for undergraduate students. As real estate naturally connects to a variety of disciplines, including architecture, economics, engineering, finance, hospitality management and law, it can open doors to various career opportunities.
I believe that going to different places and taking on different responsibilities within the commercial real estate sector would go a long way toward being successful.
Mark Fogel, ACRES Capital
It is common for students entering the commercial real estate industry, whether in brokerage or on the principals side, to start as an analyst. Having a sound understanding of the numbers is very important and it will set a student up for future success within the industry.
Rachel Ivers
There really isn’t. I come across colleagues in my industry who’ve taken a very different career path than me, and our stories are all different. For example, many folks get into the industry right out of college at 22 years old. My story is very different, I was an engineer originally and worked for 15 years in the energy industry before I even knew anything about commercial real estate. Others have come from acting backgrounds, from residential real estate, you name it. There really isn’t a traditional path and your background does not necessarily dictate whether you’ll be successful.
Joe Rosati, Lee & Associates
One of the best things about the commercial real estate industry is the vast number of career pathways available, providing options that can use a person’s talents and interests in ways that can support success.
Collete English Dixon, Roosevelt University
We recommend that new licensees start out either as an assistant or as part of a team. There is only one way to gain experience and that is to do deals. Trying to drum up your own business when are new to the industry is hard and could take years before you even get to work on putting a deal together. Working under a more senior agent will allow you to shorten the learning curve dramatically by having the opportunity to work with existing clients and deals that are already in the pipeline.
Zev Freidus, ZFC Real Estate
There are a lot of different ways into commercial real estate. Some people come at it from an investing background, while others work their way up through property management. For those who are just starting out, finding work in the office of a property management company is a great first step.
Leonard Ang, iPropertyManagement
3. What types of internships or job experiences could a student seek to become more marketable in the industry? What skill sets or traits are you looking for in your employees and future coworkers?
An internship with a commercial real estate company or the department of a corporation that oversees internal real estate is a good way to start. Traits are good social graces, ability to talk but not too much, listening (very important) and hard worker.
Eric Rosekrans, Martin Commercial
Internships and experience to seek:
Students should look to gain experience which is as relevant as possible to the qualifications they’re pursuing, the professions they want to enter into, as well as where their interests and aspirations lie. Most internships with credible and high authority agencies have official timelines outlined for what interns can expect to learn at each stage, and the work they will be involved in completing throughout their duration with them. Ideally, students should inform themselves on what the most desirable areas of experience are for the jobs they want, and target internships and experience opportunities that fulfil these market demands.
Probably the best source of current data for students to inform themselves will come from reading job ads for roles they aspire towards, and keeping and updating a spreadsheet listing common terms, skills, qualifications and tool knowledge expressed in the ads, along with the frequency of these mentions. Once sufficient data is accrued, students should seek to obtain experience in the highest volume areas identified, ideally through completing formal internships so the experience accrual can be verified down the track by your prospective employers.
Traits and skillsets we look for:
Since I operate an online CRE brokerage, our operations are almost exclusively focused in the digital realm. As such, we look for candidates who have technical inclinations and are comfortable and thrive on digital platforms. We have our own very specific way of doing things, so we target talent who are quick learners and are easily able to adapt to new ways of operating – adaptability is a highly desirable for us. Since we do operate so uniquely, we prefer to scour graduate talent pools, as opposed to more seasoned workers who we may need to invest more time and effort into their unlearning past ways of doing things. We prefer more blank-slate candidates, who we can more easily mould to our operations.
Teresha Aird, offices.net
Working for a broker or property management company is a great way to get started. Both disciplines are involved in almost every real estate transaction.
Mark Fogel, ACRES Capital
Any internship or job experience will make a student marketable. Commercial real estate is a client-facing, people focused industry and networking is one of the most important things a student can do to land their first internship or job in industry.
Rachel Ivers
Obviously a job or internship at a commercial real estate brokerage would be ideal, and these opportunities do exist. Next to that would be an internship at a company in an adjacent and closely related field such as property management or real estate development. Failing, those, anything that gives you experience doing analytics, crunching numbers, and developing new business. As much as most people hate it, cold calling is still a hugely valuable skill in commercial real estate, and so if you get any experience with that through internships, you’ll be very valuable to a commercial real estate brokerage.
In terms of other skills, we’re always looking for good communicators. Being able to communicate clearly and efficiently with clients, other brokers, landlords, etc. is a critical skill. And part of that is getting people to like and trust you, which also comes down to how you communicate and present yourself.
Joe Rosati, Lee & Associates
Internships are excellent ways for students to explore career options and to learn more real-world skills that can help prepare them for their full-time role post-graduation. The internship experience can also position a student for a job offer upon graduation from the company supporting the internship. Companies are not expecting real estate experts to join them from undergrad, but they do want to hire people who are familiar with the basic concepts and terminology, interested in learning more, willing to ask questions and open to new experiences and challenges.
Collete English Dixon, Roosevelt University
We look at the candidate’s integrity over their skillset. We can teach anyone who is willing to learn how to sell commercial real estate. We can’t make an unethical person be ethical. If you want to avoid getting burned, don’t higher unscrupulous agents regardless of how skilled they are or how big a book of business they bring with them.
Zev Freidus, ZFC Real Estate
The thing that great real estate investors all have in common, even when they come from diverse backgrounds, is the ability to network and find deals. If you’re someone who loves talking to others and getting them to open up, you’re going to do well.
Leonard Ang, iPropertyManagement
4. How does someone interested in commercial real estate network with professionals?
I always advise people to get involved in local organizations. A good one is the Chamber of Commerce. They usually have a young Ambassadors program that consists of young business people who help orchestrate the events of the Chamber and act as ambassadors. They should consider getting on boards of organizations they have an interest in and participating in volunteer work with favorite charities.
Eric Rosekrans, Martin Commercial
Networking opportunities and advice:
Attend industry conventions and talk to as many people as you can. Try not to talk too much or obviously sell yourself, be more casual in your approach and stick to topics that seem to enliven and animate the contact. Express your interest in their line of work and their company, it helps here if you’ve done your homework on the businesses such as their historical and current performance, future outlook, current projects and how broader market trends could impact their operations – provide the contact some value from your interactions. These methods can be adapted to connections you make on LinkedIn and other networking platforms, too.
Teresha Aird, offices.net
There are many local, national, and international organizations for networking and educational opportunities. For example, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and the CRE Finance Council (CREFC) both have specific memberships and committees for students and young professionals that are ideal for networking. Other groups include Urban Land Institute (ULI), National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).
Mark Fogel, ACRES Capital
Students who go to a university that has a Real Estate Center should utilize their resources and connections. Additionally, LinkedIn is a great tool to connect with industry professionals. I wrote countless cold emails to industry professionals I found on LinkedIn who worked for companies I wanted to work for or worked in a specific industry I was interested in. Most industry professionals in commercial real estate want to help students get their foot in the door. Though it is also important for students to show genuine gratitude for the time these professionals take out of their day to help them.
Rachel Ivers
There are many real estate industry associations that you can join to network with folks in the field. Search for local ones in your area. There are always industry events and conferences as well where brokers network with each other and nurture relationships.
Joe Rosati, Lee & Associates
By taking advantage of every opportunity to connect with industry professionals at events and when they visit classes. Following up on offers to meet for coffee or to have a conversation is very important to building relationships and a network.
Collete English Dixon, Roosevelt University
The best way to put yourself out there is to start making outbound calls to property owners in your area. You will make new connections with both clients as well as other brokers. A good commercial real estate broker will give its agents the tools necessary to identify properties and who owns them and should also have some type of CRM for tracking and following up with prospects.
Zev Freidus, ZFC Real Estate
Early in your career, most of your networking contacts are going to come from your jobs and internships. From this base, you’ll be able to build a professional network once you move on to bigger and better things.
Leonard Ang, iPropertyManagement
5. What types of companies and organizations could I one day work for? What differences are there between working for a large agency with a national or international focus vs. a smaller agency with a more regional focus?
Clearly someone could work for a Commercial Real Estate Company and the various departments and opportunities it might have, a real estate department of a corporation, a site search department of an organization, or a development company.
There are positives and negatives to both large vs. small agencies. Working for a small agency in a city can be fulfilling as you truly can get to know all areas of the town and the movers and shakers of the area. Negatives are that this takes much time to invest in relationships and understanding of the landscape to be successful. The larger firms in bigger cities many times have a greater depth of resources but the competition is stiffer within the industry and specialization is a must.
Eric Rosekrans, Martin Commercial
Companies or orgs a student could one day work for:
Large – CBRE, Colliers, Knight Frank, TCN Worldwide, Cushman and Wakefield
Smaller – RE/MAX, Ten-X, Frasers Property, Colonial Commercial, West USA Realty
Differences between working for large agencies vs smaller ones:
Working for larger agencies with global concerns might seem like it would result in more fast-paced and tumultuous work environments, but it’s actually the opposite, especially when you’re starting out. Being on the low rung in such huge organizations means that most of your day-to-day tasks tend to be small fish, with little major consequence for the company’s direction. Schedules will be heavily structured and routines regimented like clockwork, a by-product of company-wide risk minimization to the nth degree. The renumeration is class-leading though, and after proving your value after a couple years in multiple departments on a graduate program, you’ll eventually end up being involved in more high stakes projects.
Smaller agencies remain competitive by taking risks and innovating where their competitors and the big players are yet to capitalize. Due to the nature of smaller agencies’ smaller team sizes, you will usually be thrown head first into the deep end of their operations soon after the induction and training phase is complete. If you are wanting to be involved in significant projects that can have great impacts on the company’s direction and success, early, then you should probably seek out the excitement and task variety that comes with working in smaller firms.
Teresha Aird, offices.net
The opportunities are endless: Finance companies that provide loans on properties. Developers. Property managers. Brokers. Law firms. Appraisers. Some would say that a smaller, local company is better because there is more to do and see. On the other hand, larger companies provide incredible access to the biggest and best deals and sponsors. My advice is to be open to different types of organizations and figure out what most appeals to your interests and skillset.
Mark Fogel, ACRES Capital
Within commercial real estate, one can work in brokerage or on the principal side of the business. Unlike brokerage that is transaction focused, a principal invests their own capital into commercial real estate deals. I started my career at large brokerage houses and development companies and I advise students to do the same. Working for a larger firm will provide the resources, deal flow, and network that will enable you to learn quickly compared to a smaller shop.
Rachel Ivers
The most common organization would be a commercial real estate brokerage, but there are other parts of the industry such as development, property management, private equity, etc. Larger brokerages have much more of a corporate culture, and tend to try to service corporate and institutional clients (though not exclusively). There tends to be more marketing and analytical support at the larger firms, but also more bureaucracy. They also tend to take a larger share of your commissions. Boutique or smaller agencies tend to be more entrepreneurial in nature, have closer knit cultures, and tend to have a more niche focus along with working more with private businesses and investors. One is not better than the other as there are pros and cons for each, and different brokers will have different preferences, skills, and circumstances that will lend them to choose larger versus smaller brokerages.
Joe Rosati, Lee & Associates
The range of opportunities and companies that could provide opportunities include – real estate investment managers, financial services firms; public sector (governmental) departments that oversee real estate occupied or owned and development approvals for communities; professional services firms like brokerage and capital markets firms (CBRE/JLL/C&W, etc.); developers; investment firms; appraisal and valuation firms; real estate facilities departments of retailers and other real estate users/occupiers. These firms are local, national and global, each with their particular strengths and industry engagements. The differences between working with larger firms vs smaller ones can be hard to discern, as some “smaller” firms actually do significant transactions and consulting while some larger firms may be more focused. Sometimes, working with smaller firms allows for its team to work on multiple transactions at once or to engage in a broader range of functions because of the smaller team. There are pluses and minuses to all o them, and a student/new employee needs to understand how they work well, how the culture of the company can impact their development and career growth, and what their interests might be.
Collete English Dixon, Roosevelt University
The large firms may have more opportunity to shadow existing agents, while at the same time, being a brand new agents at a large national firm, it’s hard to differentiate yourself from all the other agents who are more experienced than you. Perhaps it makes sense to start a large firm, gain some experience and then try to find a niche brokerage that you can join. Ultimately, it is more about who you will learn from, there are qualified mentors at large firms as well as independent firms, it’s just a question of finding the right opportunity to learn.
Zev Freidus, ZFC Real Estate
The larger the firm, the more the focus is on real estate as investment assets. Smaller, regional outfits tend to focus much more on rental income from either residential or commercial properties. This work tends to be much more people-centric and hands-on.
Leonard Ang, iPropertyManagement
6. What do you wish you would have known as a student or young professional just starting out in your career?
The power of relationship building and focusing more on this.
Eric Rosekrans, Martin Commercial
Well, I wish I’d known Michael Burry prior to 2008. Joking aside, I wish I’d been made further aware of the massive market volatility that can occur within CRE, and real estate more generally. ‘As safe as houses’ is definitely a phrase that has lost much of its assurance. Following on from this, to be a successful operator in this space requires constantly informing yourself on market data and trends, and quickly shifting to accommodate the changes you observe.
Teresha Aird, offices.net
I wish I knew that there was no definitive path. There’s no right job or wrong job — everything is a learning experience. As you go through your journey, you will know where you fit best.
Mark Fogel, ACRES Capital
You will hear the word “no” more times than you will hear the word “yes”. Do not get discouraged at failures and rejections. Be confident in yourself. Be a sponge and absorb all the information around you so you can be the smartest in the room. Root everything you do in data.
Rachel Ivers
Honestly, I wish I would have just known that this was a career path 10 or 15 years ago. I knew nothing about commercial real estate back then and didn’t know that this was a viable career with so much potential. When people think of real estate agents they automatically think of residential agents, but there’s this whole other world to real estate brokerage that most people are much less familiar with.
Joe Rosati, Lee & Associates
As I did not intend to go into commercial real estate when I was in college and did not really know what the industry offered, I did not have any expectations that were unmet. I just didn’t know better. As I look back, I wish I had known more about the culture and the challenges of being a woman joining a very male-dominated industry. The ability to see the breadth and depth of the industry was not really a possibility as the industry has changed so much since I entered it many moons ago.
Collete English Dixon, Roosevelt University
I wish I knew how long it takes to get off the ground selling commercial real estate. It can easily take 6 months to a year before you have your first deal, and when you do, it could be another year or more before it closes and you get paid. You should have a year’s worth of living expenses in reserves before embarking on a career in commercial real estate.
Zev Freidus, ZFC Real Estate
Honestly, I wish I knew that the job I have now was an option. I used to be an accountant, and got into property management as a way to get another income stream.
Leonard Ang, iPropertyManagement
7. Based on your own career experience, what are some of the most unexpected or surprising aspects of working in commercial real estate?
CRE brings a wide variety of issues and subjects every day. The different thought processes from a client, working on what is important to each one and navigating the relationships are very different. There is nothing “routine” about CRE, which makes it exciting.
Eric Rosekrans, Martin Commercial
I didn’t expect the thrilling nature of effectively shifting with market turbulence, like how I imagine big wave surfing to be. This thrilling aspect to CRE work can obviously be typified from recent years’ experience of universal lockdowns, and their continued drastic impacts on the real estate landscape. I didn’t expect the excitement of operating in an ever-evolving and high competition industry. I was also surprised at how data heavy a lot of CRE work is, from the day-to-day market analysis to the huge volumes of information gathering and analysis goes into much of the high stakes decision making, especially when it comes to acquisitions and determining partnership viability.
Teresha Aird, offices.net
I’m amazed that I continue to learn something new every day in CRE. It is such a complicated asset class with so many players, markets, assets that the learning will never end.
Mark Fogel, ACRES Capital
Commercial real estate is still a largely male-dominated industry through women almost always have the upper hand, especially in brokerage.
Rachel Ivers
I’m surprised at how much upside there can be in earnings, as the sky is really the limit in terms of how much you can make if you’re willing to put in the work. On the flip side, I was surprised at just how difficult and how much of a roller coaster the job can be at times. You really need a thick skin in dealing with rejection, lost deals, tough clients, etc. and it’s definitely not for everyone.
Joe Rosati, Lee & Associates
The most unexpected learning for me was realizing how completely the industry impacts almost every aspect of life – where people live, shop, work, get educated, recreate. That is not clear to everyone and it is what makes the importance of understanding that impact so significant.
Collete English Dixon, Roosevelt University
Commercial real estate should be all about the deal, yet, surprisingly, more often than not, you see buyers and sellers acting emotionally or taking positions that make no business sense.
Zev Freidus, ZFC Real Estate
It may sound like a very detached, bloodless field, but the truth is that you’re going to meet interesting people from all walks of life in this line of work, especially if you deal with residential rentals.
Leonard Ang, iPropertyManagement
8. What do you find to be most rewarding or fulfilling working in commercial real estate?
Creating win-win situations and bring complicated deals to a close.
Eric Rosekrans, Martin Commercial
Most rewarding or fulfilling aspects of CRE work:
Being accurate in your projections for the markets and being rewarded through capital gains, higher valuations and increased market share – there’s something so gratifying of seeing tangible positive results from your insights and efforts on the job. Performing better than your competitors is also a great metric by which to gauge your work efforts, and these yardsticks are always moving so there is always a new goal to chase. There is also a hugely fulfilling sense of satisfaction that occurs when your research and analysis uncovers early-stage trends, and quickly jumping on these prior to your direct competitors, and witnessing the resultant boost in your metrics over theirs.
Teresha Aird, offices.net
Every day is a new adventure. The complexities of commercial real estate are guaranteed to keep you engaged and energized.
Mark Fogel, ACRES Capital
At the beginning of my career, I would have struggled to answer this question. A few years ago, I could not shake the feeling that my work was only making rich people more rich. What I find most rewarding and fulfilling now is that I get to work on deals that have a positive impact on the community that surrounds each transacting building. Real estate shapes the way we experience the built world around us. Being a part of how the built environment can promote equity, growth, and sustainability is where I now what I find most rewarding.
Rachel Ivers
I love helping business owners and executives find solutions for their business. I love working with passionate entrepreneurs who love what they do and know what they want. Lastly, I love the flexibility and autonomy I have over my schedule, my practice, and my earnings.
Joe Rosati, Lee & Associates
Seeing ways that real estate can improve the quality of life for people from all walks of life
Collete English Dixon, Roosevelt University
The art of the deal. Done properly, you are facilitating a successful transaction for both parties. If you can master the art of the deal, you will be handsomely rewarded.
Zev Freidus, ZFC Real Estate
I love the satisfaction that comes from buying up a decrepit property and turning it into a thriving apartment or storefront. It makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something meaningful for others.
Leonard Ang, iPropertyManagement
9. How do you think the commercial real estate industry will change over the next several decades and how may that impact the types of jobs and roles in commercial real estate that will need to be filled in the future?
The industry is in such flux now it is hard to say, however, I do believe there will always be a strong desire for investors to own real estate. With inflation, interest rates rising and the economic forecast for the next several years, the landscape will be different. Hard to determine with any certainty what CRE will look like.
Eric Rosekrans, Martin Commercial
There will be further growth in flexible workspace offerings, and entrenchment of their validity, as the need to accommodate an ever-more hybridized and location independent workforce drives varied-use CRE. As the volume of short-term leases and rental options continues to grow, so too will the requirements to service these innumerable transactions and the needs of smaller-scale clients. Finance and client services roles will certainly experience rampant growth as a result, along with many other jobs that have some intersection with, and operate adjacently to, the flexible space market.
Teresha Aird, offices.net
As the CRE industry has always been fragmented, I expect that there will be more efficiencies and consolidations in the industry over the coming years. While tech and automation will likely play a more prominent role, in commercial real estate there is no substitution for face-to-face interaction. The bottom line is that thriving commercial real estate careers are built on relationships.
Mark Fogel, ACRES Capital
The commercial real estate industry is slow to adopt new technology compared to other industry types. It is clear that in years to come, jobs in automation, construction, and supply chain management will be highly sought after.
Rachel Ivers
I think technology will become a bigger and bigger part of it, so folks who are technologically savvy will have an advantage. Honestly other than that I don’t think a lot will change, as it hasn’t changed much in the last 100 years. There will always be a need for brokers who can find solutions for people that need help with commercial real estate, either in acquiring it or dispositioning it, and at the end of the day it’s a people business. You’ll always have that human factor and the complexities of commercial real estate will always be there, so you’ll need good brokers to help clients navigate that.
Joe Rosati, Lee & Associates
The industry is coming to grips with its impact on the environment and climate change. Its finding ways to mitigate that impact while still providing pathways to improving the quality of the built environment will be a driver for the industry in the coming decades. I also believe the industry is getting better at understanding the value of having diverse voices at the table as it considers its opportunities and how those opportunities affect communities. The need for talent to handles these efforts will require the industry to be more open and proactive about its search for and development of talent. Additionally, those efforts will provide more opportunity for creative and forward-thinking individuals to drive positive outcomes for all impacted by and involved with creating the built environment. Sustainability experts, talent management & development leaders, community engagement leaders, creative and thoughtful design professionals will all be integral parts of the industry’s future as it continues to adapt and impact the built environment on a global basis.
Collete English Dixon, Roosevelt University
Interest rates will likely continue to rise in the coming years. This will drive cap rates up, which means it will drive prices down. As existing loans reach maturity and landlords are forced to refinance at much higher rates, when the value of the property has declined could prove to be challenging. If enough properties don’t qualify, we will begin to see distressed sales and/or foreclosures.
Zev Freidus, ZFC Real Estate
This is a growing industry, and I expect that to continue. As more and more people realize the value that can come from rental properties, there’s going to be an increase in investment firms with apartments on their books.
Leonard Ang, iPropertyManagement
About the Contributors
Eric Rosekrans
Senior Vice President Eric Rosekrans of Martin Commercial is a leading office property specialist and commercial real estate advisor in Mid-Michigan. Eric has been consistently recognized as a top producer with a portfolio of office property in excess of nine million square feet.
Throughout his tenure, Eric has cultivated long standing company relationships with most major office users in the Greater Lansing Area, including such entities as Jackson National Life Insurance Company, Auto-Owners Insurance Company, and several major law firms, associations and lobbying groups.
As his role has expanded in scope to include corporate and institutional work for his clients, Eric has functioned as the single-point-of–contact to coordinate multi-million dollar transactions in office markets throughout the country.
During his career, Eric has personally negotiated over $400 million in lease and sale transactions.
Teresha Aird
Teresha Aird is the owner, Co-Founder and CMO of Offices.net – an online brokerage that provides a range of office space solutions to businesses of all shapes and sizes across the US.
Teresha has over 20 years’ experience in the CRE space, with most of that coming from operating her own business. She started Offices.net in the heyday of the dotcom boom during the early 2000s and guided operations successfully through much market turbulence over the years – especially notable being the 2008 GFC and the recent years of real estate uncertainty due to COVID-19.
Teresha has heavily invested time and effort into learning the ins and outs of the industry since then.
Mark Fogel
Mark Fogel founded ACRES Capital in 2012, recognizing the need for providing construction financing to the underserved middle-market commercial real estate space.
He leads the executive management team as the Chief Executive Officer and President. He is also Chief Executive Officer, President, and a Board member of ACRES Commercial Realty Corp, formerly known as Exantas Capital Corp. (NYSE: ACR), a publicly traded commercial mortgage REIT.
Mr. Fogel has over 25 years of experience in commercial real estate finance, with a particular focus on providing developers and entrepreneurs with innovative debt and equity solutions. Most of his career has revolved around transitional, middle market assets. Mr. Fogel employs an asset management approach to identifying and underwriting loan opportunities, which entails a comprehensive understanding of the risks associated with property business plans and exit strategies.
Since inception, ACRES has originated over $4 billion in commercial real estate loans. ACRES is registered with the SEC as an Investment Advisor and has developed a reputation for exceptional performance with both its investors and borrowers. Before launching ACRES, Mr. Fogel served as an executive at several prominent CRE finance companies, overseeing loan production, asset management, and special servicing for a diverse portfolio of investments nationwide.
Mr. Fogel is a frequent panelist at commercial real estate conferences and has lectured at universities on a wide array of topics, including capital markets, asset management, loan structuring, workouts, and entrepreneurship.
Mr. Fogel holds a Bachelor and Science degree in Accounting from the University of Delaware and a Master of Science degree in Real Estate Investment and Development from New York University.
Joe Rosati
Joe Rosati is a commercial real estate broker in Canada. He has been in the industry for 5 years and specializes in industrial properties. Prior to working in commercial real estate, Rosati was in the corporate world for 15 years. He also has an engineering degree and a law degree.
Collete English Dixon
Collete English Dixon is the executive director for the Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate at Roosevelt University.
Rachel Ivers
Rachel Ivers holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Colorado Boulder where she studied Psychology, Business Administration and Entrepreneurship, and Real Estate. During her undergraduate studies, she worked closely with the CU Boulder Real Estate Center as a student employee and a volunteer where her biggest accomplishment at that time was creating a Career Matrix alongside industry professionals that helped students understand the career opportunities within the commercial real estate industry and what skills they needed to plan a successful career in industry.
Ivers is an active member of NAIOP and ICSC. She is a Co-Chair and Council Member on the CU Boulder Real Estate Alumni Boards’ Colorado Chapter as well as the Co-Founder and Co-Chair on the CU Boulder Real Estate Alumni Boards’ Bay Area Chapter. Ivers also provides mentorship to current undergraduate students and recent graduates on career development.
Since graduating in 2017, Ivers has been a part of over $1 billion of commercial real estate development, investment sale transactions, and capital placement across 7.3 million square feet of commercial real estate as well as identified over $800 million in operational cost savings. With a background in brokerage and development, she is currently an advisor and consultant to brokers and private equity investors in retail, office, and industrial product.
Zev Freidus
Zev Freidus is the founder and broker of record for ZFC Real Estate, a boutique commercial brokerage located in Boca Raton, FL.
Prior to launching ZFC, Zev founded and built Boca Executive Realty, (which was later rebranded as BEX Realty), a residential brokerage with offices throughout the state of Florida.
After a period of hyper growth, Zev sold BEX Realty to a private equity group. He remained the broker of record for BEX Realty until launching ZFC Real Estate in 2021.
Leonard Ang
Leonard Ang is the CEO of iPropertyManagement – A website with resources for property owners that provides help and advice on topics including rental laws, lease agreements, and property management statistics.