Posted by Kyle Miller on April 07, 2006 at 21:40:38:
Robert,
I work as a commercial real estate broker. Technically, my license is “salesperson” and I work for a broker, but in my area (Silicon Valley), we tend to just call ourselves (commercial) brokers. “Realtor” is associated with a specific organization, but it is often used as a generic designation for a (usually residential) agent.
In California, any agent can do either residential or commercial (or mortgage brokering), it’s all the same license. In smaller towns there’s more overlap, but in larger metro areas residential/commercial are usually more specialized. On the commercial side, that specialization can extend to retail, R&D, industrial, office, biotech, medical, office, etc. A great degree of specialization is not necessarily needed and depends on the clients’ specific requirements. At the more established brokerages (like ours), brokers just partner up with each other as needed to obtain the right skill set for the task.
Much of who you go with will depend on your particular needs and personality. If you’d like to list a property, then you have to decide whether you’d like a skilled veteran to navigate the process (but might be stretched too thin/not care much about your property) or an energetic new talent (who might not have the skill set to handle some of the tougher issues). If you’re looking to lease/buy property for business use, you might want to consider going with a company with a tenant rep focus.
As far as finding them, pick your favorite search engine and remember to use quotation marks around phrases. I’ve found that my site (http://www.svcommercialre.com, which is a marketing gateway to the services I provide through another company) turns up frequently with Yahoo & MSN and certain searches, but less frequently with Google (which is driven by PageRank & indirectly by paid ads --i.e. Buy lots of ads and you get lots of links on Google, a site which Google considers very important.)Driving around commercial areas can also let you know who some of the listing players are.
If you want, send me a quick email with your geographic area and requirements. We are affiliated with excellent brokerages throughout the country, and I could try and track down the right person for your specific needs.
Best regards,
Kyle