THE NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS: From these national firms, just like most other industries there are spin-off companies.  Quite often some of the better agents from the national companies venture out on their own.   Usually these firms become either local or regional in nature, some are very, very successful.    Quite often upon leaving the national firm these agents continue their working relationship with some of the corporate clients they worked with while with the national commercial real estate firm.   If their national client needs representation in a market where their broker doesn’t have an office, or is not licensed, the broker may need to find someone to refer them to in that market the referral most likely goes to another office within the network,  thus the value of the network.

In commercial real estate much like residential there are firms that have been created, by joining and paying a membership fee, to link the local and regional operations like this one into a national group.  The purpose is to share leads, referrals information and by adding the strength of the name of the network to the local strength of the commercial broker’s firm name they become somewhat competitive with the older established National Commercial Real Estate Firm and show a national presence.

THE NATIONAL DEVELOPER/BROKERAGE:  The commercial real estate bust of the mid eighties saw a large influx of development firms begin to buy or create commercial brokerages around the country.  The idea behind this was to generate more activity for their own properties and to generate more income through commissions for their local offices by expanding their representation  to the sale, lease or management of other owner’s properties in the market. Examples of some companies that were able to do this successfully were Trammell Crow Company, The Galbreath Company, Lincoln Properties and Jones Lang LaSalle

The personality of firms like this are very similar and very competitive to the national commercial real estate firms.  They do have an advantage over other categories of Broker in that many of the “Fortune 500” already occupy space in the building that they own  and manage thus they have a day to day working relationship as Tenants.  If a company has an ongoing, good working relationship with someone their familiar with odds are they will continue working with them on future projects if a brokerage service is offered in the cities they are interested in.

THE REGIONAL COMMERCIAL BROKERAGE FIRM.  These are firms that may have begin with a single office and either expanded into other cities within its geographic region or area.  Expansion is sometimes done by opening up offices in other nearby cities and hiring some of the strongest local commercial talent.   It could be done by purchasing an existing local firm or by purchasing a Regional franchise of a National Network.  These firms would operate similarly to the National real estate firms but on a smaller more localized scale.  i.e. client connections may be strong with large firms in their immediate markets  thus they are able to refer there clients to there sister offices within their own region, but would have to find other firms to refer these clients to should they need commercial product in other areas of the country or world.

THE LOCAL COMMERCIAL BROKERAGE FIRM.  A commercial real estate office operating totally independent of national, regional, corporations or franchises.  It does most of its business locally.  Relying heavily on its member’s community relationships and networking skills to attract business.

NATIONAL RESIDENTIAL FRANCHISE COMMERCIAL DIVISIONS.  Recently some national residential franchise firms such as RE/MAX, Coldwell Banker GMAC, CENTURY 21 etal. have discovered a lucrative possibility of selling Commercial Real Estate Franchises under their Banner.  Yet other residential franchise owners, who already own residential franchises with these company’s are now having their residential agents participate and take courses to obtain their CCIM designation.  Since most residential agents are members of the National Association of Realtors, most commercial firms are not, and since CCIM has formed a working relationship with the NAR, the definition of a Commercial Broker has been changed, by both of these powerhouse organizations, to accommodate more people so they might qualify to get this prestigious designation.  The definition of a commercial agent according to NAR and CCIM is an individual whose business is made up of approximately 50% commercial real estate transactions.   Interestingly enough this has actually opened a new way of doing business in the commercial real estate industry.      The new residential/commercial agencies and divisions get most of their business from residential agents within their offices referring clients they have previously sold homes to and a lot of small (mom & pop) businesses that usually feel they need help finding a location and would prefer to do one stop shopping with a familiar real estate name and someone they’ve already dealt with.

 THE LOCAL RESIDENTIAL BROKERAGE FIRM COMMERCIAL DIVISIONS.

Much like the national  franchise firms, some local residential brokerages have also found that commercial real estate is a lucrative diversion while the residential market is relatively soft.  They are therefore allowing their agents to dabble in the commercial real estate market.  As members of the Board of Realtors, which most of these firms are, locally, regionally and nationally, some of these agents may have taken courses at their local board of realtors to familiarize themselves with commercial real estate and in some cases may have even taken advanced courses and achieved the CCIM designation.  Thus creating a full service brokerage operation.   These firms get most of their business from other agents within the company that will refer commercial transactions to them.