Customer Reviews

How to Succeed in Commercial Real Estate

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

How To Succeed In Commercial Real Estate is a plain-terms guide to buying commercial property, drawn from the author's experience in 30 years of the business. Chapters cover points specific to commercial real estate, including suggestions for countering other brokers; the importance of exclusive listings; how rent is calculated and quoted; technical knowledge with regard to law, appraisal, taxation, zoning, surveys, and environmental investigations, among other topics; the pros and cons of going independent; and much more. A no-nonsense guide accessible to readers of all familiarity levels with the world of real estate, and highly recommended reading for anyone about to take the plunge and invest thousands or even millions of dollars into commercial property.

I purchased this book along with another one,(...) I feel even better about this subject and gaining even more confidence when I'm practicing my profession. This is the reason I'm sending in my review as well.

This book is great if you're getting into the world of commercial real estate and need to have someone explain the myriad areas of general knowledge to you. It's basically what you might expect if you had a mentor or coach to help you get started, which is hard to come by in the competitive real estate environment. It won't tell you the "nuts & bolts" that are part of the nitty-gritty side of the business.

It was useful in that it helped me to "fill in the blanks" where I had a few questions about the commercial side of real estate. Since I'm already a practicing residential real estate and have a corporate/financial background, the book didn't dazzle me with things I carried over from my residential or business experiences.

In short, I recommend it to someone who is new to the business or if you're a residential agent who occasionally dabbles into it. It will give you a good, general overview and suggest areas where you can establish sound fundamentals that are required for a success career.

For someone looking to enter the brokerage side of the business I found this book to be a great primer. The book is not meant to be an in depth educational tool so the person who gave it such a negative review probably was expecting something completely different. If your new to commercial brokerage or looking to get into it, this book will help you with some key issues and highlight some important areas about the business that you may not have known. For instance, the difference in working for a regional or a national and selecting your firm to work for, your area of specialty, some key terms and vocab you need to know and common mistakes made by newbies that you can look out for and avoid. If you have been in the business for a couple of years, then this book probably won't help you too much but if you're about to start interviewing with firms I highly reccommend reviewing this book beforehand to get you thinking on the right track and asking the right questions.

How to Succeed in Commercial Real Estate is a very good book that will give aspiring Comm RE professionals more than enough information to:
1) Determine if the career may be a good fit
2) Evaluate which specialty may be the best fit
3) Determine the type of Office to work for
4) Develop and maintain a "prospect" base
5) Avoid pitfalls that will cause loss of favor with clients, prospects, and fellow professionals

Most of the things that the book is light on (like where to get the prospect lists) need to be worked out with the training broker. Doesn't seem like the author has held much back.

By studying this book you will not feel like a Commercial Broker however you will feel like you can identify the qualities of a Commercial Broker and thus aspire to be one in an effecient manner.

John Bowman creates a realistic overview of the Commercial Real Estate industry, including the opportunities and the risks involved how you start and build a career. A must read for anyone considering a career in the business.

I was disappointed with the book. I expected a book that would describe how to succeed in commercial real estate for someone wanting to buy and lease out commerical properties. This book hardly touched on the topics I wanted to learn about, such as what makes a property a good investment, how to do due diligence on a property when considering it for purchase, tips on finding a good investment and why it's so hard, pros and cons of development vs buying an existing building, etc. I would have appreciated if the front cover would have made the target audience clearer. Read the table of contents carefully before making the assumption I did!

It's a good read with worthwhile info. The reviewer below who commented that the book is "high school" level material doesn't work in the commercial real estate business, and apparently was mad that Bowman's book isn't a motivational get-rich-quick real estate book.
If you are looking for that, you will be disappointed. If you want basic and sensible advice from someone who has been there, you will get it.

YOU ARE ONLY GOOD AS THE TOOLS YOU HAVE!. If I had this TOOL, "How to succeed in Commercial Real Estate", when I first stated, I would not have faced all the bumps and brambles in this business. Stay the course, as noted in the book, and you will definitly succeed in this Business. A True Five Star!

This is probably the most comprehensive yet easy-to-read book I've found on beginning a career in commercial real estate brokerage. It's mainly focused on brokerage as a career, which is great since there aren't very many books on the commercial sector. If you're thinking about becoming a commercial broker or you just want to learn more about the industry, this is an excellent overview. Highly recommended.

Mr. Bowman has done a fine job of explaining the in's and out's of commercial investment real estate. This book is an absolute must read for anyone thinking of making the transition to commercial investment real estate. The book is very informative and well written. The examples are well thought out. I have all my agents reading my annoted copy. If there were one defecit it would be that the treatment of some of the topics was a little light. That is probably as a result of the vast differences in the practice across the country. Still, the book is well written, easy to read and understand and I highly recommend it.