CCIM Students Increase Business While Taking Classes

Contrary to expectations, CCIM students close deals while taking CCIM courses.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – August 5, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — During the CCIM Institute 102 course about market analysis for CRE investment in July, Paula L. Bruns closed one deal totaling almost $100,000 in commission, signed up one existing tenant and two new tenants for leases, and proposed six new transactions.

“It has taken me a long time to realize that my deal flow increases when I sign up for a CCIM class,” says Bruns, vice president at Colville Office Properties in Houston. “Do not let your job be an impediment to taking CCIM courses.”

Smart phones, emails, and texting have revolutionized the ability of CCIM students and instructors to conduct business while taking CCIM courses. Breaks and lunch periods provide time to return calls, texts, and email.

“There is an interesting phenomenon in our business that ‘activity begets activity,’ ” says CCIM senior instructor Gary Ralston, CCIM, CRE, SIOR, who also is a managing partner at Coldwell Banker Commercial Saunders Ralston Dantzler Realty LLC in Lakeland, Fla. “It seems the second or third offer on a property always happens at the same time as the first offer. I like to think that this phenomenon happens to students during the CCIM courses.”

In fact, Ralston connected on two deals while he was teaching the CI 102 core course in Houston, July 14–17. He and his students have frequently collaborated on making introductions that result in new business for both of them. For example, a student who serves as a convenience store executive introduced Ralston to the person responsible for his market, and a deal is now pending. Another student got him acquainted with his colleagues at an investment fund based in Argentina, which could be a “game changer,” according to Ralston. He is traveling to Buenos Aires later this month. At the recent CI 102 course, student Simon Ha connected Ralston with a tenant he had trying to meet in his market, which Ha says will help them both.

During three of the four CCIM core courses that Ha has taken for earning the CCIM designation, he always works outside of the sessions. “I know how to manage my time and plan ahead to work through lunches and breaks,” says Ha, principal at Centric Commercial REA in Houston. “I managed the sale of a property while taking CI 102 while also overseeing other deals and managing a few members on my team.”

In addition to deals, leases, and new business proposals, students meet their peers in the classroom and at networking events that CCIM chapters host. “I like being in the classroom because you never know when one of your classmates might have a business opportunity for you or vice-versa,” Ha says.

CCIM education imparts the knowledge that students need to be successful. “Sign up for CCIM courses, and deals flow in,” Bruns says. “It sounds counterintuitive, but it’s commonsense. You know more and that will help you be better at your job.”