Independent
Brokers Need to
Network
By David Hurst, SIOR
In 2002, after almost 25 years of working for major
commercial real estate companies—Royal LePage,
Binswanger, Jones Lang LaSalle, NAI—I decided to
open my own firm, Hurst Real Estate Services Inc., in
Orangeville, Ontario, a suburb northwest of Toronto.
I knew I was going to be working in direct competition
with many of the large firms where I had once employed,
but I felt I could compete because, as a member of SIOR,
I was part of a network that could extend my reach far
beyond that of an independent, small-office, commercial
real estate broker.
However, just being a member of SIOR is not enough
to make the organization an effective networking tool; one
must be actively involved and deeply immersed in meetings, conferences, and social events.
I do my best to attend every convention because I meet
new people every single time I make the journey. For
example, at a convention a couple of years ago, I met a
New Jersey SIOR member who was a specialist in tenant representation. When I became president of the SIOR
Central Canadian Chapter, I invited him to address our
membership. We kept in touch, and earlier this year, one
of his clients needed the services of a commercial real
estate broker in the greater Toronto area. He gave me a
call.
The company in the deal was the international imaging
firm, Agfa-Gevaert Group, and in March it ended up taking 115,000 square feet of industrial space in Mississauga,
Ontario.
In my world, networking is everything. I can’t compete
with the big firms for
listings, so I bring in
friends, associates,
and SIORs that I’ve
known after more
than 25 years in the
business. Cooperation
enables me to work
with the bigger firms
and still have my own
small company.
In another recent example, David Carreiro, a Toronto-based SIOR member, had been working with First
Industrial Realty Trust Inc., based in Chicago. First
Industrial had set up operations in Toronto and Carreiro
had helped them purchase buildings and land. Then when
the economic slowdown hit, First Industrial reversed
directions, and Carreiro was asked to assist in disposing
of the Ontario assets.
I was working with a major Canadian corporation,
Toromont Industries Ltd., and when I heard through the
SIOR grapevine that First Industrial (an SIOR member)
had some excess land to sell in the greater Toronto area,
I contacted Carreiro and presented Toromont’s needs to
him. My client ultimately bought a 50-acre site for $14.5
million. I attribute a good portion of making this deal to
my SIOR connection with Carriero and First Industrial.
“In my world,
networking is
everything...
Cooperation enables
me to work with the
bigger firms and still
have my own small
company.”
