Commercial real estate is an increasingly popular and lucrative field. However, there are a lot of moving parts that need to be managed effectively for businesses to succeed in this space. New agents often flounder as they try to navigate this market, and as many as 70% do not make it past the first two years.
As a successful commercial real estate entrepreneur, Augie Schmidt is on a mission to empower new agents and those seeking to upgrade from residential real estate. Schmidt is the founder and CEO of CRE Academy, an e-learning start-up that educates and curates success in commercial real estate.
CRE Academy focuses on three things: information, application, and training. The program’s first phase will deal with training individual agents and their success, empowering them to successfully navigate commercial real estate and thrive. This program is specially created for new agents in the commercial real estate space and veteran residential real estate whose jobs are at risk thanks to rapid technological advancements.
After training agents, Schmidt shares that the company will soon get into training brokerage offices as a whole and then move into training for commercial real estate investment training. These are all lessons Schmidt personally wishes someone had taught him when he first began his career.
Schmidt has also launched a high-performance monthly mastermind for commercial real estate professionals called The CRE Collective. This program will focus on increasing sales skills, increasing efficiency, promoting accountability, and helping commercial real estate professionals reach the next level. In a way, The CRE Collective is a foundational course for commercial real estate professionals just starting. Schmidt was one not long ago but has since become a 7-figure, award-winning commercial real estate entrepreneur and advisor.
He is currently ranked position 8 out of 1,600+ advisors nationwide and helped lead the #1 ranked office out of 220+ offices nationwide in 2021. In the past 12 months, Schmidt has transacted more than $67,000,000 in commercial real estate and mentored many agents. With CRE Academy, he hopes to reach even more agents and help them become as successful as he is right from the outset. Schmidt believes three critical factors can help agents get there.
Mentorship is the first requirement a successful commercial real estate agent needs. In Schmidt’s case, he believes that would have eliminated the trial-and-error methods he applied early on and helped him scale faster. Some of the basics Schmidt feels are important for success in real estate include knowing how to cold call, databasing, setting meetings, networking, negotiating, and closing deals, among others. As an expert, that’s the first lesson he shares with his mentees.
Creating and leveraging high-value networks is the other requirement for successful agents. In his early days, Schmidt was incredibly blessed because he worked for a nationally recognized company. As a result, he didn’t have to explain who he was or try to establish his credibility. He rode on the company’s credibility and managed to get into rooms he couldn’t have on his own.
Persistence is the third thing Schmidt recommends agents cultivate if they don’t want to be a statistic in the turnover rate in the industry. Walking with experts like him can help you turn around failure for good, avoid common mistakes, and set yourself up for success without going through the hassles he did.
