Real Estate's King Solomon

Yesterday, we visitedMarcus & Millichap's West LA office, where regional manager Tony Solomon told us last year'stransaction volume eclipsed2011 numbers by 40%--which also beat the overall market gain of 20% or so. (In school, you call that kind of behavior 'curve breaking.')

That's great news for an alliance "King Solomon" created with Children's Hospital and that M&M agents have embraced--donating a small percentage of their commission on every deal, and in turn, its clients get an anonymous card thanking them for their donation. Why the nickname?It wassome clients who dubbed him King Solomon a while back;the agents picked up on it and the name stuck. (Though he says he probably should be called Prince Solomon, because his dad's the king.) He's never had to divide any babies, but has made some wise decisions. The wisest? MarryingLisa Solomon. (Right answer.)

Here he is with first VP Richard Ringer. Multifamily accounts for more than half of the office's deal volume, but Tony says M&M sells more triple-net-leased investments than any other firm in the country. Over the past six months, the office has deployed some new, young talent in the office and retail division, where Tony determined the office was missing avenues of business. The effort's already paid off with several significant listings.Jaya Boppana (one of its newest agents) and senior agentLane Schwartz just listed a boutique office building in Santa Monica, andTony expects to have an office and industrial specialist with a major firm pedigree starting in the next couple of weeks.

He oversees some 45 agents in the West LA office. His advice to those starting in the brokerage biz? Make 75 to 100 cold calls per day--it's a numbers game andeasy to track. It's about quality,differentiatingyourself, and giving people options and info to let them make good business decisions. The result:"Your career trajectory is going to be a lot steeper, and your career's going to be a lot longer." (And maybe you can buy a leather couch with some cool posters hanging over it.)

Another senior agent, Marty Cohan, just listed a 50k SF BofA building in Inglewood. Tony says the firm has been moving a lot of capital across state boundaries in conjunction with other M&M offices,asa sizable number of apartment building transactions--retail and office, too--are purchased by buyers outsidethe region. The office's seniors housing division, led by VP of investments Chris Hyldahl, is alsopart of a national platform with agents throughout the US.

Tony instituted board meetings on some Fridays from 6:30am to 8:30am. The attendance at one of them included Will James, Tony, Jesse Danzig, and Peter James. Another board member, senior agent Rob Narchi, snapped the photo. (Does that make him the board secretary?) Between waves, Tony and his agents discuss deals and best practices. (Like how to avoid a wipeout.)