Stay in your lane. I’ll stay in mine.

I was driving down the street the other day when I passed by a closed down oil change facility. There was a For Sale sign along the sidewalk reminiscent of one you would see in the front yard of someone’s home. Along the bottom of this For Sale sign was a rider with big bold letters reading COMMERCIAL. No shit? A former oil change facility is a commercial property? Who da thunk it?

I once joked about taking the next residential lead I received and putting a giant 3’ by 4’ sign in the front yard with big bold letters proclaiming the listing as RESIDENTIAL.

But, you know why I don’t do that? Because I don’t work in that sector of real estate and it is not a sector I feel I will best be able to represent my client. If my ultimate duty as a broker is to serve as a fiduciary, am I doing the best for my client by taking on a listing type that I know little about? If you are a business owner, are you best served by having a residential broker negotiate your next triple-net lease? Not at all. The same way that you, as a home buyer, shouldn’t feel comfortable hiring a commercial guy like me to help you pin down an FHA loan.

As a real estate professional, I can best serve my clients by staying in my lane. As an owner or tenant or landlord - make sure you hire somebody that also knows how to stay in theirs.