{"id":19137,"date":"2022-07-25T10:01:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-25T15:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/?p=19137"},"modified":"2022-07-25T19:28:33","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T00:28:33","slug":"nars-spire-program-brings-bangladeshi-banker-to-commercial-real-estate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/editorials\/nars-spire-program-brings-bangladeshi-banker-to-commercial-real-estate\/","title":{"rendered":"How agents transition\u00a0successfully from residential to commercial real estate"},"content":{"rendered":"

At some point in our lives, we all need someone like Mike.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ahmed Islam left a successful career in banking to become a commercial real estate agent in Pennsylvania\u2019s burgeoning Lehigh Valley. But six years after passing his licensing exams, Ahmed was still only closing residential deals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sometime in early 2021, battling professional frustration and prompted by an email from the National Association of Realtors\u00ae<\/sup>, Ahmed decided to get involved in NAR Spire<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This mentorship initiative – created in part to foster real estate careers within traditionally underrepresented communities – kicked off last summer with a professional development webinar series.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ahmed tuned into every session, including one co-hosted by Mike Vachani. He listened intently as Mike, the managing broker of a Southern California firm 2,700 miles away, dove into the question Ahmed had spent more than a half-decade asking himself: How do agents transition successfully from residential to commercial real estate?<\/em><\/p>\n

For Mike, who had agreed to participate in the Spire program as an occasional guest speaker – not as a mentor – what came next took him by surprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the day I became a Realtor<\/span>\u00ae<\/sup> I always wanted to be a commercial Realtor<\/span>\u00ae<\/sup>,\u201d Ahmed notes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone I talked to told me that commercial Realtors\u00ae<\/sup> are in a world of their own. I knew of this stigma going in.”<\/p>\n

\u201cBut when Mike came to speak to us, I was like, who is this guy? Commercial Realtors\u00ae<\/sup> don\u2019t talk like that. He really seemed to understand the challenges that residential Realtors\u00ae <\/sup>face when trying to break into the commercial world.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the days that followed, Ahmed left voicemails on Mike\u2019s phone. Then emails. And more voicemails, until Mike called him back and agreed\u2014despite the physical distance between them\u2014to mentor Ahmed through his transition into commercial real estate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really bugged him,\u201d Ahmed recalls more than a year later, still apologizing for his persistence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt paid off,\u201d Mike interjects.<\/p>\n

Ahmed knows he\u2019s right, and he knows that determination was worth any mild embarrassment that came with it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt paid off big\u2026 What I had tried to do for seven years, Mike did for me in seven months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahmed was born in Bangladesh, where he spent much of his childhood. His father, an engineer, later found a job in the United Arab Emirates, about an hour from Dubai, and the family relocated with him. Ahmed finished school and came to America \u201cas quickly as I could,\u201d enrolling in an undergraduate program at the City University of New York.<\/p>\n

About a year after his transition out of banking, Ahmed interviewed with a commercial brokerage but was never offered a position. He wouldn\u2019t apply to another commercial firm until after meeting Mike.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t blame them,\u201d Ahmed says today of that initial rejection. \u201cI didn\u2019t have the experience, the knowledge. I didn\u2019t have someone like Mike to show me the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahmed had tried his luck reaching out to other commercial Realtors\u00ae<\/sup> for support over the years. But no one, he says, was like Mike.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey weren\u2019t rude or anything, but everyone seemed like they weren\u2019t ready to take someone on. Then the Spire program came around, and Mike came and spoke to us, and I really bugged him,\u201d Ahmed recounts today with another apology.<\/p>\n

\u201cMentors are not there to build your business, they\u2019re there to guide you. And he was a great guide,\u201d Ahmed adds.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cMike really helped me understand the commercial side in a different context.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are many parallels to how Mike approaches his relationship with Ahmed and how he runs his firm in Monrovia, California.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a different philosophy,\u201d Mike said. \u201cMine\u2019s all about synergy. I believe that if you help others, they\u2019ll always help you back. For my company, I like to keep a small staff because I want an environment where each team member is going to grow and learn from one another.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today, Ahmed and Mike consider themselves close friends. They spent the first few months of their partnership meeting every other week via Zoom. As the virtual interactions became less frequent, the two found ways to connect in person at NAR conferences and meetings, including last year at the REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> Conference and Expo in San Diego, and this May at the REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> Legislative Meetings. Mike and Ahmed are also planning to connect in Manhattan at NAR\u2019s upcoming C5 Summit<\/a>, the nation\u2019s premier event for commercial real estate, from August 15-17.<\/p>\n

Spire was formed as part of NAR\u2019s efforts to attract people from different backgrounds to a profession that has historically been largely homogenous.<\/a> Overall, Hispanics\/Latinos accounted for 11% of Realtors\u00ae<\/sup> in 2021, followed by Black\/African Americans at 8%, and Asian\/Pacific Islanders at 5%.<\/p>\n

But with all the challenges facing U.S. real estate today, one of the most positive trends we see is the increasing diversity among those newest to the field. NAR\u2019s 2022 Member Profile<\/a> found that 37% of those with two years or less experience in real estate were racial minorities, a substantial increase from just 12 months prior.<\/p>\n

Through Spire, it is our hope that Mike, and other volunteers like him, will continue to lead new and blossoming members through their own processes of professional growth, advancement, and transition.<\/p>\n

It has now been about six months since Ahmed fully shifted from residential to commercial real estate. While the mentorship from Mike has been invaluable, this is a significant move that takes most agents years to establish.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a big shift,\u201d Mike notes. \u201cAnd the transition doesn\u2019t happen overnight. But that\u2019s why Spire is so valuable because it helps spearhead these changes and makes everything move faster for agents who are working with a mentor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The benefits are not lost on Ahmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cMike showed me the way. He came in and gave me all these tips that I still use. He is the reason why I am a commercial Realtor\u00ae<\/sup> today. And I love it.”<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAR’s Spire membership program was birthed out of efforts to diversify the real estate field and a commitment to mentorship. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":340926,"featured_media":19138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[254],"tags":[356,2332,2211,1234,2331],"class_list":["post-19137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","tag-commercial-real-estate","tag-featured","tag-mentorship","tag-real-estate-news","tag-residential-real-estate"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/Two-men-discussing-mentorship-opportunities-with-the-Spire-program.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/340926"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19137"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19151,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19137\/revisions\/19151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}