What Does a Commercial Real Estate Broker Actually Do?

A commercial real estate broker is a licensed professional who helps clients buy, sell or lease property like offices, shops, warehouses and apartment buildings. Day to day, that means finding clients, pricing and marketing property, negotiating deals and steering them through due diligence to closing. Most brokers are paid by commission, so they earn when deals close and not before.

If you’ve ever wondered what that looks like in practice, this guide covers the main roles, how a deal actually closes, how commissions work and what the career is like. It also explains why CRE Tycoon, our free commercial real estate game, starts you out as a broker before you ever own a building.

What a commercial real estate broker does

The job comes down to one thing: making deals happen between people who own property and people who want to use it or buy it. A broker does that by representing one side.

Main roles

Most brokers focus on one or two of these:

• Seller representation (listing broker). The broker helps an owner sell a property: pricing it, preparing marketing materials, finding buyers and negotiating offers.
• Buyer representation. The broker helps an investor or business find and buy property that fits their goals.
• Landlord representation (leasing). The broker markets a building’s empty space and negotiates leases for the owner.
• Tenant representation. The broker works for a business that needs space, searches the market, compares options and negotiates the lease on the tenant’s behalf.

Property specialties

Many brokers also specialize by property type, such as office, retail, industrial or multifamily. Each type has its own tenants, leases and buyers, so expertise matters. If you’re new to the categories, our guide to commercial property types explains the basics.

A day in the life

There’s no single routine, but most weeks mix the same activities:

• Prospecting. Calling owners and businesses, following up on leads and networking. For newer brokers especially, this is the biggest part of the job.
• Underwriting. Running the numbers on a property, including its net operating income and cap rate, to estimate value or check a deal.
• Pricing opinions. Preparing a broker opinion of value to help an owner decide whether, and at what price, to sell.
• Marketing. Creating listing materials and offering packages, reaching out to likely buyers or tenants and fielding inquiries.
• Tours. Showing properties to buyers and tenants.
• Negotiating. Working through offers, counteroffers, letters of intent and lease terms.
• Managing deals in progress. Coordinating with attorneys, lenders, inspectors, title and escrow to keep deals on track.

Key takeaway: a broker’s real product is a closed deal. Everything else, from cold calls to spreadsheets, is the work of getting there.

How a commercial deal closes

Every deal is different, but a typical sale follows a path like this:

1. Engagement. The broker signs an agreement with the client that spells out the role and the commission.
2. Pricing and marketing. For a listing, the broker sets a pricing strategy and markets the property. For a buyer, the broker searches for fits.
3. Offers and a letter of intent. Interested parties submit offers, often first as a non-binding letter of intent covering price and key terms.
4. Purchase agreement. Once terms are agreed, attorneys draft and sign a purchase and sale agreement.
5. Escrow and due diligence. The buyer inspects the property, reviews leases and financials, orders reports and arranges financing. Deals can fall apart here if something surprising turns up or financing doesn’t come through.
6. Closing. Funds and documents change hands, the deed transfers and the commission is paid.

Leasing deals follow a similar arc: tour, proposal, negotiation, lease drafting and signing.

Why deals fall apart

Brokers often say a deal isn’t done until it closes. Inspections reveal problems, appraisals come in low, lenders change terms, tenants back out or buyers simply get cold feet. A big part of a broker’s value is solving those problems before they kill the deal.

How commissions work

Most commercial brokers are paid only when a deal closes. The commission is negotiated in each agreement and is often:

• A percentage of the sale price for sales, or
• A percentage of the total lease value (or a set amount per square foot) for leases.

That commission is usually shared. If there’s a broker on each side, they split it. Each broker then splits their share with their brokerage firm according to their own agreement. Teams may split further.

What that means for income

Commission-only work has highs and lows. A broker might go months without a closing and then close several deals at once. Deal cycles in commercial real estate can be long, so new brokers often need savings or a team role while they build a pipeline. The flip side is that strong brokers aren’t capped by a salary.

Licensing and getting started

In the US, brokers and agents are licensed by each state, and the rules and terms differ. Generally, a person starts with a salesperson license, working under a licensed broker, and can later qualify for a broker license with more experience and education. Requirements change, so anyone interested should check their own state’s real estate regulator.

Skills that matter

• Comfort with rejection and a steady prospecting habit
• Strong numbers skills, especially income, expenses and valuation
• Clear writing and negotiation
• Patience with long deal timelines
• Deep local market knowledge
• Organization, because several deals in escrow at once means a lot of moving parts

Common ways in

There’s no single path. Some brokers start as assistants or analysts on an established team, learning underwriting and marketing before they take on clients of their own. Others come from adjacent fields like property management, lending, appraisal or residential sales and bring that knowledge with them. Either way, the first years are usually about building relationships and a reputation for doing what you said you’d do.

Why CRE Tycoon starts you as a broker

We’re an independent studio in San Diego, and our founder also runs a commercial real estate brokerage here. So when we made CRE Tycoon, we started where a lot of real careers start: at a brokerage, with more hustle than capital.

You open your own brokerage with $100,000. You work the phones for leads, make offers for your buyers and collect commission checks when deals close. Like real life, the game models escrow risk, so not every deal that looks done actually lands.

Then the career opens up. Your first commission opens the market: 275 buildings across four districts, plus 21 landmarks. From there you buy buildings, fill them with tenants, refinance and sell over a 10-year career, one month at a time. You climb 14 ranks from Rookie to City Legend, and each promotion brings a new skill, plan, action or district.

That arc mirrors a path many real brokers aim for: learn the market by doing deals for others, then put your commissions to work as an investor. The game simplifies it so a month fits in a coffee break, but the habits carry over: keep your pipeline full, know the numbers, and remember that a deal isn’t done until it closes.

Try the broker life for free

If you’re curious whether you’d enjoy the deal side of real estate, CRE Tycoon is a fun, low-stakes way to find out. It’s free, runs in your phone or desktop browser and has no ads or purchases. Read our how to play CRE Tycoon guide to get started, then try to beat the rival investors to #1.

FAQ

What does a commercial real estate broker do?

A commercial real estate broker helps clients buy, sell or lease property such as offices, retail, industrial buildings and apartment complexes. The work includes finding clients, pricing and marketing property, negotiating terms and guiding deals through due diligence to closing.

How do commercial real estate brokers get paid?

Most are paid by commission when a deal closes, often a percentage of the sale price or of the total lease value. The commission is usually shared between the brokers on each side and their firms, and the exact terms are negotiated in each agreement.

What is the difference between a broker and an agent?

Licensing rules vary by state, but in the US a broker generally holds a higher-level license and can run a brokerage, while a salesperson or agent works under a licensed broker. In everyday speech, people often call anyone doing deals a broker.

What is tenant representation?

Tenant representation means a broker works for a business that needs space. The broker finds options, compares them, negotiates the lease and protects the tenant’s interests, rather than the landlord’s.

Is commercial real estate brokerage a good career?

It can be rewarding for people who like sales, numbers and long deal cycles, but income is often commission-only and uneven, especially in the first years. Many brokers start on a team to learn the business.

This article is for education and entertainment, not financial advice.