Get A Specialist
By Laurens C. Nicholson CCIM, SIOR, Principal, Bentley Commercial, LLC
Imagine this … you see your physician and you are diagnosed with cancer. You need surgery. What next? Go see a generalist … or your local podiatrist? Emphatically NO! You make a plan – you go to see a specialist – the very best specialist you can find. You want THE person who has performed this surgery hundreds of times, day in and day out. You want the doctor with the most experience and the greatest knowledge possible … You want someone who is not distracted by other procedures and is totally focused on your particular need.
When it comes to your real estate investments, who are you going to trust? — Someone who says they specialize, but does a little bit of everything? Hire a specialist! Employ a broker who truly does specialize in the property type in which you are investing. Look for someone who has earned the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation. The CCIM designation is the Ph.D. of commercial real estate … it is the highest professional certification one can earn in the commercial investment real estate field. The CCIM curriculum consists of extensive courses encompassing hours of classroom work in financial analysis, market analysis, user decision analysis, and investment analysis.
To qualify for the final designation, the broker must submit a resume of closed transactions, which shows experience in practice … not just theory. And finally, candidates must complete comprehensive examinations … 21 hours of examinations … with, of course, a passing score. Of the licensed realtors throughout the US only .0075% hold the highly coveted and respected CCIM designation. This reflects not only on the caliber of the program, but also provides the “why” for hiring individuals who have worked hard enough to earn the CCIM designation. They are your experts in real estate — educated and knowledgeable — trained and experienced.
Laurens Nicholson holds the CCIM and SIOR designations and specializes in commercial investment real estate. In 2002, Laurens was awarded the Commercial Realtor of the Year by GGAR and in 2006 Laurens joined the faculty for the CCIM institute. Laurens is the first instructor from South Carolina in over 25 years. Laurens would like to talk with you about your investment property … give you personalized suggestions that can make your property stand out. Whether you lease, own, invest, develop, sell—with Bentley Commercial (an affiliate of Corfac International), you will find an expert team committed to you, and your short and long-term commercial real estate success.
