mark cooper

Mark Cooper is looking to grow his commercial and residential real estate REFERRAL network for the San Francisco Bay area, and beyond. This is an open invitation to All Keller Williams agents across the USA, (that's right all 72,000 of you). Come to San Francisco on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday afternoon. Have a tour of one of the oldest active real estate offices on the WEST COAST, and get A FREE LUNCH (sorry agents at KWSF are not eligible).

Mark Cooper's office is in a cool RED Victorian building at the corner of Franklin and bush street in San Francisco. The building is four stories, and the carpet in the training room is red and green plaidd! You have to see it to believe it.

Call the free lunch hotline today, 415-608-1036, operators are standing by!

the other day Mark Cooper was contacted by his former real estate office assistant, Avery Bean. Avery is going to school for business at Loyola Marymount University in Southern California. Her teacher had his students ask real estate agents some insightful questions... here they are:

1. Could you please tell me about your educational background and what made you pursue a career in real estate? How long have you held your current position?

Mark Cooper: bfa in photography from artcenter college of design, third generation landlord, property manager for 18 years, real estate investor.

2. How did you find yourself in the real estate industry? Why did you choose the line of real estate you are in (commercial vs. residential)?

Mark Cooper: I like the numbers and income, so I focus on properties that are not owner occupied. Passive income, good tenants and management in place, tax shelters with leverage and depreciation.

3. Do you think it is more difficult to be an agent or a broker? How do you personally define each?

Mark Cooper: personally I don't want to be a broker, they are responsible for the errors/mistakes of the agents in the office. an agent can focus on their own deals and do what they do best.

4. What are the most rewarding aspects to you job?

Mark Cooper: I love networking, I meet 5 new people each day, cold calling is fun!

4b. What do you find most challenging?

Mark Cooper: real estate takes time, about 4 months to close a deal and get paid

5. Please describe an average day, possibly use a day last week to aid you in this.

Monday: golf till 1pm, then meetings at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5:30pm, sometimes another at 7pm

Tues-Thurs: get up at 5:30am, go to a networking event (real estate, bni, church, kids, school, hoa etc)

drive to work by 7am, return emails, check phone messages, meetings and phone calls 9am-3pm.

drive home, check phone messages while driving.

6pm dinner with family

6. What would you consider your greatest accomplishment thus far while working in the real estate industry? How did you go about achieving it?

Mark Cooper: find buyers for properties that are not on the market, and double end the deals

7. Please describe your typical communication behaviors on the job.

Mark Cooper: phone calls, text, meetings, blog.... emails come last or they take all day!

8. What do you thinks makes a good manager in real estate?

Mark Cooper: you need to care about others, be generous. share your talents

9. What qualities does a leader need to be successful in real estate?

Mark Cooper: network, lead generate, use a great database, stay in touch with everyone... care about others and their goals, I keep track of Everyone's Birthdays!

10. Do you find the ability to multi task beneficial to the industry?

Mark Cooper: yes, but stay focused, set goals,

11. What are some abilities/characteristics most successful people possess in your chosen carrier?

Mark Cooper: you must love your job, have patience, and be reliable

12. Has there ever been a time when moral in a team, or group of clients, was low? How did you go about improving their spirits?

Mark Cooper: we have a business card drawing each week, I encourage the agents closing deals and our guest speakers to donate prizes. I gave an ipod away each week I close a big deal, the agents that are on time to the meetings ARE the top agents in our office.... go figure!

13. Have you noticed any changes to your managing style since the recession? Please explain.

Mark Cooper: I am getting more aggressive with leads, my clients seem to like it. My assistant position at work practically has a waiting list, but I am always looking for great new talent.

14. How do you go about correcting yourself when you make a wrong decision? Do you admit your mistake?

Mark Cooper: yep, the sooner I admit the mistake the better.... when you make an omelet, you gonna have to break some eggs. I say I'm sorry, don't make excuses. its no big deal, move on.

15. Describe a problem you encountered when the ideal solution did not work. What were some alternatives solutions? How and why were beneficial to the situation?

Mark Cooper: we had a construction project on a penthouse rooftop, a labor strike was going on and wood was being delivered by a non-union truck. The crane operator refused to cross the picket line. He would not lift the wood off the delivery truck and put it on the roof. I thought outside the box, had the delivery truck dump the wood on the street and drive away, then the crane lifted the wood off, PROBLEM SOLVED!

16. Do you make decisions on your own, or do you consult others? What do you take into consideration when making decision?

Mark Cooper: I am part of commercial team, I bring the leads and clients thru the door, our team gets down to business. We decide as a group and don't rush things. Every deal is a win-win for everyone involved, (Buyers, Sellers, Agents, Tenants, ETC. ) Everyone or NO DEAL.

17. How much supervision do you typically receive and or give in your job?

Mark Cooper: I have a time clock set up, my assistants and all use it, we clock in when we get to work. I keep track of how many hours are spent on each task, and how much money we spend and make on each project.

18. What is the hardest part of managing, or working with, clients, or those who work for you?

Mark Cooper: un-realistic sellers, its our job to set the listing price. Overstated income and false expenses on income properties make the number crunching more work. Sometimes we have to be detectives before getting to the REAL numbers.

Employees that don't show up on time are a waste of my time. When my assistants start chit chatting with each other while they are on the clock it drives me crazy!

19. Do you feel pressure from those higher in the work ladder than you? If yes, how so?

Mark Cooper: nope, they are great, very encouraging

20. How do you handle deadlines or other pressures on the job?

Mark Cooper: we set realistic deadlines, we tag team and delegate

21. Is there a code of ethics in real estate? How did you learn of it? Do people follow it?

Mark Cooper: we all took a class in Ethics, NOW I teach several... article 11 we quote weekly!

22. If you knew someone was being unethical, what would you do about it?

Mark Cooper: speak to them in privately, in person, if the behavior continued decide not work with them, possibly write a letter to their broker.

23. Could you offer any advice for someone who would like to take part in real estate one day?

mark cooper: give me a call, I am hiring in SF and could use help in LA, 1-800-440-6671 Keller Williams is a fantastic company, we are the third largest in the US an Canada. We have over 700 offices.

Mark Cooper's office is located in San Francisco at 1500 Franklin street, (corner of Franklin and bush) his commercial team handles sales, leasing, retail, multi-family, office, hotel, industrial, and real estate investments. They specialize in properties in San Francisco and Marin Counties. They work with landlords and trusts living in all parts of California.

Keller Williams San Francisoco is seeking experienced commercial agents. Marks team also has entry level positions for agents with current licenses, you can request a straight commission, hourly wages, or a combination. We offer flexible schedules and have a fun work environment. Interviews are Tuesdays from 1-4pm. 1-800-440-6671.

today Mark Cooper got a call from an agent wanting to join kw commercial in San Francisco, he wanted an interview right away and was asking about joining our team. Mark asked him about his background, and how he found out about the commercial team, it turns out he called the SF market center, then got mark.

he seemed to know his stuff so we scheduled an interview for next week, finally after a few more questions, the guy said he saw our ad on craigslist, funny thing, we had not posted an ad on craigslist.....

so we searched sf/craigslist on 4/2/09 and this is what was found:

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KW Commercial is the new, separately branded commercial real estate arm of Keller Williams...the third largest residential brokerage company in the United States.
Keller Williams has 700 offices nationwide, and 74,000 residential agents. We are looking for commercial investment and commercial leasing agents all over northern California (and throughout the United States). We offer better splits than other commercial real estate brokerages, as well as a cap. We have a national faculty that offers extensive commercial coursework. We also have an extensive document and forms library, monthly commercial mastermind webinars, and professional grade signage and marketing materials. Best of all, with 74,000 residential agents around the country, we have an extensive built in referral network that is already helping our agents generate sizable checks in many parts of the country. Keller Williams' business model is so good that it is being studied by the MBA schools at both Harvard and Stanford. We believe that we have the "better mousetrap", and our growth plan is intended to make us one of the largest commercial real estate companies in the United States. We plan on doing that the same way that our residential division has already accomplished that feat.

Our commercial division is headed by longtime former Staubach executive, Buddy Norman, and our commercial leadership council and faculty have membership that came from most of the "household name" commercial brokerages around the country.
We believe that our commercial real estate model is simply better than that of other companies, and high performing agents are joining us across the country from most of the big name brokerages. Unlike many commercial real estate companies, we have no debt, and are not in danger of going under.

Get in on the ground floor of something good. We just had our official launch in February, and we already have over three hundred agents nationally. Keller Williams is a fantastic company to work for, and KW Commercial shares the values and strategies of Keller Williams.

Please send your resume and cover letter. All submissions will be handled with the strictest confidence.

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well, I could understand why a savy commerical agent would google KW commercial SF, get my number and call me, but i wasn't sure who's ad it was. After a little dective work, the Mystery was solved, my buddy in another kw commercial office had posted the ad for recruiting. Come to think of it, it was not such a bad idea, If I can't fill our team positions soon I may post something on Craigslist, but I will be sure to make it Clear:

1) we are in San Francisco at 1500 Franklin street, (corner of Franklin and bush)

2) our commercial team handles sales, leasing, retail, multi-family, office, hotel, industrial, and real estate investments

3) we specialize in San Francisco and Marin Counties

4) we seek experienced commercial agents and also have entry level positions for agents with current licenses.

5) you can request a straight commission, hourly wages, or a combination

6) we offer flexible schedules and have a fun work environment

7) we interview Tuesdays from 1-4pm

That seems to clear up most of the questions he had, and I look forward to the interview next week.

kw family reunion day two. WOW. My buddy Scott Miller of KW commercial showed me a big check on Saturday. well it was the same size as just about every other commission check I have seen, about 7.5 inches wide. But here is the thing, it was for $33,096.70 to a residential agent named Jeanette Hanson, she made a phone call to Scott Miller with a lead, and had herself a commercial referral. Scott told me he was going to reveal it at his breakout session, and I suggested he do it "publishers clearing house style", with a big, FOUR FOOT WIDE CHECK! He hesitated, so I took it to kinkos and had them blow it up and mount it. It's gotta be the biggest referral check this year at family reunion. Thanks kinkos, and thank you, Scott Miller, Buddy Norman, Evan Langart, Sidney Wilson, and Everyone else at KW commercial, You Guys Rock!

Scott is amazing, he really knows how to connect with the residential agents and teach them how to do commercial referrals. I like to call myself the "scott miller of the west coast" ... I am just waiting for the day he calls himself the "Mark Cooper of the East Coast"!

I only shopped at Mervyns a few times in my life, once in college to buy some dress shirts, and again last fall when I picked up a golf shirt on sale, I'm not surprised it went under. I felt the store interrior was dated and the sales people were less then helpful. I want to say it was no target, and I was really surprised it when I discovered it was owned by target at one time. I stopped by the "after xmas" and found nothing I liked, then I went back to the store fixture sale and didn't even care for the store fixtures they were selling dirt cheap.

The following are excerpts from wikipiedia about Mervyns: In 1978, Mervyns was acquired by the Dayton Hudson Corporation (later known as Target Corporation). It was not merged into Target, and it kept its separate identity. In July 2004, Mervyns was sold by Target to a group of investors, including private investment firm and turnaround specialist Sun Capital Partners, Inc, Cerberus Capital Management, and real estate investment company Lubert-Adler Management Inc.

When Sun Capital Partners, Cerberus Capital Management, and Lubert-Adler bought Mervyns, the new owners changed the structure of the company, dividing it into separate real estate and retail businesses. In essence, the Mervyns real estate arm charged retailer Mervyns huge rents for its department store space.

In September 2008, Mervyns sued the private equity firms involved in the leveraged buyout of the chain, alleging the deal stripped the retailer of its real estate assets, forcing it into bankruptcy. Mervyns said in the suit that the investment group, which included Cerberus Capital Management, used the increased rent to finance the buyout. Although the company attempted to undergo reorganization under bankruptcy, Mervyn's ultimately succumbed to the ongoing US recession and announced that it would liquidate its assets through Chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, stating it "is the best course of action to maximize value for all of the company's creditors, employees and other stakeholders."The bankruptcy called for the company to liquidate and close its remaining stores.

The bottom line, If I can't relate to the employees, store interior, or merchandise, I feel like I am in the wrong store and they don't get my business.