When you move to Long Beach, California and start looking around for property, you might puzzle over the differences between a residential and a commercial real estate agent. This isn't so much a problem for people who have previously owned Ontario commercial real estate before, however for those of you who aren't so sure where the dividing line is, we've written this article on the similarities and differences between commercial and residential real estate agents.

The first and most obvious difference between a commercial and a residential real estate agent is that while residential agents help people who are looking for property to use as a living space, commercial agents assist people who are buying property that will be used to make money. Some real estate agents, especially the ones in small towns, do double duty as residential and commercial agents, since there wouldn't be enough strapping machine manufacturers coming in to support a whole commercial agency.

The properties that commercial agents deal with are often widely different from each other, as different types of businesses need different types of facilities. So while a residential agent is limited to detached houses, condos, town houses, and land zoned for residences, a commercial agent might find his or herself showing a window weight factory, a downtown shop front, a warehouse, some industrial land, an apartment building, and a block of offices in a high rise all in one week. Therefore it can be said there's more variety to becoming a commercial agent.

There can also be more money in becoming a commercial real estate agent. While private homes in Long Beach sell for an average of about $450,000, businesses will often find themselves taking out a commercial property mortgage for several million dollars to afford space in Long Beach. With a standard commission rate of about 5%, that's a lot more going into the agent's pocket. However, since the prices are so high and the closing process takes much longer, commercial agents generally don't make as many sales as residential agents.

If you were to meet a residential agent and a commercial agent together, you would probably also find that the commercial agent was more analytical and the residential agent was friendlier. This is because when a lead shot wholesale company goes looking for property, its owners don't look with their hearts like home buyers do. They look with their heads, so they gravitate more toward people with a colder, more reasoned approach to the potential of a property to advise them.