Asa part of my series about the ‘Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Real Estate Industry’, I had the pleasure of interviewing Danny Spitz.
Danny Spitz is the CEO and Managing Partner at Greenstone Partners. Throughout his career, he has brokered over $800,000,000 in commercial real estate transactions. Danny brings nearly 20 years of experience to his role in growing the Chicago-based commercial real estate brokerage firm known for mixed-use, office, retail, and flex transactions.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to the Real Estate industry?
Well, I graduated with a degree in finance and landed a job underwriting commercial deals at a commercial bank in Chicago, but quickly learned that the banking and corporate life was not for me. Instead, I wanted to get into real estate. My passion for real estate stemmed from my childhood when I would frequently browse real estate listings in the newspaper.
After my banking job, I only applied for jobs in corporate real estate settings. Eventually, I ended up spending some time connecting with a developer and broker — driving around and touring buildings and talking about the business. From that experience, I decided to join him and sought to secure my real estate license. Since technology was not prevalent in 2005, I was taught the “old school” route of cold calling, walking the neighborhoods, and knocking on doors — skills that are still used today, but are becoming more obsolete. Through this great mentorship with the broker, I was able to cut my teeth and quickly discovered that brokerage was the business for me.