Steve Brunow – The Boerke Company
I am a member of the Investment Sales/Capital Markets Team specializing in the brokerage of income-producing properties. I was born and raised in Milwaukee and has abundant knowledge of the local investment market and a passion for the community.
Before joining Cushman & Wakefield | Boerke, I worked for a healthcare real estate investment firm headquartered in Milwaukee. I specialized in business development on a national scale, sourcing acquisition and development opportunities for the company’s third investment fund. With a persistent and investment-focused approach, I am very committed to my clients and ensure I achieve the goals most important to them.
EDUCATION
Bachelor’s in Marketing – Marquette University
AFFILIATIONS
Commercial Association Of Realtors (CARW)
Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin (AASEW)
Licensed Real Estate Salesperson, Wisconsin
CCIM Candidate
Q) What do you enjoy the most about commercial real estate?
A) Having grown up in Milwaukee, the most enjoyable part of commercial real estate is to see how certain aspects of a deal can positively impact the surrounding community. A little love and attention towards distressed assets can certainly reshape a neighborhood.
Q) What is the best piece of advice you have received?
A) You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
Q) What is your favorite quote?
A) “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
Q) Where did you grow up?
A) I was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI. I went to college at Marquette University and have remained in the City of Milwaukee ever since.
Q) What was cool when you were growing up but isn’t cool now?
A) The thousands of baseball cards stored away in my basement
Q) What’s your favorite place to travel to?
A) Hiles, WI (Forest County) – a town in northern WI totaling 311 people. My grandpa built a cabin in Hiles back in the 1970’s, and this was where I spent much of my summers growing up. There’s absolutely no reliance on technology and the days are spent outside from morning to night.
Q) Which projects are you involved in/most excited about?
A) Although I work on investment sales in a variety of asset types, I get most excited working with multifamily owners who do this as a secondary source of income – not their full-time job/career. I grew up managing and working on apartments for my parents, who owned a handful of smaller properties throughout the City of Milwaukee. Having learned the property management side at an early age, it’s fun to share my past experiences with current and prospective owners who are trying to take on similar projects.
Q) If you could have lunch with anyone in the world, who would it be?
A) Nikola Tesla
Q) What made you choose Commercial Real Estate?
A) When I realized that most of my free time outside of work was spent looking for multifamily buildings to buy, I took a leap of faith by taking on a brokerage role. I knew this would force me to keep actively learning more outside of my individual experiences, which would be a benefit to my individual growth and the clients I’m working with. I’ve been in sales roles ever since graduating college in 2009, so the transition didn’t seem too far-fetched.
Q) What is a goal you would like to accomplish within your Commercial Real Estate career?
A) One of my primary goals is to build life-long relationships with my clients and those who interact with me regularly. I have a relatively social personality in general and thoroughly enjoy lending a hand when I can be of help.
Q) What do you hope to get out of your NextGen Experience?
A) Similarly, I hope to build relationships with those outside of my immediate area of focus (brokerage) to enhance my knowledge and give me a better overall understanding of Wisconsin’s CRE market. Sometimes I feel that I focus too narrowly on a specific transaction, which prevents me from seeing the bigger picture. Seeing the wide variety of candidates with different experiences in this year’s NextGen class, I’m excited to hear and learn from the experiences of those outside of brokerage.