multifamily

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MultiFamily Investment

Winner

Ronald Z. Harris

Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Co.

Runners Up

Laurie Lustig

CB Richard Ellis Inc.

Joe Kimaz

Grubb & Ellis Co.

Canoga Park may be an unlikely spot for high-profile real estate deals, but the sale of two major apartment complexes in that San Fernando Valley community helped put Ronald Harris over the top as the highest-producing multifamily investment broker of 1998.

Harris’ handling of the sale of the 151-unit Desoto Apartments, which sold for $5.5 million, and the 149-unit Palms property, which sold for $6 million, were among 22 deals he brokered last year. The aggregate value of those deals was $68.5 million, 20 percent more than the winning amount for 1997. (Perky Apperson of CB Commercial was the top producer in the category for 1997, with $56.9 million in deals.)

Harris’ typical client is an individual owner of apartment buildings who wants to exchange or reposition his or her portfolio. He says his success is the result of intensive phone work, including plenty of cold calls. “If you do a good job once, you’ll get another one,” said Harris, whose title is vice president of investments for Marcus & Millichap.

An 11-year veteran of the L.A. market, Harris previously worked as a sales representative for Crouse-Hinds, a Fortune 500 industrial electrical equipment manufacturer. He also owned his own business brokerage firm for five years prior to joining Marcus & Millichap.

“I got into real estate because I really enjoy the product and doing the deals. And I saw greater income opportunities there,” he says.

Vince Norris, general partner with Delson Norris Investment Properties, said Harris has been “hugely successful” at least partially due to his willingness to sometimes sacrifice the short-term payoff for longer-term benefits.

“In one deal, Ron got a large institutional listing and knew the ideal buyer candidate was a long-term client of mine,” Norris says. “Instead of going to the buyer directly, Ron called me so I could represent my client and get the deal. He still got the list side, but gave me the buy side rather than breach our friendship.”

Margot Carmichael Lester

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