Interns Finding Opportunities Where Others Aren’t Looking

They are found through relationships, persistence, and showing up.

One of our interns, Brandon, shares what he discovered while exploring a local industrial park.

Brit Properties hires a team of college students every summer and assigns each to a different responsibility of the company, and this isn't to fetch coffee. The eight interns this summer are helping with investor relations, financials on leases, legalities, and general in-house support. By the end of summer, all interns will have experienced exposure to nearly all aspects of owning and operating an industrial real estate company, from sourcing, acquiring, and managing properties.

Some of them are doing something that the majority of internship programs don't do: roam the industrial parks throughout Chicagoland and ask the building owners face-to-face if they would consider selling. Last summer, intern Jordan, 22, stopped at a 10,000 square foot building on a warm summer day in Wood Dale, while performing that very act. This time the business owner declined, but Jordan left his card. Two weeks later, the owner called back, and Brit Properties negotiated and closed the purchase in just 45 days. That $1.5 million acquisition, 384 Beinoris, is now one of 26 properties in our portfolio.

Every deal from initial contact through closing is under the watch of Brit's Acquisitions Manager, Logan Leuthner. Logan sought out seven stand-alone industrial buildings near O’Hare and DuPage county last year, each 10,000 to 26,000 square feet, for an investment of approximately $14 million. Interns work directly with Logan to experience first-hand the process of making deals.

“The biggest lesson isn't necessarily how to buy a building. It's learning to make the call when you don't feel like it, push past the natural reluctance that comes with cold calling, and present the best version of yourself every time you interact with someone. Those are skills that will help them long after their internship at Brit Properties is over.” 

-Logan Leuthner

Brit Properties’ advantage of sourcing off-market buildings is also an advantage for investors. Establishing direct connections with owners, sometimes over a course of years, is how we hear if a property owner is considering putting their property onto the open market. This avoids price wars with other interested parties, inflated listing prices, and brokerage fees, — by handling everything in-house.