Meet Paul Andrews!
An interview with Paul Andrews, Director – Commercial & Healthcare Real Estate Advisory, and Chairperson of the Commercial Committee on the Keller Williams Arizona Realty Agent Leadership Council (ALC) for 2022.
1. Tell us about your background and interest in real estate.
When I was a young kid around 8 or 10 years old, our family would go to breakfast at the Millbrae Pancake House in Millbrae, California. I would always take a copy of the Homes and Land magazine from the restaurant entryway and read through it. I would ask my dad why some houses cost more than others, as this seemed interesting to me and I was a curious kid.
In high school, home sales were a big deal on the San Francisco peninsula. I went to college at California State University, Sacramento for business studies, but I switched to economics because I found that field much more interesting. I wanted to know how markets including the stock market actually worked, and how costs and prices moved. However, I maintained a concentration in real estate. Before graduating I worked in mortgage lending in Sacramento for a while, and that gave me a good understanding of how real estate financing worked.
I obtained my California real estate license in 1993, and it is still active. I moved back to the Bay Area after graduation and found an opening with West Bay Commercial, a small boutique commercial real estate firm. Following my time at West Bay, I worked at Colliers International as a tenant and landlord representative, specializing in office and industrial properties.
Moving to Arizona
My wife and I decided to make the move to Arizona in the summer of 2008. We already had family connections: my brother and several friends live in Arizona. We also love the great year round weather here along with it being a great place to raise a family. My wife went to the University of Arizona, while my brother went to Arizona State University. So you can imagine we have quite the rivalry when it comes to sports in our family!
When we moved to Arizona in late July 2008, I obtained my real estate license here. I was looking for greater opportunities in the Arizona real estate market and joined Cushman & Wakefield and then made a move to Cresa, which is the largest tenant representation and occupier services firm in the world.
I feel like my career has taken an interesting path of selling and leasing almost every single type of commercial real estate discipline. I’ve sold and leased office, industrial, retail, development land and apartment buildings. I also sold a 1,200 acre cattle ranch in Northern California, which was probably the most fun I’ve ever had transacting commercial real estate.
2. What specifically brought you to Keller Williams Arizona Realty?
I was introduced to Keller Williams Arizona Realty and ultimately KW Commercial, through my friend Kelly Cook. My wife and I referred business to Kelly and I also represented him with acquiring his office condominium where his Keller Williams office is now located which he also manages. He suggested that I speak with his sister who also worked with Keller Williams in their commercial real estate arm, KW Commercial in Chicago. She sold medical single tenant net investments and thought we should talk given my past stint working at a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) where I managed and leased their California portfolio of medical office buildings.
The opportunity sounded pretty fantastic given Keller Williams’ cohesive culture, high commission splits and appealing broker services. I then decided to branch out on my own, starting my own team by continuing with KWAZ in our Scottsdale Market Center office.
3. What do you like most about working at this brokerage?
What I like most about working at Keller Williams Arizona Realty is the amazing team culture. People are kind and actually care about each other. The Leadership Team truly works together to help the agents in all aspects of their business in a very concerned manner. I’ve never seen this level of care and dedication towards the agents and brokers until I came to KWAZ. It is very refreshing to be at a place that is so focused on creating and living such a wonderful and supportive culture that drives everyone to success.
4. Tell us about your Committee and its focus.
I am focusing on growing the commercial side of the business through recruitment and collaboration among the commercial brokers who all seem to have different disciplines. I want to bring in other brokers and teach them about the amazing KW Commercial platform. If it wasn’t for Kelly Cook and his sister, I would not have known about the powerful KW technology and its ever-growing network available to the commercial side of the business. I want to get the word out as to how commercial brokers can guide and build their practice by forgoing ahead on reaching their own individual goals vs what larger firms deem as others to support the corporation’s goals.
5. What motivated you to accept the leadership position of your Committee?
I am excited to learn in more detail about the market center operations. Additionally, I want to have input on how things run and work together. I have seen operations at many different real estate firms. As a result, I hope to take the good points I have learned and use them to steer KWAZ in the right and most successful direction when it comes to commercial real estate. When people meet Paul Andrews, I want them to know I am passionate about sharing my experience. Several publications I wrote or in which I am quoted are noted at my Linkedin profile, including:
6. What do you hope your Committee is able to achieve this year?
My goal is to bring on 3 to 5 more commercial brokers this year. I also want to help educate real estate agents in the market center that there is a commercial side of the business. There is much synergy that can be leveraged if real estate agents have clients who also have commercial needs. It is important for them to teach their residential clients about the benefits they have access to through KW Commercial. This way, our residential agents have another set of valuable services they can offer their clients.
7. Where will we meet Paul Andrews in the future?
I want to stay working as a commercial broker until I retire. However, I use that word as a loose term. I also want to expand in real estate investmenting. My thoughts have always steered towards retiring to someplace warm, but I already live there. However, after visiting Cabo San Lucas after a 20 year hiatus with my son on a father/son graduation trip last May, I can see myself living in a house on a hill overlooking the ocean there. While I do still have to convince my wife of this idea of living outside of the US, that trip renewed my interest in Mexico resort living.
Learn More About Keller Williams Arizona Realty
We are glad to give you the opportunity to meet Paul Andrews. Feel free to contact us today to learn more about KW Commercial and Keller Williams Arizona Realty. Our commercial brokers are ready to talk with you about why you should choose KWAZ for your commercial broker business!
