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From Seed to Suite: Real Estate Agents and the Cannabis Industry

Written by Lewis Fein Posted On Thursday, 31 October 2019 05:25

As the cannabis industry continues to expand, as individual growers grow more than their respective seeds and farms, as entrepreneurs within this space look for office space, real estate agents have an opportunity to help these people buy or rent commercial properties. This opportunity is substantial, given the number of states—including California—where cannabis is both legal and lucrative.

This opportunity comes during a time of rapid innovation: a time in which the face of the cannabis industry, or rather the popular impression of what the face of the industry looks like, of a stoner with his mouth open and his eyes shut, gives way to people who look and act like entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley.

Such is the real face of the cannabis industry, of the faces of men and women who want to buy or lease space for their companies, storefronts, or dispensaries. Such is the nature of an industry whose most successful brands emulate the look and feel of the world’s top brands like Apple, Facebook, Instagram, and Nike.

According to David Albanese, CEO of High Farms and WeeDeeLiver:

“The cannabis industry is as much about square footage as it is acreage. The latter influences the former, since so much of the industry—from finance and consulting to marketing and technology—happens inside a building rather than outside a barn. As a real estate investor, I have more than a passing interest involving these issues. If anything, my pastime is a full-time commitment to further developing this industry.”

I second that sentiment for two reasons, starting with the wisdom most real estate agents possess.

To have the wisdom to know a client’s needs. To know how to advise a client. To know when to tell a client what he needs to hear. To know why these things matter is to be a professional.

And secondly, professionalism begets referrals.

The power of word-of-mouth marketing is invaluable, exceeding whatever value a client may enjoy in dollars and cents, because no amount of money can buy what a professional must earn: trust. The trust a client has in a real estate agent. The confidence a client has in his agent. The duty an agent has to act as his client’s counselor and confidant.

These values represent the best of the real estate industry.

These values find reciprocity among business owners in the cannabis industry. The relationship between the two is a model of professionalism, of what it means to be a source of insight and a symbol of integrity. The relationship between the two is solid.

Safeguarding this relationship is a real estate agent’s responsibility. In so doing, an agent has the freedom to be candid; to shape the direction of more than a company or career; to direct a group of principals, of landowners and shareholders, toward a set of universal principles; to achieve recognition, acceptance, and success.

This relationship is a summons to greatness, an invitation to endure and prosper.

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