Marcus & Millichap, Inc. (MMI’) is a national real estate services company.
The company is specializing in commercial real estate investment sales, financing services, research and advisory services. The company is the leading national investment brokerage company in the $1 million to $10 million private client market.
As of December 31, 2024, the company had 1,712 investment sales and financing professionals who are primarily exclusive commission-based independent contractors who provide real...
Marcus & Millichap, Inc. (MMI’) is a national real estate services company.
The company is specializing in commercial real estate investment sales, financing services, research and advisory services. The company is the leading national investment brokerage company in the $1 million to $10 million private client market.
As of December 31, 2024, the company had 1,712 investment sales and financing professionals who are primarily exclusive commission-based independent contractors who provide real estate investment brokerage and financing services to sellers and buyers of commercial real estate in various offices in the United States and Canada. In 2024, the company closed 7,836 sales, financing, and other transactions with total sales volume of approximately $49.6 billion. The company maintains real estate and other broker licenses in 48 states and the District of Columbia in the United States and four provinces in Canada.
Commercial Real Estate Services
The company generates revenue by collecting real estate brokerage commissions upon the sale, and financing fees upon the financing of commercial properties, by providing equity advisory services and loan sales, loan guarantees and providing consulting and advisory services. Real estate brokerage commissions are typically based upon the value of the property and financing fees are typically based upon the size of the loan. In 2024, approximately 85% of the company’s revenues were generated from real estate brokerage commissions, 12% from financing fees, and 3% from other revenue, including consulting and advisory services.
The company divides commercial real estate into four major markets, characterized by price in order to understand trends in the company’s revenue from period to period: properties priced less than $1 million; private client market: properties priced from $1 million to up to but less than $10 million; middle market: properties priced from $10 million to up to but less than $20 million; and larger transaction market: properties priced from $20 million and above.
The company serves clients with one property, multiple properties and large investment portfolios. The largest group of investors the company serves typically transacts in the $1 million to $10 million private client market. The investment brokerage and financing professionals serving private clients within the private client market represent the largest part of the company’s business, which differentiates the company from its competitors. In 2024, approximately 62% of the company’s brokerage commissions came from this market. Properties in this market are characterized by higher asset turnover rates due to the type of investor as compared to other markets. Private clients are often motivated to buy, sell and/or refinance properties not only for business reasons but also due to personal circumstances, such as death, divorce, taxes, changes in partnership structures and other personal or financial circumstances. Therefore, private client investors are influenced less by the macroeconomic trends than other large-scale investors, making the private client market less volatile over the long term than other markets.
Real Estate Brokerage
The company’s primary business and source of revenue is the representation of commercial property owners as their exclusive investment broker in the sale of their properties. The company’s investment sales professionals also represent buyers in fulfilling their investment real estate acquisition needs. The company’s auction services division offers its clients an accelerated way to buy and sell commercial property as a complement to the company’s traditional property marketing channels. Sales are generated by maintaining relationships with property owners, providing market information and trends to them during their investment or ‘hold’ period, and being selected as their representative when they decide to sell, buy additional property, or exchange their property for another property. The company collects commissions upon the sale of each property based on a percentage of sales price. These commission percentages are typically inversely correlated with sales price and thus are generally higher for smaller transactions.
Financing Services
Marcus & Millichap Capital Corporation (‘MMCC’) is a financial intermediary that provides commercial real estate capital markets solutions to commercial real estate owners, developers, and investors. MMCC generates revenue from fees collected from capital placement services including senior debt, mezzanine debt, joint venture, preferred equity, and securitization services. The company’s financing division provides other services, such as loan sales and due diligence, and receives recurring loan performance fees from certain lenders. During 2024, approximately 46% of MMCC’s revenue came from placing acquisition financing, 28% from refinancing activities, and 26% from other financing activities.
MMCC partners with an assortment of capital providers, including national and regional banks, credit unions, private equity funds, insurance companies, government agencies, including the Federal National Mortgage Association (‘Fannie Mae’), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (‘Freddie Mac’), the Federal Housing Administration (‘FHA’), conduit lenders, debt funds, hard money lenders, and structured debt facilitators (including preferred equity and mezzanine providers).
In 2021, MMCC entered into a strategic alliance with M&T Realty Capital Corporation (‘MTRCC’) enabling MMCC to provide clients with increased access to MTRCC’s affordable and conventional multifamily agency financing through a highly streamlined process with dedicated resources. MTRCC has a Delegated Underwriting and Servicing Agreement (‘DUS Agreement’) with Fannie Mae and is an approved lender for Freddie Mac’s Conventional and Targeted Affordable Housing loans.
Other Services
The company provides advisory and consulting services designed to assist clients in forming their investment strategy and making transaction decisions. The company’s advisory and consulting services include opinions of value, operating and financial performance benchmarking analysis, specific asset buy-sell strategies, market and submarket analysis and ranking, portfolio strategies by property type, market strategy, development and redevelopment feasibility studies, and other services. The company also provides leasing services for tenants and/or landlords in connection with commercial real estate leases.
Intellectual Property
The company holds various trademarks and trade names, which include the ‘Marcus & Millichap’ name. With respect to the Marcus & Millichap name, the company maintains trademark registrations for these service marks.
In addition to trade names, the company has developed proprietary technologies for the provision of real estate investment services, such as MNet, MNet-Launch, and CapNet. The company also offers proprietary research to clients through the company’s research division.
Seasonality
The company’s real estate brokerage commissions and financing fees have tended to be seasonal. Historically, this seasonality has generally caused the company’s revenue, operating income, net income, and cash flows from operating activities to be lower in the first half of the year (year ended December 2024) and higher in the second half of the year, particularly in the fourth quarter. The concentration of earnings and cash flows in the last six months of the year, particularly in the fourth quarter, is due to an industry-wide focus of clients to complete transactions towards the end of the calendar year.
History
Marcus & Millichap, Inc. was founded in 1971. The company was incorporated in California in 1976.