MBG Spotlight Patterson

	MBG Spotlight
	Jeff Patterson joined Minnesota Brokerage Group in 2009 after a long stint with Colliers International. Patterson is one of three recent additions to our multifamily sales business joining associates Tom Simonetti and Bill Cullen, and he is our only broker specializing in commercial real estate sales. Because MBG’s three sales associates are relatively new to the brokerage team, we thought it would be nice to offer some personal context to their professional positions. This month, the focus is on Jeff Patterson.

	MBG:	Why did you decide on a career in real estate?
	Patterson:	I never made a conscious decision to pursue a career in real estate, I just fell into it. After receiving my undergraduate degree in American Studies, I performed socio-economic impact studies for energy companies planning large exploration and extraction projects across the Rocky Mountain Region. It was then I became interested in how land development affects rural communities. I later attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin – Madison where the country’s leading program in real estate education was led by James Grasskamp. Taking courses in this rigorous program brought a job offer at Real Estate Research Corporation (RERC) in Chicago. Another opportunity came in 1983, when I joined Dain Corporation in Minneapolis as an Acquisition Officer. My role there was to find and procure investment real estate for Dain investors and partners.

	MBG:	What other career paths have you “fallen into”?
	Patterson:	My entire career (going on 30 years) has been connected in some form to commercial real estate. I started in the field as an analyst/researcher/consultant. Following those early years, through a job opportunity, I shifted into a role as investment principle on behalf of others. Lastly in 1988, I obtained a Broker’s License in Minnesota and later a Salesperson’s license in Wisconsin. The rest is history, or the future… so to speak.

	MBG:	What aspect of your job do you find the most rewarding?
	Patterson:	Deals take much longer to complete in commercial real estate. So the distance between pay-days and commissions are uncomfortably long. However, every day and every deal in real estate is different and interesting. There is very little monotony, repetition, or boredom in this line of work.

	MBG:	What do you consider the most important strength in your job?
	Patterson:	Since my early years in the business were not in brokerage, I brought a certain degree of skepticism to the art of brokerage. It is important to be honest and objective with your clients if you truly want to establish long lasting relationships built on trust.

	MBG:	When you’re not working, what do you enjoy doing?
	Patterson:	I am an “over-the-top” work-out person and endurance athlete. I have been doing masters cross-country ski racing, downhill skiing and long distance bike riding for years. I also like to fish for (but seldom catch) muskies.