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Meet Vicente Cantua of SVN Desert Commercial in Central Phoenix

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Vicente Cantua.

Vicente, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I first got hooked on real estate when I was a kid and my grandfather took me fishing. It was the middle of the week and I remember thinking it was so cool that his career in real estate allowed him the freedom to leave his job during the middle of the day and take his grandkids fishing. From then on I knew I also wanted to be in real estate.
My uncle was also in real estate and he told me to get my real estate real license as soon as I turned 18. I wish I would have listened to him and put a plan into place to do that but I never did until later in life. That was a great lesson that if you want something, you can’t just hope it falls into place, you have to put a plan together and work that plan.

When I graduated college and was ready to enter the workforce, the economy was just going into the Great Recession, and so commercial real estate would have quite difficult for me to make a living in, since it is a commission based career. I therefore decided to work in hospitality and sales jobs until I felt the timing was better. Fast forward several years and I am working 2 jobs and knowing that I need to be doing what I always wanted to do. I decide the time has finally come to save the money for real estate class and start taking the classes around my already busy schedule.

After 6 months of taking classes, I take the test and pass the first try. While studying for classes I was also studying real estate market trends and different careers in commercial real estate to see which path I want to head in. I decide that I either was to specialize in multifamily apartment sales or industrial warehouses because of how much demand there is for both. Since my uncle specializes in Industrial real estate and has taught me so much about it, I decide that I will look for an industrial job.

I start interviewing and get an offer for a multifamily position almost right away but turn it down, since I was hoping for an industrial job. After 5 months of not finding anything in, some coaxing from my wife and an epiphany I had, I decide that I need to take the multifamily position with SVN.

I know truly believe that taking the position was the absolutely perfect place for. I have now been in the business just over 2 years (under 2 years full time since I was working two jobs) and I love every minute of it. The hardest years are the first couple years when one is learning the business and just starting out and it is a very testing time for many people, but I have made it through those times and m now gaining the traction I knew I would gain.

I am now one of the Top Ten Producers in the office and I was awarded both Prospector of The Year and Deal of the Year in 2017. I very much love the office culture SVN Desert Commercial has, its leadership, training, attitude, energy and look forward to many great times ahead.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Since it is a commission based job and I didn’t have much savings, I worked two jobs to make sure I could still provide for my family and that took a mental and physical toll on me. In this industry it can take years to start making money and that is also something that was easy to deal with.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with SVN Desert Commercial – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
SVN Desert Commercial is a full service commercial real estate firm and we have specialists (some of the best in the industry) in all the major product types like Office, Retail, Land and Multifamily. Our office has a great culture that is tangible and not just something we talk about. We play music to make cold-calling easier and more energetic and we do things that make the job fun and exciting.

SVN is an international firm and we have about 250 offices across the U.S. SVN is different from other firms because we believe in doing what’s best for our client and creating maximum exposure for a property in order to increase a property’s value. Our way of marketing properties has been shown to increase the selling price of an asset by 9.6 percent.

I specialize in multifamily, so I help my clients buy and sell apartments buildings and also help them increase the value of their properties while they own them.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
My future plans include owning apartments myself and growing my team so that I have junior associates working under me. Big changes would be children of my own in the near future.

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Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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