2020 Ones to Watch: Stephen Girolamo, Senior Associate at Horvath & Tremblay

Which project, deal, or transaction was the “game-changer” in the advancement of your career? The Peabody Portfolio consisted of 149-units over 11 assets in downtown Peabody, MA. A heavy presence of single-room occupancy units, local retail, and another firm previously marketing the property posed obstacles. Despite those issues, were able to generate multiple strong offers in just a week of marketing the property. Our level of preparedness prior to marketing, allowed the buyer to limit due diligence to ten days and waive a financing contingency. The deal itself is great for track record, but I think the simplicity in which we presented a complex deal, went miles with our potential buyers and the sellers.

If your life were made into a movie, what actor would you want to portray you? Someone with a great hairline. It has always been a dream of mine to have one of those. Probably John Stamos.

What advice can you offer to someone who is interested in a career in your industry? You need to have a long-term outlook when it comes to income goals. It takes time to build a book of business. In the short term, you need to be focused on learning your market and learning the industry. If you do not understand something, make sure you are asking questions. Someone told me that you need to treat the first few years in commercial real estate like it is business school, and I believe that is the mentality that you need to take.

How have your life experiences impacted who you are professionally? As a kid, I always loved sports, but was never the most athletic. I learned that if I wanted to excel, I needed to outwork my peers. I took the “get out of it what you put into it” mentality into academics and my profession. Investment sales seemed like the perfect opportunity to continue that competitive nature into the workforce.