Last year, Midwest Real Estate News ran its first Hall of Fame special issue, honoring the top commercial real estate professionals working in the Midwest. Since then, we’ve run these profiles on our Web site. This profile details the impressive career of David Zimmer of Kansas City’s Zimmer Real Estate Services.
David Zimmer Position: President Company: Zimmer Real Estate Services Location: Kansas City, Mo.
David Zimmer has learned a lot about commercial real estate since entering the business in 1979. He’s learned that bad real estate markets tend to weed out the weakest of brokers. He’s learned that in-depth knowledge of a market can lead to success.
And, most importantly, he’s learned that real estate professionals who work both harder and smarter than their competitors are the ones who will craft the most successful careers.
During a recent interview with Midwest Real Estate News, Zimmer, president of Kansas City, Mo.-based Zimmer Real Estate Services, explained just how important he thinks hard work is today, especially considering the challenges that the commercial business faces.
“There is no question about it. I think the people who are enjoying some success in this market are working harder than they have ever worked before,” Zimmer told Midwest Real Estate News. “They are working harder for probably the same or less money. This market is forcing them to be really creative, and to draw upon all their expertise in order to succeed.”
That’s Zimmer’s definition for success: Work hard, but do it creatively. It doesn’t make sense to log long hours if you’re not going to change the way you do business to adapt to a changing market.
As Zimmer told Midwest Real Estate News during his interview: “The bad market will weed out those people unwilling to change. It will weed out those people who never were truly committed to this industry and everything it takes to succeed in it. It’s easy to do well when the business is booming. It requires creativity when it’s struggling.”
For his part, Zimmer has done well no matter how the rest of the industry is performing. It’s why he’s lasted in this notoriously tough business for more than 30 years.
Zimmer began his professional career with The Vantage Companies in Dallas before returning to Kansas City in 1983 when he affiliated with Zimmer Real Estate Services. His primary duties today include industrial and commercial real estate brokerage of properties owned and managed by Zimmer and third-party clients. Zimmer has given back to his industry, too, during his long career. He became an active member of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors in 1990, and served as president of the Western Missouri-Kansas Chapter of SIOR in 1998. He served as regional vice president of Region V of SIOR and sat on its National Board of Directors from 1999 through 2001. He is currently serving the organization as vice president elect. Zimmer’s accomplishments have not gone unnoticed. In 2006, he was named as ONCOR International’s CEO of the Year, an award voted on by the CEOs, managers and staff of fellow ONCOR International affiliates.
