Kathleen Alberts

Everyday is different. That’s why Kathleen Alberts stays in her position as senior vice president of brokerage for Brenner Real Estate Group in Fort Lauderdale."

I worked for an industrial developer and was the office executive manager. I did the cost accounting for the jobs and draws for the banks and found I couldn’t make any more money in the executive end. So I decided to go into sales," said Alberts.

“Scott Brenner worked for the same developer I did, and so I followed him when he decided to go into his own business. I was his broker and worked at a card table in someone else’s conference room,” she said.

“Since I worked for an industrial developer, it makes sense to work for in industrial sales and leasing. I do a lot of flex building sales and leasing and now do some condo sales.”

And she likes it. Her dollar volume of transactions in 2005 was $12 million.

CCIM designated, Alberts has earned awards as a CoStar Power Broker for 2003, 2004, and 2005, and as the Building Owners and Mangers Association Professional of the Year in 1993.

“As you get older, hopefully, you get taken advantage of less and less,” she chuckled. “Because of our years of experience, we get used and abused because people want to learn from our knowledge.”

Alberts has been working with Brenner for 20 years and has been associated with the industry for 35.She is involved in the Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach chapter of CREW and in the Commercial Industrial Real Estate Brokers Association.

Finding time for volunteer work is a necessity for Alberts. She’s on the board of directors for the American Cancer Society and is the president of the Maplewood Homeowners Association.

And although she’s been very busy, she sees a happy medium in her future, she says.

“I want to try to balance life a little bit more with family and husband and grandchildren,” said Alberts. “I am trying to enjoy life more. I am trying to take off on Fridays. I work from home on Fridays since I can access my e-mails from there.

“Brokering is a good living. It’s exciting, and you are out meeting people and owners and managers from businesses,” she said. “It’s different from residential. Residential is dealing with peoples’ personalities. I give residential Realtors a lot of credit. We deal a lot with these people with the residential condominiums.”