CL broker points to his history in winning award – The Friday Flyer

From a rough start as a child struggling with asthma and pneumonia to a career that included a blind-side layoff after securing a multi-billion-dollar contract for his employer, Canyon Lake resident Mike Duffy has emerged as a major player in the local commercial real estate market. Mike was honored at an industry luncheon last week as the City of Menifees Commercial Broker of the Year for 2021.

Mikes commercial real estate success at Coldwell Banker Associated Brokers is the culmination of 13 other careers. The 57-year-old successful businessperson fashioned a dynamic, growing business from those steps to success.

Mike Duffy speaks after accepting the City of Menifees Commercial Broker of the Year for 2021. Mike lives in Canyon Lake and works for Coldwell Banker Associated Brokers.

The recent award from Menifee is particularly noteworthy because Menifee is the fourth fastest-growing city in Riverside County and sixth fastest-growing city in all of Southern California. Menifee is growing at twice the rate as its neighboring Southwest Riverside County cities.

The events that led up to Mikes noteworthy contribution to the burgeoning citys vibrant economic development demonstrate that adversity and challenges are great steppingstones to a successful future for some people. Mikes life started with challenges.

As a child, I had asthma and pneumonia and wasnt doing well, he said. Our family doctor suggested swimming to build my body up. That changed my life from declining to thriving. In my first year as a 7-year-old swimmer, I qualified for Junior Olympics in Orange County and won a silver medal. That was my first life lesson if you put hard work in, have good coaches, and you listen to them and follow their guidance, you can achieve what you and others can be proud of.

Mike became Orange Countys second-best butterfly swimmer in his age class.

Swimming success wasnt his last life lesson at a young age. Mike wanted to go to a YMCA camp, but his parents told him they couldnt afford to send him. Faced with this obstacle, the 9-year-old entrepreneur talked his teacher into giving him two cases of toffee-covered peanuts and sold them door-to-door. He earned enough from those sales for YMCA camp two years in a row.

Selling door-to-door was a great lesson in determination and persistence, Mike said. With each door he knocked on, he dreamed of going to camp, and that exuberance spilled over into an enthusiastic, happy face that melted the resistance of those he encountered with his peanuts. It was a worthy cause, and he gained confidence with each transaction.

Mikes education continued into his teenage years. His business stints in lawn mowing and jobs at pizza parlors gave him invaluable experience. He learned to work with customers and develop a pleasing personality. He found that his integrity brought customers back.

From junior high through college, Mike played on football teams, generally as a defensive back. During high school, he lettered in not only football, but in three other sports his senior year. As a competitor, he thrived on learning and achieving.

Football also brought challenges hed endure the rest of his life. His first concussion happened during the homecoming game in his senior year of high school. It wasnt his last. Long before rules and protocols kept players out of the game when knocked out, he suffered 10 more concussions in college as a defensive back and punt returner.

As a result of all of the head injuries, Mike now wears a hearing aid to drown out the sound of tinnitus, a debilitating ringing in the ear condition. Despite otherwise normal hearing, to compensate for the ringing in his ears and the resultant drowning out of conversations, Mike developed the ability to read lips.

Mikes parents owned a mechanical parts business in Orange County during his high school and young adult years. He worked there while in high school and for six years after getting a bachelors degree in Business Administration from Cal Lutheran University.

Observing his self-employed parents was an up-close experience in the rewards and sacrifices of working for oneself. He learned that the ups and downs of the industry required a steady attitude as finances waxed and waned. During slow times, it was essential to work hard and look beyond the present to a more prosperous future. During good years he saw how vital it was to prepare for the inevitable lean times.

After working in the family business, Mike said he discovered his work ethic and integrity determined his income. A steady paycheck was undoubtedly valuable, but he said he dreamed of not having a limit to his income and of driving hard toward the future despite not knowing how much money he would make each year.

His dream in college was to eventually work in the stock market or the bond market. Mike ultimately pursued neither career path as he continued to work in the family business.

Yet another step toward his recent honor as Menifees Commercial Broker of the Year came during a brief stint in the mortgage business as a home loan officer. In 1992, mortgage interest rates continued their decline from the previous decades almost 20% rates and dropped below 10%.

Mike was surprised to see other loan officers with tears in their eyes after believing theyd never see mortgage rates under double digits again. The mortgage business gave Mike an understanding of the needs and perspectives of actuaries and underwriters.

In 1994, returning to his entrepreneurial instincts, Mike and a friend started a business helping owners of manufactured homes secure and use FEMA grants for necessary seismic upgrades after the devastating Northridge earthquake. While the company only lasted for a couple of years, Mikes lessons about financing and helping others were another stepping stone for his future.

In 1995, Mike went to work for insurance industry giant Aetna, becoming one of the top sales managers in the country before taking a break after five years to help once again in the family business.

In 2006, Mike got a brokers license while briefly self-employed and became the broker of record for three independent loan officers. This was his second stint into real estate finance, adding to his cumulative education.

He returned to Aetna in 2007, worked up to National Sales Manager for the Individual Health Insurance Line while dabbling in real estate on the side. In 2016, he had just secured a multi-billion-dollar contract for Aetna when the corporation decided to shut down that part of their business, and Mike and his entire division were out of work. The decision had blindsided them. It was a moment of reckoning and reflection for Mike, and he said it had him recounting the life lessons he had learned and looking for how they could help his future.

Mike transitioned from a corporate job to being self-employed in residential real estate. He and his wife, Kim, had just moved to Canyon Lake. Mike called his uncle, a wholesale lender, to get the name of the largest real estate company in their new community. His uncle mentioned Coldwell Banker Associated Brokers. Mike called and, in 2017, signed on with the firm.

Mike credits Chuck Whitehead and Margaret McCoy of Coldwell Banker Associated Brokers for his success.

I loved their teaching and I faithfully went to their mentor class, Mike said. I attended every training event and conference call. Their generosity and patient mentoring grounded us and gave us excellent role models to follow.

It wasnt easy, he said. Mike contacted everyone he knew and worked on social media. He quickly gained 20 prospects.

Man, I thought this was going to be easy, Mike said. I wrote 33 different offers. They were all turndowns except for the last one. After six months with no income, that 34th offer resulted in a $1200 commission.

His wife Kim got her license that same month, and over the next six months, the couple closed over $3 million in sales. In 2018, after their first full year in the business, Mike and Kim were honored as Rookies of the Year from the large Realty firm. Later that year, they were named to the Best of the Best Realtors by the readers of Inland Empire Magazine.

Mike said he ventured into commercial real estate through his work on the residential side. One of the buyers showed him a Canyon Lake property of a large ranch that he wanted to sell. That listing for the $6 million property was the beginning of his commercial work and led him to co-found the Unique Properties Division of Coldwell Banker Associated Brokers Realty.

His first commercial transaction was selling an industrial property to the City of Lake Elsinore. Mike soon worked on churches, shopping centers, and other commercial leases and sales from that launchpad.

The commercial real estate information, analytics, and marketing services industry giant CoStar Group honored Mike as the PowerBroker Quarterly Award Winner for Q4 2020.

In February 2021, after almost two years of work, Mike was part of the listing team that sold the iconic Cherry Hills Shopping Center in the heart of the citys northern shopping district for over $13 million. Later, Menifee asked CoStar to identify the top Menifee commercial agent, which turned out to be Mike, leading to him being honored as the City of Menifees Commercial Broker of the Year for 2021.

Mike expressed great satisfaction in fulfilling his dream, which came about through his unique series of career choices.

I have the embedded belief that God loves me and that God loves a comeback story, Mike said. Come what may, I could fail, but I know one thing for certain, no matter what, God, my parents, my wife, my children, and my grandchildren will always love me. Thats the bedrock foundation that my life and career are built on.

His advice to people who are searching for their way in life is straightforward.

Find someone who believes you can do it, then find a way to get in front of them and let them mentor you, he said. Without the support and leadership of Chuck Whitehead and Margaret McCoy at Coldwell Banker Associated Brokers Realty, none of this would have been possible.

Whats next for this grandfather of seven?

Im so happy that I can now be a mentor for another agent, Mike said. Were working hard to develop a formidable, powerhouse commercial division that handles all kinds of commercial business. My goal in 10 years is to help build the most influential commercial real estate group in Southwest Riverside County, making an even greater contribution to the success of Coldwell Banker Associated Brokers Realty.

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CL broker points to his history in winning award - The Friday Flyer