Keith Mishkin on top of the world, closing on $2B in home sales
Keith Mishkin is on top of the world.
The president and broker of Scottsdale-based Cambridge Properties is celebrating the Phoenix brokerage’s 30th anniversary at a time when it has closed over $2 billion in home sales in metro Phoenix since inception.
When Mishkin and his brother Cory were growing up, their late father, Alan Mishkin, was one of the most prolific developers in Arizona, previously owning the Biltmore Golf Club and the Scottsdale Country Club.
While the brothers spent numerous hours working with their father, who died June 26, 2023, at age 81, Keith Mishkin’s heart was on the stage.
“Acting was always a tremendous passion for me,” Mishkin said.
Growing up in New York City, Mishkin attended the High School of Performing Arts and received a scholarship at the Conservatory of Theatre Arts in the School of Arts at Purchase College in New York.
By 1985, Mishkin decided to spend a semester with his father, who had moved to Arizona in 1975.
He enrolled at Arizona State University and was accepted into the Barrett Honors Program.
During the summer, he sold educational books door-to-door in the Deep South.
“I thought as an actor, this would be a great experience,” Mishkin said. “Every time I knock on a door, it’s an audition. The demonstration is a performance. Then I would either be getting a standing ovation with a sale or I would get booed off the stage. I made $20,000 as a salesman that summer.”
Mishkin sold educational books for four summers, traveling through Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi.
By the second year, he was recruited to become a manager, where he learned to sell ideas to other young employees.
“I realized ideas were more valuable than anything tangible,” Mishkin said. “If you could really understand people’s why, the how becomes very easy.”
He enjoyed the sales experience so much that he began taking personal finance courses in real estate and personal investing within the Barrett Honors Program.
“My thought was, how will I invest when I become a wealthy actor,” Mishkin said.
He enjoyed the ASU experience so much that he decided to stay for another year, and switched his undergraduate degree to economics.
“The world doesn’t need another uneducated actor,” he said. “Why not get this education and become that much more well-rounded?”
Mishkin saw many of his actor friends struggling. That’s when he decided that he could make money in business, which would allow him the luxury to become an actor.
He also plays the piano.
“In 1984, I won a Grammy for best male vocalist in the shower,” he said with a laugh.
Have you done any acting since you left acting school? No, I haven’t done any acting. But an opportunity dropped in my lap from Jason Rose, who created a musical called “Americano.” Jason offered me an opportunity to be an executive producer with him. It was not only about raising money to take it Off Broadway, but what he offered me was a front row seat as an executive producer. I literally loved every second.
Does this mean you’re going back into the acting world? If it was more of a financial success, that could have been a very big distraction for me. I would want to go a lot more. I love what I do in real estate. But that was such an incredible experience doing that.
What was your first real estate experience? I worked for a developer, Larry Hall, who had a company called Valgroup. He was building 200 homes in Scottsdale and he owned 7,600 acres here in town. I started a his executive assistant in January 1990. No sooner did we do that, the whole Resolution Trust Corporation debacle occurred.
What experience did you gain at Valgroup? As part of my training, I would tell Larry what he should build on his acreages around town. I would go to all the new home developments and I would write a report to say this is what’s succeeding out here. Then he would hire R.L. Brown, the leading market analyst, who would do a big report, and his answers mirrored mine without seeing each other’s reports. I realized I had intuition for this. So did Larry.
How did you end up starting Cambridge Properties? Larry had named me a partner at ValGroup, but partners earn a percentage of the business and not a salary. So I told Larry I would start selling some houses on the side. In 1993, the first year I sold 32 homes part time while working full time at ValGroup. The second year I sold 42 homes. In November 1994, Larry said, ‘Keith, you’re like family to me. As a family member, I encourage you to go into sales full time.’ I started selling under Cambridge in 1995.
How is your brother Cory involved in Cambridge? Cory runs re-sales and I focus on new home sales. We also have a commercial division to find and locate properties for our developers. I can help you find the land, we can incubate it if needed and we can work on the concept through the entire sell-out.
What’s next for Cambridge? Continue to add top notch agents in all facets of our company, existing homes, new homes, commercial, continue our builder success with focusing on key relationships; source land for developers; continue to grow and foster relationships built over the last 30 years; grow our commercial division.
The Mishkin File
Title: President/Broker
Company: Cambridge Properties
Age: 58 and still very immature for my age!
Education: Bachelors in Economics from Arizona State University, Barrett Honors College, 1989
Family: Wife, Shannon, and two children
Gag reel of your life: Way too many Dad jokes
What would be the title of your autobiography? “Turtle Investments, How to Get Rich Slowly!”
Best gift ever received: My first car, a six-year old baby blue BMW, 320i. My Dad made each kid pay for the insurance so we were each required to work and save up as a teen. As a result, each kid is a very hard worker to this day. While the lesson was more important, the car was an amazingly fun gift.
One thing people misunderstand about you: Occasionally someone will confuse happiness for being disingenuine. I try to always be genuine.
A Day in the Life
We asked Keith to describe a typical work day:
6:30 a.m. – Rise and shine
7:30 a.m. – Hitting the gym with weights, yoga or Pilates or having a breakfast meeting.
10 a.m. – Arrive at the office, nonstop calls, meetings, problem solving, brainstorming sessions, checking in with team members, calling clients, usually working thru lunch unless a business lunch. Often driving a property or meeting with a developer either at our office or onsite.
6 p.m. – Dinner with the family. Watch our favorite recorded shows. Attend 2-3 evening charity events or speakers per month.
10 p.m. – Read with my kids and then off to bed.
