Today we’d like to introduce you to Andy Gutman.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My story really starts with my grandfather, Albert Gutman. He was one of those classic Detroit entrepreneurs — someone who built something out of nothing and believed in this city long before “Detroit comeback” was a headline. Growing up around that kind of hustle and belief in real estate as a way to build something lasting left a mark on me before I ever had a title or a business card.
I came up through Farbman Group over thirty years ago now, and what’s kept me here isn’t nostalgia — it’s that the business keeps changing shape. I’ve had the chance to work with our brokerage, property management, construction, receivership, the trade side of things — and every one of those areas taught me something different about how real estate actually works when you’re the one accountable for the outcome, not just advising on it.
Today, as President, my job is less about any single deal and more about the platform as a whole — making sure our teams across Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, and beyond have what they need to take care of clients the way our name promises. I’m proud that we’ve grown into a true full-service platform — brokerage, construction, maintenance, trades — because that breadth lets us solve problems most firms can only hand off to someone else.
Michigan State shaped a lot of how I think about loyalty and community, and outside of work I’ve stayed close to that same instinct to build — whether that’s through music (Gutcheck Music), writing (Gutcheck Books, Business Raccoon), or just staying rooted in Detroit’s story.
If there’s a thread that runs through all of it, it’s this: my grandfather built something because he believed in hard work and the entrepreneurial spirit. I’ve spent my career trying to be worthy of that.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Honestly, no — and I’d be suspicious of anyone in this business who tells you it has been. Commercial real estate doesn’t reward smooth roads. It rewards people who are good in the rough patches.
I came up through Farbman during stretches that tested everyone in this industry — downturns, a recession that hit Detroit especially hard, a pandemic that emptied out office buildings almost overnight. Each one forced us to rethink what we did and how we did it. But here’s the thing — problem-solving isn’t something we learned to do in response to those moments. It’s what this company was built on from the start.
That’s really the DNA of this place. We didn’t grow into a full platform — brokerage, property management, construction, maintenance, trades — because it was a tidy strategic plan on a whiteboard. We grew that way because clients kept coming to us with problems that didn’t fit neatly into one box, and instead of saying “that’s not what we do,” we figured out how to do it. Almost every division we’ve built started as an answer to something that was breaking.
So when people ask if it’s been smooth, my honest answer is: no, and I wouldn’t want it to have been. The struggles are where you find out who you actually are as a company. Ours is a team that runs toward the leak in the roof on a Sunday afternoon instead of away from it. That instinct — showing up for the hard, unglamorous moments — is the whole business, as far as I’m concerned.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Farbman Group?
hat we specialize in is solving problems other firms hand off. A client dealing with a distressed asset needs receivership expertise, leasing know-how, and construction capability, often all at once — and because we house all of it internally, we can move fast and keep accountability in one place instead of juggling three vendors who each blame the other when something goes wrong.
What sets us apart is that our platform grew organically out of client need, not a strategic plan drawn up in a boardroom. Almost every division we’ve built exists because a client came to us with a problem that didn’t fit into a neat box, and instead of saying “that’s not what we do,” we figured out how to do it. That’s given us a breadth most firms our size simply don’t have — and a culture built around ownership rather than hand-offs.
What I’m most proud of, brand-wise, is that our name still means something in this market after nearly 50 years — we’re celebrating our 50th anniversary this September. In an industry where trust is everything, longevity isn’t just a nice milestone; it’s proof that clients keep coming back and referring us because the work holds up.
What I want people to know is that we’re not a brokerage that also does property management, or a construction company that also brokers deals, heating and cooling, electrical, paint and drywall and plumbing. We’re a genuine platform — built so that whatever a client’s real estate problem is, we have the right team internally to solve it, and the accountability to see it through.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
If I had to pick one, it’s tenacity — the refusal to let a problem stay unsolved just because it’s hard, inconvenient, or happening on a Sunday.
This industry will test that quality in you constantly. Deals fall apart, buildings break, markets turn — and the difference between the firms that last and the ones that don’t usually comes down to who’s willing to keep working the problem after everyone else has gone home. I’ve built my career, and pushed our whole team to build theirs, around that instinct: don’t stop at “that’s not my job” or “it’s after hours.” Stay on it until the client is taken care of.
But tenacity by itself is just stubbornness. What makes it useful is pairing it with genuine dedication to the person on the other end of the problem. It’s not enough to grind on something — you have to be grinding on it for someone, because their satisfaction is the actual point. That combination — hard work with a purpose behind it — is what I think has carried Farbman for almost 50 years, and it’s the quality I look for and try to build in every person on our team.
At the end of the day, this business rewards people who show up, don’t quit on a problem, and genuinely care whether the client walks away better off. Everything else is deta
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.farbman.com
