RISK FACTORS

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below and the other information in this prospectus before deciding whether to invest in our common stock. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition or operating results could be materially adversely affected. This could cause the trading price of our common stock to decline, and you may lose part or all of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business

General economic conditions and commercial real estate market conditions have had and may in the future have a negative impact on our business.

We may be negatively impacted by periods of economic slowdowns, recessions and disruptions in the capital markets; credit and liquidity issues in the capital markets, including international, national, regional and local markets; and corresponding declines in the demand for commercial real estate investment and related services. Historically, commercial real estate markets, and in particular the U.S. commercial real estate market, have tended to be cyclical and related to the flow of capital to the sector, the condition of the economy as a whole and to the perceptions and confidence of the market participants as to the relevant economic outlook. Cyclicality in the real estate markets may lead to cyclicality in our earnings and significant volatility in our stock price. Real estate markets may “lag” the broader economy. This means that even when underlying economic fundamentals improve in a given market, it may take additional time for these improvements to translate into strength in the real estate markets. The “lag” may be exacerbated when banks delay their resolution of commercial real estate assets whose values are less than their associated loans.

Negative economic conditions, changes in interest rates, credit and liquidity issues in the capital markets, disruptions in capital markets and/or declines in the demand for commercial real estate investment and related services in international or domestic markets or in significant markets in which we do business, have had and could have in the future a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and/or financial condition. In particular, the commercial real estate market is directly impacted by the lack of debt and/or equity for commercial real estate transactions, increased interest rates and changes in monetary policies by the Federal Reserve, changes in the perception that commercial real estate is an accepted asset class for portfolio diversification, and slowdowns in economic activity that could cause residential and commercial tenant demand to decline, which would adversely affect the operation and income of commercial real estate properties.

These and other types of events could lead to a decline in transaction activity as well as a decrease in values, which would likely in turn lead to a reduction in brokerage commissions and financing fees relating to such transactions. These effects would likely cause us to realize lower revenues from our transaction service fees, including investment sales commissions, which fees usually are tied to the transaction value and are payable upon the successful completion of a particular transaction. Such declines in transaction activity and value would likely also significantly reduce our financing activities and revenues. For example, the disruptions and dislocations in the global credit markets during 2008 and 2009 created significant restrictions in the availability of credit, especially on transitional assets and in the secondary and tertiary markets. In turn, the volume and pace of commercial real estate transactions were significantly reduced, as were property values, which generally peaked in 2007 and fell through 2010.

Fiscal uncertainty as well as significant changes and volatility in the financial markets and business environment, and in the global political, security and competitive landscape, make it increasingly difficult for us to predict our revenue and earnings into the future. As a result, any revenue or earnings guidance or outlook which we might give may be overtaken by events or may otherwise turn out to be inaccurate.

If we are unable to attract and retain qualified and experienced managers, sales and financing professionals, our growth may be limited and our business and operating results could suffer.

Our most important asset is our people, and our continued success is highly dependent upon the efforts of our managers, sales and financing professionals. If these managers or sales and financing professionals leave our

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company, we will lose the substantial time and resources we have invested in training and developing those individuals and our business, financial condition and results of operations may suffer. Additionally, such events may have a disproportionate adverse effect on our operations if the most experienced sales and financing professionals do not remain with us or if these events occur in geographic areas where substantial amounts of our brokerage revenues are generated. Furthermore, if the commission structure changes in the market, our commission compensation may become relatively less attractive to sales professionals.

In addition, our competitors may attempt to recruit our sales and financing professionals. The exclusive independent contractor arrangements we have entered into or may enter into with our sales professionals may not prevent our sales professionals from departing and competing against us. We may not be able or attempt to renew these agreements prior to their expiration. Additionally, we currently do not have employment agreements with most key employees, and there is no assurance that we will be able to retain their services.

A component of our growth has also occurred through the recruiting, hiring, training and retention of key experienced sales and financing professionals. Any future growth through recruiting these types of professionals will be partially dependent upon the continued availability of qualified candidates fitting the culture of our firm at reasonable employment terms and conditions. However, individuals whom we would like to hire may not be available upon reasonable employment terms and conditions. In addition, the hiring of new personnel involves risks that the persons acquired will not perform in accordance with expectations and that business judgments concerning the value, strengths and weaknesses of persons acquired will prove incorrect.

If we lose the services of our executive officers or certain other members of our senior management team, we may not be able to execute our business strategy.

Our success depends in a large part upon the continued service of our senior management team, who are critical to our vision, strategic direction and culture. Our current long-term business strategy was developed in large part by our senior-level officers and depends in part on their skills and knowledge to implement, and also includes a focus on new growth and investment initiatives that may require additional management expertise to successfully execute our strategy. We may not be able to offset the impact on our business of the loss of the services of our senior management or other key officers or employees or recruit additional talent.

Our business could be hurt if we are unable to retain our business philosophy and culture of information-sharing and efforts to retain our philosophy and culture could adversely affect our ability to maintain and grow our business.

Our policy of information-sharing and matching properties with large pools of investors defines our business philosophy as well as the emphasis that we place on our clients, our people and our culture. Our status as a public company could adversely affect this culture. If we do not continue to develop and implement the right processes and tools to manage our changing enterprise and maintain this culture, our ability to compete successfully and achieve our business objectives could be impaired, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The concentration of sales among our top sales professionals could lead to greater or more concentrated losses if we are unable to retain them.

Our most successful sales professionals are responsible for a significant percentage of our revenues. They also serve as mentors and role models, as well as provide invaluable training for younger professionals, which is an integral part of our culture. This concentration of sales and value among our top sales professionals can lead to greater and more concentrated risk of loss if we are unable to retain them, and have a material adverse impact on our business and financial condition. Furthermore, many of our sales professionals work in teams. If a team leader or manager leaves our company, his or her team members may leave with the team leader.

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We may fail to successfully differentiate our brand from those of our competitors, which could adversely affect our revenues.

The value of our brand and reputation is one of our most important assets. An inherent risk in maintaining our brand is we may fail to successfully differentiate the scope and quality of our service and product offerings from those of our competitors, or we may fail to sufficiently innovate or develop improved products or services that will be attractive to our clients. Additionally, given the rigors of the competitive marketplace in which we operate, there is the risk we may not be able to continue to find ways to operate more productively and more cost-effectively, including by achieving economies of scale, or we will be limited in our ability to further reduce the costs required to operate on a nationally coordinated platform.

We have numerous significant competitors and potential future competitors, some of which may have greater resources than we do, and we may not be able to continue to compete effectively.

We compete in investment sales and financing within the commercial real estate industry. Our investment sales focus on the private client segment, which is highly fragmented. For example, according to CoStar and Real Capital Analytics, for sales between $1 million and $10 million, the top 20 investment brokerage firms only constituted 27% of the U.S. commercial real estate market in 2012. The fragmentation of our market makes it challenging to effectively gain market share. While we have a competitive advantage over other national firms in the private investor segment, we also face competition from local and regional service providers who have existing relationships with potential clients. Furthermore, transactions in the private investor segment are smaller than many other commercial real estate transactions. Although the brokerage commissions in this segment are generally a higher percentage of the sales price, the smaller size of the transactions requires us to close many more transactions to sustain revenues. If the commission structure or the velocity of transactions were to change, we could be disproportionately affected by changes compared to other companies that focus on larger transactions, institutional clients and other segments of the commercial real estate market.

There is no assurance that we will be able to continue to compete effectively or maintain our current fee arrangements with our private clients or margin levels or we will not encounter increased competition. The services we provide to our clients are highly competitive on a national, regional and local level. Depending on the geography, property type or service, we face competition from, including, but not limited to, commercial real estate service providers, in-house real estate departments, private owners and developers, commercial mortgage servicers, institutional lenders, research and consulting firms, and investment managers, some of whom are clients and many of whom may have greater financial resources than we do. In addition, future changes in laws and regulations could lead to the entry of other competitors. Many of our competitors are local, regional or national firms. Although most are substantially smaller than we are, some of these competitors are larger on a local, regional or national basis, and we believe more national firms are exploring entry into or expansion in the under $10 million private investor segment. We may face increased competition from even stronger competitors in the future due to a trend toward consolidation, especially in times of severe economic stress. We are also subject to competition from other large national and multi-national firms as well as regional and local firms that have similar service competencies to ours. Our existing and future competitors may choose to undercut our fees, increase the levels of compensation they are willing to pay to their employees and either recruit our employees or cause us to increase our level of compensation necessary to retain our own employees or recruit new employees. These occurrences could cause our revenue to decrease or negatively impact our target ratio of compensation-to-operating revenue, both of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our attempts to expand our services and businesses may not be successful and we may expend significant resources without corresponding returns.

We intend to expand our specialty groups, particularly multi-tenant retail, office, industrial and hospitality, as well as various niche segments, including multifamily tax credit, affordable housing, student housing, manufactured housing, seniors housing and self-storage. We also plan to grow our financing services provided through our subsidiary, Marcus & Millichap Capital Corporation, or MMCC. We expect to incur expenses relating to training, and expanding our markets and services. The planned expansion of services and platforms

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requires significant resources, and there can be no assurance we will compete effectively, hire or train a sufficient number of professionals to support the expansion, or operate these businesses profitably. We may incur significant expenses for these plans without corresponding returns, which would harm our results of operations.

If we experience significant growth in the future, such growth may be difficult to sustain and may place significant demands on our administrative, operational and financial resources.

If we experience significant growth in the future, such growth could place additional demands on our resources and increase our expenses, as we will have to commit additional management, operational and financial resources to maintain appropriate operational and financial systems to adequately support expansion. There can be no assurance we will be able to manage our expanding operations effectively or we will be able to maintain or accelerate our growth, and any failure to do so could adversely affect our ability to generate revenue and control our expenses, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Moreover, we may have to delay, alter or eliminate the implementation of certain aspects of our growth strategy due to events beyond our control, including, but not limited to, changes in general economic conditions and commercial real estate market conditions. Such delays or changes to our growth strategy may adversely affect our business.

Our brokerage operations are subject to geographic and commercial real estate market risks, which could adversely affect our revenues and profitability.

Our real estate brokerage offices are located in and around large metropolitan areas as well as mid-market regions throughout the United States. Local and regional economic conditions in these locations could differ materially from prevailing conditions in other parts of the country. We have more offices and realize more of our revenues in California, the Northeast (New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC), Florida, Texas and Northern Illinois than in other regions in the country. In 2012, we realized approximately 14%, 11%, 8% and 6% of our revenues from the Northeast, Florida, Texas and Northern Illinois, respectively. In particular, we are subject to risks related to the California economy and real estate markets, where we realized 34% of our sales in 2012. In addition to economic conditions, this geographic concentration means that California-specific legislation, taxes and regional disasters such as earthquakes could disproportionately affect us. A downturn in investment real estate demand or economic conditions in these regions could result in a further decline in our total gross commission income and profitability and have a material adverse effect on us.

If we are unable to retain existing clients and develop new clients, our financial condition may be adversely affected.

We are substantially dependent on long-term client relationships and on revenue received for services provided for them. Our listing agreements generally expire within six months and depend on the cooperation of the client during the pendency of the agreement, as is typical in the industry. In this competitive market, if we are unable to maintain these relationships or are otherwise unable to retain existing clients and develop new clients, our business, results of operations and/or financial condition may be materially adversely affected. The global economic downturn and continued weaknesses in the markets in which our clients and potential clients compete have led to a lower volume of transactions and fewer real estate clients generally, which makes it more difficult to maintain existing and establish new client relationships. These effects have moderated, but they could increase again in the wake of the continuing political and economic uncertainties in the United States and in other countries.

A change in the tax laws relating to like-kind exchanges could adversely affect our business and the value of our stock.

Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, provides for tax-free exchanges of real property for other real property. Legislation has been proposed on several occasions that would repeal or restrict the application of Section 1031. If tax-free exchanges under Section 1031 were to be limited or

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unavailable, our clients or prospective clients may decide not to purchase or sell property that they would have otherwise purchased or sold due to the tax consequences of the transaction, thus reducing the commissions we would have otherwise received. Any repeal or significant change in the tax rules pertaining to like-kind exchanges could have a substantial adverse impact on our business and the value of our stock.

Seasonal fluctuations in the investment real estate industry could adversely affect our business and make comparisons of our quarterly results difficult.

Our revenue and profits have historically tended to be significantly higher in the fourth quarter of each year than in the first quarter. This is a result of a general focus in the real estate industry on completing or documenting transactions by calendar-year-end and because certain expenses are constant through the year. Historically, we have reported relatively lower earnings in the first quarter and then increasingly larger earnings during each of the following three quarters. The seasonality of our business makes it difficult to determine during the course of the year whether planned results will be achieved, and thus to adjust to changes in expectations.

If we fail to maintain and protect our intellectual property, or infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties, our business could be harmed and we could incur financial penalties.

Our business depends, in part, on our ability to identify and protect proprietary information and other intellectual property (such as our service marks, client lists and information, business methods and research). Existing laws, or the application of those laws, may offer only limited protections for our intellectual property rights. We rely on a combination of trade secrets, confidentiality policies, non-disclosure and other contractual arrangements, and on copyright and trademark laws to protect our intellectual property rights. Our inability to detect unauthorized use or take appropriate or timely steps to enforce our rights may have an adverse effect on our business.

We cannot be sure the intellectual property we may use in the course of operating our business or the services we offer to clients do not infringe on the rights of third parties, and we may have infringement claims asserted against us or against our clients. These claims may harm our reputation, cost us money and prevent us from offering some services.

Confidential intellectual property is increasingly stored or carried on mobile devices, such as laptop computers, tablets and smart phones which makes inadvertent disclosure more of a risk in the event the mobile devices are lost or stolen and the information has not been adequately safeguarded or encrypted.

If we do not respond to technological changes or upgrade our technology systems, our growth prospects and results of operations could be adversely affected.

To remain competitive, we must continue to enhance and improve the functionality and features of our technological infrastructure. Although we currently do not have specific plans for any infrastructure upgrades that would require significant capital investment outside of the normal course of business, in the future we will need to improve and upgrade our technology, database systems and network infrastructure in order to allow our business to grow in both size and scope. Without such improvements, our operations might suffer from unanticipated system disruptions, slow performance or unreliable service levels, any of which could negatively affect our ability to provide rapid customer service. We may face significant delays in introducing new services, sales professional tools and enhancements. If competitors introduce new products and services using new technologies, our proprietary technology and systems may become less competitive, and our business may be harmed. In addition, the expansion and improvement of our systems and infrastructure may require us to commit substantial financial, operational and technical resources, with no assurance that our business will improve.

The Internet could devalue our information services and lead to reduced client relationships, which could reduce the demand for our services.

The dynamic nature of the Internet, which has substantially increased the availability and transparency of information relating to commercial real estate listings and transactions, could change the way commercial real

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estate transactions are done. This has occurred to some extent in the residential real estate market as online brokerage companies have eroded part of the market for traditional residential real estate brokerage firms. The proliferation of large amounts of data on the Internet could also devalue the information that we gather and disseminate as part of our business model and may harm certain aspects of our investment brokerage business in the event that principals of transactions prefer to transact directly with each other. The rapid dissemination and increasing transparency of information, particularly for public companies, increases the risks to our business that could result from negative media or announcements about ethics lapses or other operational problems, which could lead clients to terminate or reduce their relationships with us.

Interruption or failure of our information technology, communications systems or data services could hurt our ability to effectively provide our services, which could damage our reputation and harm our operating results.

Our business requires the continued operation of information technology and communication systems and network infrastructure. Our ability to conduct our national business may be adversely impacted by disruptions to these systems or infrastructure. Our information technology and communications systems are vulnerable to damage or disruption from fire, power loss, telecommunications failure, system malfunctions, computer viruses, natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes and floods, acts of war or terrorism, or other events which are beyond our control. In addition, the operation and maintenance of these systems and networks is in some cases dependent on third-party technologies, systems and service providers for which there is no certainty of uninterrupted availability. Any of these events could cause system interruption, delays, and loss of critical data or intellectual property and may also disrupt our ability to provide services to or interact with our clients, and we may not be able to successfully implement contingency plans that depend on communication or travel. We have disaster recovery plans and backup systems to reduce the potentially adverse effect of such events, but our disaster recovery planning may not be sufficient and cannot account for all eventualities. A catastrophic event that results in the destruction or disruption of any of our data centers or our critical business or information technology systems could severely affect our ability to conduct normal business operations and, as a result, our future operating results could be adversely affected.

Our business relies significantly on the use of commercial real estate data. We produce much of this data internally, but a significant portion is purchased from third-party providers for which there is no certainty of uninterrupted availability. A disruption of our ability to provide data to our professionals and/or clients could damage our reputation, and our operating results could be adversely affected.

Failure to maintain the security of our information and technology networks, including personally identifiable and client information could adversely affect us.

Security breaches and other disruptions could compromise our information and expose us to liability, which could cause our business and reputation to suffer. In the ordinary course of our business, we collect and store sensitive data, including our proprietary business information and intellectual property, and that of our clients and personally identifiable information of our employees and contractors, in our data centers and on our networks. The secure processing, maintenance and transmission of this information is critical to our operations. Despite our security measures, our information technology and infrastructure may be vulnerable to attacks by hackers or breached due to employee error, malfeasance or other disruptions. A significant actual or potential theft, loss, fraudulent use or misuse of client, employee or other personally identifiable data, whether by third parties or as a result of employee malfeasance or otherwise, non-compliance with our contractual or other legal obligations regarding such data or a violation of our privacy and security policies with respect to such data could result in significant costs, fines, litigation or regulatory actions against us. Such an event could additionally disrupt our operations and the services we provide to clients, damage our reputation, and cause a loss of confidence in our services, which could adversely affect our business, revenues and competitive position. Additionally, we increasingly rely on third-party data storage providers, including cloud storage solution providers, resulting in less direct control over our data. Such third parties may also be vulnerable to security breaches and compromised security systems, which could adversely affect our reputation.

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In addition, we rely on the collection and use of personally identifiable information from clients to conduct our business. We disclose our information collection and dissemination practices in a published privacy statement on our websites, which we may modify from time to time. We may be subject to legal claims, government action, including under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, and damage to our reputation if we act or are perceived to be acting inconsistently with the terms of our privacy statement, client expectations or the law. In the event we or the vendors with which we contract to provide services on behalf of our clients were to suffer a breach of personally identifiable information, our customers could terminate their business with us. Further, we may be subject to claims to the extent individual employees or sales and financing professionals breach or fail to adhere to company policies and practices and such actions jeopardize any personally identifiable information. In addition, concern among potential buyers or sellers about our privacy practices could keep them from using our services or require us to incur significant expense to alter our business practices or educate them about how we use personally identifiable information.

A failure to appropriately deal with actual or perceived conflicts of interest could adversely affect our businesses.

Outside of our people, our reputation is one of our most important assets. As we have expanded the scope of our services, we increasingly have to address potential, actual or perceived conflicts of interest relating to the services we provide to our existing and potential clients. For example, conflicts may arise between our position as an advisor to both the buyer and seller in commercial real estate sales transactions or in instances when a potential buyer requests that we represent it in securing the necessary capital to acquire an asset we are selling for another client or when a capital source takes an adverse action against an owner client that we are advising in another matter. From time to time, we also advise or represent entities and parties affiliated with us in commercial real estate transactions which also involve clients unaffiliated with us. In this context, we may be subject to complaints or claims of a conflict of interest. While we believe we have attempted to adopt various policies, controls and procedures to address or limit actual or perceived conflicts, these policies and procedures may not be adequate or carry attendant costs and may not be adhered to by our employees. Appropriately dealing with conflicts of interest is complex and difficult and our reputation could be damaged and cause us to lose existing clients or fail to gain new clients if we fail, or appear to fail, to deal appropriately with conflicts of interest, which could have an adverse affect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we acquire companies or significant groups of personnel in the future, we may experience high transaction and integration costs, the integration process may be disruptive to our business and the acquired businesses and/or personnel may not perform as we expect.

Our growth strategy may include future acquisitions of companies and/or people and may involve significant transaction-related expenses. Transaction-related expenditures include severance costs, lease termination costs, transaction costs, deferred financing costs, possible regulatory costs and merger-related costs, among others. We may also experience difficulties in integrating operations and accounting systems acquired from other companies. These challenges include the diversion of management’s attention from the regular operations of our business and the potential loss of our key clients, our key associates or those of the acquired operations, each of which could harm our financial condition and results of operation. We believe some acquisitions could initially have an adverse impact on revenues, expenses, operating income and net income. Acquisitions also frequently involve significant costs related to integrating people, information technology, accounting, reporting and management services and rationalizing personnel levels. If we are unable to fully integrate the accounting, reporting and other systems of the businesses we acquire, we may not be able to effectively manage them and our financial results may be materially affected. Moreover, the integration process itself may be disruptive to our business as it requires coordination of culture, people and geographically diverse organizations and implementation of new accounting and information technology systems.

In addition, acquisitions of businesses involve risks that the businesses acquired will not perform in accordance with expectations, that the expected synergies associated with acquisitions will not be achieved and that business judgments concerning the value, strengths and weaknesses of the people and the businesses acquired will prove incorrect, which could have an adverse affect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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Significant fluctuations in our revenues and net income may make it difficult for us to achieve steady earnings growth on a quarterly or an annual basis, which may make the comparison between periods difficult and may cause the price of our common stock to decline.

We have experienced and may continue to experience fluctuations in revenues and net income as a result of many factors, including, but not limited to, economic conditions, capital market disruptions, the timing of transactions, revenue mix and the timing of additional selling, general and administrative expenses to support growth initiatives. We provide many of our services pursuant to contracts that typically expire within six months and that are dependent on the client’s cooperation. Consequently, many of our clients can terminate or significantly reduce their relationships with us on very short notice for any reason.

We plan our capital and operating expenditures based on our expectations of future revenues and, if revenues are below expectations in any given quarter or year, we may be unable to adjust capital or operating expenditures in a timely manner to compensate for any unexpected revenue shortfall, which could have an immediate material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operation.

We may face significant liabilities and/or damage to our professional reputation as a result of litigation allegations and negative publicity.

As a licensed real estate broker, we and our licensed professionals and brokers are subject to regulatory due diligence, disclosure and standard-of-care obligations. Failure to fulfill these obligations could subject us or our professionals and brokers to litigation from parties who attempted to or in fact financed, purchased or sold properties that we or they brokered, managed or had some other involvement. We could become subject to claims by those who either wished to participate or did participate in real estate transactions alleging that we did not fulfill our regulatory, contractual or other legal obligations. We also face conflicts of interest claims when we represent both the buyer and the seller in a transaction.

We depend on our business relationships and our reputation for integrity and high-caliber professional services to attract and retain clients across our overall business. As a result, allegations by private litigants or regulators, whether the ultimate outcome is favorable or unfavorable to us, as well as negative publicity and press speculation about us or our investment activities, whether or not valid, may harm our reputation and damage our business prospects. In addition, if any lawsuits were brought against us and resulted in a finding of substantial legal liability, it could materially, adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations or cause significant reputational harm to us, which could materially impact our business.

Some of these litigation risks may be mitigated by the commercial insurance we maintain in amounts we believe are appropriate. However, in the event of a substantial loss, our commercial insurance coverage and/or self-insurance reserve levels might not be sufficient to pay the full damages, or the scope of available coverage may not cover certain types of claims. Further, the value of otherwise valid claims we hold under insurance policies could become uncollectible in the event of the covering insurance company’s insolvency, although we seek to limit this risk by placing our commercial insurance only with highly-rated companies. Any of these events could negatively impact our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Employee or sales and financing professional misconduct, fraud, or theft, which is difficult to detect and deter, could harm us by impairing our ability to attract and retain clients and subjecting us to significant legal liability and reputational harm.

If our sales or financing professionals or other associates engage in misconduct, our business could be adversely affected. It is not always possible to deter misconduct, and the precautions we take to deter and prevent this activity may not be effective in all cases. If our employees or sales and financing professionals were to improperly use, disseminate or disclose information provided by our clients, we could be subject to regulatory sanctions and suffer serious harm to our reputation, financial position and current client relationships and our ability to attract future clients, could be significantly impaired, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operation. To the extent any loss or theft of funds substantially exceeds our insurance coverage, our business could be materially adversely affected.

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Many of our sales and financing professionals are independent contractors, not employees, and if federal or state law mandates that they be employees, our business would be adversely impacted.

Many of our sales and financing professionals are retained as independent contractors, and we are subject to the Internal Revenue Service regulations and applicable state law guidelines regarding independent contractor classification. These regulations and guidelines are subject to judicial and agency interpretation, and it could be determined that the independent contractor classification is inapplicable to any of our professionals. Further, if legal standards for classification of these professionals as independent contractors change or appear to be changing, it may be necessary to modify our compensation structure for these professionals in some or all of our markets, including by paying additional compensation or reimbursing expenses. If we are forced to classify these professionals as employees, we would also become subject to laws regarding employee classification and compensation, and to claims regarding overtime, minimum wage, and meal and rest periods. We could also incur substantial costs, penalties and damages due to future challenges by current or former professionals to our classification or compensation practices. Any of these outcomes could result in substantial costs to us, could significantly impair our financial condition and our ability to conduct our business as we choose, and could damage our reputation and impair our ability to attract clients and sales and financing professionals.

Our businesses, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be adversely affected by new laws or regulations or by changes in existing laws or regulations or the application thereof. If we fail to comply with laws and regulations applicable to us, including in our role as a real estate broker or mortgage broker, we may incur significant financial penalties.

We are subject to numerous federal, state, local and non-U.S. laws and regulations specific to the services we perform in our business, as well as laws of broader applicability, such as tax, securities and employment laws. In general, the brokerage of real estate transactions requires us to maintain applicable licenses where perform these services. If we fail to maintain our licenses or conduct these activities without a license, or violate any of the regulations covering our licenses, we may be required to pay fines (including treble damages in certain states) or return commissions received or have our licenses suspended or revoked. We could also be subject to disciplinary or other actions in the future due to claimed noncompliance with these regulations, which could have a material adverse effect on our operations and profitability.

Our business is also governed by various legislation limiting the manner in which prospective clients may be contacted, including federal and state “Do Not Call” and “Do Not Fax” regulations. We may be subject to legal claims and governmental action if we are perceived to be acting in violation of these laws and regulations. We may also be subject to claims to the extent individual employees or sales professionals breach or fail to adhere to company policies and practices designed to maintain compliance with these laws and regulations. The penalties for violating this legislation can be material, and could result in changes in which we are able to contact prospective clients.

As the size and scope of commercial real estate transactions have increased significantly during the past several years, both the difficulty of ensuring compliance with numerous licensing regimes and the possible loss resulting from non-compliance have increased. New or revised legislation or regulations applicable to our business, both within and outside of the United States, as well as changes in administrations or enforcement priorities may have an adverse effect on our business, including increasing the costs of compliance or preventing us from providing certain types of services in certain jurisdictions or in connection with certain transactions or clients. We are unable to predict how any of these new laws, rules, regulations and proposals will be implemented or in what form, or whether any additional or similar changes to laws or regulations, including the interpretation or implementation thereof, will occur in the future. Any such action could affect us in substantial and unpredictable ways and could have an adverse effect on our businesses, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

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We are an “emerging growth company,” and any decision on our part to comply only with certain reduced reporting and disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies could make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act, and for as long as we continue to be an “emerging growth company,” we may choose to take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies but not to “emerging growth companies,” including, but not limited to, (i) not being required to have our independent registered public accounting firm audit our internal control over financial reporting under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which may increase the risk that weaknesses or deficiencies in the internal control over financial reporting go undetected, (ii) reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, which may make it more difficult for investors and securities analysts to evaluate the company, and (iii) exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.

We could remain an “emerging growth company” for up to five years, although if the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, we would cease to be an “emerging growth company” as of the following December 31. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive if we choose to rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result of any choices to reduce future disclosure, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.

We have irrevocably elected to opt out of the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards pursuant to Section 107(b) of the JOBS Act, and therefore, we will be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies.”

Risks Related to the Spin-Off

We may not achieve some or all of the expected benefits of the Spin-Off and this offering.

We may not be able to achieve the full strategic and financial benefits expected to result from the Spin-Off and this offering, or such benefits may be delayed or not occur at all. These benefits include the following:

We may not achieve the anticipated benefits of the Spin-Off for a variety of reasons. In addition, the Spin-Off could adversely affect our operating results and financial condition since we will need to replicate or replace certain services previously provided to us by MMC and there is no assurance that we will be able to do so on similar or more favorable terms, or at all.

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Two of our directors may have actual or potential conflicts of interest because of their positions with MMC.

Following this offering, George M. Marcus and William A. Millichap will serve as co-chairmen of our board of directors and retain their positions as directors of MMC. In addition, Messrs. Marcus and Millichap may own MMC stock, options to purchase MMC stock or other MMC equity awards. Their position at MMC and the ownership of any MMC equity or equity awards creates, or may create the appearance of, conflicts of interest when these directors are faced with decisions that could have different implications for MMC than the decisions have for us.

Some of our directors will be participating in the Debt-for-Equity Exchange and therefore may have a conflict of interest in this offering.

In connection with this offering, MMC will exchange shares of the company’s common stock for MMC indebtedness held by the debt-for-equity exchange parties, including some of our directors. It is expected that the debt-for-equity exchange parties will then sell all of this common stock to the underwriters for cash. Consequently, some of our directors may have a conflict of interest by virtue of the fact that they will receive a portion of the proceeds from this offering in connection with the Debt-for-Equity Exchange.

To preserve the tax-free treatment of the Spin-Off to MMC and/or its shareholders, we may not be able to engage in certain transactions.

To preserve the tax-free treatment of the Spin-Off to MMC and/or its shareholders, under the tax matters agreement, we will be restricted from taking any action that could reasonably be expected to adversely affect such tax-free status for U.S. federal, state and local income tax purposes. During the time period ending two years after the date of the Distribution there will be specific restrictions on our undertaking of transactions which would, among other things, cause us to undergo a 50% or greater change in our stock ownership for purposes of Section 355(e) of the Code. These restrictions may limit our ability to pursue strategic transactions or engage in other transactions, to use our common stock to make acquisitions, and to raise equity capital, all of which transactions might increase the value of our business.

Risks Related to this Offering and Ownership of Our Common Stock

There is no existing market for our common stock and we do not know if one will develop, which could impede your ability to sell your shares and depress the market price of our common stock.

Prior to this offering, there has not been a public market for our common stock. We cannot predict the extent to which investor interest in the company will lead to the development of an active trading market on the NYSE or otherwise, or how liquid that market might become. If an active trading market does not develop, you may have difficulty selling any of our common stock that you buy. The initial public offering price for the common stock will be determined by negotiations between us and the representatives of the underwriters and may not be indicative of prices that will prevail in the open market following this offering. Consequently, you may not be able to sell our common stock at prices equal to or greater than the price you paid in this offering.

Our Co-Chairman and founder will control a significant interest in our stock after this offering, and the concentrated ownership of our common stock will prevent you and other stockholders from influencing significant decisions.

Immediately following the completion of this offering, Mr. Marcus, our Co-Chairman and founder, will own         % of our outstanding common stock (        % if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full). Because Mr. Marcus will control a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common stock, he will be able to influence the outcome of corporate actions requiring stockholder approval, including the election and removal of directors, so long as he controls a significant portion of our common stock.

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If our Co-Chairman sells a controlling interest in our company to a third party in a private transaction, you may not realize any change-of-control premium on shares of our common stock and we may become subject to the control of a presently unknown third party.

Our Co-Chairman and controlling stockholder will have the ability, should he choose to do so, to sell some or all of the shares of our common stock that he controls in a privately negotiated transaction, which, if sufficient in size, could result in a change of control of our company. The ability of our Co-Chairman and controlling stockholder to privately sell the shares of our common stock that he controls, with no requirement for a concurrent offer to be made to acquire all of our common stock that will be publicly traded hereafter, could prevent you from realizing any change-of-control premium on your shares of our common stock that may otherwise accrue to entities controlled by our Co-Chairman on a private sale of our common stock. Additionally, if entities controlled by our Co-Chairman privately sell a significant equity interest in our company, we may become subject to the control of a presently unknown third party. Such third party may have conflicts of interest with those of other stockholders. Furthermore, if our Co-Chairman sells a controlling interest in our company to a third party, our commercial agreements and relationships could be impacted, all of which may adversely affect our ability to run our business as described herein and may have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.

We will incur incremental costs as a stand-alone public company that will affect our financial results.

We will need to replicate or replace certain functions, systems and infrastructure previously provided by MMC to which we will no longer have the same access after this offering. We may also need to make investments or hire additional employees to operate without the same access to MMC’s existing operational and administrative infrastructure. These initiatives may be costly to implement, and the amount of total costs could be materially higher than we anticipate.

MMC currently performs or supports many important corporate functions for our company. Our consolidated financial statements reflect charges for these services on an allocation basis. Following this offering, many of these services will be governed by our transition services agreement with MMC. Under the transition services agreement we will be able to use these MMC services for a fixed term established on a service-by-service basis. However, we generally will have the right to terminate a service earlier if we give notice to MMC. In addition, either party will be able to terminate the agreement due to a material breach of the other party, upon prior written notice, subject to limited cure periods.

We will pay MMC mutually agreed-upon fees for these services, which will be based on MMC’s costs of providing the services. However, since our transition services agreement was negotiated in the context of a parent-subsidiary relationship, the terms of the agreement, including the fees charged for the services, may be higher or lower than those that would be agreed to by parties bargaining at arm’s length for similar services and may be higher or lower than the costs reflected in the allocations in our historical financial statements. Third-party costs will be passed through to us at MMC’s or its affiliates’ cost. In addition, while these services are being provided to us by MMC, our operational flexibility to modify or implement changes with respect to such services or the amounts we pay for them will be limited.

We may not be able to replace these services or enter into appropriate third-party agreements on terms and conditions, including cost, comparable to those that we will receive from MMC under our transition services agreement. Additionally, after the agreement terminates, we may be unable to sustain the services at the same levels or obtain the same benefits as when we were receiving such services and benefits from MMC. When we begin to operate these functions separately, if we do not have our own adequate systems and business functions in place, or are unable to obtain them from other providers, we may not be able to operate our business effectively or at comparable costs, and our profitability may decline. In addition, we have historically received informal support from MMC, which may not be addressed in our transition services agreement. The level of this informal support will diminish or be eliminated following this offering.

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As a result of becoming a public company, we will be obligated to develop and maintain proper and effective internal control over financial reporting. These internal controls may not be determined to be effective, which may adversely affect investor confidence in our company and, as a result, the value of our common stock.

We will be required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for the first fiscal year beginning after the effective date of this offering. This assessment will need to include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting, as well as a statement that our independent registered public accounting firm has issued an opinion on our internal control over financial reporting.

If we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion on the effectiveness of our internal controls, investors could lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which could cause the price of our common stock to decline, and we may become subject to investigation or sanctions by the SEC. We will be required to disclose changes made in our internal control and procedures on a quarterly basis. However, our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 until the later of the year following our first annual report required to be filed with the SEC or the date we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act, if we take advantage of the exemptions contained in the JOBS Act. At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our controls are documented, designed or operating. Our remediation efforts may not enable us to avoid a material weakness in the future. In addition, to comply with the requirements of being a public company, we may need to undertake various actions, such as implementing new internal controls and procedures and hiring additional accounting or internal audit staff.

If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or if they downgrade our company or our sector, the price of our common stock could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us or our business. We do not control these analysts, nor can we assure that any analysts will continue to follow us and issue research reports. Furthermore, if one or more of the analysts who do cover us downgrades our company or our industry, or the stock of any of our competitors, the price of our common stock could decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of our company, we could lose visibility in the market, which in turn could cause the price of our common stock to decline.

Future sales or the perception of future sales of a substantial amount of our common stock may depress the price of shares of our common stock.

After the completion of this offering, there will be      shares of our common stock available for future sale that were not sold in the offering. Future sales or the availability for sale of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market could adversely affect the prevailing market price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through future sales of equity securities.

We may issue shares of our common stock or other securities from time to time as consideration for future acquisitions and investments. If any such acquisition or investment is significant, the number of shares of our common stock, or the number or aggregate principal amount, as the case may be, of other securities that we may issue may in turn be substantial. We may also grant registration rights covering those shares of our common stock or other securities in connection with any such acquisitions and investments.

We cannot predict the size of future issuances of our common stock or the effect, if any, that future issuances and sales of our common stock will have on the market price of our common stock. Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock (including shares of our common stock issued in connection with an acquisition), or the perception that such sales could occur, may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our common stock.

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The price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly and you could lose all or part of your investment.

Volatility in the market price of our common stock may prevent you from being able to sell your shares of common stock at or above the price you paid for them. The market price for our common stock could fluctuate significantly for various reasons, including quarterly and annual variations in our results and those of our competitors; changes to the competitive landscape; estimates and projections by the investment community; the arrival or departure of key personnel, especially the retirement or departure of key senior sales professionals and management; the introduction of new services by us or our competitors; acquisitions, strategic alliances or joint ventures involving us or our competitors; and general global and domestic economic, credit and liquidity issues, market or political conditions.

As a result of these factors, investors in our common stock may not be able to resell their shares at or above the initial public offering price or may not be able to resell them at all. These broad market and industry factors may materially reduce the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance. In addition, price volatility may be greater if the public float and trading volume of our common stock is low.

Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and Delaware law could delay or prevent a change in control.

Our certificate of incorporation and by-laws may delay or prevent a merger or acquisition that a stockholder may consider favorable by permitting our board of directors to issue one or more series of preferred stock, requiring advance notice for stockholder proposals and nominations, providing for super-majority votes of stockholders for the amendment of the bylaws and certificate of incorporation, and placing limitations on convening stockholder meetings and not permitting written consents of stockholders. In addition, we are subject to provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law that restrict certain business combinations with interested stockholders. These provisions may also discourage acquisition proposals or delay or prevent a change in control, which could harm the market price of our common stock.

We may not generate sufficient cash to pay dividends on our common stock, which may cause us to change our dividend policy and affect our stock price.

If we cannot operate our business to meet our financial expectations, our ability to pay dividends to you could be adversely affected. Any declaration and payment of future dividends to holders of our common stock will be at the sole discretion of our board of directors and will depend on many factors, including our financial condition, earnings, capital requirements, level of indebtedness, statutory and contractual restrictions applying to the payment of dividends and other considerations that our board of directors deems relevant. If the board determines that our financial conditions and other requirements have not been satisfied, we may not issue dividends and you may need to rely on an increase in the price of our common stock to profit from your investment.

We may issue shares of preferred stock in the future, which could make it difficult for another company to acquire us or could otherwise adversely affect holders of our common stock, which could depress the price of our common stock.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize us to issue one or more series of preferred stock. Our board of directors will have the authority to determine the preferences, limitations and relative rights of shares of preferred stock and to fix the number of shares constituting any series and the designation of such series, without any further vote or action by our stockholders. Our preferred stock could be issued with voting, liquidation, dividend and other rights superior to the rights of our common stock. The potential issuance of preferred stock may delay or prevent a change in control of us, discouraging bids for our common stock at a premium to the market price, and materially and adversely affect the market price and the voting and other rights of the holders of our common stock.

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You will suffer immediate and substantial dilution in the net tangible book value of the common stock you purchase.

Prior investors have paid substantially less per share than the price in this offering. The initial public offering price is substantially higher than the net tangible book value per share of the outstanding common stock after giving effect to this offering and related transactions. Accordingly, based on an assumed initial public offering price of $         per share (the midpoint of the offering price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus), and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, and the application of the net proceeds from such sale as described in “Use of Proceeds,” and following the Debt-for-Equity Exchange substantially concurrently with the closing of the offering, purchasers of common stock in this offering will experience immediate and substantial dilution of approximately $         per share. Additionally, investors in our common stock will be further diluted in the event that the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares.

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