BiggerPockets

How To Sound Like A Pro To Commercial Real Estate Brokers

Commercial real estate brokers can be your greatest resource to finding deals, if you use them wisely. Many investors make the mistake of speaking to brokers in "boot camp" speak and treating them like a community resource, there for everyone to use and for someone else to pay.

Here's how not to speak to a commercial real estate broker:

Bob calls on ABC Brokerage. Bob says, "Hi, I'm looking for a deal that makes sense. Preferably, I'd like a distressed asset, you know, one where the seller has to sell! If you see anything, could you send it to me? Oh, and by the way, I'm also searching for properties in emerging markets, do you have any of those?"

What the Broker Hears

"Hi, I don't know what I'm looking for but want to make some money. But who doesn't, right? I know you probably represent a lot of owners, so if you could violate your fiduciary obligation to represent your client and tell me which one might be going through some personal and financial problems, I'd appreciate it. Oh, and by the way, I'm looking for something in an emerging market because I've heard that's a good place to look. Who talks about my local market as emerging, anyway?"

How to Sound Like a Pro and Get the Broker's Attention

Compare the above statements to the following investor's call to ABC Brokerage who uses brokers wisely. "Hi, I'm in the market for another investment property. Preferably, I'm looking for an office building between 8,000 to 15,000 SF located within 3 miles of the 93 and 95 interchange that is ADA accessible and 50-75% occupied. Maybe the owner has had some issues filling the building. I'd like to buy it to help out. Would you be interested in meeting to discuss sourcing such opportunities for me? I have a master buyer representation agreement I use and would be happy to pay you for your success. Oh and by the way, I'm looking for properties in markets where you see job growth, new infrastructure projects, and new housing units being built. It's a longer term strategy, but I've identified some areas I'd like to investigate. Would you be willing to sit down with me to discuss them?"

In this new conversation, the broker hears a professional investor who has thought through the specifics of what he's looking for. This investor provides the broker with a concrete, specific framework and has translated his vague, open ended statements into simple, measurable details that make it easier for the broker to understand his search requirement as well as get the sense that this guy might know what he's doing. Plus, the investor has offered to meet with the broker to schedule a time to talk about compensation for actually doing work on his behalf. It sounds like this broker better take the meeting.

Don't march off and start calling brokers unless you know what you want and how you want to use them. Communicate your message in clear, simple, thoughtful words that guide the broker to conclude that you are indeed qualified, know what you want, and have a high likelihood of buying a property.

Comments

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  Jeremy Cyrier — 12 months ago

  Mark, Happy to help. I'm glad you found the article on sounding like a pro to commercial real estate brokers useful! ~Jeremy

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  Mark Updegraff — 12 months ago

  nice article Jeremy. As a person who has been strictly in residential but wants to start getting into commercial this has been a helpful primer. Thanks again, Mark