BiggerPockets

I am trying to figure out whether I should subscribe to Loopnet's premium membership or find a commercial broker. My goal is to buy one or more MF properties in the Sun Belt states with decent upside potential. Properties can be anywhere from $500K to up to $2MM or even more.

One advantage of going with loopnet is that I work quite hard and can spend a lot of time being thorough in evaluating all listings, including FSBO listings. I don't think a broker will put in the same kind of effort.

On the other hand, if I can find a really good broker, I can get local insight that would otherwise take me a long time to acquire on my own.

Any suggestions or advice?

Thanks, Jim. I guess my next question would be: how do you go about finding a good buyer's agent who understands investors' needs? I already know the cities I am interested in. Just not sure how to find good agents in those cities.

And nothing beats going to the cities you are looking at. I know that's time consuming and expensive, but you are making some big commitments that justify really learning your markets.

Vikram,
I recommend both as well. The more knowledge the better. As for finding a broker who can meet your needs I would find a CCIM who specializes in MF, make sure the Broker has the designation and is not in the process of completing it. Although there are many good Agents in any marketplace who do not have the CCIM designation, by going with an Agent with the designation you will know that you are getting an Agent who knows how to break down a property and at minimum can run a Discounted Cash Flow Analysis on property as well as someone who would have actually completed transactions where CCIM methods were used.

Designees go through a peer review analysis of the transactions they submit as proof of work completed and so you can feel a bit more confident that a CCIM has done work in the field and done analysis that is important when looking at investment property.

Nick Brian, I have noticed that you have posted a whole bunch of very general posts in a variety of threads. I get the feeling that you are simply trying to market your services without being too obvious about it.

I think we would all appreciate it if you could reply to posts only when you actually have a specific and useful thing to say.