I'm looking at a NNN in Grand Rapids, MI and am a licensed broker in CA. This is my first time dealing with a NNN and an out of state purchase. What are the advantages/disadvantages of using a broker on this deal?

If you are going to use a broker/agent for NNN use one that does it day in and day out.

A generalist broker/agent will bring you little value in the process. The seller on the listed property is paying commission to the listing broker who is doing a co-op with the buyers broker.

When I work with clients I first access their PFS statement for liquidity and net worth versus the property they want to buy.

Are you going for single NNN or multi NNN??

What amount are you putting down for price range??

I only work with serious buyers and sellers who are committed to the process. My time is worth a lot of money.

Hope it helps.  

If you go straight to the sellers agent, you might (emphasis on might) be able to negotiate a lower commission and lower price. I was able to do that once when the seller was a broker. It was our first purchase and we lucked out and got a good deal. I would highly recommend not doing that. Commercial brokers are worth the cost. However, many realtors will say they are knowledgable in commercial properties but won't even know what a cap rate is. Don't just go with a realtor because they say they know commercial or that it's listed on their website. There's a big difference in knowledge level and it's worth it.

Thank you for the responses. I'm looking at a 2 tenant (Aspen Dental and T Mobile). I've got $470k from a 1031 exchange and another partner who has $150k in a self-directed IRA

If it were me, going into a new area (both business-wise and region-wise) then I would absolutely get a broker who specialized in that sort of deal, in that part of the country, to work with me. You don't know what you don't know. Do you really want to risk screwing up a 470k investment? 

Having a partner complicates things. You want to be separate in structure so that when you sell down the road you can 1031 into other properties without the same partner attached. This can be accomplished with a TIC structure. The other partner having an IRA adds another layer for that person in putting the deal together.

NNN is hot. There are a lot of buyers for the product. If you ask for commission back with national assets look to go off their list immediately. There are just too many buyers wanting the properties. There are some buyers even willing to pay more commission to land the property on top of what the seller is paying.

That kind of stuff might work more with mom and pop type commercial.