All Forum Posts by: Cason Acor

@Kirsten C. if it is as you say and your PSA doesn’t have language prohibiting the seller from encumbering the property with new contracts, never use that PSA again. Get your broker or attorney to draft a new one. 

What Bob said. Any good commercial purchase agreement will have language saying the seller is not allowed to enter into any new contracts affecting the property while you’re under contract. That includes new leases. 

If the seller just sold the business to this guy, but didn’t sign a new lease with him, then the tenant is on a month to month lease. In a lot of places, the eviction moratoriums only cover evictions for non-payment. So that means you can still evict someone if their lease is up with the required advanced notice. So check up on your local laws and see if that applies to you. 

If the seller did sign a new lease with this guy, then it’s time to get lawyers involved. You could also argue that the property is now no longer deliverable. 

@Steve Morris he literally said in his post that he provides proof of funds with his offers. 

If you’re confident they aren’t presenting your offers, I would go directly to the broker, regional manager, whoever is responsible to the agent, and lodge your complaint. I would also threaten to report the agent to the state board that governs real estate licensing. By law, licensed individuals are required to present all offers to purchase, regardless of who they come from or how unrealistic they might be. 

If you’re sending LOIs and proof of funds and still not getting any response, that’s a huge problem and potential ethical violation. Unfortunately there are some established agents who think they’re doing right by their clients by filtering out buyers they’re not familiar with. That can sometimes be true, but that doesn’t excuse them from their obligation to present the offer and reply to you with the seller’s response. Start complaining and take it as high up as you need to go until these brokerages take you seriously. 

I’d also add, a lot of times deals on LoopNet and Crexi are already under contract and the agents just never bother to update the listings. But even so, they should still be communicating with you and presenting offers. 

Have you looked on Airbnb and VRBO to see what similar houses in and around the same neighborhood are charging? That’s where I would start. 

Is it a national or regional bank?

If I were listing this property in my market, I would charge 6%. 10% commissions aren't unheard of, but I've only seen them on deals with a lot of hair, i.e. they present unique circumstances that would require more than normal effort on behalf of the listing agent in order to sell. Working with environmental contamination or complex title issues are examples that come to mind. 

Your agent could have also just decided that 10% is what his time is worth regardless of the deal, and only wants to work with clients willing to pay that. But bottom line like you said in your post, everything is negotiable.

Are you asking specifically about what to pay him for finding off market deals for you, or listing commissions? You appear to mention both in your post but it’s unclear which one you’re asking about. 

I’m an industrial broker and I use CoStar almost everyday. I use it primarily for doing property research and finding comps. However, I use other resources for identifying property ownership. 
I live in a non-disclosure state, so CoStar isn’t a reliable resource for sales prices, but it does notify me when a building sells, and who sold it. CoStar can be just one of the many tools in your belt. 

I'll give you my perspective as an industrial broker. Most first time investors in this space do actually have a couple hundred grand they're sitting on. But they got that cash from starting out in residential investing, or business successes in similar industries like construction, development, etc.

If you want to start getting deals with a lot less cash on hand, I suggest you find a partner, or several, with industrial experience who can invest with you and provide most of the equity. That's the only way you're going to get a traditional lender to take your seriously.