Commercial Property Rental and Leasing Tips for Brokers and Agents
Commercial property rental requires a systematic approach to local real estate and businesses. There are some essential tools and efficient methods to understand and use in this industry sector. You can develop some of those tools specifically to tap into the right tenants and landlords in the property market or your locality.
The real value that you bring to your property market and your clients is in your local knowledge and market coverage. Everything else ranks ‘second’ in the relevance register with local people and prospects.
So, what can you do here? To get things started, understand the leasing requirements and the tenancy opportunities in your location. Do some research looking at supply and demand, as well as the new buildings coming into the property market soon.
Build your prospecting model around local businesses, tenant types and their inquiries, local landlords, better buildings and property vacancies.
Quality Tenants Really Matters
One fact to remember here is that information matters when it comes to building your market share in commercial property leasing. The quality of the tenants and the buildings that you work with today will dictate the levels of commissions that you convert over time.
Poor quality vacancies will always frustrate your inquiry and lease negotiations. Set some leasing priorities to get away from ‘poor quality’ property problems; you can do that by focusing your tenant and landlord prospecting into things like:
- Building types
- Property locations
- Tenant advocacy
- Landlord services
- Tenant mix upgrades
- Vacancy solutions
- Tenancy sizes
- Streets and precincts
- Project leasing
Specialisation matters in commercial property. The size and the location of the premises will have something to do with a vacancy time on market and the amount of commission converted. There is a ‘quality’ equation to remember here as you look at taking on a new building vacancy to lease.
So, what should you do here to get your rental market share going? Focus most your efforts on quality first with both tenants and landlords. Work within the best buildings in the best locations. That will usually shorten the time on market for the listing when it comes to marketing and inquiry.
FACT: The top agents collaborate and negotiate with the better buildings and vacancies.
Take this a bit further. Here are some other points of focus that can bring you closer to the right people and properties in leasing premises:
- The Best Method of Prospecting – like it or not, you do need to connect with local populations at a personal level. That will mean reaching out to new tenants and landlords in a regular ongoing way. A prospecting model should involve direct calls, meetings, door knocking, direct mail, and street canvassing. You can integrate these things into your database system and software. Take note of local lease situations and changes; ask plenty of questions as you comprehensively cover your local area in talking to new people and all of your current contacts.
- Territory coverage – define the region or area that you can specialise in, then go ‘deeper’ into streets, precincts, and the businesses contained in the zone. Get to know what each company is considering and needing by way of property occupancy and business function. Don’t make the territory too large, as you will likely not understand all the facts and challenges of the location.
- Buildings and tenants to prospect – logically work through the business types and the buildings as you talk to people about property occupancy issues. Look for ‘pressures’ such as staff overload, car parking problems, ageing buildings, precinct zoning changes, and company or corporation changes.
The lease prospecting process does not need to be complex, but it does need to happen every day. Get involved with your property leasing market. Connect with the people using deliberate leasing tools and systems.