Commercial Real Estate Agents – Gathering Real Market Intelligence for More Listings

Commercial, industrial, and retail real estate does not need to be complicated.  It is simply a matter of understanding the factors at play and the market trends. Every town or city will be unique regarding property trends and changes.

Are you ready to find some new business? Commercial real estate is a dynamic industry, and as a result, it is absolutely essential for brokers and agents to stay on top of their market and industry trends throughout the year.

To successfully work in the commercial property industry, you become a personal marketer to build your real estate brand and listing market share.  Talking to more people daily is the marketing plan that can work for you, as it will produce good brokerage results over time. It is a consistent process of contact and communication.

The Real Estate Trends to Watch and Track

Where can you start to find property pressures, clients, and listings? For starters, you will need to narrow down your search to a specific area of your town or city before you begin your real estate investigations.

That zone will include many properties, specific streets, and different types of properties. The idea is that you are a property solution service to business owners and property investors. You are marketing yourself into the zone.

Agent Zones or Territories

When it comes to marketing, research, and investigation, it is important to focus on a specific area or zone. This set area should be your primary point of concentration, and you should keep an eye on prices, rents, and available listings within that zone.

Ideally, 80% of your business should come from this primary zone. The remaining 20% of your business can come from other zones, which can be classified as ‘secondary’.

Know that some buildings will be better than others and some locations will be more desirable than others. Do a SWOT analysis across your precincts and territory so you know where the ‘hot spots’ are and why people prefer them from an occupancy or investment perspective.

Things to Look For in Your Property Market

Some of the significant trends to watch in the local commercial real estate industry will include the following:

• Understand what the local property owners are looking for when finding investment property.  Some property types will attract local property owners and investors more than others.  The same can be said for property price ranges.  The availability of finance in the property market will impact property enquiry and transactions.
• Are the local property owners looking to expand or contract their property ownership and property portfolio?  It should be said that it usually takes time to find the right people behind the ownership structures with commercial real estate.  It is quite common for property investors to be hidden inside company structures or property trusts.  Getting to the right people can be quite a challenge.  That being said, it is just a matter of selecting the targeted properties and working through them gradually over a period of time.  Diligence and consistency to the task will help you enormously.
• Local businesses will either occupy premises as tenants or own the property in which they are located.  In each respect, and at some stage, they will need property assistance occasionally; that is where the commercial real estate expert can provide great value and experience.  If you are new to the particular property market, get to know the local businesses as soon as possible as part of your prospecting efforts.  They can give you valuable market intelligence because they know their area and neighbouring businesses better than you do.  If you ask them the right questions, you will soon uncover listing opportunities.  Some of those businesses will also be looking for alternative premises or relocation.
• Other agents in your local area will be listing properties of different types and price ranges.  Some of those agents will not be successful in moving or converting their listings.  You will also note that some of those agents are generally less successful or relevant regarding commercial and retail real estate.  It is hard for a general real estate agent to be relevant and successful when it comes to commercial property.  Knowledge is everything when it comes to building a significant bank of listings and converting the right transactions.

Gathering market intelligence is a special process for commercial real estate.  Over time, you can identify many opportunities and build on your market share.