Commercial Real Estate Brokerage – Show Your Clients How Property Trends are Changing

Commercial real estate investment can be challenging at the best of times with local market information changing frequently and different trends emerging.  Some property investors lack the resources to stay on top of key property indicators.

Rents, prices, and property details are all shifting and changing. Over a 12-month period, the shifts are real and reasonable. We see those changes as brokers and agents, and on that basis, the information is quite useful for our clients.

So the message here is that you can help your clients particularly those property investors that you serve; you can keep them fully briefed with the latest trends in the local property market.  Through several different contact methods, you can make a real difference in their investment strategies and property performance.

What do they want to know?

How you update your clients will be a matter of choice for you but the information most commonly sought after today could be:

• Monthly property research reports – If all your sales and leasing team are tracking results from successful contracts and leases, then it is fairly easy to put together some effective trending charts and research papers. One year can be compared to previous years and then trends can be identified.  Track enquiry rates, time on market, prices, and rents.
• Graphs and charts – The visual approach is quite useful in attracting the interest of clients and property investors. Monitor and track the trends of prices, rents, yields, and net absorption every month for a property precinct and a property type.
• Yield analysis – Any high quality investment property for sale will usually drive a lower yield because of a higher price. Those indicators give you a good idea of where the property market is headed.
• Price and Rent trends – Within each property type there will be some valuable numbers to watch. Are prices rising?  Are those price rises driven from an under supply of investments, or a shift in rental and yield?  The answers that you identify are important to the pricing strategies that you apply to other property.
• Occupancy costs – Property expenditure changes impact lease rents and net income. Some tenants are very sensitive to property cost escalations and rentals.  Landlords want to strengthen the net income that they receive from occupancy.  Look at the averages in occupancy costs for the location and the property type.  Compare your listings to see how they perform as investment stock.
• Vacancy factors and Incentives – What are the vacancy factors in your location and is there too much vacant space currently? What property types stand out as incentive targets when it comes to leasing vacant space?  An incentive today will influence a tenant target market towards a leasing decision, but your job to choose and recommend the right incentive for the client and the vacancy.
• Supply and Demand indicators – What are the demand indicators now evident in the local property market? Will future supply be absorbed quickly and how will new property developments impact the older properties in the location?  Those facts will indicate how a property will be marketed.

When you have all of these factors under control, you can bring valuable information to your clients and help them move through any property challenge.  As to how you supply that information is variable but generally you could use any of the following:

• Social media
• Newsletters
• Industry briefings
• One-on-one meetings
• Email updates
• Articles
• Case Studies
• Editorials
• Research papers

Your information about the property market is quite valuable so use it as a marketing tool with your clients and contacts.