How to Be an Absolute Winner as a Real Estate Agent in Investment Sales
It is important to recognize the specialty behind commercial property investment sales and the services that should be provided by real estate agents and brokers to their clients. Some of the important facts to remember here with those clients are the requirement for cash flow consolidation and investment growth over time. The main way to achieve that focus will be through good lease documentation, successful tenant selection, professional property management, and achieving relevant market rentals.
A specialist real estate agent or broker will know how to improve property performance for the clients that they serve; they will also be on the lookout for off market transactions and property changeover pressures. Some of the largest property transactions don’t come to the market publicly; the deals are done off market by astute agents serving their clients in a specific way.
Tracking the local property information, prices, rents, and future supply will help an agent find future opportunity with clients; that then leads to successful off market transactions and investment sales.
How many investment clients and deals did you do off market last year? Is it a segment of the property market that you could improve within? Now is a good time to consider just how things are going for you and how you can move into the investment arena more solidly and comprehensively. Most of the larger deals in commercial real estate are in the investment segments and particularly the property trusts and corporate arena.
High Profile Investment Sales Marketing
Here are some ideas to help you establish a high profile as a property specialist in commercial real estate investment sales:
- MARKETING: Ensure that all of your marketing campaigns are carefully constructed and relevant to the property type. A high profile marketing campaign will usually produce good levels of inbound enquiry and the opportunity to work with other local property investors.
- BEST METHOD OF SALE: Choose the method of sale that best suits the property type in its location. Successfully converting listings to a sale in a timely way will show your relevance to the local property market and the people directly involved.
- INVESTORS MATTER: Work closely with a select group of property investors. Understand those investors with larger portfolios and complex property needs. You can help them with strategies to improve the ultimate sale requirement that they may have. Tenancy mix optimization and property expansion strategies can help with net income and property value. The highest and best use for a property should be identified, established, and targeted. Some clients need help in moving to the next level of property opportunity. They also need information when it comes to income optimization and the best method of sale at the right time.
- SPECIAL INVESTOR NEEDS: Within this property category, there are certain types of investors that have unique needs when it comes to ownership and acquisition. Property trusts are a good example and case in point. Property trusts will generally purchase property with a defined or identified opportunity for the long term. They also buy and sell properties in cycles. Those property trusts will usually select locations and property types as focus points to improve their investment results. Determine the property trusts that are already active in your area, and look for others that could potentially move into your town or city. A degree of research will be required to find and work with the investors in this market segment.
- EXCLUSIVE LISTINGS ARE A PRIORITY: Your marketing profile and signage exposure locally will underpin your personal brand as an experienced and qualified real estate agent or broker. In saying that, open listings are a generally a waste of time. Make sure that you focus your marketing and personal prospecting on exclusive listings and convert your new business accordingly. When you control the listing stock, you control the inquiry, any inspections, and the client. That then leads to better levels of negotiation and frequently closed transactions. Any good quality property in your local area should be exclusively promoted; you can then optimize the results from the marketing campaigns and inspections that occur.
From these simple points, it directly follows that the investment sales segment of your property market is quite specialized. Treat the segment and investors with due regard for specialty and property performance. Show those people how you can be the agent of choice to resolve the investment challenges and opportunities.