How to Improve Costs of Sale in Commercial Real Estate Brokerage

Every successful listing sale in commercial real estate has cost factors to be considered and controlled. Those costs are attributable to the individual listing and singular transaction.   Those costs will impact your deal conversions and net commission result.

It is a fact that those cost factors will have a direct impact on property marketing and the level of enquiry.  Over time those issues can be refined and optimised at an agent level.

Here are some of those important factors to be considered in this way and improved over time with every listing:

1. Commission – Understand the levels of commission that should be applied to the property listing in today’s market. The commissions should be set with due regard to exclusivity, your agency competition, agent commitment, property type, location, and client motivation.
2. Advertising – The promotion of every exclusive listing should be specifically structured and implemented. Vendor paid marketing funds will be of benefit and importance to the property promotion. Your presentation and sales pitch for the listing should reflect a specific strategy of vendor paid marketing.
3. Signboard – The traditional signboard is still one of the most effective marketing and promotional tools that you have available. Every high quality listing and exclusive listing should feature a specially designed signboard to promote the property to the local area.
4. Title and property searches – Every property needs to be thoroughly checked when it comes to ownership title. Understand how the property is impacted by orders, notices, restrictions, liabilities, and other interests. The title search will help you identify those issues.
5. Marketing material – When you use high quality promotional strategies and marketing material for your listings, every campaign tends to improve your image as the local property specialist. Make the right choices when it comes to online and off-line promotional strategies. Make every high quality exclusive listings stand out with relevance and appeal.
6. Franchise fee – The franchise fee will be payable with most if not all property transactions on the understanding that your business could be part of a greater franchise structure. The franchise fee should be fair and reasonable for the real estate brand and support provided by the franchise group. If your office is a singular independent brokerage, franchise fees will not be relevant.
7. Website portals – Every publicly promoted property listing should be placed on the industry portals. The cost of doing so should be absorbed into the vendors paid marketing funds.
8. Servicing the client – Some clients are more difficult and intense from a service perspective. Same can be said for the property listing. It could be that the property and/or the client will require extensive investigation and research prior to the listing promotion and marketing campaign. A good example would be the work required in leading up to a new property development and approval process. It can be many months if not years before the final property approval is given and the promotion commences.
9. Inspecting the property – Every listed property will have factors to consider as part of the potential property inspection. A large property will take many hours to inspect as you work with any enquiring and qualified tenants of buyers. The cost of that inspection process should be considered in planned into your business day and working week. When you understand the strengths and weaknesses of the property listing, will be able to establish an inspection strategy to help when you take buyers and tenants through the property.
10. Due diligence – Some property listings are very complex and will require a defined a due diligence process to move to final contract or negotiation. The larger the property, the greater the complexity when it comes to due diligence. Understand the pressures that the due diligence process could apply to any property enquiry, potential inspection, negotiation and contract.

So there are plenty of things here to consider as part of taking any listing to the market in a property promotion. Preparation is the key to containing and controlling the costs associated with a commercial real estate sale.