How to Price and Market Your Commercial Real Estate Listings Effectively

In commercial real estate, some of your clients will have little experience or exposure to selling a property, mainly as they have owned their single property as an investment or as a business location for many years. That creates some pressure points in the sale process.

Clients will then have an inflated view of the pricing outcome and try to hold out for the ‘best price’ at the time of sale.

They believe that their property is superior to all others in the area and that a buyer willing to pay the inflated price they seek will appear. This seller’s optimism is a recipe for wasting time in property marketing.

Buyer Intelligence

So, what happens with this problem? The property seller holds out for a high price, the buyers will not make offers near the seller’s price, and the marketing campaign wastes time. Ultimately, the sellers become disappointed, change agents, and then list at a lower price.

As real estate agents, we must address this problem at the ‘front end’ of the listing process because property listing and marketing is not an ‘experiment’ today. It is a definite process.

Property buyers are selective and informed. Sellers have to meet the market. Here are some solutions to the problem:

1. Market Facts

Client conditioning is required. These problem sellers are unaware that buyers (investors or business owners) know the local property prices and the financial costs of purchasing a property. They will not pay too much for a property listed for sale.

Use evidence from the location, including sales results, property facts, and supply and demand issues, and assess the attractiveness of all competing properties in the precinct. That can include improvements, layout, and functionality.

Buyers will use properties in different ways regarding business or investment. Look at the listed property from a buyer’s perspective to build a story around occupancy, investment, functionality, and attractiveness.

2. Changes in the Market

Market evidence and updates are necessary. As a local real estate agent, you must help your clients understand the importance of listing the property locally correctly, using the correct marketing process, and doing everything possible to attract qualified buyers.

There’s no point in wasting your time or the client’s time on a property marketing campaign today where the property is overpriced. The most important time window is any property promotion’s first three or four weeks.

That is a formula to be shaped and structured. During that time, you want to ensure that you have had plenty of enquiries, qualified inspections, and a few offers.

3. Promotional Timelines

Marketing timelines are critical. In the first 4-5 weeks of any campaign, any correctly listed property that is comprehensively marketed using the right promotional tools will generally achieve a good result or at least some reasonable offers.

To complete a sale or contract, you must balance the seller’s expectations with market realities. Evidence will be required, as will negotiation strategies. Assist your client in understanding what is happening in the real estate market today and the opportunities for making a sale promptly.

Unsold real estate will become stale and tired. Suppose a commercial property does not sell or attract inspections and offers within the first six weeks of the campaign. In that case, something is wrong with the promotional process, message, property, pricing, or target audience.

4. Promotional Tools

Given the abovementioned factors, numerous marketing tools are available today to attract buyers and enquiries. An excellent mix of online marketing tools and traditional local area marketing solutions exist.

If they want to find a property to buy, most buyers will visit online property portals regularly. The agent usually receives a phone call after the buyers have seen the listing online and then been activated to enquire.

This means you must ensure that your promotional message is online and that the portals you use with all listings are adequately crafted and displayed. This will include the promotional message, property details, and the visual side of marketing, consisting of comprehensive professional photographs.

Summary – Use a Checklist

So, the best way to sell a commercial or retail property is to formulate a pricing and marketing plan for the property’s condition, the improvements, and the market conditions. Build a checklist for this approach for all property classes and types.