Inspection Strategies that Matter in Commercial Real Estate Brokerage

In commercial real estate brokerage, it is important that every inspection is planned before the ‘site visit’ event.  You only have a few short minutes with the potential buyer, so inspection optimisation is a good thing.  Know how you will enter the property, what you will talk about, and how you will move around with the prospective buyers.

 

The quality of the inspection is one of the key differences you will see between a top agent and other more ‘average’ agents. 

 

Create a series of ‘hooks’ to use with the inspecting parties; the ‘hooks’ should be designed to capture and convert interest.  Knowing the inspecting party and or the target market will be the first part of the ‘hook’ creation process.

 

Staging the Inspection

 

The concept of a ‘planned inspection’ is just so important.  You could say that it is a bit like ‘staging’ the inspection with the preferred result in mind.  All too often I have seen ‘average agents’ enter a property without real focus and preparation; they may have had a few inspections or negotiations on during the day, and their focus falls away.

 

Property buyers know when they are talking to an ‘average agent’, and one that doesn’t have full command of the property facts and listing detail.

 

Questions will Always Happen

 

The buyer of a property will ask plenty of questions, and all the required answers must be available to you at the shortest of notice.  So how can you prepare for the ‘unexpected question’?  I always like to have my property listing documents with me when inspecting a property; however, as a back-up and for any unexpected situations, all my listing files are also in ‘cloud-based’ storage so that anything of note or concern with a listing can be called on during an inspection, offer, negotiation, or question from a buyer.

 

A Targeted Approach

 

You can convert your listings to an offer more successfully if you have all the property facts and strategies aligned to the buyer, the target market, the market conditions, and the property attributes.

 

Every exclusive listing should be subjected to an inspection strategy as part of the listing process.  Exclusivity demands more preparation on the part of the agent.

 

Features and Facts

 

Think about essential things such as the features of the property, the complexity of the inspection, the property presentation, and the overall layout.  The wishes of the client will also have something to do with your overall inspection plan.  Undertake an inspection with the end target of an offer in mind.

 

You can improve your offer position or negotiation opportunities through staging the inspection.  Plan everything that you are going to talk about and show as part of the inspection; go ‘deeper’ with all information provided.

 

Talk about things as you move around the property.  What information can you share that could boost buyer interest?  Have some stories to share and tell about the property; history is always interesting to a buyer or investor.

 

Know the Property Facts

 

Understand the property for what it is, and relate the property and its strengths to the target market, the buyers, and the inspection processes that you will be undertaking.  A ‘SWOT’ analysis is a good process to work with as part of the initial stages of property investigation and listing planning.

 

A ‘SWOT’ will allow you to achieve positive outcomes or negotiation conditions.  We are the best people to bring some real strategies to the inspection process.  Our clients ‘pay’ for that expertise.

 

Think About Now!

 

Considering these things, how can you adopt this approach with your next inspection of a commercial or retail property?  When you think about the specialized service that we offer, there are distinct stages of a sale or lease situation, and all those stages commence with an ‘inspection’ with qualified parties.

 

The quality of the inspection and the information provided is critical to the conversion or a positive result on any property.  Do you want to grow your commissions?  Then focus on your inspection skills with qualified parties.

 

So, What is the Message Here?

 

Think about how you work with your property listings and the inspections that you conduct.  Simple facts shared in the well-planned inspection can help you with the results that you seek.