Key Performance Ideas in Commercial Real Estate Brokerage

In commercial real estate brokerage there are a few things that you should watch and track in team performance, particularly if you are running a team of people or if you are tracking your own results.  By watching the indicators, you get an idea of what is happening around you with listings, prices, rents, and inquiry.    You can then make adjustments at a personal and team level.

Every year things change in commercial property ownership, occupancy, and investment.  Those changes also will be impacted by local business sentiment.  Successful businesses create property change and churn; investors need successful businesses from the local region as occupants.

So what is changing now?  Zone or territory volatility will be happening throughout the year, as tenants, buyers, landlords, and investors all look to bolster their position in property ownership and occupancy.  You can watch your numbers, those of your competitors, the property supply and demand factors locally, and you can look historically into the zone to see how things are changing to the periods past.

Get the Best Facts and Figures

So where do you look for the facts and figures that are of value?  You look on the internet, in the newspapers, and in the streets and buildings in your territory.  You can also assess your competitors and their listings to see what their pressures may be locally.

Here are some of the analytic factors and indicators to watch and track, be that for yourself or for your team:

1. Listings by type – look at the volume of listings coming into the market in the property types. How long are those listings staying on the market at this time?  Be careful here in that assessment as the time on market assessment will usually vary greatly between open and exclusive listings.  Track the listings in the local newspaper and also the internet.  Do a signboard count each week in your location; the best days to do that is early on Saturday or Sunday when things are quiet on the streets and roads.
2. Current and future supply – watch the new property developments coming through the planning approval process at the local municipal authority. There will always be lead times to a new property development and it being released for sale or lease; the incentives and factors of attraction will very likely ‘skew’ the property market inquiries and results in the other local buildings.  Adjust your listings and pricing strategies around the ‘skew’ of the market.
3. The sentiment of buyers and tenants in your town or city – every time you have a property inquiry coming in on the telephone or perhaps a meeting with a prospect, ask questions about their perception of the market and the qualities of properties available. Business sentiment, investor sentiment, and tenant movement will change frequently each year as local property information and factors change in your town or city and on the internet.  Ask others about their thoughts and intentions when it comes to property activity and or investment.
4. Prices and Rents – the sentiment and churn of property in the local property market will impact inquiries and that will flow through to prices and rents. Different property types and particularly those in zones or precincts will give indications of price and rent trends.  Track those property numbers; understand and differentiate between listed price and rental numbers, and the actual completed transaction numbers.  There will frequently be significant difference.

So the message here is that you can and should set up your own analytic process for the local property market.  Watch the property indicators so you can move on the positive trends and your results.  Look for the opportunities in sales, leasing, and property management.  The agents and brokers that change approach based on market trends are usually those that find the new business faster.