Sales Force Assessment of Commercial Real Estate Market Conditions

As agents and as part of the sales team it is critical that we monitor and assess market conditions constantly.  Things change in commercial property prices and rents, and the last 5 years we have seen many such changes.

People purchase, sell, or lease investment property for many reasons, and if we can see those reasons early, we have a massive source of leads and new business.  An agent friend said to me only this week, ‘I just had a call from a person I spoke to early last year.  They got back in touch and asked to meet to talk about property’.  Things like that happen when you are involved with many people on a daily basis.  The ‘averages’ look after themselves when you make the calls and connect will the right people.

So what would you look for?  What are the signs of change that may convert to listings?  Try some of these for starters:

• Successful businesses – It is easy to see a successful business.  Over time that business will need to expand or relocate.  Connect with the person that runs the business and will need that help in the future.
• Vacant land – A parcel of vacant land today is likely to be a building construction site in the future; it is just a matter of when.  Watch the property zoning approvals and plans for your area.  Speak to all the owners of vacant land to see what they are doing with the property and if they want help in any way.
• Existing property investors – Finding existing property investors can be a challenge when they protect their identities inside a company name or property trust.  On a continual basis, seek to find one new property owner a day using the resources that you have available.  At the very least you can door knock a street or precinct and many of the business owners or tenants will tell you who owns what.
• Zoning or Planning Changes – Any upcoming zoning change will activate property ‘churn’ that can lead to sales or purchases.  Monitor the decisions of the local property planning office for that very reason.
• Road Changes – When a highway or road network is tagged for change or widening, local businesses and property owners are impacted in many ways; sometimes positively and at other times negatively.  Stay ahead of those road changes and use them as triggers for potential listings.
• Ownership cycles – Businesses and investors will typically hold a property for a good number of years.  On average and between ownership years 5 and 10, property changes are generally happening, are being thought about, or are about to occur.  You can use this ownership cycle to position yourself close to property owners pending that property activity.

So there are some good things to do here.  Use these factors as opportunities.  Get closer to the people that will be making property decisions locally and wait for the action.  Provide meaningful commercial investment property updates to all your clients and prospects as you wait for things to occur.