Unlocking Opportunities: A Guide for Commercial Real Estate Agents to Attract Investor Clients
A couple of client types are valuable and easily found in commercial real estate as part of prospecting for new business. They are the investors and business owners.
Both categories of people will transact real estate for many different reasons. Make those groups your ‘source code’ for new listings. Talk to people in those groups every day.
The groups are differently motivated, as will the trigger points for a sale or lease. The groups are the business owners in your location and the property investors or current property owners. What can you do to reach more people in each group?
Client Focus and Choice
The business owner is typically looking for business growth and stability; they want to sell, lease, or buy property. On the other hand, the investor is looking to the future and the investment elements of property ownership that may be attractive to them. What is your preferred property client?
Investor Client Focus
In focusing on the property investors of your location, having a prospecting system for that ‘client identification process’ is valuable.
Winning the interest of property clients will always be centred on ‘relevance’ and timing factors. That is your relevance to the market, the investors, and the location. What timing factors apply to property investors will always be unique, so you should contact investors daily.
Generating new property conversations daily is essential to locate potential property investors for commercial real estate. In addition, researching various areas, streets, and buildings can aid in identifying individuals who either own commercial property or are interested in investing in it.
Directing Ownership Research
When it comes to the research aspect of your real estate workday, it requires a significant amount of property focus and investigation. Staying organised is crucial as you review property locations and ownership details and engage in conversations. With diligence, property investors can be located.
Questions for Investors
When talking with a property investor for the first time, some key questions or focus points help gather the correct information.
Check out these questions and build your conversations around them.
- Do you have any leasing requirements and vacancies to fill? Always check this first; it is a primary service point where you can help with activity and market information.
- Given your current property portfolio, is there a property upgrade, change, or shift that may work for you?
- What types of properties do you prefer to purchase? That will be office, industrial, or retail.
- What budgets do you have for purchasing other property? Price ranges are subjective to the property type, and you will be working with degrees of millions of dollars. How would you categorise your property buyers into price ranges today?
- How long do you like to hold investment property? Typically, that will be some years.
- What precincts or zones of property would be your preference in any purchase or investment change? There will be a primary zone and a secondary zone.
- What information can you provide regarding the local property market today? Could that be prices, rents, supply, demand, or availability?
Conversations with Investors
Asking the right questions can yield valuable information catalysing property change and effective communication.
Conversations with property investors can be deepened with each subsequent interaction to foster progress and growth.
As a local agent, you can provide valuable information, assistance, and guidance to property investors looking to invest or make changes to their portfolios. Your market intelligence and insights can help them make informed decisions.
