Day: November 22, 2012

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Commercial Real Estate Agents – Advertising Strategies for Marketing Properties Today

When it comes to advertising and marketing a commercial investment property for sale today, the message has to be conveyed with accuracy and timeliness.  The limited number of buyers available for the given property promotion means that every marketing campaign has to be specific and focused.

As commercial real estate agents, it is our job to provide the specialized marketing activity that this property market requires.  Gone are the days of generic property promotion.  Top agents thrive in tough markets.  They do the right things at the right level for the best result.

We have to do more with less when it comes to marketing property today.  The enquiries that we get from the typical advertising activity are limited in quantity and quality.  The client needs to be conditioned for negotiating with limited levels of offering.

It should also be said that most decisions to purchase the property take longer to negotiate and finalise.  It is in this property market that our skills as specialist commercial real estate agents become more important than ever before.

We simply have to be at the top of our game across all the stages of listing, marketing, negotiating, and processing.  Every sale and every negotiation needs to be nurtured across the line.  Complacency has no place in this property market today.

The advertising strategies that we adopt will help us generate the best enquiries possible in the prevailing market conditions.  Here are some ideas to help you with that marketing activity.

  1. Check out the subject property fully to understand the best target audience that you should attract as part of the marketing.
  2. Walk through the property yourself to understand the features of the property that should be incorporated into the property inspection.
  3. Review any competing properties in the local area that will have an impact on your marketing campaign.  Inspect those properties from the street so you understand what they have to offer and how they are being marketed.
  4. Check out the time on market factors that apply to the listings in your local area.  Determine why those properties have not sold, and upgrade your strategies to offset any problems that could exist.
  5. Do a keyword search on the Internet search engines.  Refer to the property type and your location.  You will get a list of keywords that are currently being used by people looking for property purchase.  Those keywords should be entered into your advertising material to boost the Internet exposure and click rate.
  6. When you have listed the property for sale, see it as an excuse to talk to all of the local property owners and business proprietors.  In this way you will get a lot of leads and opportunities coming back to you.
  7. Every marketing campaign should be staged using vendor paid advertising funds across a period of time.  Each week you should be checking your progress from the campaign so that you know where the best enquiry is coming from.
  8. Stay in contact with the client at all times so they know how the marketing is progressing and what enquiry is coming in.  The same rule applies when it comes to inspections from any prospective buyers.  A client that is fully briefed during the marketing effort is inclined to accept your recommendations when it comes to negotiation at a later time.

Give your full focus to the marketing effort with every listing.  Over time that will help you improve your market share and database.

Get more tips on commercial real estate in our Newsletter right here.

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Auction Method of Sale – Checklist and Tips for Commercial Agents

In commercial real estate today, auction activity can be quite specific for the particular property.  For this very reason, you should have a specific checklist for taking the property to auction.

If you choose to use this method of sale, then it should be for the right property and it should be done for the right reasons.  Even in tough property market conditions, the auction process can work quite successfully providing the agent focuses effort and time into the marketing campaign to attract the right buyers.

As a successful method of sale, it requires specific effort to get the message out into the group of target buyers.  Typically the campaign will go for a period of 6 to 8 weeks.  During this time, the first half of the campaign will be critical to the momentum that you require.  The marketing message has to reach the target audience comprehensively with a consistent offering and full property details.

Here is a checklist that you can use or adopt when considering the auction method of sale.

  1. Get the correct appointment to act signed in accordance with your agency laws and legislation.
  2. Review similar properties in the same location that could have an impact on your marketing campaign.
  3. Check out the subject property detail relative to the information provided by the client.
  4. Look for any unusual factors of property ownership or obligation that will have some impact on the auction sale campaign.
  5. Inspect the property comprehensively so that you have a good list of features and improvements to merge into the draft advertising.
  6. Get professional photographs taken of the property to use in the marketing campaign.
  7. Prepare a list of selling points that should feature in all of your advertising material.
  8. Review the property for the potential inspection process.  Understand how you will take people around the property when they have been qualified for that process.
  9. Prepare draft advertising for the client to review and approve.
  10. From the approved advertising material, prepare a promotional brochure for distribution via e-mail, direct mail, and personal inspection.
  11. Review the database in your office for prospects that may have an interest in the property and that may be suitable for a pre-release property inspection.
  12. If the property involves leases and tenancies, you will need to comprehensively check all of those documents for details of income, expenditure, and property performance.
  13. Prepare an investment report or information memorandum to be used in the campaign.  The detail within this document should be reviewed for accuracy and relevance.  Get the client to approve the document in its final form and before it is dispatched to any prospects.
  14. Prepare the documentation relative to the auction method of sale.  In some cases, this documentation should be prepared by the vendor’s solicitor.
  15. Start promoting the property and hold the inspections with qualified prospects.
  16. Keep the property owner fully briefed on inspection results and market feedback.
  17. As you move towards sale, it is relevant to get the property owners thoughts on the reserve price for the property.  On the auction day, the reserve price should be given to you in writing.
  18. You may or may not want to take offers prior to auction.  That is a strategic decision subject to the prevailing market conditions and the instruction of the vendor.
  19. The auction should proceed as planned unless the client has achieved a sale prior to the auction date.  Suitable deposits and contracts should be exchanged subject to the method of sale used.

You can add to this list based on the property type, your location, and the particular vendor.  This method of sale is quite unique and involves a dedicated promotional process that can only be achieved through an exclusive listing.

You can get more tips in our Newsletter right here.