Category: Info Articles

A commercial real estate OM is a professionally written, comprehensive report that buyers use to make a decision about a property. 

In this article, we will discuss the ways in which CREOP helps brokers share important information about their listings, builds a pipeline of leads, and allows time for creating relationships and making deals. 

 

Present the listing in a positive light. 

Your objective is to sell the listing as quickly as possible at the highest price. That means you need to present a thorough, well-designed commercial real estate offering memorandum. You should provide as many details as you can in this important document. 

Let’s say the listing type is a strip mall. Here are some examples of components that you would need to include in your offering memorandum:

• Rent Roll summarizing the tenant/s lease
• Information on surrounding properties
• Financial details showing the return an investor is likely to make

In regards to the listing type, CREOP offers a wide variety of offering memorandum templates to choose from based on the property type.  If you want to upload and incorporate your own documents and files into the offering memorandum, that can easily be done with our system.  Further, you will be able to keep a log of everyone that accesses your offering memorandum and signed an NDA. 

 

Find quality leads for your listing.

You have the ability to generate leads and consequently close deals with a commercial real estate offering memorandum. With CREOP’s Deal Room, you can send buyers and brokers to your property’s “Deal Room” where they can download the offering memorandum and any other documents you make available.   You can also use the Deal Room for a very private and confidential offering memorandums and require people to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) before entering.  You have the option of either choosing a standard NDA that includes your company logo and name or uploading your own NDA.

 

Save yourself time by using OM automation.

Manually creating an offering memorandum over twenty or thirty pages long requires an unnecessary amount of time and energy. This time and energy could instead be put into connecting with potential buyers. When you use OM automation with CREOP, you can make time to build relationships with potential buyers. No more manually entering data into an Excel spreadsheet or PowerPoint.  Enter the data once into CREOP and if you need to adjust the price later, al the financial metrics get automatically updated accordingly.

 

Elements of an effective OM

Want to know what makes a successful commercial real estate OM? We have broken down the most important elements for you:

• Property details as well as an offering summary
• Location details such as demographics and maps
• A comprehensive financial analysis that includes an investment overview, operating data, financing data, income and expense summaries
• Rent, on-market, and sale comparables
• Rent Roll and tenant profiles
• Details about floorplans, tenant information, and points of interest

If you need help creating a commercial real estate offering memorandum that can close deals, look no further than CREOP to help you get the job done.

When it comes to the success and future of your commercial real estate brokerage, you need to have a steady stream of quality leads that can convert to sales.

The process of building your pipeline is easier said than done. Consumer habits are ever-changing and online property-buying is becoming more popular than ever.

You need to create and implement specific commercial real estate marketing strategies. 

There are so many different media platforms attempting to get real estate buyers’ attention. It is far too easy to get lost in the online void. So, what can you do to keep up with the competition?

This is where automated commercial real estate marketing comes into play. If you are a marketing professional, you may be worried that automated CRE marketing could render your job obsolete.  In this article, we will discuss how you can overcome this fear and what exactly CRE marketing automation can do. 

First, let’s define automated commercial real estate marketing.

 

What is automated commercial real estate marketing?

Automated commercial real estate marketing involves software that helps marketing professionals work more efficiently by doing tedious work such as entering and publishing listing data to various websites and platforms. Your job as a marketing professional does not become obsolete. If anything, automation frees up your time, allowing you to take on more creative, high-level work. 

 

Why is commercial real estate marketing software important?

If you want your brokerage to be successful in today’s market, you need to have a solid balance of digital and traditional marketing tactics. 

 

Here are just a few examples of commercial property marketing tasks that need to be done quickly and efficiently:

• Building and maintaining websites
• Building and managing email programs
• Managing social media platforms
• Creating digital ad campaigns
• Producing and posting videos
• Publishing blog posts
• Publishing high-resolution property images
• Making physical brochures

The list of tasks is non-exhaustive. It can be difficult to split time between all the marketing tasks that need to be done vs. meeting with clients. CRE marketing software gives you the time you need to get everything done without losing important time with existing clients. 

With CREOP’s proprietary cloud-based software, you can save yourself so much time and energy. Imagine being able to enter listing data only one time and instantly publishing it to your website, promotional emails, and proposals? That is all possible with CREOP’s system. 

If you are still worried that automated CRE marketing may mean losing your job as a marketing professional, we are here to tell you that it will not leave you out of work.

Other industries like engineering, manufacturing, and medicine use automated technology but they still have humans doing certain tasks. The software actually makes people work more efficiently and instills a healthy work-life balance. 

Get ahead of your competition and adopt commercial real estate marketing software for your brokerage today. Automated CRE marketing can help you manage your time well and help you maintain a stream of new and repeat clients. 

As the old adage goes: “Buy land because they’re not going to be making any more of that stuff.” But the process of buying land is a bit more complex than that.

Buying commercial real estate is an excellent way to diversify your investments. There are several different kinds of property to consider investing in, each with its unique benefits and drawbacks.

We’ll now take a closer look at why investing in commercial real estate is bright and how to use it to your advantage.

 

What makes commercial land so valuable?

Commercial real estate is a good investment because of its multiple benefits. First, buying real estate allows you to control how it’ll be used and make various ways of earning income from it.

Some companies rent out space for their building instead of buying the property outright. It allows you to charge tenants for using your land.

You could also sell some or all of the land if its value increases. This includes:

• Minerals use rights
• Land use rights
• Mining rights
• Forest rights

 

Land values don’t fluctuate as much as other investments, so they’re likely to increase over time, making them an excellent long-term holding for your portfolio.

Commercial real estate is a good long-term financial decision because you can borrow against it when you need cash. In addition, banks often consider commercial property an asset because it’s hard to lose and has a high resale value.

If you can get a loan without having to post any personal assets as collateral, you can use that loan to invest in other projects that generate even more income.

 

Some questions to ask when buying commercial land

Before buying commercial property, you should ask some important things. Here are some examples of these types of questions.

 

What will you use the land for?

What’s the reason for buying the land? You can construct a commercial building on it or lease it to people who hunt and farm. You could also sell off the ground and make a small profit, either now or later.

 

What value does the land have?

You need to know the collective values of the land and any features that increase its overall worth. For instance, commercial land in Dallas, Texas for sale near a major road might be worth more because of its ease of access than land in an isolated part of the woods.

But if there are many forested lands available, then it may be worth buying them so that you can sell the wood. Again, knowing the actual value of your property within its location, assets, and other features will benefit you in generating income.

 

What do you need to do to maintain the land value?

Land maintenance is just as crucial as getting the most for your investment. Therefore, an environmental assessment plays an enormous part in land investments and cannot be ignored.

If your investment fails to meet the environmental standards required for its use, its ability to generate profits will be significantly reduced.

Maintain your property, and it will retain its short- and long-term value.

 

Some things to look for when buying commercial land

Before buying commercial real estate, you should consider these factors when deciding whether or not to buy:

• Value for Money 
• Market Conditions
• Improvements or Developments
• History of Land
• How the Neighbors are using their land 
• Zoning Restrictions 

You’ll want to gather information about the state of the local real estate market currently and any potential future use for the property through CREOP’s commercial real estate om. You can do this through conversations with realtors, research, or working with an expert in the field.

Before buying any property, be sure to research its historical background thoroughly. For example, you want to know if there has ever been anything built on the land before and whether the ground has had any previous uses ~ all this information is available in the offering memorandum template of CREOP.

One important thing to remember when buying land is that each piece of land comes with its own rules and regulations. Make sure that the land you buy is suitable for the purpose you plan to use it for. For example, if you would like to build an office building, there might be restrictions on that type of property in that zone

. 

Is vacant land an investment?

Consider vacant land if you’re looking for an excellent way to invest in real estate. Before you buy, however, you must know what you want to do with the property.

That said, vacant lands carry many uses. For example, you could find a property developer to buy it to develop it. You could also lease it to a company that needs to build on it. Or you can keep it until the value increases, and then you can resell it.

Vacant land is one of the most flexible types of land investments. Consider working with a commercial realtor to help locate a property that fits your needs and financial objectives

.

Which types of land use do people tend to be concerned about?

There are three main types of uses for which plots of land are divided up: residential, commercial, and industrial. 

• A residential zone island that’s used for residential development. People usually live there in either single-family houses or apartment buildings.
• “Commercial” means property zoned for business uses. It can be near properties zoned for residential or industrial purposes, depending on what is being constructed on the property.
• Industrial properties (often called “industrial” or “manufacturing”) are lands that are zoned primarily for industries such as factories and warehouses. Therefore they may be closer to commercial properties than residential ones.

There are various kinds of land use, but here are the most common ones. Working with the right real estate professionals can let you decide which type of land is best for your business.

There are several common issues with land investments

It would help if you were aware of common pitfalls when purchasing your first property.

Remember that land belongs to Mother Nature. Your ideal property may have problems with floods or other natural hazards. It may also be located in an undesirable place prone to crime and other human-created inconveniences.

It’s important to know that these issues can significantly impact the value of the property and your initial outlay. However, you will likely experience a shorter return on your initial cost. But you’ll be almost guaranteed to earn profits in the long run.

If you work in commercial real estate, you are most likely familiar with the term commercial real estate OM. While many businesses send out marketing flyers and brochures to the public, a strong commercial real estate OM (offering memorandum) can garner interest from qualified prospective investors and lead to a deal.

In this article, we explore what a commercial real estate offering memorandum is, how it is used, and explain how you can improve your own OM.

 

Defining the Offering Memorandum

An OM is an important report that is shared with prospective investors. This report generally gives a thorough overview of the property and the property’s financials.  

 

Here are more specific details on the content of the OM:

• Building details such as property and location overview, demographics, and management
• A summary of the property’s past, present, and prospective income and expenses.
• Financial statements, which include a rent roll, tenant profile, multi-year cash flow projections, and financial metrics
• Property images, aerial maps, site plans, and stacking plans.
• A confidentiality agreement

 

Examples of Commercial Real Estate OM

When a commercial real estate owner or developer wants to raise capital and update an existing property or buy a new office building privately, they will make use of a private offering memorandum. 

Typically, a private offering memorandum sent to professional contacts is exempt from federal and state security regulations. However, if you make an OM that is targeted to the general public, you can only send it to accredited investors.

 

How to Improve Your Commercial Real Estate OM

 

Make it readable. 

Your OM needs to be easy to read, straight to the point, and overall it should be engaging. Stick to a simple font and space out the text. The writing should be structured with a clear heading, subheadings, and paragraphs. Stress key points in the writing by boldening text.

 

Present high-quality images. 

One way to engage the reader is by showing them quality, high resolution pictures of properties. A professional photographer can take interior and exterior photos with drone aerials. These types of photos will captivate potential investors.

 

Make the financial details presentable. 

You should not copy and paste your P&L statement from a spreadsheet. Instead, make use of an offering memorandum template. This is a much more professional approach to engage prospective investors. 

 

Have a strong call to action. 

The call to action of an OM is typically written in the form of a confidentiality agreement, or more commonly referred to as the NDA. 

 

Conclusion

When it comes to making a strong commercial real estate OM, you need to have short, snappy text, high-quality property images, and easy-to-read financial information. Once you have those details taken care of, you can start seeking out investors for an offering. It can take a lot of time and effort to make a well-designed OM, but it is worth taking your time to attract serious investors’ attention.

As the year 2022 comes to an end, many commercial real estate brokers are trying to fit in at least one more deal. In this article, we share five commercial real estate marketing tips for you to make a new deal nearing the end of Q4. 

 

The process of making a deal so close to the start of a new year is challenging. Between now and January 1st, both you and your clients are busy with certain responsibilities and holiday festivities. Ultimately, schedules get busy, and you have fewer working days during the holiday season.

 

While making a deal during the holidays is a challenge, it is not impossible. Let’s dive into the ways that you can increase your chances of ending the year strong with one more deal:

• Strategize your outreach efforts.

 

Try not to get caught up in the reasons why it might be too late to make a new deal before the year ends. You need to strategize your outreach efforts because there are still many prospective clients who are interested in selling or refinancing their properties before the start of the new year. Your job is to seek out those eager prospective clients as soon as possible. 

 

With AI-powered commercial real estate software, you can find out which properties are most likely to quickly sell or refinance. You also receive dependable, true owner contact information- not just an LLC. Our software can also offer you accurate sales comps so that you can be on top of CRE market trends and build negotiations as you close a deal.

• Send clients your holiday greetings.

 

The holidays can be a hectic time. You need to make sure that you are still a priority to your clients, and the best way to do this is by sending them holiday greeting cards. 

 

It is important to check in on your current, past, and potential clients. If you have any active clients, you could send them a gift basket or a bottle of wine to send them well wishes. For previous or prospective clients, we recommend sending a holiday card or even making a warm, personal phone call. These gestures can spark meaningful conversations and remind clients that you are here for them and ready to make a deal if they want.

• Invest in a CRM platform.

 

You need to invest in a solid customer relationship management (CRM) platform so that you can keep track of your client contact list, increase your chances of closing a deal, and make sure you never miss a follow-up with prospective clients.

 

CREOP’s CRM was designed by commercial property marketing professionals who know what brokers need to drive deals and build a successful customer base. 

• Set up targeted end-of-year campaigns

 

An effective way to make a deal during this time of year is by creating an End-of-Year (EOY) campaign. Make sure your campaign is enticing so that you can grab the attention of relevant contacts that you reach out to.

 

In order to run an EOY campaign, you need to start with your CRM and break down your contacts into groups. Make a list of clients that you spoke with earlier in the year who said that you could contact them late in Q4. These clients may not have been ready to list their property before, but sending them an email today can give them the encouragement that they need.

• Post on social media.

 

Social media can help you build trust with clients and bond with past and potential clients. Yes, social media platforms like Instagram and Linkedin can get crowded, but brokers that post on a routine basis are more likely to gain higher engagement rates which can lead to a deal.

 

Here are some effective social media marketing strategies to follow:

 

• Pay attention to certain social networks. Linkedin, Twitter, and Instagram are the most effective platforms to connect with prospective clients.

 

• Regularly post market insights to show that you have expert CRE knowledge. Talk about current trends and share your predictions for the year ahead.

 

• Respond to all comments posted on your social channels. Increase engagement by asking people to share their opinions. 

 

• Show clients your personality. You want people to see that you are authentic, and if you are funny, don’t be afraid to show an appropriate sense of humor.

 

Are you determined to close a deal before the end of 2022? It may be challenging to meet your goals during the holiday season, but it is not impossible. With the commercial real estate marketing tips we discussed, you are more likely to finish the year strong. 

The commercial real estate space has undergone serious changes over the past year, mainly as a result of the spread of Covid-19. Despite the fact that the global pandemic dramatically increased the pace of the changes, there is a common belief that the new trends were only pushed to unfold quicker but the process had already begun before the virus. 

 

The pandemic has influenced the world in unprecedented ways and has shaped a new understanding of how people live and how businesses operate. The epidemic has inevitably led to an economic slowdown, which influenced commercial real estate with short-term changes like prices. The commercial real estate industry has managed to show more stability in comparison to other challenging periods like the 2008 recession. 

 

While the need for social distancing resulted in less interest in renting commercial office spaces, a variety of new opportunities arose in 2021. In this article, we’ll explore the emerging commercial real estate trends to give you an overview of what you can expect from the industry. 

 

Commercial real estate trends in 2021

There are a number of clear trends in the commercial real estate space that have emerged from 2020 and continue shaping the industry in 2021 and beyond. Although it’s not certain whether or not these trends are long-term or simply a result of a global pandemic and uncertain times. However, being informed about these significant changes will help you make the right decisions when it comes to selling your commercial real estate property or buying a new one.

1. Continued Demand for Industrial Properties

The first trend that is worth looking into is the continued interest in industrial properties in 2021. The Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically increased people’s preference for e-commerce and online shopping, leading to a rise in the demand for warehouses, fulfilment centres, and distribution hubs. 

 

In the U.S., industrial vacancy rates dropped from 5.6% to 5.4% from 2020 to 2021. Factory and warehouse leases rose to 524 million square feet, showing a change of nearly 27% from a year ago. The rise in demand was popular across all sectors but the increase in online shopping, deliveries, and the growth of the e-commerce space is considered to have a significant impact. 

To put things into perspective, a report shows that a $1 billion increase in incremental e-commerce spend results in an additional 1.25 million square feet of warehouse space required.

 

2. Growth of Multi-family Properties

Housing is among the highest priorities for individuals and is one of the first areas to consider reorganizing in times of economic instability and uncertainty. With the shifts that have resulted from the pandemic, a lot of people are not sure how the future will unfold in terms of their career stability. 

 

Multi-family properties are more affordable and are popular for their low barrier of entry. These are the two main factors that make multi-family housing a popular solution in 2021. There are also signs that renters will continue showing a preference for suburban areas as opposed to central zones with high traffic. 

 

The demand for multi-family properties is expected to remain high for apartment rentals, with forecasts for rent growth and vacancy rate increases. These types of properties are preferred by people of all ages as opposed to being an area of interest for baby boomers only. There are signs that people with more financial stability will continue showing interest in luxury properties. This means a shift from the suburbs to urban apartment living. This will require multi-family properties to provide more amenities to meet the new expectations. 

3. Omnichannel sales for Retail Properties

The rise of omnichannel shopping is nothing new. However, if an omnichannel shopping experience was a nice-to-have extra before the pandemic, today it’s a must that most shoppers will require. It’s no longer enough to rely on physical shopping experiences and a storefront if you want to stay competitive. 

 

Most parts of the world have already experienced a number of lockdowns, which has completely changed the way consumers shop. To avoid contact with others and ensure their safety, consumers prefer to shop from mobile devices, laptops, tablets, and other digital devices. 

 

In 2021, the digital world is more active and popular than ever and businesses will be forced to implement a digital sales strategy and invest more in social media marketing. 

 

4. Cleanliness Protocols & Increased Spacing

Considering that commercial real estate spaces offer a working environment for a number of individuals, keeping staff safe during an epidemic has given rise to a trend of new cleaning policies and spacing regulations.

 

If commercial spaces like offices, warehouses, restaurants, or retail shops are permitted to operate physically, they’ll need to ensure that they minimize the threat of contributing to the spread of Covid-19. To do this, businesses will need to reorganize their working environment to provide more space between employees. This may require moving to larger commercial real estate properties with more spacious offices or more rooms. 

 

In addition, while maintaining good hygiene has always been a priority for businesses, in 2021 cleaning and disinfecting takes the center stage. Regular disinfection can eliminate bacteria and prevent the virus from spreading. Trends related to cleaning commercial real estate properties include 

 

• Provide regular disinfection 
• Upgrade filtration systems
• Set up hand sanitizing stations 

 

While before the pandemic some types of businesses could afford to invest less in a smaller commercial space, in 2021 this may not be possible due to social distancing regulations.

5. Use of Augmented Reality will grow as a sales strategy

Another impact that the global pandemic has had on the commercial real estate market is the rise of augmented reality. Although the trend is initially considered as one targeted at younger individuals, the reality is that it is likely to turn into the standard way of shopping and doing business in the future. 

 

Augmented reality solutions have been on the market for years but they’ve never been more suitable and needed than in 2021. They can successfully be implemented in an omnichannel sales strategy to provide an alternative shopping experience that does not require a physical visit to a store or office. Thanks to this innovative technology, consumers can browse around a shop virtually, try on different clothes, explore different interior design solutions, and more. They can dive into any type of environment from the comfort of their own living rooms. 

 

Concerns about the health and safety of employees and customers can be completely omitted via the use of augmented reality. 

 

6. Decline in population of major cities

Superstar cities or larger cities with large populations started to lose inhabitants even before the spread of Covid-19. Cities like New York, London, Paris, Philadelphia, Hong Kong and others had started losing their population in recent years. Their growth has either dramatically slowed or they’ve been at a standstill with no new residents. Megacities are becoming overcrowded and people are starting to show a preference for suburban areas with more space, access to nature, and a quieter way of living. 

 

This dramatic shift is partially a result of the increased opportunities of working remotely. The elimination of the need to commute to work every day opens up new horizons to a more comfortable way of life in the suburbs. Cities with more than 1 million people have shown the slowest growth. However, the pandemic is not the only reason for this shift.

 

The urban bubble began deflating in 2015 as a result of demographic changes. The millennials who then showed an interest in the busy cities and the urban style of living are now in another age group with families, automobiles, and new demands. The popular preferences in this demographic group are to live in a spacious, quiet, comfortable property with a yard and parking space. 

7. Work from home will continue to grow

When considering investing or selling your commercial real estate property, it’s also important to analyze the trends related to working from home. The evolution of the digital world and the modern technology used today makes remote work a popular alternative for a range of different industries. 

 

In fact, projections reveal that 70% of the workforce will be working from home by 2025. Covid-19 has only shown employees and workers that working from home is not as challenging as it was once perceived. 99% of remote workers share that they would like to continue working from home and 95% admit that they would recommend it to others. This type of work allows employees to have greater flexibility, to manage their time on their own, and to find the perfect balance between work and family. 

 

Remote work reduces the chance of spreading the pandemic and allows staff members and management to remain healthy and protected. However, it also has implications for the commercial real estate market as it is likely to observe less interest in renting office spaces. The typical large corporate headquarter is now perceived as a traditional institution that may be at the door of modern challenges. The future may be oriented towards selling or leasing workspace rather than offices.

8. Digital experience & technology will become more important

We’ve come to the last trend of our list of commercial real estate trends. Considering everything that we’ve mentioned above, a natural result is that there will be a need for more digital experiences and more innovative technology to support all the shifts that we’ve seen in the past couple of years. 

 

The importance of technology in the workforce has always been recognized but nothing compares to its necessity in 2021. Technological solutions are no longer a beneficial tool for engaging with customers or providing workplace flexibility. They’re now an essential component for running a business as more and more organizations are searching for ways to automate processes, provide security for employees, and offer remote working conditions. 

 

Some of the main changes that businesses and the commercial real estate space will experience include:

 

• More investment in technological solutions
• Prioritisation of employee and client experiences across technology devices & tools
• Organization of technology investments
• More use of CRE marketing automation solutions for improved customer experiences
• More investment in cybersecurity

Conclusion 

The commercial real estate industry has been heavily influenced by global shifts and changes, especially after the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Consumer’s demands are changing and in order to stay competitive and make the right decisions, it’s essential to stay ahead of trends and be informed at all times. 

 

CREOP is designed to offer commercial real estate brokers, landlords, and sellers a comprehensive solution, offering detailed and precise insights, marketing opportunities, and other tools to help you achieve your goals in the commercial real estate space. The platform can support you in making your commercial real estate property more visible and attractive for potential clients. 

 

The modern cloud-based software allows users to design company branded marketing packages to include flyers, proposals, memorandums, and more. Design your marketing materials and personalize them according to your brand’s characteristics. Take advantage of information like property data, images, charts, graphs, demographics, financial analysis, rent roll, and other valuable details that will help you close a deal. 

 

You can use the platform for:

 

• Retail
• Multi-family 
• Industrial 
• Hospitality
• Office
• Land
• Self-Storage
• Commercial Leasing
• Portfolios 
• Mixed-Use

 

And more.

 

Information is the key to staying competitive in a dynamic and constantly shifting market. CREOP can help you gain access to all the information you need and can offer support in creating the perfect marketing materials for your selling or buying strategy. 

 

Book an online demo of CREOP and benefit from a world of opportunities by staying ahead of the emerging commercial real estate trends. 

 

The real estate market is an extremely competitive industry. In fact, it’s considered among the most competitive fields in the world. The global real estate market is forecasted to grow from $2687 billion in 2020 to $2774 billion in 2021. With so much potential in the industry, it’s only natural that brokers and real estate companies are fighting to make their way to the top, attract more clients, and increase their profits. 

 

Unfortunately, this endeavour is not as easy as it sounds, especially when it comes to commercial real estate properties. The global commercial real estate industry is valued at $3.9 trillion in 2021. For agents and real estate agencies to be successful, substantial commercial real estate marketing is required. 

 

Great marketing can truly set you apart from the rest and open new doors for you to meet potential clients and form new relationships. With the vast amount of marketing opportunities that we have in today’s digitally developed world, it’s certainly lost potential to not utilize them to their fullest capacity. 

 

In this article, we’ll share with you six ways to market your commercial real estate property like a professional. We’ll show you how to define your marketing plan and explore some of the key methods and techniques you can use to find more clients and be on top of your game. 

Defining Your Marketing Plan

There is a lot of noise in the commercial real estate industry. So what can you do to separate yourself? Are there any strategies you can use to increase your visibility?

 

For starters, you need to define your marketing plan and have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve and how to achieve it. 

1. Define Your Objectives

Before even talking about a commercial real estate marketing strategy, it’s essential to ask yourself what you want to achieve and where you want to go via your marketing efforts. Are you looking to target specific client groups? Are you hoping to create more potential clients by slowly and gradually building relationships or are you after a quick sale? 

 

Set clear objectives before starting as they will help you stay on track and make improvements where necessary. Without any goals, it’s easy to get lost in the colourful pool of marketing opportunities and tools. 

 

2. Have an Understanding of Your Target Demographics

It’s merely impossible to adjust your marketing plan appropriately if you don’t have a detailed understanding of your target audience. Your target audience will define what types of marketing strategies you need to use and how to approach your potential customers. It’s worth investing some time into getting to know your perfect client and understanding what makes them react. 

 

This will help you design the perfect marketing message that will motivate your target audience to take the action that you would like them to take. Some useful ways to do this is to analyze current clients, speak to friends, family, or colleagues, and look at what other competitors are doing and how they’re approaching their target audience. 

 

3. Develop Your Game Plan

Once you’re aware of your target demographics, it’s time to create the actual strategy. Set realistic expectations of what you want to achieve and think about the methods you’ll use to reach your audience. You can take advantage of both offline and online commercial real estate marketing tactics to reach your objectives. 

 

Although looking at what other competitors are doing is useful, try to innovate and offer something new to clients.

 

4. Create Your Assets

Next, you need to create your marketing assets. These could be anything from flyers to digital marketing campaigns that you’ve specifically designed for your target audience. If you have an in-house marketing team, rely on their expertise. Alternatively, you can also outsource your marketing and hire a proven and legitimate commercial real estate marketing agency to help craft the perfect marketing assets. 

 

5. Track Your Results

Let’s not forget about tracking. A lot of commercial real estate agencies put a lot of effort into marketing but miss out on the most important part – tracking. There are a number of tools you can use but it’s recommended that you at least have Google Analytics installed on your website to track activity. Analyze the results at least once per month and use the collected data to optimize your campaigns and marketing strategy. 

 

Your website is a significant asset that should be generating activity. If this is not the case, it’s time for improvements.

 

Let’s dive into the different marketing tools and instruments you can use to make your commercial real estate agency more visible. 

 

1. Property Website

Most commercial real estate companies have a general website with separate landing pages of the properties they sell or lease. The agency will likely have a listing page with all the available properties. This is your chance to shine.

 

Creating an attractive, clear, and easy to get around listing page will guarantee a positive user experience for other brokers or potential clients browsing for a suitable commercial real estate property to rent or buy. 

 

Your listing page must include all the property information and details such as:

 

• Professional property images
• Property details
• Location maps
• Contact information
• Call to action buttons 
• Downloadable flyer with a link
• Links to agents’ emails

 

You can also add an inquiry form to make getting in touch with you easier, information on the current availability of listings, and more. Use your website cleverly and share any other relevant marketing materials with your users. 

 

2. Email Marketing

Believe it or not, email marketing is not dead and is in fact still a vital component of your marketing strategy. To remind the commercial real estate community of your listings, it’s worth investing some time and effort into a well-structured email marketing campaign. 

 

Your email marketing should be consistent and regularly scheduled. You can use advanced settings to create customer groups and target them with different email messages based on where they are in the customer lifecycle. 

 

Some key things to include in your emails are:

 

• Property images
• Property details
• A link to the property listing page 
• A link to a downloadable flyer 
• Contact information 

 

Of course, you can be as creative as you want with your email marketing. However, keep in mind who your target audience is and what type of messaging will make them tick. 

 

Make sure to have a premade list of addresses of brokers, partners, and potential clients that you will be sending the email. The bigger the address list, the higher chance of more open rates, more engagement, and more results. 

 

3. Property Marketing Flyers

Flyers may come in third in our list but they’re certainly not to be underestimated. In fact, creating a property marketing flyer is one of the first things that it’s recommended to do. Most real estate agencies will use a standard company flyer template for all sold or leased properties. 

 

Don’t think of a flyer in terms of the old-school leaflets that were handed out in the past. Your property flyer can be downloadable and available online, it can be uploaded on property listing websites, it can be shared with potential clients on open-door events, and more. 

 

Make sure that your property flyers include high-quality images representing the property, a location map with an address, a section with nearby amenities and highlights of the property, contact details, site plans, and other relevant information. Some agents will prefer to avoid listing the sales price on the flyer but this is entirely up to you.

 

Wherever possible, work with a professional photographer for the images. This may be an additional expense but it will be worth it in the long run. 

 

4. Listing on Commercial Real Estate Listing Websites

Another form of marketing that you can use as a commercial real estate broker is listing your property on commercial real estate listing sites. Make sure to include all relevant information about your listing and make regular updates or changes where necessary. Brokers will first check the listing website when working with a client in the search for a potentially suitable property. 

 

Being active on such sites increases your chances of getting recognized. Some listing websites will require a small fee to add your listing, while others are completely free to use. You may also be able to add a link to your property flyer that will provide additional information for the properties you’re selling or leasing.

 

5. Expand With Digital Marketing Campaigns

Digital marketing is like a whole new world with infinite possibilities and potential. The best strategy is to design a digital marketing strategy that grasps all relevant channels that can be useful in promoting your commercial real estate listings.

 

Some of the main channels include: 

 

• Google ads
• Social media ads
• SEO 
• Content marketing
• Video content

And more!

 

Social media like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are great ways to build a community and connect with potential buyers. The beauty of digital marketing is that you can sell without even trying to. All you have to do is create a beautifully crafted message and ensure it reaches the right audience. 

 

Providing high-value content will also be efficient in helping you build trust and authority among your target audience, partners, and other brokers. By appearing as a legitimate and experienced commercial real estate professional, you’ll be able to connect to more people, offer advice, and ultimately make more sales. 

 

Investing in digital marketing does not always guarantee immediate results. However, it’s an essential part of growing your business and increasing your popularity on the market. 

6. Invest in Commercial Real Estate Marketing Software 

When seeking marketing solutions for your commercial real estate business, you can also rely on professional commercial real estate marketing software like CREOP. With such software, you can easily and quickly design company branded marketing packages, offer and keep track of memorandums, proposals, and flyers. CREOP is a cloud-based software that provides everything necessary for a full marketing strategy for commercial real estate professionals. 

 

You can access a myriad of different styles to create your marketing content, use your company’s color scheme, add property information along with professional images, and more. The online software will give the reader the impression it took weeks to create an offering memorandum when in reality it takes no more than an hour because the graphs, charts, tables, and financial analysis automatically get created by simply entering the income and expenses. Take advantage of rent roll data, demographics, property websites, email campaigns, and more at the click of a button.

 

Investing in professional commercial real estate marketing software can save you a lot of money down the road and boost your performance unimaginably. The good news is that you’ll have access to a single platform that provides everything you need. 

Conclusion 

Designing a marketing plan for any commercial real estate company or individual agent is no easy task. Yet, it’s definitely worth the time and effort as it will guarantee better performance and access to more potential clients. 

 

Utilizing advanced software like CREOP will help you dramatically boost your visibility and increase your close rates. Don’t wait another minute and make a difference in your professional growth today. Unlock your full potential as a commercial real estate broker and exploit all the opportunities provided by CREOP. We’re here to support you by answering any questions you may have or offering professional advice and guidance on making the right choice. You can also benefit from detailed tutorials on how to use this commercial real estate marketing software to its full capacity. 

 

Selling commercial property may sound like a piece of cake but once you go through the process you are bound to realize that there are a lot of details and factors that you need to consider. Entering the arena of commercial real estate unprepared or with a blind eye may cost you a lot of time, money, and could ultimately bring you to a dead end. 

Considering that at the beginning of 2021, the volume of office real estate alone sold in the Americas reached nearly $128 billion, it’s safe to say that the commercial real estate space is attractive and lucrative. But regardless of whether you’re an owner of such real estate looking to sell their property alone, you would rather work with a real estate agency, or you are a broker hoping to sell a commercial real estate property for a client, there are a few fine details that you need to be aware of in order to make your sale quickly and get a decent return on your investment or sell for a reasonable price. 

In this article, we’ll share with you valuable information that will help you sell commercial real estate like a pro. We’ll look into what it takes to prepare the property for sale, we’ll explore the different stages of a commercial property sale, and we’ll dive into what it’s like to work with real estate brokers vs selling on your own.

 

Preparing commercial real estate for sale 

Every commercial real estate is different. Your property could be an office, a warehouse, a restaurant or coffee shop, or perhaps a whole office building. As different as each example could be, there are a few ground rules for preparing your commercial real estate for sale, no matter what type of property it is. 

A lot of property owners who are about to go into their first commercial property sale neglect the preparation stage and therefore end up with regrets. Preparing your property for sale can help you attract potential buyers quickly, can captivate their attention, and potentially help negotiate and close the sale. 

Here are some of the basic things you could do:

• Repair any minor eyesores – Some parts of your commercial property are bound to make a first impression. This could be a poorly maintained lawn, old and rusty signages, clutter, or damaged exteriors. Putting in the time and effort to make some small repairs to improve the appearance of the property and correct the spots you know are visible will help you sell your commercial real estate faster and for a higher price. 
• Make sure the lighting is in good condition – Oftentimes, property owners fail to acknowledge the importance of lighting when selling real estate. Install LED bulbs for energy saving purposes and point out how the lighting is durable and just what the property needs. 
• Get professional cleaning services – Viewing a property that is in horrible hygienic condition could be enough to make buyers want to run away without a second thought. Schedule a professional cleaning company to remove any dirt accumulations, clean the carpets, any curtains or blinds, and enhance the overall appearance and freshness of the space. 
• Conduct an inspection beforehand – Before listing your commercial property for sale, it’s worth hiring a certified property inspector to check the condition of the property and inform you of any weak spots or areas that need immediate attention. For example, check if the roofing is stable, the pipe system’s condition, and other vital parts of the property. 
• Declutter – Decluttering is a fundamental part of preparing your property for sale regardless of whether it’s residential or commercial. But when we’re talking about business, it’s even higher up the ladder of priorities. Clutter could prevent the potential buyer from being able to imagine and visualize what the property could turn into once they move their business there. 

 

Of course, there are more tips that you can use and it all comes down to what your property looks like at the moment and what its weak and strong selling points are. Remember, you know your space best so take some time to make a note of all the advantages and disadvantages before welcoming potential buyers to view it or even listing it for sale. Brainstorm ideas on how you could turn the weaknesses into strengths.

Three strategies you could use to sell a commercial property

Next up, you need a selling strategy. And we’re here to help you by sharing with you three of the top commercial real estate sale strategies that inevitably work:

• Partnering with a professional commercial real estate broker
• Putting up your commercial property for sale on FSBO listing platforms or commercial websites
• Directly communicate with buyers using off-market data

Let’s dive into each one of these strategies in more detail. 

Working with commercial real estate brokers

It’s not surprising that so many sellers of commercial real estate choose to work with an experienced broker in the field as opposed to tackling the task alone. Selling commercial property does have a level of complexity. There are a lot of legal aspects to consider, paperwork, negotiation skills required, and oftentimes – time restrictions. 

Partnering with a certified commercial real estate agent can help you deal with all of the mentioned above and more without any stress. Here are some of the advantages of hiring an accredited real estate broker to help with your commercial real estate sale:

• Higher return on investment – Commercial real estate agents will be aware of any market trends, economic forecasts, and will have data available to help you set the right listing price. 
• A developed network – Working with a seasoned agent also means that you can gain access to a rich pool of contacts and networks instead of purely depending on standard marketing alternatives that often take more time to prove fruitful. 
• Superior communication skills – Believe it or not, communication during a potential commercial real estate transaction is key and could make or break the deal. Brokers are experienced and know what to say, when to say it, and most importantly – how to say it. They will also help you understand the demand and how to prepare your property to make it attractive. 
• Listings – Although there are a lot of free commercial real estate listing websites that you could benefit from, working with a real estate agent means that they will handle the whole process for you. They’ll be able to strategically create the listing to point out the unique selling points of the commercial property. 

 

Marketing the commercial property on your own

On the other hand, there is also an effective strategy that includes you selling your commercial real estate by yourself, without the help of an expert. 

You can easily do the work alone, as long as you can dedicate some time to the journey. There is a range of commercial property listing sites available that could present your property to millions of potential buyers. Some of the most popular ones to be on include Commercial Estate, CREXI,Ten-X Commercial, LoopNet, and Showcase. 

When working alone, you can also widely benefit from services like CREOP. The platform gives both sellers and agencies the opportunity to create customized marketing packages, providing memorandums, proposals, and flyers using reliable cloud-based software. All you have to do is upload your company’s color scheme, enter the property data with pictures and the solution will provide you with all the charts, graphs, tables, financial analysis, rent roll, demographics, property websites, email campaigns you could possibly need.

 

There are other listing platforms, specifically dedicated to for sale by owner listings that you can also add to your strategy. For example, FSBO.com or For Sale By Owner could help you get your listing across to even more people. Some of them may require a subscription to actively participate and add listings, while others may be completely free. 

Discovering buyers off-market

Lastly, the third strategy is finding buyers off-market. This strategy can be used by both experienced commercial real estate agents and owners who would rather seek potential buyers via research done off-market. It’s perhaps one of the most proactive ways to start conversations and discover buyers.

Oftentimes, this strategy is associated with accessing local public property records of off-market research. However, this method involves having a potential buyer in mind and conducting your research on that basis. Alternatively, you can use platforms like Reonomy that offer nationwide off-market information that can fully support you with your research. You can locate new contacts that may be interested in commercial properties like yours. 

When it comes to off-market research, you can try to find people you’ve recently bought or sold commercial real estate similar to yours or you could review real estate comps. Regardless of the path you choose for your property sale, off-market research does take time to conduct properly, which means that you ought to be prepared for a slower sale. 

 

Choose the right path for you

As you can see, selling commercial real estate could be a demanding and challenging task. Luckily, the market is so advanced and well-developed that today there are a myriad of options available to help you make the sale quickly and efficiently, getting the return on your investment that you’ve been waiting for. We hope that the information provided in this article will help you craft the right selling strategy for you and will support you in reaching the objectives you’ve set for your commercial real estate. Get in touch to learn more about what CREOP can do for you as a seller or commercial real estate professional.

Top Commercial Real Estate Marketing Software 

 

Just like in any other industry, real estate success starts with marketing. Making use of all the different techniques and innovative solutions from the digital marketing space will certainly increase your chances of finding more clients and quickly and efficiently selling properties or helping your customers acquire them. 

 

So regardless of whether you’re searching for new properties for investment or new tenants for a client, we’ve prepared a list of top real estate marketing software that can help you boost your performance and achieve better results. In this article, we’ll look at the following commercial real estate marketing tools:

 

• Commercial Real Estate Online Publishing Tools
• Marketing Operations Tools
• Commercial Listings Platforms
• Content Marketing Software
• Lead Generation & Prospecting Tools
• Marketing Analysis Software
• Paid Advertising Tools

 

Let’s see what some of the most popular and efficient choices from these categories are.

 

Commercial Real Estate Online Publishing Tools

 

CREOP

 

CREOP is a commercial real estate online publishing tool that enables users to create offering memorandums, proposals, and property websites using expert and bespoke designs. It offers an efficient way to attract investors to commercial properties via professional presentations that offer valuable and complete insights.

 

This tool is ideal for making a great first impression and to make any property stand out from the rest. CREOP will help you keep your data organized and easy to access as it stores all numbers and statistics available to use in the property presentation. You can use your brand logo and colors, enter the property features, financials and images and the highly intelligent software will package everything together for you, automatically generating the charts, graphs, tables, designs, financial analysis, and more.  What may take 30 minutes to complete, will look like it took days.

Marketing Operations Tools

MREN

MREN stands for Metis Real Estate Network and is a technology-enhanced collaboration platform that aims to support and help professionals in networking while they work. Some of the top features that the tool offers include interconnected networks, internal communication, collaboration tools, and more.

 

In addition, you can benefit from its marketplace that supports syndication and capital raises. Its exceptional document management feature, on the other hand, ensures safe and flexible document distribution.

 

Apto

Apto is a commercial real estate software company and the number one CRM and deal management platform for brokers in the space. It’s popular as the software with the most paid users when compared to other services in the industry. 

 

With the use of Apto, CRE brokers can manage their contacts, properties, listings, and deals across different locations and devices. It can also calculate commission splits between brokers and can manage workflows. 

 

SharpLaunch

SharpLaunch is a commercial real estate marketing platform that offers all you could ask for. You can use it to streamline marketing activities, maximize speed by reducing time spent on administrative and marketing production activities, improve asset visibility, and more. 

 

You can use the tool to see which leads are viewing specific content provided by you. Additional features include personalized interactive maps, document portals, email marketing, and others. 

 

RealHound

RealHound is a CRM solution that was created to help franchise owners, small business owners, property owners, managers, and business professionals. It’s a common tool used by professionals in the commercial real estate environment.

 

Unlike other, standard apps, RealHound offers the opportunity of connecting people and properties by showing listed properties on a map. You can also take advantage of its email and text templates that are quick and easy to use. 

Commercial Listings Platforms

Without a listings platform, commercial real estate marketing wouldn’t be possible. There are a ton of listings platforms that you could try but we’re about to introduce you to the most popular ones:

 

42Floors

42Floors is one of the popular and easy to use national search engines that offer a diverse range of listings. It offers a range of images, downloadable flyers, floor plans for investors, tenants, and brokers to use in order to make the right decisions. It’s an extremely well-known platform and holds positions on Google’s first page in 200 US cities. 

 

You can easily upload a listing on the platform and make any commercial property easily discoverable. 

 

Commercial Search

You can use Commercial Search for free and add it to your priority commercial real estate marketing tools. It’s a national listing platform that provides leases and sales for all CRE asset class types. Where Commercial Search stands out is that it attracts its own traffic and also receives a lot of traffic directed from Realtor.com, which enjoys a lot of popularity. 

 

People can also take advantage of its broker directory, which is definitely a helpful place for commercial brokers to be active in. 

 

CREXI

 

If you still haven’t heard about CREXI or the Commercial Real Estate Exchange, Inc., we highly recommend that you check it out. It’s one of the fastest-growing marketplaces in the real estate industry and provides access to advanced technology. 

 

The data platform is committed to providing support for the CRE industry and the professionals involved. You can easily and quickly streamline, manage, and expand your business and successfully close deals with clients quicker than ever. More than 500,000 commercial properties have been leased or sold via the platform, totalling in more than $1 trillion in property value. 

 

Brevitas 

If you’re looking for an exclusive place for buying and selling commercial real estate assets, Brevitas is the answer. With an international presence and popularity, Brevitas is a marketplace for the acquisition and disposition of commercial real estate assets.

 

It’s also the perfect place to establish useful and long-term relationships in key markets where your presence is essential. 

 

Catylist

Catalyst is available in more than 50 national markets and offers broker-loaded and thoroughly researched databases of commercial real estate. Its users enjoy access to analytics, personalized reporting, broadcast email opportunities, listing search, broker website display, and more. 

 

It’s a tool that is predominantly used in North America for the exchange of information and research and to prospect and do business.

 

Digsy

Digsy’s main mission is to make the search for commercial space easier and less stressful. It’s a free commercial real estate listing service created for tenants and buyers looking for their next commercial property. 

 

The platform makes the connection between brokers and tenants and buyers so that business can quickly be done and the needs of every client can be satisfied. 

 

Total Commercial

With years of experience, Total Commercial has provided commercial real estate listing information since 1995. It’s a full-featured commercial real estate listing service that is national but very popular in Florida. 

 

Users can take advantage of unlimited listings against an annual fee. However, real estate agents can create customized pages in their professional database free of charge. The listings are carefully inspected and checked before approval. 

 

CoStar

CoStar stands out as the biggest provider of commercial real estate research and data. It’s the go-to place for real estate professionals as it offers the most comprehensive listings database that includes properties, comps, contacts, analytics, market reports, news, and more. 

 

The company has invested more than $1 billion in the development of a sophisticated research operation to back its platform. Today, more than 80% of commercial real estate transactions happen with a CoStar user and subscriber. 

Content Marketing Software

Content marketing tools offer a lot of advantages in the commercial real estate space. They can help you create and execute a better content marketing strategy and ultimately – enjoy more converted users into clients. 

 

Canva

Even though you may be involved in the commercial real estate industry instead of graphic design, your content marketing efforts are likely to require some level of graphic design. Thankfully, tools like Canva make thighs easier even for the most inexperienced person.

 

You can create your own personalized flyers, E-books, newsletters, social media posts, and more. It’s a platform that offers a range of solutions that only require a click of a button. It will improve your digital branding and will attract more users to learn more about what you have to say.

 

Hemingway

The Hemingway App is designed to turn ordinary content into amazing content. It helps you transform your writing through valuable tips and suggestions for improvement.

 

For example, long and complex sentences can be turned into easy to read, short messages. Grammar and spelling errors will also be detected and suggested for improvement. If you spend a lot of time creating blog post articles, emails, or other types of content, Hemingway can be a true saviour. 

 

Grammarly

Most content writers find it difficult to imagine what life would be without Grammarly. It’s an amazing tool that is designed to check your grammar and spelling on any piece of content that you use it for. However, it offers more than that.

 

Grammarly can analyze your voice, sentence structure, checks for plagiarism, and more. There’s an available extension for Chrome and you can use it for any marketing channel that you create content for.

 

Buildout

Specifically created for the commercial real estate space, Buildout allows you to automatically populate targeted marketing materials by using your company or brand’s blueprints. It offers invaluable support in expanding your existing marketing reach and ongoing content creation efforts.

 

You can also enjoy the process of a streamlined listing as an advantageous feature that the tool provides. 

 

Typeform

By using Typeform, you are basically creating a step-by-step process to engage and quality the visitors that reach your website. The main objective of the tools is to boost the conversion rate of your inbound traffic and lead efforts.

 

The tool is the perfect way to grab real estate leads in a conversational and gentle method. 

 

Medium

Medium is a great tool that can be exploited by experts in the commercial real estate industry. It offers a user-generated content community of content. It can be used entirely instead of a personal blog and can point to your domain. 

 

The platform offers a range of pre-built aesthetics that will reduce the time necessary to format and design your content. You can use it to get your content seen by a wide audience, helping you get your name recognized and potentially connect to prospects. 

 

Quora 

Regardless of your niche, Quora is the place to be. CRE is no exception. The site is created on the basis of question and answer and connects users to providers of services, products or simply knowledgeable experts who can offer insights and answers on specific topics.

 

Some of the relevant channels for CRE include ‘Commercial Real Estate’, ‘Commercial Real Estate Marketing’ and ‘Commercial Real Estate Finance.’ Join the channels and provide answers to the questions potential clients have. 

 

Reddit

Reddit is another community that you absolutely want to be active in. It’s among the strongest online communities where users communicate and exchange information on merely any topic you could possibly imagine. You can contribute with images, text posts, links to sites, and more.

 

Each subreddit on the platform could be regarded as a separate forum where individuals with shared interests are active. You can browse to find CRE-related subreddits and engage with users. 

Lead Generation & Prospecting Tools

 

LinkedIn Sales navigator

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is certainly not limited to the real estate industry but it could dramatically improve your lead generation activities. It allows you to perform specific searches using the lead builder tool to match specific experts or individuals from certain professional backgrounds or locations.

 

When you find the filters that work for you, save them for later and target your audience with personalized marketing campaigns for maximum results. 

 

Ninja Outreach

Ninja Outreach is an influencer marketing and blogger outreach software that automates outreach to influencers and the process of lead generation, saving you time and energy. By using this tool, you can create exceptional, highly customized marketing campaigns. 

 

Discover business profiles and influencers on social media in your chosen niche and geographic location using keywords. This is a great solution for extending your reach to a specific target audience and enjoy more traffic for your commercial real estate business.  

 

Reonomy

Reonomy offers the biggest commercial real estate owner database in America. By using the platform, you can discover LLCs and privately-owned properties that are not being advertised on the market yet. 

 

You can enjoy access to property ownership details like phone numbers, email, mailing address, and more. With this valuable and hard to find information, you’ll always be one step ahead of the competition. The platform is unique with the filters provided that guarantee that you target specific leads only.

 

Google Advanced Search

Wouldn’t it be helpful if you could build a list of listings that are no longer advertised and have recently expired? Google Advanced Search offers exactly that. 

 

Tapping into expired listings is an amazing opportunity for commercial real estate brokers to access information about a seller who hasn’t yet sold their property. All you have to do is choose a listings platform and perform a search for expired listings on it.

Marketing Analysis Software

In order to make your commercial real estate efforts effective and successful, it’s essential to combine them with analysis and make ongoing improvements. To do this, you need data and ways to quickly and efficiently analyze it. 

Here are some of the top tools that can help you do this:

 

Cherre

Cherre is a platform that allows you to connect your real estate data and make it visible for the whole organization in order to support better investment decisions and more efficient underwriting. 

 

You can enjoy a full view of your entire portfolio from one place, take advantage of useful filters by location, asset class, and more. The platform also offers the ability to create reports, monitor benchmarks, and improve performance.

 

Google Analytics

Although not created to suit the purpose of commercial real estate alone, Google Analytics is an incredible tool that can be used by real estate professionals. It’s one of the most reliable tools for tracking your marketing activities.

 

The majority of CRE experts benefit from information on where traffic to their website came from, which allows them to identify which channels are performing best and where most clients are coming from.

 

FullStory

Do you want to know what people do when they’ve landed on your website? FullStory offers the chance to replay user sessions on your site and can provide invaluable information that can show you which areas need improvement and where most visitors are focusing their attention. 

 

It will quickly show what changes you need to make to convert more users into clients and help them find or sell their commercial property. 

 

UTM Generator

By using UTM tracking, you can create a bespoke URL that you can use to determine where your website traffic is coming from. 

 

It’s helpful in monitoring the performance of different campaigns and content. When you’ve created your custom-made URL, visit Google Analytics and go to the Acquisitions Section to see the traffic assigned to this link from certain marketing channels. 

 

Google Search Console 

You don’t have to be a marketing expert to use Google Search Console. It’s a useful Google tool that offers useful information that will help you understand your clients better. It shows what keywords users search for before landing on your website, which can be helpful in creating content that converts better.

 

It’s also a great way to determine whether you are attracting the right audience to your website. You can see the links that lead to your site and other valuable insights that can help you improve your commercial real estate marketing strategy. 

 

Google PageSpeed Insights

PageSpeed Insights is another Google tool that is extremely useful in improving your website’s performance and making the user experience better, which increases your chances of converting them into a client. 

 

The tool enables you to inspect your website’s speed on mobile and desktop. You will also receive suggestions on how you can optimize the performance by making the necessary changes. Optimizing your page load speed can help you rank higher on search engine result pages and become more visible for clients. 

 

Optimizely 

Another useful marketing tool, Optimizely lets you run A/B tests and experiments on your website. You can use a range of dynamic or basic features to inspect your website and test how it performs in certain scenarios 

 

This will help you validate conversion rate optimization and will help you understand whether your existing landing pages are good enough to help convert users into clients. 

Paid Advertising Tools

Paid media is any performance-based medium like pay-per-click, remarketing, paid promotions, keyword campaigns, banner ads, and more. Paid advertising tools offer quick and efficient ways to improve your results and attract more clients as a commercial real estate professional. 

 

Here are some of the main tools you need to be aware of:

 

Google Ads

Google Ads is the most powerful network for digital paid advertising worldwide. Unlike paid ads on social media channels, Google Ads allows you to bid to place your ad as the top result for specific searches based on keywords. It’s an extremely effective way to get your name seen by a vast range of users searching for services like yours. 

 

Considering that more than 60% of core search queries in the United States are generated by Google, showing up on the first page is definitely something you want to invest in. It’s also interesting to note that the average cost-per-click or CPC in the real estate industry is $2.37, while the most expensive real estate industry keyword is $95. 

 

Bing Ads

Similarly to Google Ads, Bing Ads are created to help brands get noticed on Bings’ search results pages. Although Bing does not have the exceptional numbers of Google, it’s still a platform that a lot of people rely on for information. 

 

With one Bing ad buy, you can reach more than 160 million unique searches via Microsoft and Yahoo sites, which are 30% of total search engine share and more than 6 billion monthly searches. 

 

Facebook Ads

If you’re looking for an affordable and reliable way to reach and market to commercial real estate professionals or potential clients, Facebook Ads is another useful tool. You can create different types of campaigns and choose detailed targeting to make sure you’ll reach the perfect audience. 

 

You can target based on interests, hobbies, geographic location, income, and more. The best part is that Facebook Ads also provides amazing ways to analyze the received data and use it for more detailed targeting in the future. With more than 2.5 billion monthly active Facebook users, there’s a lot of potential to explore on the social media platform. 

Improve your CRE marketing efforts 

In order to sell and achieve your goals, you undoubtedly need successful and efficient marketing strategies in the commercial real estate market. The tools that we’ve looked at in this article are some of the most popular and commonly used platforms and software that aim to help you speed less time on marketing yet enjoy better results. 

 

To choose the tools that will work best for you, you may need to test a few options to see which ones are capable of providing all that you need. 

 

Commercial Real Estate Valuation – Sales Comparison Approach

In this article we’ll discuss the importance of property valuation and specifically one method for appraisal called the sales comparison approach. 

One of the biggest challenges you’ll face in the real estate industry is how to evaluate a property and establish it’s real market value. The market value of a property is a critical component for:

• Performing investment analysis
• Securing financing for your project
• Assessing property insurance and taxes
• Establishing purchase or asking price
• Determining lease price and potential income

All these major activities depend on you making the correct valuation according to the real market conditions and individual characteristics of the property. 

Of course, evaluating a commercial property is not as simple and straightforward as evaluating consumer goods, appliances or cars which are produced in mass quantities and have a well known market value and depreciation curve. 

Commercial properties are often substantially different than anything else on the market, which makes their evaluation that much more difficult. 

Furthermore, because of their astronomical cost, as compared to any type of personal property, and even residential properties, commercial property investors have to get incredibly granular and perform detailed analysis and account for every single factor that influences the value.

You can lose 10%, heck, even 50% of the value of a car, but nobody who’s dabbling in commercial real estate would imagine simply dismissing 1% of the value of a huge trade center, which can amount to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars.

Market Value vs Cost vs Price

Before we continue, there are a couple of distinctions we must make. Many people mistake value for cost or price. On many occasions, these three metrics are very similar and nearly identical, but not necessarily so. 

The cost of a property is the expenditures to acquire the land and necessary permits, create a development project, purchase materials, hire manpower and equipment, and construct all buildings, infrastructure and amenities. That’s for the construction phase. Afterwards, the running cost of a property includes all insurance premiums, taxes, maintenance, scheduled improvements and repairs, management, advertising, and other operational activities. 

When the project is executed well, the cost of the property should be less than its value on the open market. However, it’s reasonable to assume that inadequate planning, poor architectural design, subpar construction management can all produce an unjustifiably expensive property.

Then there is the price…sales price that is. Under normal circumstances, the sales price of a property would be very close to its real market value. In fact, the market value is most often reevaluated prior to a sale to correctly determine the sales price. 

However, there are many cases where the owner is under pressure to sell and will accept a much lower price than the property is worth. Likewise, properties that have been repossessed and sold at an auction will go for a lower price, as the bank is trying to recoup their finances. Finally, property sold between relatives, business partners, or other affiliations will often see its price modified to fit the needs of both parties in the deal.

In comparison, the market value of a property is the current worth of the benefits, features and opportunities it provides for its owners. Market value is driven by demand, supply, utility and accessibility. 

Why is the market value so important?

If you want to sell the property and list a price below the market value, you’re likely losing money on the sale. On the other hand, listing too high of a price will hinder the competitiveness of the property on the market and you’ll experience significant dwell times, meanwhile incurring costs to run and maintain the property. 

If you’re an investor, a low market value might not secure funding for your project, while too high of a value might make your funding options uneconomical. 

An elevated market value will make your insurance premium considerably larger, however insufficient value might mean your asset is not completely covered in the event of catastrophic damage. 

When it comes to taxes, you’re looking for a lower market value to minimize your expenses. But be warned about artificially reducing the market value of your property. The IRS are not amused by cheap tricks and it may come back to bite you at some point in the future.

Sales Comparison Approach to Valuation

The sales comparison approach is one of the most commonly-used methods to find the real world value of a property. It uses data from comparable and recently-sold properties to build a realistic picture about the target property’s worth in the economic conditions at the moment.

The sales comparison approach is used in pretty much every industry from clothes retailers to used car dealers to commercial property investors. Of course, while the former two are mass-produced items, no two commercial properties are 100% alike. And if they were, they likely wouldn’t be constructed right next to each other and would thrive in different market conditions. 

This means you can’t just check what that other shopping mall is selling for and slap the same price on yours. There are multiple adjustments needed, in order to equalize the difference between these properties and establish a realistic market value. 

Criteria for a proper sales comparison approach

The sales comparison approach is a useful tool, but like all tools there’s a right and a wrong way to use it. Before you begin making your analysis, you must check if the following criteria are met to ensure your valuation is correct and realistic:

1. There is an active market for this type of property – if there are only a couple of properties on the market in the entire country, you don’t have enough statistical data to properly assess and adjust all factors that drive the value. There must be at least 3-4 comparable properties in the appraisal, ideally, located close to the target property, and sold within the last 12 months. 
2. The local and national economy should be relatively stable – in periods of abrupt violent swings (in either direction), your evaluation can be thrown off by random spikes or dips in sales prices. Likewise, the sale of the comparable properties, used in the evaluation, should be conducted under normal market conditions.

 

When you’ve established the comparable properties, you want to bring all of their key parameters into a table along with your subject property. It should look similar to the example below: 

 

	Subject	Comp 1	Comp 2	Comp 3
Sales Price	TBD	$3,377,000	$2,850,000	$5,322,000
Gross building area (sq.ft.)	34,800	29,500	31,000	56,000
Price/sqft	TBD	$114,47	$91,94	$95,04
Building Age	1 year	2 years	6 years	5 years
Time of Sale	TBD	3 months ago	7 months ago	11 months ago
Potential Gross Income (PGI)	$469,800	$400,000	$260,500	$580,000
Vacancy	5%	3%	4%	7%
Effective Gross Income (EGI)	$446,310	$388,000	$250,080	$539,400
Operating Expenses	$113,100	$120,000	$150,000	$214,000
Net Operating Income (NOI)	$333,210	$268,000	$100,080	$325,400
Potential Gross Income Multiplier (PGIM)	TBD	8.44	10.40	9.18
Effective Gross Income Multiplier (EGIM)	TBD	8.70	11.40	9.867
Net Income Multiplier (NIM) aka Cap Rate	TBD	0.079	0.035	0.061

 

For this example, our subject property has 34,800 sq.ft of rentable area, going for $13.50 per sq.ft. The operating expenses are $3.25 per sq.ft and the expected vacancy is 5%.

Adjustment Factors Used in the Sales Comparison Approach

The comparable properties are similar but not quite identical. Using their values, or even the average of their values is not good enough. In the next step, we have to account for these differences by using the adjustment factors.

Physical Features

Starting from the most obvious, what are the physical differences between your subject property and the comparables? Ideally, the properties should be similar, but they’re never truly 100% identical.

Think about the age of the building, the quality of the materials and workmanship that went into its construction. Those will dictate the long term cost of renovations, repairs, energy efficiency and other running expenses. 

The design will obviously impact the desirability to tenants, shoppers, visitors and will directly influence the profitability of the building. 

Furthermore, consider all features that are lacking or unique to your subject property. What’s their value and how do they impact the value of the property as a whole. 

 

Let’s assume the following adjustments for the physical features of the comparable properties: +1%, -4%, -2%, respectively.

Other Valuable Property

What else comes bundled with the property? 

If we’re talking about a hotel, then the furniture, carpets and interior decorations will represent a considerable point of value – enough to nudge the price of the entire property. 

If we’re talking about industrial equipment, like manufacturing machines, it can cost many times the price of the building on it’s own. 

Whenever such differences are present, there must be an adjustment to compensate for their value. 

Ownership Interest

It makes a big difference whether you’re purchasing a building outright, or you’re purchasing it with tenants in situ. In the first case, you’re acquiring the fee simple interest, which gives you absolute ownership of the property. 

In the latter, you’re acquiring the lease fee interest which means you become a landlord to the tenant that’s already occupying the property and have to respect their valid contract until it expires or you have a chance to terminate it. On one hand, you might not want these particular tenants, or tenants at all. On the other, you start earning revenue immediately after the sale, which can help out with your cash flow. 

While evaluating, you should take note which property was sold under what conditions and account for that accordingly.

Conditions of Sale

A sale conducted under duress could force the seller to forfeit a significant sum in order to accelerate the process and close the deal. A business in decline or under the threat of bankruptcy will readily provide a discount if the funds from the sale will keep them afloat and pull them through a crisis. 

Similarly, a sale between relatives or closely associated businesses could modify the price as to fit each party’s needs. 

These are not considered normal sale conditions, so if such are present in your comparable properties, they must be adjusted to reflect a natural sales process. 

Let’s assume that property #2 was sold under its market value, because the previous and current owner have closely connected businesses with multiple intersecting revenue streams. We’ll tag a 2% devaluation. 

Market Conditions at the Time of Sale

The economic landscape is ever changing. All the comparable properties were sold in less than a year from the time of our analysis, which is desirable. However, prices can change every month and even every week. 

Depending on the stability of the market which we’re considering, an adjustment must be made to account for the elapsed time from the sale of the comparable property to today. 

For example, the property market has been on the rise in the past year, with average prices creeping at 0.5% per month. 

This means the comparable properties must receive a bump in price with 1.5%, 3.5%, and 5.5% respectively. That’s a substantial difference worth nearly $300,000 in for property #3. 

Location, Location, Location

Location is everything in commercial real estate. Prices vary wildly, between different states, counties, cities, neighbourhoods and even individual streets. Transport links, the quality of the local infrastructure, amount of traffic, competition, quality of life and average income of nearby residents, and many more factors play a crucial role in determining the profitability and therefore the value of a given commercial real estate. 

Therefore, the locational differences must absolutely be accounted for, as that can dramatically change the perspective of your evaluation.

Of course, this task requires its own study, so we’ll keep it out of our example. But you don’t want to skip on this step during your own appraisal. 

Putting it All Together

After analysing each adjustment factor, it’s time to present the corresponding adjustments in a table.

 

	Comp 1	Comp 2	Comp 3
Price/sqft	$114,47	$91,94	$95,04
Physical features	1%	-4%	-2%
Conditions of sale	0	2%	0
Market conditions at the time of sale	1.5%	3.5%	5.5%
Total Adjustments	2.5%	1.5%	3.5%
Adjusted Price/sqft	$117,33	$93.31	$98.37
Adjusted value	$3,461,425	$2,892,750	$5,508,270
Adjusted PGIM	8.65	11.10	9.50
Adjusted EGIM	8.92	11.57	10.21
Adjusted Cap Rate	0.077	0.035	0.059

 

As you can see, we have some significant movement in the values, compared to the original table. 

 

With these values we can average the market multipliers for all comparables and project the estimated value of our subject property. 

	Value based on PGIM	Value based on PGIM	Value based on PGIM
Sales Price	$4,580,550	$4,565,750	$5,845,790
Potential Gross Income (PGI)	$469,800	$469,800	$469,800
Effective Gross Income (EGI)	$446,310	$446,310	$446,310
Net Operating Income (NOI)	$333,210	$333,210	$333,210
Potential Gross Income Multiplier (PGIM)	9.75	9.72	12.44
Effective Gross Income Multiplier (EGIM)	10.26	10.23	13.09
Net Income Multiplier (NIM) aka Cap Rate	7.27%	7.29%	5.70%

 

Finally, our subject property value estimate ranges between $4,565,750 and $5,845,790. 

Conclusion

To summarize: The sales comparison approach uses recent sales data from similar properties, which is adjusted and processed to estimate the realistic market value of your subject property.

That said it is not an exact science. In a real world situation, you’ll have to work with many more factors and variables than we discussed in this article. A great number of them will be adjusted subjectively, based on the data you can collect and a fair amount of assumptions and interpolations.  The comparables analysis used in CREOP’s platform helps illustrate the main financial metrics used when evaluating comparable properties.

Therefore, you will never get a single number that’s the absolute true market value. A range of values provides you with a perspective on how your property might move on the market. 

Finally, remember that even though you’ve calculated a market value for your property, you’re not guaranteed to sell or buy at that price. The market price is set by the highest sum a buyer (who has the means to complete the transaction) is willing to pay for said property.