How to Work As a Buyers Agent in Commercial Real Estate

In this commercial real estate market you can work as a sellers or buyer’s agent. The roles are different but both quite lucrative. In either case the client pays your commission and that client will be the seller or the buyer that you act for.

If you are going to work for buyers (as a buyer’s agent), my tip and recommendation is for you to target and secure only the high quality (or larger) property buyers as your clients. They are the ones that are more inclined to need your help. You should do that on an ‘exclusive’ listing basis, and therefore control them as you look for the right property. Without ‘exclusivity’ the buyers will move from agent to agent, and you can waste a lot of valuable time and effort with little results coming back.

These special clients need a lot of understanding as does their property need. Consider these questions as part of your services to them:

  1. What are they looking for by way of location?
  2. What improvements are essential to create a ‘short list’?
  3. How will their business integrate into the property?
  4. How does their business operate now and will that change in relocation?
  5. What price range or budget do they have to work with?
  6. Have they seen anything else with another agent? If so, when and how?
  7. What is the time frame to find the right property?
  8. If the selected property is to be an ‘investment’, are they biased in their selection towards capital growth, redevelopment, income generation, or expansion?
  9. What functions of their business today or in the future will require full satisfaction to short list and choose a new location or investment?
  10. What staff and customer pressures will influence their decisions?
  11. How will they make the comparison and final decision of one property against another?

To us the ‘buyers’ that we can serve are usually one or more of the following:

  • Property investors looking for the next growth property for their portfolio
  • Portfolio Investment funds looking for property and investment diversification
  • Business owners looking to relocate their special business
  • Manufacturing businesses needing special properties as part of growth
  • Property developers looking to start their next project
  • Government bodies looking for property to incorporate into community use

To win this new business and the buyer’s attention, you need to show them that you really are a local property specialist that understands exactly how to find the right property that they need to buy.

If the buyer has a large and or unique property need, then they are primed for your attention. Your property specialization will help you convert their focus to a controlled ‘buyers’ listing in your favour.

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