Finding Commercial Real Estate Leads

There are a plethora of ways that a commercial real estate investor can find commercial real estate leads.  While many people would dare to sift through the Internet for leads, it may be easier to either speak with brokers, pick up a foreclosure list or hire a team to do the leg work for the investor.

Tips for Finding Leads

There are not enough hours in the day alone to go through the myriad of lists that a mortgage broker could email you on a daily basis.  Nor is there enough time to decipher through the menagerie of real and fake on the Internet.  However, to hire a team of lead screeners would prove value added to the investor’s needs.  You can tap into a bottomless pit of resources if you outsource a lead scavenger hunt to your real estate brokers, business partners, attorneys and appraisers. After all, these people know what you are looking for in a property more than anyone else, not to mention it will cut down on the dead end leads you would get were you to just collect email lists of commercial properties from your broker.

• You will want to put together a solid criteria of the leads that you are looking for as well as a lead gathering strategy for your team to follow.  This will make things much easier in the long run, when you finally start to narrow down the hot leads in which you are interested in pursuing.   
• If you do opt to get leads via email, make sure that you real estate broker pre-screens the leads for you.  Instead of your broker just sending an open ended lead to you, at least you will know that the lead has been prescreened based on your specifications.  Be sure to let your broker know what your market cap rates are as well as the price that you are willing to pay per unit.  Additionally, fully detail what the physical attributes are of your ideal property.  Aside from this, you should discuss any restrictions that you have.

While your team is busy following your strategy and pre-screening leads for you, consider doing a bit of statistical research on the area in which you plan to invest.  Note the demographics so you can get a better idea of the marketing potential that the area has to offer.

Getting Legal Help

An experienced real estate attorney can also prove invaluable in helping you to evaluate leads to determine whether they will meet your long term business and financial goals.