Finding a Broker
If you've ever bought a house or rented an apartment than you know you need a partner to help you locate the right property. When you start, you don't even know what you don't know. You many not even know what questions to ask to determine the best choice in space for your company. Do you want to lease or purchase? What does triple net mean? How much space do you need? What length of time do you need to commit to a lease? This is just the tip of the iceberg in questions you will begin asking in the search for the right property. The person who has the answers to those questions and can elicit the answers to questions you haven't even thought of yet is a professional commercial real estate broker.
How do you go about finding a broker? Consider these suggestions:
- Ask other business associates, friends and family. If you have other business friends who have had to lease property, perhaps they can recommend their broker to you.Are there any commercial brokers in any of your business networks for you to contact?Are there any family members in the business?
- Solicit your residential agent's opinion. If you had a positive experience working with your residential real estate agent, you may contact them for a referral.Because there are two different types of real estate licenses, a residential agent cannot show you commercial properties.Often there are a few brokers within their company who handle commercial real estate and can be a good source of knowledge.
- Pull brokers names from signs. You think commercial property is for you and you've now started driving bythe various buildings around town.On most buildings, at least those with any vacancies, you will see a real estate sign sating who manages and or owns the building along with the real estate broker's name.
- Complete an internet search. Commercial brokers do a lot of advertising for their properties, so you will often find a long list of brokers via any search engine.Most are driven by geography.Keep in mind that some brokers who tend to lease and sell larger buildings may not have time to work with a 1500 square foot lease.Don't lose the opportunity if you have them on the line; ask them to recommend someone to you.
- Yellow pages. This search is best used to become familiar with the companies in your area.The yellow pages can be helpful, but keep in mind that the book is printed only once a year, and goes to print months before the new year, so it may not be the most up-to-date resource.
Related Articles
| The Moving Question To move to commercial space or not to move: that is the question.
One of the most complex questions a budding entrepreneur must ask is do I need to move out of my home and into commercial space?
|
| |
| Building Analysis When you have made the decision to lease or buy a commercial property, you need to look at the entire commercial property, the specific portion of the property you need, and concerns about the property. |
| |
| Searching on Your Own We've previously discussed that there are many questions that need to be answered when looking for the right property for your company. Although we recommend locating a commercial real estate broker so they can guide you through the process you may choose to locate your own property. We will review some of the things you can do to research properties, however to gain access you will need to contact the listing broker to view the specific property.
|
| |
| Business Considerations From your business's point of view, what issues need to be considered? In short, you need to assess how finances, timing, and convenience of a move will affect your business. |
| |
|
Featured Benefit
Real Estate
Find the right real estate fit for your small business with Quorum Commercial. Real estate experience and expertise are at your fingertips.
> Learn More
|
|
Recommended Books
|