How to find off-market commercial real estate?

If you are on the hunt for commercial real estate, we need not tell you about the endless benefits that your investment will bring you. But are you struggling in finding a best commercial property ideally suited for your requirement.

There are many commercial properties that do not ever come up for sale. But they are still trading hands. So how is that possible? It is because they are being sourced off market!

Commercial real estate Austin brings you this guide on how you can find off market properties.

What is an off-market property?

Off-market commercial real estate, as the name suggests is a property including office, retail, industrial properties or multifamily properties are sold to another investor without hitting the market for sale. Essentially, off market commercial properties trade their hands without the common public knowing that it was even available. They never get listed on online listing sites or even have a “For Sale” sign board.

Such investment opportunities are often sourced off market through word of mouth, quality commercial brokers or other such networks.

Why would the property sell off market?

There can be many reasons that a property owner would want to sell the property off market. Few of them are as follows -

• Lesser sales risk. If the tenants see the on market properties, it can become a risk to their business and they sometimes can move elsewhere.
• Lesser intrusion or unwanted attention upon the operations of the asset.
• Fewer commission and finder’s fees paid to the brokers. This means that the seller will net more money on the property.
• No time wasting tours from unsophisticated buyers who don’t intend to actually close on the property.

Note - One of the major drawbacks of selling the property off market is losing top dollar on the asset. Since the seller is not releasing the property on online listing sites, they may not get the most competitive bid on their commercial property.

How to find an off market property?

Here are some of the most effective ways of finding an off market property

• Austin Commercial Real Estate Brokers

Working with a well-established and reliable commercial real estate broker in Austin is your best route. Hire a full service commercial real estate firm in the neighborhood you are looking for. They work all day and every day to find such off market properties to connect the buyers like you with the sellers. They will help you work through the pricing and negotiation end process. They will also guide you in the entire due diligence and post-closing the deal to make sure that you are good to go.

• Cold Calling

This system is not going anywhere and is often one of the best ways to directly get in touch with the property owner. Take a drive through at the market and look out for the properties that you are interested in buying. You can then get in touch with the owner of the property through the local tax records. Once you have their name and address, you can look them up on Google and find some more information about them. Call them up and let them know what you are looking to do. It will not hurt to open up the conversation from there.

• Direct Mail

This too is surprisingly an effective way of getting a hold of off market properties. There is a very good reason why top commercial brokers consistently send direct emails to the industrial properties they are targeting. Very few direct emails are sent nowadays and so there is a good chance for your property to stand out.

Austin commercial real estate recommends that you hand-address every envelope to personalize it. This will certainly increase your open rates.

• Networking

No method can beat the power of networking. Doesn’t matter you do it in person or through social media. Networking will surely help you source off market commercial property. If you are taking the networking in-person route, you can join your local chamber of commercial. Any specialty real estate group or neighborhood groups can also be effective mediums of networking. This way, everyone can know what you are looking to do.

If you want to use social media for networking, there are plenty of Facebook and WhatsApp groups that you can join and post. You can also post your search criteria in order to get your search front of as many property owners and commercial real estate as possible.

Why you should find off market properties?

We know what is in it for sellers. But, what about the buyers?

There are some outstanding pros to sourcing your investment opportunity off market!

• Better Negotiations

When you are the only property buyer looking at the property, you will naturally find yourself in a better negotiating position. On market properties generally have a lot of demand and the prospect will drive the price up. They will give the seller a strong position to negotiate. That means you cannot get as good of a deal.

When buying commercial properties off market, you can get every competitive edge possible.

• Privacy

Based on how high profile property or the party is involved, you will not want the local papers or other real estate sources discover on what you are working on, apart from specific ones of course.

This privacy gives you the opportunity to work comfortably on your plans. You will not have to answer any intrusive calls from other brokers, neighbors or reporters.

• Seller Flexibility

Hiring a full time commercial property management will be your best bet. When you have to directly deal with sellers in off market commercial real estate, there will be more flexibility than the deal terms you will otherwise find.

You can work out on a longer due diligence period, have candid and open conversations with the seller about the deal or even get an outstanding price!

Off market deals can become far more creative and you can negotiate seller financing terms. There can also be a partnership between you and the seller wherein you will not even need to come out of pocket or any other opportunities if you are willing to flex that muscle.

You can also be stress free because you will not have to deal with multiple parties.

The bottom line

Off-market commercial properties have their own advantages. We hope that this article gave you a deep insight on how to find off-market commercial properties. If you too are on a hunt for off-market commercial property, be sure to get in touch with GW Partners, commercial real estate Austin. They will assist you right from finding the property, tenant representation, to the entire deal closing.

So, what are you waiting for? Get in touch with GW Partners today!