Buyers buy the properties that fulfill their investment goals. If you have been reading my previous articles in this series that are focused on many aspects of Commercial Real Estate sales and purchases, then you know there ‘s a lot to consider. Every Buyer is different – even those interested in the same kinds of purchases. They are as different as are their portfolios, their families, their other business interests, their personal health circumstances, their age – and, of course, their financial capability.
Learning (then understanding) which buyers will be interested in your property can be a challenge; but it doesn’t have to be a mystery! No Commercial real estate agent can guarantee that your property will sell as fast as your expectations. As a seller, it certainly helps your property to move if it has the right characteristics for the target market.
Before your specific potential buyers can materialize, it is up to you, with the help of your experienced, professional Commercial real estate agent, to streamline your property to attract the target buyer appropriate to the property offered.
The buyer looking for “turn key” property won’t be interested in property that needs renovation, remodeling or cleanup, or one that has tenant problems. The buyer looking for an established stream of income won’t want to waste their time looking at income properties that cannot prove a healthy bottom line. Long-term investors won’t want to be shown questionable open space property that comes with headaches. Instead, perhaps they want peaceful passage of time as their property investment increases in value and moves into its long-term aspect as part of a region’s general plan. And so it goes: Property offered needs to match a specific kind of buyer. Your Commercial real estate agent then markets your property to the right targets through the right channels.
How can you identify your target buyer? First, decide just how you are characterizing your offered property, and prepare it for that identified (unknown) buyer. For instance, if you have a going retail operation you want to sell, first trouble-shoot its issues before you decide to list! Get it on track! Be sure it is well staffed and stocked, cleaned and polished from A to Z. Take everything into consideration from landscaping, to signage, to facade, to the neighboring properties. That kind of preparatory investment is worth every penny, and you can recoup it at the sale.
Perhaps there is a buyer out there who is looking at the future his loved ones would inherit. That buyer is getting their portfolio in order! That buyer would not want his heirs to be burdened with property that comes to them needing a lot of work before they could sell it or operate it profitably! That buyer is looking at “top quality and condition” properties only.
All that said, how do you know you are on the right track? Sometimes it just isn’t knowable! However, remember that your Commercial real estate agent should have a lot of experience watching patterns, evaluating preparatory techniques and observing the whims, preferences, and sometimes puzzling behaviors of both Buyers and Sellers. Why not take advantage of all that insight? When in doubt –ask!
Jim Magliulo is the leading Commercial Real Estate Agent in Lake County. He has been Sales Agent of the Year for 5 years and holds the Lake County record for the highest total sales volume in one year for a non-broker agent. He can be reached at County Air Commercial at 707-263-5729, at jim@countryair.com, or at www.CountryAirCommercial.com Send Jim your email address if you would like to be notified of new commercial listing in Lake County.
