This is “Rick’s Tips” with Rick Bean, Principle Broker at Rose City Commercial Real Estate, rosecitycre.com. This episode we’ll learn why an investor looking to buy or sell commercial real estate in Portland, Oregon needs a broker, and what makes Rose City Commercial Real Estate different.
A buyer’s broker is a good thing for anyone to have if they’re buying, leasing, selling, or investing in commercial real estate. What I do is I act as their assertive, and occasionally aggressive, advocate for best price and terms.
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What’s the most important thing that a buyer’s broker can do for his client?
One of the things that is important when my clients are buying properties is they want to know, first of all, what is the market? Not everyone who prices a product has a list price that’s reasonable. I’ve had cases where I’ve told my clients, “Don’t ask for a price reduction, or make a very small price reduction. This is a steal and will make you a lot of money.” I’ve had other cases where I’ve told people, “Yeah, I know it’s six million dollars, but we’re going to offer three and a half, four, because it’s not worth that. At our price, we can make you a lot of money. We can have a fair, profitable venture. At their price, they’re making all the profit.”
How do you advise your client on how to make the right offer on a piece of commercial real estate?
In order to do that, I research what current properties are selling for, prior properties sold for, and then I compare the property that we’re looking at, the subject property, to see how it compares to those. Whether it’s got a better location, whether it’s got a worse location, the quality of the build, and also, we can look at the seller’s motivation. If I find somebody who is really hurting, my cash buyers are far more likely to get a great deal.
Are there other ways you help your clients?
Another thing I do is I help my clients avoid pitfalls. We review with them the preliminary title reports, we review with them the due diligence package so that they understand exactly what they’re buying. Sometimes the due diligence package isn’t quite detailed enough, and so I help them by asking for more.
Rick, How do you get paid?
This is the best part. My clients pay me nothing directly in most cases. I get paid by the seller, the other side, at time of close. The reason they’re happy to do that is they have a listing fee with their broker, the seller’s broker, and that broker is willing to share their fee to find someone who has a willing buyer, capable buyer, and can close. I talk to hundreds of people that are interested in buying properties, and I match what they’re looking for with what the market has. In many cases, what I’m giving them information on is things that aren’t on the market. That’s why people look to Rose City Commercial Real Estate, is because we have access to deals that other people don’t have access to, because we’ve made the phone calls to find them.
There you have it…in just about the time it takes to enjoy a cup of coffee you’ve expanded your knowledge of commercial real estate. To learn more about leasing, buying, selling or investing in commercial real estate, contact Rick Bean at 503.577.1034 or sales@rosecitycre.com