Pushing Dirt

3. get a contact management program (e.g. Act!). Then really use it. Put every prospect you talk to in it. Schedule regular follow up calls. Make the calls

4. Telling isn’t selling. Put yourself in the prospect’s shoes. How can you help them make more money?

5. Consider subscribing to Lexis Nexis’s people finder service to track down difficult-to-locate owners. There you will find unlisted phone numbers.

6. Make the sales calls. It’s the hardest part. Most sales people loathe them.

7. If your focus is on selling property, work to secure exclusive listings. Make it your focus.

8. Consider taking the CCIM 101 course which teaches the basics of underwriting commercial real estate. Most of my colleagues and competitors can’t do much more than apply a capitalization rate to value a property. Being able to go a little beyond that, to have a basic understanding of discounted cash flow analysis, will lend you a TON of credibility.

9. When marketing commercial buildings targeted to users, use direct mail. You can buy lists at reasonable prices from D&B (www.dnb.com). You can design and mail the postcards from any number of online web sites.

10. I’ve sold a ton of real estate — primarily smaller assets — through craigslist. If you live in a major market where craigslist is popular, use it.

We are reaching a point in the economic cycle where it is time to start tracking distressed properties.

Look for the legal announcements in the newspaper highlighting foreclosure proceedings on commercial properties. You’ll be able to pick them out because you know the market and recognize the address, or by the loan amount listed.

I recommend that you then call the lender and not the property owner. You can find the lender most often because lenders typically record a UCC filing statement with the government to document their lein on the property. These UCC filings may be listed online, or you may need to head to your local courthouse or records office to find them.

Call the lender and find out who deals with “troubled loans” and who deals with “REO” (real estate owned). You can broker the sale of the note to an investor (perhaps at a discount). If that doesn’t fly you will want to stay in regular touch with the lender who may ultimately foreclose on the property…or the borrower may just hand the keys back to the lender.

Position yourself as the local market expert and secure an exclusive listing to sell the property!