Attract More Tenants in Less Time: Tips for Busy Commercial Real Estate Brokers

by Aaron G.
May 20, 2024
Commercial
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Finding tenants for commercial real estate can be challenging for commercial real estate brokers. Vacancy rates for commercial properties tend to be higher than residential. It can take months to find the right tenant for a commercial space.

Commercial leases also tend to be longer-term than residential, often 3-5 years. So brokers need to find a tenant who is planning to stay put for a while.

Businesses have very specific needs for their space. They need the right amount of square footage, office layout, ceiling height, loading docks, parking, etc. The space has to be a good match for how they operate. Retailers need high foot traffic spaces. Manufacturers need wide open warehouse space. Finding the perfect space for each business takes time.

With the right strategy, commercial brokers can overcome these challenges and fill their listings. Here are some tips to find tenants faster:

List Your Property Online

Listing your commercial property online is one of the most effective ways to find tenants. Reaching a wide audience of potential tenants through online listings can help fill vacancies faster. Here are some of the best places to list your commercial real estate online:

Major Listing Sites

National commercial listing sites like Loopnet and Crexi offer huge exposure for your listings. These sites allow you to input all the important details about your property like photos, floorplans, amenities, lease terms, and more. Many prospective tenants search these sites when looking for commercial space to lease. Listing on the major sites casts a wide net to catch tenants across the country.

Local Listing Sites

In addition to the national sites, list your property on local commercial listing sites relevant to your geographic area. Local sites tend to attract more tenants who are focused on spaces in a particular city or region. This helps you connect with tenants who want to lease in specific neighborhoods or business districts.

Your Own Website

Having your listings on your own commercial real estate website allows you to fully control the listing content and design. You can include extensive details, professional photos, custom calls-to-action, and even listing updates. Tenants may search for spaces directly on your site if you have an established local brand presence. Make sure to optimize your listings for local SEO so they stand out in search engines.

Network with Other Commercial Real Estate Brokers

Networking with other commercial real estate brokers in your area can be a great way to find tenants for your listings. Here are some tips:

Join local real estate organizations like CCIM or NAIOP. Attending meetings and events is a chance to connect with other brokers and potentially partner on deals. You may be able to refer a tenant to another broker’s listing or vice versa.
Attend broker events and conferences. Commercial real estate conferences bring together brokers from all over to network, learn, and make deals. Introduce yourself to other brokers and exchange business cards. Follow up after the event to discuss any potential tenant leads.
Partner on deals. Team up with other brokers to co-list properties or co-represent tenants. Having access to another broker’s network doubles your chances of finding a good fit. Offer to split the commission so you both have incentive to close the deal. A broker partnering with you on a deal will put in more effort than just receiving a referral fee.

By actively networking with other commercial brokers in your area, you gain more exposure for your listings and increase your chances of finding qualified tenants faster. Leveraging other brokers’ networks and resources makes your job easier.

Market Your Listings

One of the most effective ways for commercial real estate brokers to find tenants is to actively market their listings. This goes beyond simply posting the listing online or waiting for potential tenants to inquire. Brokers need to take proactive steps to promote their available spaces.

Email and Call Potential Tenants

Make a list of businesses that could be a good fit for the property. Search business directories and drive around the area to identify potential tenants. Then reach out directly via email and phone calls. Follow up multiple times – many businesses won’t respond right away. Persistence pays off.

Promote on Social Media

Post about the available space on your social media profiles like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Include photos, details on the space and location and incentives. Geo-target your posts to reach local businesses. Ask colleagues to share your posts with their networks.

Print Flyers and Brochures

Design professional looking flyers and brochures with photos, property details and contact information. Distribute these at networking events, local businesses and community hubs. The goal is getting the listing in front of as many potential tenants as possible. Well-designed and eye-catching materials make an impact.

Proactively marketing commercial real estate listings takes effort but maximizes the chances of finding qualified tenants faster. Leverage online and offline channels to promote available spaces.

Offer Incentives to Attract Tenants

One strategy commercial brokers can use to attract tenants is offering incentives. Providing incentives to potential tenants can make your listing more appealing compared to other properties on the market. Here are some of the most effective incentives to consider:

Free Rent Periods

Offering one to three months of free rent is a common incentive for commercial properties. This allows the tenant to move in and set up their business without the burden of rent payments right away. The free rent period lets them conserve capital in those initial months as they get their operations running.

Moving Allowances

You can provide a moving allowance to help cover the tenant’s costs of relocating their business to your space. This may include expenses like moving services, furniture purchases, technology upgrades, and reprinting marketing materials. A moving allowance of $2-$5 per square foot is typical.

Tenant Improvement Allowances

Tenant improvement (TI) allowances give the tenant a budget to renovate the space to suit their business needs. The tenant can use the TI allowance for things like installing partitions, upgrading lighting, or making other leasehold improvements. Standard TI allowances are $20-$70 per square foot.

Offering incentives makes your listing more enticing to potential tenants. Providing options like free rent, moving allowances, and TI allowances can help attract and seal the deal with commercial tenants for your property.

Be Flexible

As a commercial real estate broker, being open to flexibility and negotiation can go a long way in landing a tenant. With the rise of remote work and e-commerce, tenant needs are changing rapidly. Consider negotiating on lease terms like:

Lease length – Many businesses want shorter leases now, so they aren’t locked in long-term. Offer 1-2 year leases.
Rent abatement – Cover a portion of the rent in the first few months to sweeten the deal.
Tenant improvements – Offer an allowance for the tenant to renovate the space to suit their needs.
Operating expenses – Agree to cover a percentage of operating expenses to lower their overhead.

You can also get creative about how the space is used. Retail spaces can be adapted into co-working spaces. Warehouses can host indoor agriculture. Be open to re-zoning and adaptive reuse to appeal to more tenants. The more flexible you can be, the faster you’ll fill vacancies.

Use Tech Tools to Find Tenants Faster

Technology has opened up new possibilities for commercial brokers to find tenants faster and more efficiently. Two key tech tools every broker should be leveraging are property management software and online listing services.

Property Management Software

Investing in a good property management software can help brokers manage listings, market properties, screen tenants, collect rent, and more – all in one centralized platform. Features like tenant screening, e-signatures, online payments, maintenance tracking, and accounting integration streamline back-office tasks so brokers can focus on leasing. Popular options like AppFolio, Buildium, and RealPage offer different pricing tiers based on the number of units managed.

Online Listing Services

Listing commercial spaces on sites like LoopNet and Crexi used to be the go-to, but now there are services like PeerStorage that make listing and marketing properties even easier. PeerStorage allows brokers to create listings with professional photos and property details in just 2 minutes. Listings are then syndicated across their network of sites to maximize exposure. PeerStorage also provides features like custom listing websites, email and social marketing tools, signage, and more. Their automated marketing engine helps brokers find qualified tenants faster than traditional methods. Best of all, listings on PeerStorage are free.

By leveraging the right property management software and online listing services like PeerStorage, commercial brokers can work smarter, reach more potential tenants, and reduce vacancies across their portfolio of properties. The technology is there to make a broker’s job easier – it just needs to be put to use.

PeerStorage for Fast Listings

With PeerStorage, commercial brokers can create listings for their properties in just 2 minutes. PeerStorage makes it easy to get your properties in front of potential tenants quickly.

Simply sign up for a free account, enter the property details like size, location, amenities, and upload photos. PeerStorage has tools to create 3D virtual tours, floor plans, brochures and more to showcase your property. You can instantly publish your listing across popular commercial real estate sites.

By streamlining the listing process, PeerStorage enables brokers to spend less time on administrative tasks, and more time networking with clients and tenants. Listings are optimized for maximum exposure and includes robust analytics on views, contacts and inquiries.

PeerStorage empowers brokers to manage their listings and tenants in one place while spending minimal time. Sign up for PeerStorage today to get your properties in front of tenants faster.

PeerStorage’s Marketing Features Help Find Tenants

PeerStorage offers amazing marketing features to help commercial real estate brokers like you find tenants faster.

One key feature is automatic syndication of your listings across top commercial real estate sites like Loopnet and CoStar. This exposes your property to a huge audience of potential tenants searching on those platforms. No more manually uploading and syncing your listings across multiple sites – PeerStorage does it for you automatically.

Another great feature is email and social promotions of your listings. PeerStorage will blast your property details out to relevant prospects in their database via email campaigns. They will also promote your listings on popular social media platforms. This level of exposure and outreach would be extremely difficult for a single broker to orchestrate independently.

With PeerStorage’s set of marketing features, your listings will get maximum visibility to quality prospects. This translates to higher chances of finding a good tenant quickly for your commercial space. PeerStorage simplifies and turbocharges your tenant search.

Find Tenants Faster with PeerStorage

One of the best tools for commercial real estate brokers to find tenants faster is PeerStorage. PeerStorage allows brokers to list their properties and make them visible to qualified tenants in just minutes.

With PeerStorage, brokers get instant exposure to an audience of active commercial space seekers. Your listing will be promoted on the PeerStorage website and mobile app, which sees thousands of visitors per month searching for their next commercial space.

Brokers can also take advantage of PeerStorage’s built-in marketing features to get even more visibility. You can promote your listings on social media and share them easily via email and text. PeerStorage also provides beautiful listing flyers you can print or send digitally to market your space.

By listing on PeerStorage, brokers save countless hours they would otherwise spend marketing and networking to find potential tenants. The platform does the hard work for you by matching your listings with relevant businesses looking for space.

The simple, fast process of creating a listing and leveraging PeerStorage’s marketing tools allows brokers to reach more potential tenants in a fraction of the time. Listing on PeerStorage can help brokers fill vacancies faster and maximize their commissions.

Attract More Tenants in Less Time: Tips for Busy Commercial Real Estate Brokers