Common Mistakes Your Real Estate Agent Might Be Making

Unfortunately, not everyone in commercial real estate knows what they’re doing. Mastering the market takes a lot of time and effort. Some people will take shortcuts in the hopes of a quick buck, while others may legitimately not understand what they are doing is just dead wrong! If you want to avoid becoming one of these horror stories, keep the following in mind when working with your commercial real estate agent.

1. Generic Marketing – if you’re a landlord trying to list a property, your listing is not going to stand out if your agent is playing the same game as everyone else. Your listing will only receive inquiries and legitimately interested buyers or tenants through unique marketing initiatives targeted for specific audiences.
2. Lack of Specialization – avoid working with agents who claim to be a jack of all trades. You have a specific need, and an agent who lacks the market knowledge and property facts will be unable to uncover truly great opportunities, or worse, land you with a goose egg.
3. Conflict of Interest – if you’re being sued, would you hire the plaintiff’s attorney to represent you? Of course not! But, some agents try to represent both tenants and landlords. If you’re a tenant, you want a commercial real estate agent who primarily represents tenants. And if you’re a landlord, you want an agent who bats for landlords. There is a lot at stack financially, so you can’t afford to have one broker represent both sides’ interests.

It’s important to keep in mind that all of these mistakes are preventable! There is no reason to suffer by spending your hard earned money and time with a bad agent, but even if you don’t decide to switch agents, know that you can protect yourself.