Many of successful brokers are actually residential guys. They have been finding live leads by going over the 1003s that they have from current and previous clients and seeing if any of those clients showed any commercial real estate owned. They have also separated the files of their clients that own their own business and/or are self-employed and have marketed those clients for potential commercial purchases.
Some of the most successful commercial guys target various professionals. Doctors, dentists, veterinarians, lawyers, etc. Any kind of professional that is likely to own his own location of practice, or would like to own his own place instead of renting so he could get the tax write-off. These guys are usually making good money, showing solid financials on their P&L and are likely to have reserves. This one is a favorite of mine as it’s something that, when I first heard it, the light went on in my head and I thought to myself “Wow. That made so much sense. How come I never thought of that?”
Some of our other commercial guys lean heavily on their title reps to put together farm packages with various scenarios and market nationwide, since we can finance their deals all over the country. They might ask for a farm package of apartment owners of 5 to 50 units, in a few specific zip codes, looking for 60% LTV so they could have equity to work with, etc. Or they might look for apartment owners of 5 to 50 units in specific zip codes whose mortgage is 3-5 years old, and they might target these owners looking to see if they have a balloon note due and if they need to refinance. These guys then have the title rep build the package and print up some mailing labels. They then design a postcard and get to mailing. The nice thing with the postcards is that they are fairly cheap to have printed up by a print shop and the postage is something like 28 cents instead of the first class rate, and you can target areas besides your local area. You can also cold call those leads if you were so inclined and it was legal to do so in that locality.
Other commercial guys have targeted CPAs and financial planners and tried to build relationships with them since those types of professionals see people’s assets and debts all day long, and are in a position to recommend a broker to help with a refinance if the relationship is there. The brokers can also refer their past and current clients to these CPAs and financial planners, as by nature these clients own businesses and/or income producing properties and are more likely to need the services of these types of professionals.
Even still, some of our other commercial guys try and build relationships with insurance agents that either do or specialize in insuring commercial properties. The insurance guys have an inroad and personal relationship with the people who own these commercial properties and can recommend you as a broker to any of them that are looking for a refinance. You can, as a broker, return the favor by referring any commercial clients that you have or had that need insurance for a new purchase or would like to save some money on their existing building’s insurance. This can be a very mutually beneficial relationship, and some of our commercial brokers have done very well for themselves this way. The CPA’s, financial planners, realtors, and insurance agents are also other types of professionals that are likely to own their location of practice, or would like to own their own location for those tax breaks like the doctors, lawyers, veterinarians and other professionals above, so it can provide an opportunity to show them your stuff and earn their trust while you help them with their mortgage issues (and make some money along the way!)
Some brokers have targeted the anchored shopping centers in their community. They drive around and look for these centers with a big anchor and a high occupancy rate on the other storefronts and then they go to the county recorders office and find the owner of record. They then target these owners with advertising to see if they need any refi work or are looking to take advantage of the downturn in the market to purchase some other properties.
I know one Asian broker that is out here in southern Florida, and he targets the Asian community in his area by putting out advertisements in the Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, magazine’s, and papers in his area advertising that he does commercial loans. Most of the people that advertise in those smaller papers tend to be residential lenders only, so by advertising he does commercial he stands out. I don’t know if you speak any other languages or if anyone in your office does, but that may be an avenue that you can pursue. This is a good source for him because the advertising in these smaller ethnic community circulars tends to be much cheaper than in the larger publications, and the circulars are highly specific as to their target. Thus, if you are the only one advertising in that particular community as a commercial lender you may end up establishing somewhat of a monopoly in that community on commercial work since you appear to be the only game in town.
I hope this helps, or at least gives you some ideas and gets the old creative juices flowing.
