There are several key stages when acquiring real estate assets, and this post is part of a larger series to guide you in establishing an effective asset acquisition strategy. The first step is establishing your strategy and identifying the proper selection criteria—essentially mapping out your plan and deciding on the “must-haves” for your new space. Once those considerations are squared away, it’s time to dig in and start researching the market and creating a list of your options.
Whether this is your first market exploration or you’ve gone through the process before, you probably have a good sense of how time-consuming and even daunting the process can be. That’s why having a trusted advisor at this step is essential. Brokerages have access to vast amounts of market information and process knowledge. Such knowledge will help you navigate the complexities of the research and screening process, and filter out the properties that don’t line up with your needs.
Allegro Real Estate Brokers & Advisors leverages market knowledge and decades of experience to give clients a thorough understanding of the options available. Combined with that knowledge, our team utilizes a number of tools and strategies to provide only the most promising properties that align with your selection criteria.
Create Your Long List of Properties in Three Steps
Before you settle on a single property, you’ll need to evaluate several options to ensure you have a qualified list to base your decisions. Keep reading to learn how to create an initial list (sometimes called a “Long List”) to help narrow and focus your search.
Step 1: Review Databases (Public and Subscription Based)
CoStar and LoopNet return many listings, but they don’t capture every property available. Because of this, our team tracks and monitors internal private databases that keep track of available opportunities across the market. That’s why our team leverages multiple databases, to ensure that every available opportunity is evaluated.
Step 2: Drive the Market
Not all listings are online or part of a database. To identify additional properties, our team physically visits sites to confirm availability and location. Doing so enables us to spot unknown opportunities, as well as identify listings that may be advantageous to act on early, giving you a leg up to begin a conversation with the owner.
Step 3: Call and Email Brokers
A good number of properties can be identified by scrubbing industry databases and driving commercial corridors. However, leveraging the local brokerage community will yield impressive results. Local real estate advisors traditionally have a strong understanding of the market and any opportunities that might exist but are not yet listed and/or known to the public.
The Allegro team follows each of these steps with every client because there are often many applicable properties spread across numerous platforms, databases, and spreadsheets. A reliable advisor will go the extra mile to search the market and identify possible solutions for clients’ needs.
What to Expect Next
Once we’ve identified properties we believe are right for you, our team will provide an organized Long List, which we review jointly with you. After discussing and collecting feedback regarding each property on the Long List, we will remove options that are of no interest and create a Short List. Using the Short List (also known as a “Tour List”), the Allegro team will coordinate tours.
Allegro’s Unique Approach
Allegro team members are different from other brokers in the industry. One of our main differentiators is our commitment to collaboration, which is encouraged by compensating our employees with salaries rather than commissions. Allegro brokers share information with each other, including off-market opportunities. This culture of collaboration better positions us to identify and share the most relevant properties with you.
Partner with an Experienced Broker to Find Your Perfect Property
Market knowledge and trustworthiness are essential when seeking a real estate broker to assist with your asset acquisition. If you don’t have the full picture of the real estate landscape and want to explore your options, contact us today for a free 30-minute consultation to see how our team can help you achieve your company’s ambitions.