Listing or Finding Your Perfect Commercial Property Needs The Right Broker
Owning a commercial property in Cape Town is a substantial investment and realising a healthy ROI on your building is not something you can take for granted – unless you have excellent occupancy rates and reliable tenants.
If you’ve been studying your monthly rental income figures and you feel like it’s time to take action to market your building, one of the best moves you can make is to use the services of an experienced commercial property broker.
- Many building owners and tenants have approached us after they tried to list their properties themselves or find a rental premises online with disappointing results.
- Others have relied on agents specialising in specific types of property who may be excellent at what they do but lack the in-depth knowledge of the commercial property industry and the contacts required to ensure a high occupancy rate for the client’s building.
To avoid this expensive learning curve and launch your building successfully on the rental market you should definitely be looking at a long-lasting relationship with a commercial property agent. Here’s why.
The pitfalls of listing your own property
Online property marketing offers many opportunities for landlords to list their office space for rent, but this tempting offer may not be as attractive as it looks at first glance.
The many steps involved in an online listing are both numerous and tricky to get right. These may include
- Creating and placing an effective ad
- Providing professional quality photographs that attract the right type of prospective tenants
- Following up with queries
- Arranging showings and viewings
- Negotiating the technical details of a lease agreement
- Ensuring that rent is paid in a timely manner
Considering that each of these tasks is a specialised skill, the chances of doing them all well without years of experience are slim.
From a marketing point of view, commercial property owners are in a race against time as they compete with other buildings and seasoned property agents to place desirable tenants with excellent long-term business prospects in their office units.
From the tenant’s perspective, dealing with a landlord who’s not used to the property marketing process can be daunting. An evident lack of expertise in the industry can make a prospective tenant or owner think twice about leasing the unit even if it’s a great fit for their business.
As an owner, the longer your building has a high vacancy rate, the more operating cash you’ll need to allocate to monthly financing charges, municipal rates and taxes, and building management overheads.
Taking a do it yourself approach to marketing could end up costing you hundreds of thousands of Rands in lost rentals – far more than any agent’s commission.
Leave it to the pros: the benefits of an experienced Cape Town commercial property agent
Choosing an experienced commercial property agent to market your building of office in Cape Town means placing the future of your lucrative investment in the right hands.
As a commercial property owner, securing businesses that are on the up and up as tenants means you can look forward to years of mutually beneficial relations with your building occupants. You also don’t have to think twice about issues like rental collections and annual increases.
For tenants, this translates into several benefits – chief among them being a desirable commercial office unit that workers love coming to and that makes a great impression on clients.
An experienced property agent should do so much more than simply place ads and speak with potential tenants. Instead, they come with a wealth of marketing knowledge and industry contacts that they will be ready to use to turn your premises into one of the most sought after addresses in the area.
Here are some hallmarks of an excellent commercial property agent.
- An extensive network. A large number of commercial property transactions take place off-market, often by word of mouth. An agent with a large and lucrative network can secure tenants that are already willing and able to take occupancy and have an excellent track record with previous landlords.
- Tech-savvy and internet marketing focused. A commercial property agent with a well-designed, engaging website will be positioned to market your building in the 21st-century. If you visit the site and see the kind of buildings you would like to own or occupy yourself, you’re probably at the right place.
- AI-forward. Agents who harness the power of AI in their property databases and to streamline communication or assist in property management simply have more time to spend on serving you – the client – as a top priority.
- Plenty of experience. The real estate business isn’t something you can simply learn overnight. It’s essential to choose an agent with years of experience so that you can rest easy knowing that your building is being marketed by seasoned professionals.
We match excellent tenants with top notch buildings – let us do it for you
A well thought out marketing mix and the right tools are imperative if you are buying, selling, or leasing commercial property in Cape Town and want to attract the right tenant or find the ideal office space.
Here’s a quick checklist of what to ask yourself and/or the agent when looking for the right broker.
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- Is the broker well connected in the Cape Town commercial property industry?
- How long has the agent been selling and leasing commercial property in Cape Town?
- Do they specialise in any particular area of commercial property?
- Do they have an easy to navigate website with strong SEO?
- Does the broker have a strong social media presence?
- How do they measure the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns?
- Ask for a recent portfolio of commercial properties they have sold or leased.
- How well does the broker communicate with you based on your preferences? After all, you are the client!
The ins and outs of property marketing shouldn’t be something that investors need to stress over. Leave the marketing of your premises to our team of area specialists and you’ll enjoy the benefits of working with top property professionals who have decades of collective experience in the Cape peninsula.
Contact us today to speak with one of our agents and brief us on your specific needs.