What is the best way for anyone to achieve success as a commercial mortgage broker. There is no easy route or magic formula to become successful in commercial mortgage business. The right thing for you to do to succeed is to conceive and focus on a few innovative programs. Work on these programs and target all your marketing efforts to the borrowers to whom these programs would appeal.
Once you are able to arrive at a few truly innovative programs, you can virtually adopt any marketing strategy and you cannot go wrong. Please remember there is a tremendous payoff to you in the commercial mortgage business - practically from every transaction. There cannot be any greater motivation than this.
Notwithstanding the above, here is a short list of certain effective marketing tactics – personally calling on all targeted prospects, telemarketing using persuasive language, direct mail, advertising in publications and various online marketing sources. You will do well to remember that the peculiarity of commercial mortgage business is such that even one successful transaction can cover a good portion of the marketing costs. Yet another suggestion to succeed is to specialize in a few property types, such as apartments, hotels, industrial sites, small office buildings, etc. You can also focus by client type, such as developers, builders, investment syndicates, etc.
Then the next obvious question is - how does one choose which lenders to focus on? To get the right answer, ou will have to do some pre-study on what kinds of deals are funding and who is funding them. You will have to run around and talk to investors, builders, developers, commercial realtors, bankers, and everyone else who can help you figure out what is happening in the market. The golden rule is to let your lenders decide what you should specialize in. It is far better to have one or two specialties than too many. Spreading your wings and trying to handle all types of of deals that comes along may prove suicidal. An ideal way to approach this business in the initial stages is to have a very small core group of lenders who have good products for the same type of clientele. This approach will allow you to test the waters and choose where to specialize as your business
develops.
Unlike residential real estate, the commercial client may not too emotional in deciding matters. Here you will be more dealing with business persons who are expected to be analytical and wish a bargain offer from the real estate professional they choose to work. While many home purchases take place within weeks from the first home shown to a client, the commercial process takes much longer to finalize. Be prepared to work with a client for a long time, with a great deal of research and property analysis to satisfy the commercial client.
The commercial real estate agent is one who is willing to work hard, is quite aggressive, and above all, is intelligent and very competent in the special skills required for this type of business. Many would tell you that commercial mortgage is much more difficult than residential real estate. Here you will be called upon to participate in a great deal of analysis of data and financial information. Your clients will be more into the negotiation process and require more of your skills that will fetch them the best deal.
The commercial real estate agent is one who is willing to work hard, is quite aggressive, and above all, is intelligent and very competent in the special skills required for this type of business. There are few professions that are as financially rewarding as commercial mortgage business, but you must be prepared for the delay until the first commission and the time between deals.
