Knowing how to find commercial property or apartment building owners likely to sell soon can give you several advantages. By approaching property owners before they advertise their intentions to sell, you might find that you can negotiate a lower price without competition from other buyers. You could also benefit from taking over leasing contracts that the owners have with current tenants.
Before you can reap the advantages of buying off-market properties, you need to know how to find properties before they get listed. The following tips will make it easier for you to target properties before owners put them on the market.
Look at Whether Property Owners Lose Tenants Often
2020 was a difficult year for many commercial property and apartment building owners. Pandemic precautions made it impossible for many retail stores to stay in business. As they closed, property owners lost steady streams of revenue. Even established stores like J. Crew, Brooks Brothers, and Stein Mart filed for bankruptcy.
Eviction moratoriums have helped people stay in their homes during an economic crisis. Unfortunately, the federal government has done the bare minimum to help the individuals and companies that rely on rent from tenants. Property owners could find that they lose billions of dollars by the end of the pandemic. It’s unclear how they will recoup that money—or if they will ever get reimbursed.
When you see a commercial property losing tenants, you know that the owner struggles with the lost revenues. The owner might want to sell the property to avoid ongoing challenges in the retail and restaurant industries.
It’s harder to tell whether apartment buildings are losing tenants or simply not getting paid. Assume that many of the property owners feel uncertain about the future.
Recommended reading: How to Find Off-Market Real Estate Gems
Identify Businesses Preparing to Expand
While many industries struggle to make ends meet, some companies have thrived over the last year. Sudden growth may have the property owners looking for other locations that can accommodate more employees, products, and customers.
Look for companies doing extremely well in the current market. Maybe real estate professionals will assume that those businesses feel comfortable staying where they are. Approaching them about the opportunity to expand could lead to a deal that benefits both parties.
Target Loan Holders Behind on Their Payments
As commercial property and apartment building owners lose money to tenants that go out of business or change locations, they often fall behind on their loan payments. It doesn’t take long before the owners enter a state of pre-foreclosure, the beginning phase of the foreclosure process during which the lender files legal documents.
Property owners don’t always lose their buildings after entering pre-foreclosure. Some of them use the opportunity to renegotiate loans. The lender wants to get repaid as much as possible without going through a prolonged legal battle. The lender will also need to find someone to purchase the repossessed property, which takes time.
While pre-foreclosure doesn’t always lead to foreclosure or repossession, it puts the owner in a perilous position. The threat of losing property through the foreclosure process creates a lot of anxiety. When owners lose their properties to lenders, they get nothing in return. Selling the real estate now makes it possible for them to earn some money so they can repay the loan in full and walk away from the deal with some profit.
Sifting through court documents to find properties entering pre-foreclosure or foreclosure isn’t appealing. You can, however, rely on databases that track public records. That way, you get quick, accurate information that helps you target people interested in selling their commercial properties or apartment buildings as soon as possible.
Recommended reading: How to Find Off-Market Properties That are Predicted to List
Pay Attention to Properties With Delinquent Taxes
Tax records are public documents that anyone can access. In most places, you can access property tax records by visiting the county tax assessor. Some counties have online databases that you can search. They don’t always update their records as often as you might like, though, so you can’t always trust the information that you find in these databases.
You’ll need some information to access property tax records. The county tax assessor’s office expects you to know the property’s address or lot number. Additional information could make the search easier, but you can usually find the tax documents you need with the property’s correct address.
If this sounds like a hassle, you’re correct. Even when you use a county’s online database, you often have to wait for slow servers to give you the information you need. Plus, you’ll always wonder whether you have 100% accurate data that helps you identify properties with delinquent taxes.
Again, you can use commercial property databases that track unpaid taxes, delinquencies, and liens. These databases usually update their information frequently to help real estate professionals connect with owners who want to sell their properties.
Reaching out to people struggling to pay their property taxes gives you a way to help them avoid fines while you get to purchase the real estate at a discount. Depending on how delinquent the taxes are, though, you may need to pay the back taxes before you can purchase the property. Keep that in mind as you reach an agreement with a current owner.
ProspectNow Can Help You Identify the Right Commercial and Apartment Buildings
ProspectNow makes it easy for you to find commercial and apartment building owners likely to sell. The commercial database tracks public records so you’ll know which owners might not have enough money to pay their loans or taxes.
ProspectNow also uses predictive analytics to determine which properties in an area will go on the market soon. Often, the predictive analytics feature lets you focus on properties before they go on sale. You can even get the property owner’s contact information.
ProspectNow has been helping agents just like you since 2008. Ready to find more leads, close more deals, and make more money? Schedule a demo of ProspectNow’s commercial database and its features. Get instant access to information about millions of properties.