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Getting the Attention of the REO Decision Makers for Commercial Real Estate

By Jim Gillespie | July 16, 2009

For 2-3 years now I’ve been telling commercial brokers to be building solid relationships with the REO decision makers for the institutions who’ve been lending on commercial properties. At that time it wasn’t obvious like it is now that lenders will be dealing with a ton of distressed properties, and the mad dash is now on for commercial brokers who are trying to get the attention of these people.

If you listened to my April Inner Circle call, you heard the Receiver who I interviewed discussing the criteria that he and other decision makers for distressed properties utilize when hiring brokers to list these properties. You also heard him talking about how these decision makers usually don’t have the time to return brokers’ phone calls when the brokers are calling to inquire about listing their properties.

So how else can you get these people’s attention? Through the mail. If they won’t return your phone calls, this is the perfect opportunity to brand yourself in their minds through your own mailing campaign. Keep in mind that all the other brokers are dealing with the exact same situation as you are…they’re leaving voicemail messages for these people, and these voicemail messages aren’t getting returned. So to differentiate yourself and step out of the pack and get yourself noticed, you need to be doing something different.

Mail to these decision makers twice or more a month, and ideally paint yourself as being a REO specialist in the type of property you work on. And if you can’t paint yourself as being a REO specialist, at least show these people that you’re an expert in the type of property you work on in your own geographical area. And as an alternative, you can also consider teaming-up with someone who is a REO specialist, and then market yourself together as a team.

One broker who I know showed me the postcards he’s already been sending to these decision makers. They paint him as being an expert at selling REO properties, and they show these decision makers the REO properties he’s already sold this year.

So if the REO decision makers you want to talk with aren’t returning your phone calls, start mailing to them. This will remind them of who you are when they see your information in their mail, and very few, if any of your competitors would ever compete with you by taking the time to mail to these people.

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If you’d like to know when this real estate market is going to turn around, there’s no one I know who’s better at understanding and predicting this than Robert Campbell. Click here to learn more about my interview with Robert, where he told me his simple formula to accurately predict when there will be a downturn in real estate, and when the market will once again recover.


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