Whether you are a real estate agent, a savvy commercial real estate investor or a beginner who wants to explore real estate investing, knowing how to find the best properties is a skill you need to learn.
That’s the one skill you should master if you want to up your real estate game. With many properties on sale, narrowing down the best property in a way that it perfects your need could be hard.
Finding multi-family properties to invest in can be harder as there are not many of those properties going on sale every day. But if you know the right places where you need to look at, it won’t be so hard.
Don’t worry, we have got you covered. We’ve put together a list of places where you can find multi-family and commercial properties on sale along with all the information you’ll need to narrow down your choices. Read on.
Before we talk about the places where you’ll find multi-family and commercial properties on sales listing, let’s look at the 3 important things which you need to know if you really want to up your real investment game:
Number 1 – Searching for your targeted properties on both on and off-market listings
You will find as many offline hoardings as the online listings when it comes to the sale of Multi-family and commercial properties.
So the matter of the fact is you can find them on online sites as well as on offline platforms like boards and hoardings, word of mouth publicity or referrals or even through real estate agents.
Now, which one’s best for you? Well, both. Best investors are always considering all their options – online and offline to exercise the best opportunity there is out there in the market.
It’s important that you are aware of all the properties on sake before you make the decision of which one’s the best type of investment for you.
Sometimes, it’s also very possible that a property you checked online is also available offline at cheaper prices and vice versa. So, keep your mind open to explore the best of both the options available.
Number 2 – Working with investment companies or lending companies becomes a part of the game
If you just want to invest all your savings into the one beautiful property, you might be having the needed funded.
But otherwise, in most other cases, an external find provider is always needed and it’s especially true with commercial real estate investing. So, be prepared to work with a bunch of investment companies and lending companies that will partner up with you and help you with your funding.
Lending the right amount of money from the right kind of lender is more important than it may appear to be.
Be prepared to do your research about the whole commercial real estate lending before you start browsing properties – because sooner or later, you’re going to need a funding company.
Number 3 – Subscribe to the various investment software
There are various investment software out there which helps you stay updated about the real estate investment opportunities and for building connections with the real estate owners in order to scale the process over time.
Backing yourself with such software will not only ease down the process for you but also helps you efficiently manage your portfolios. Besides, the biggest advantage of such software is that you’ll stay updated about the latest real estate investing opportunities in the town and maybe, you can make the best of that information.
So, with that said, let’s look into the best places to find multi-family and commercial properties:
1) LoopNet
LoopNet is one of the used real estate investing platforms which is widely used in both, the investment property for sale and the ones that are on lease.
The properties that are typically listed on LoopNet are of large size – and by large, we mean both in terms of size and money.
So, if you’re looking to invest in multi-family and commercial properties that are huge spaces and have a solid strategy to capitalize from the same, then LoopNet is for you.
Note that LoopNet works on a subscription basis and they have a three-tier plan. While the most basic one provides you access to the basic data and pricing of the property, the higher priced package offers you access to more robust information such as mortgage information, comps, owner records and so on.
2) Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
Multiple Listing Service is a platform that is used and trusted by thousands of real estate investors and agents every day.
Their database which is their biggest asset is a huge aggregation of investment properties that are on sale around the country. Two things that make MLS a go-to real estate investments browsing platform are:
A) It is a subscription-based platform and having a membership allows you to get immediate information about every new property that’s going on sale first before the data is syndicated to other real estate listings platforms. In a nutshell, you get to learn first about every new property that’s going up for sale, before anybody else (barring other MLS paid subscribers of course) and that’s big leverage you can capitalize on – because, well real estate investing is truly a lot about the right timing.
B) The option of automatic alerts on select parameters – MLS has the option of signing up for automatic alerts where you need to specify the particular parameters you’re keen on with your multi-family and commercial properties like a number of house units, recently renovated property, mixed-use projects, vacant land and the like. You will get an email or an SMS alert based on these parameters the instant a property like that arrives in the market on sale. So, if you are smart about setting the perfect parameters you’re looking for, this option can work wonders for you.
3) Ten X Commercial
Ten X Commercial is rather a recent platform for finding potential real estate listings but it has gained massive popularity due to a great user interface and ease of processes. It has really simplified the real estate investments for many people and it’s about time you check it out if you want to look at the best properties out there.
Ten X Commercial not only provides listings of multi-family and commercial properties online but also acts as a broker for purchasers who want to purchase real estate properties through the Website.
Yes, you heard that right. You can now browse for the best Commercial real estate properties online, choose the one that perfects your needs, and also go ahead to buy the property – all at one place!
Put it simply, what Ten X Commercial does is to really act as a middle man between the buyer and seller of commercial real estate property, not very different from the traditional real estate agents or brokers, except in this case everything is carried on online.
So, they are some of the best places to find reliable listings of multi-family and commercial properties. Moving on, we’ve put together a brief guide on the things you need to be looking at before you lock in to buy a multi-family property:
• Ask around for the prices of the similar multi-family properties in the neighborhood – Sure, it is safe to trust the websites with the pricing of the multifamily properties but to protect your best interests, it’s important you ask around about the prices of such similar properties in the neighborhood. This is to double-check that you’re not overpaying for your investment.
• Check out the tenant occupancy rates in the locality – If you’re looking to rent out your multi-family property and do not plan to flip it or resell it, then you should take a good look into what you’re getting yourself into. And the best way to do that is to check the tenant occupancy rates in the locality to ensure that there are going to be potential tenants for your property.
• Check if you’ll need to renovate the property – In most cases, real estate investors spend a huge deal of money on repairs and renovation of the property in order to make it more “moveable” for potential tenants. That’s one cost you might overlook in the beginning, but you should consider it in an ideal scenario. Work out the estimated costs you’ll incur in order to renovate the property and explore your options of funding from investment companies. At Private Capital Investors, we have a huge clientele that we’ve helped by providing affordable commercial bridge loans to renovate the property before the property generates any cash flow at all.
• Evaluate the re-sale price of your multi-family property – If you don’t plan on selling your multi-family property (that is, you’re not flipping properties), then you’re probably thinking it’s waste of time to look at the resale price of the property, right? Wrong. Even if you don’t plan on reselling your property anytime soon, it’s very important you are aware of an approximate price you’ll be getting if you sell your property. This factor also determines how safe it is for you to hold your property for long. So, although it is very easy to be overlooked, our suggestion would be to evaluate it, well in advance.
