5 Things that Happen after the Listing is Signed?

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You've conducted an exhaustive search for the correct commercial real estate professional to help you find a tenant or a buyer for your vacant building.

Three interviews, seven pin striped suits, and countless shiny pages of pitch books later, you've made a decision. You've signed an agreement and soon, prospects will be traipsing through your vacant space - hopefully.

Today, I want to outline what happens after the listing agreement is signed.

Marketing collateral. A brochure highlighting the building's features is created. Generally, these brochures are html'd into a format that can be easily transmitted electronically for "broker blasts". Certainly, a pdf of the brochure can be forwarded to inquiring parties. Postcards provide a nice respite from the myriad emails we receive. Snail mail still works! Especially if the postcard has a great image of the building prominently displayed. We are starting to see websites (I can hear my resi friends chuckling) for each available building and password secure document vaults for mission critical documents such as leases, reports, financials and others.

Multiple listing service entry. As discussed in previous missives, our MLS services are walled gardens. Only practicing brokers have the key. However, we do submit the listing data to CoStar, ILS, The Smith Guide, Loopnet, AIR, and Xceligent. The information is readily available to agents in the market.

Signage. Once upon a time, if you didn't have an available sign in front of your vacancy, you were invisible - as prospects drove around and wrote down phone numbers. Today, you must have two signs - one painted and planted in front of your building and also a digital sign as 90% of all searches start on line.

Advanced notice. We like to send the agents in our office and the local tenants or owners an advanced notice of the availability. Akin to the "coming soon" in resi parlance, our advanced notice alerts the market to coming attraction.

Marketing process. Ok. Let the games begin! In our experience, a cooperative effort works best - meaning broaden the net with social media, video, and email. Deal with all inquiries fairly and timely. Show up for the tours. If the offering is correctly priced, laden with amenities, and owned by a reasonable decision maker, the task should be smooth and speedy. Any variance will test your skill.