The world of commercial real estate has changed dramatically in recent years. A broker walk-through today represents something truly presentable that would’ve been unfathomable a decade ago. I’ve sat in too many broker offices over the past decade that have presented the same packet with the same photographs in the same order and tried to sell me on the same thing.
We’re not talking about minuscule alterations to help warehouses and industrial sites and multi-acre parcels stand out. The approach to presenting has changed completely because site visits rarely happen unless there’s a wealth of information first constructed for buyers’ preliminary interest.
Of course, basic photographs still play a part, but if you’ve failed to realize by now that ground-level photography doesn’t measure up for sites measured in acreage and requires buyers to assess 200,000 square foot distribution centers and 15-acre development sites, then you should not be in the business. Buyers need to recognize how highway access, adjacent facilities, parking configurations, and loading dock access expand or contract among other nearby property boundaries. One picture of the exterior from the staff parking lot does absolutely nothing to prove context.
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What Commercial Brokers Are Doing With Large Properties Now
So what’s happening, instead? Brokers are compiling comprehensive property packages that allow various forms of documentation to come together as one. The goal is NOT to make something pretty, but instead, to answer highly situational questions/needs so buyers and their teams don’t waste any resources on due diligence for properties that may not suit their needs.
Aerial perspectives (helicopter and drone access) have become standard for anything above a few acres. Professionals like AeroViews do the specialized work of cumulative site documentation that can articulate property boundaries, access points, and surrounding infrastructures in a way that ground photography never will. This data can often assist investors faster than multiple onsite visits to determine whether a property is even functionally feasible.
Why Commercial Buyers Want More Information Upfront
Buyers do their homework online these days. It’s not uncommon to sift through dozens of properties across several markets. If someone can’t ascertain feasibility from your listing, they’ll move on to the next without ever contemplating scheduling a site tour. This isn’t happening – especially for large properties. They want to see what they need to see before leaving their homes or going to the gas station to waste time on questionable sites.
Understanding buyer priorities has changed how savvy commercial brokers create their presentations. For industrial/logistics properties, location context reigns supreme; buyers want insight into the nearest highway access and entry and exit points; they want to determine how trucks will maneuver to and from facilities. They’re interested in knowing what’s around, for better or for worse, and judging whether there are future expansion possibilities. The more information they have from a distance, the better. Where once we’d all dismiss a vacant parcel because it lacked context information, now due diligence requires brokers to know better.
A very similar situation occurs with developing sites. Buyers rely on topography, boundaries and utility/infrastructure relationships more than anything else since there’s no built-in context; there are no buildings for them to see how they interact with one another. A flat photo conveys literally nothing. They need aerial perspectives of what looks level (or sloped) from the street; they want to see drainage patterns, adjoining parcels, and zoning boundaries. This information directly correlates with cost assumptions and feasibility.
More questions arise with office/retail properties; visibility from major thoroughfares, parking capacity and tenant mix nearby dictate pricing. Buyers want to see traffic flow, major anchors, and how something appears from at least three vantage points approaching the property from different directions. Basic photography catches 10% of what they need to know.
The Tools Available Have Changed
Brokers use more these days than just camera work and virtual staging software. One of the rapidly-maturing technologies made available is mapping; GIS sites have made it possible for brokers/site planners to offer an investigative site analysis that used to run several thousand dollars with reports coming back weeks later for assessment. Not anymore; they get compiled with property packages from the start.
3D site models are becoming more frequent for larger properties within presentations – beyond basic renderings intended for marketing capabilities – as measurably useful attempts encourage remote exploration with detailed information champions for buyers’ teams conducting assessments. This critical commodity exists when out-of-state or international investors attempt appeals because it renders due diligence sooner than later.
Geographical information systems take top-down overlays that used to benefit institutional planning down to reality, and practicality, for brokers. Whether it’s overlays with property boundaries versus zoning maps, flood zones, utility accessibility or demographics, buyers have exponentially more information than previous generations of properties ever provided.
How Quality of Presentation Affects Time To Transact
There’s a direct correlation between how quickly deals get done when comprehensive documentation is provided upfront. Why? Because lack of adequate information raises red flags that bring questions; buyers rarely want to look dumb which leads them back into other assessed documents that take time – costs – until they’ve finally read what’s right in front of them but didn’t comprehend with their limited field experiences.
The brokers who put substantive visual documentation together are working with serious buyers before they ever even open their mouths to make an inquiry. For example, if someone has experience looking at a property from every angle imaginable instead of additional questions about site configuration or access, they’ve done their research and likely know the terms.
Lenders appreciate property documentation in general; when buyers require financing for a commercial purchase, you can bet your bottom dollar that the bank will require extensive site documentation anyway, but when it’s available from the start and fewer questions are had during underwriting, everything moves easier.
The Competitive Advantage No One Discusses
While most brokers have caught on by now that visual implications need serious improvement, execution remains inconsistent at best. Having an aerial photo is not necessarily valuable aerial documentation. Sure, it’s nice to have pretty overhead shots on a brochure but unless you have aerial perspective documentation that champions all your valuable arguments for a particular property type, it means nothing.
Strategic considerations based on visual documentation focus on decision-making needs for buyers’ assessments before deciding whether it’s feasible or advantageous for them to look at ten other properties instead because holes exist in your criteria.
This isn’t marketing, it’s comprehensive value gained by productive investment into professional visual documentation that will facilitate higher price points and quicker closings because they’re viewed as researched best offerings on the market instead of check-boxed like everyone else trying to keep up with competition.
What This Means Going Forward
Equity plays an important role when viewing property presentations of today, a baseline expectation holds much higher than it was just three years ago. What was once impressive is now commonplace across various niches where brokers haven’t changed their game presentations increasingly find themselves less impressive against sophisticated owners who understand why presentation value matters so much when it comes time for sale price capitalization – and getting it done quickly.
Thus is by a large scale thinking process in place when presenting large properties; tools exist now more than ever before, and all at institutional quality standards regardless of price point for different commercial listings, instead determine whether it’s deployed practically opposed by those who checked off boxes just to say they kept up with competition rises. The difference shows easily how buyers respond – and ultimately results in the transaction climate.
