How do i find success in the field of commercial real estate?

Relationships are Crucial in Commercial Real Estate Deals

Beyond “big picture” perspective and patience, the relationships you build will be equally as important in establishing yourself as a successful commercial real estate investor or broker.  Within commercial real estate deals, you will be meeting a lot of different people with varying personalities, and the way you connect with those people and negotiate successfully with them might mean the difference between your success or failure as an investor.  It is also important to keep in mind that the more people you know, the more information you have at your fingertips.  Along with close relationships come unique opportunities to be first in line for great investment properties.  

In addition to the unique opportunities they provide, the relationships you form in commercial real estate deals will not only help you find the deals – they will help you close the deals.  Whether this is through partnering with a private lender or having the right connections to get tough questions answered, your relationships with others in the industry who facilitate the deal will be crucial to your success.  

When you surround yourself with trusted experts and associates who watch the market, are aware of trends, and know the area, you are surrounding yourself with an environment that enables you to do what you need to do to navigate the often confusing and tricky world of real estateinvesting.  Especially when you are buying commercial real estate, there might be laws or ordinances within the area that will affect your bottom line.  Knowing trusted advisors in all fields connected with the real estate industry (which can range from construction and engineering to political and insurance risk) will be your greatest asset as a commercial real estate investor.

Perspective and Patience are Key to Commercial Real Estate Investing

With the right mix of perspective and patience, investing in commercial real estate can be a successful venture, even in a lagging economy. Most experts agree that research is your most valuable tool as a real estate investor, but beyond research, you will need a “big picture” perspective of your investing goals and of what is available on the market.  

This perspective that’s needed includes thinking big from the offset.  If you bother with going through all the necessary red tape in getting a commercial real estate loan, you should keep in mind the scope of what you intend to do.  Dave Lindahl, real estate investment coach and author of Massive Passive Income Creator: Dave Lindahl’s Fast-Track System for Real Estate Profits, states, "It's no harder to manage 50 units than it is 10." Sometimes, thinking big might seem like a gamble, but if you crunch the numbers enough, you might find that it isn’t nearly the gamble it appears to be.  In fact, thinking big might save you money in the long-run. 

Patience is a necessary quality for a successful commercial real estate investor to have, as well.  Commercial deals take longer than deals on single-family houses, and there are considerations concerning renovations that must meet additional commercial guidelines.  For this reason, if you are investing in commercial real estate, consider doing so as a plan for retirement rather than a get rich quick scheme.  Rarely do commercial real estate ventures earn a lot of cash on the front end; rather, they require patience and an understanding of the time and effort that will be involved in making your commercial real estate purchase a profitable one.  

Another part of this patience is to understand the amount of time that you will spend looking for commercial properties, screening good deals from bad ones, and completing the offer process.  While there is definitely a learning curve, and you learn as you go, these are generally processes that take considerable time on the front end.