What is the best way to select a commercial real estate broker?

I think the best way to select a commercial real estate broker is to look and see who has been the most active in that particular submarket. That can be by looking and seeing who has the most signs in the area. If I’m a landlord or if I’m a seller, who has the signs that are up that you can see, who is the professional looking group that handles the transactions in that particular submarket. You also want to see who has been quoted in the newspaper, who is in the common media, who has the experience that sounds like they know what they’re talking about when they’re talking to the press.

In addition, you’re going to want to look at their transaction record, and I would recommend interviewing two or three brokers at any one time and see which one you think is the best fit for you and your style of communication and your style of negotiation. Buying and selling real estate, it can be very a expensive and very costly proposition. You don’t want to go with somebody that maybe specializes mostly in residential real estate.

Also, I would talk to your attorney, talk to your banker, talk to your insurance agents. They may have had contact either through some space that they leased or through one of the trade associations, et cetera, and they may be able to make a good recommendation by word of mouth as to who you should talk to.