Right now, we’re going to talk about the silent apartment market.
Featuring:
René Nelson, Eugene commercial real estate broker
Marcia Edwards, Eugene residential real estate broker
Marcia Edwards: I do residential and we have the multiple listing service that shouts from the rooftops, this house is for sale. Now when you do multifamily, it’s a little bit awkward because you’ve got tenants you don’t want to disrupt, but you still want the highest and best opportunity for your seller. How do you approach getting exposure in that way?
René Nelson: Well, you know a lot of transactions Marcia happen off market. So if you go to LoopNet, because the average consumer knows that LoopNet exists, that’s a platform that sellers can use, but primarily real estate brokers use to put commercial properties listed for sale and multifamily or apartment complexes. But if you go in and put in apartment complexes in Oregon, you’ll see a bunch of stuff in Portland, specifically, Multnomah County, because everybody’s fleeing out of that market. But if you look for Eugene, there’s very, very little listed for sale in LoopNet.
Marcia Edwards: So LoopNet is a platform, but you’d want to approach with caution because you don’t know how the numbers have been tested or vetted and so you’d want to go with counsel there too. So your timing, is there another place to put it, another platform?
René Nelson: Yeah, so the platform that I use is called a Silent Market. And the reason that I use a Silent Market is there are a lot of sellers that say, I want to sell my apartment but I don’t want it openly marketed. I don’t want my onsite manager or my tenants to know it’s for sale. So I don’t put it on Craigslist or any public sites, but I have it available and then tell buyers that I know that are looking.
Marcia Edwards: So you the best kept secret, please sell my apartment, but don’t tell anyone it’s selling. Okay, that’s fascinating. But I understand what you’re saying and I understand the benefit to that. You’ve got to find someone like yourself, that’s aware of the buyer pool that’s running.
René Nelson: Absolutely. And I have a lot of commercial broker friends that I know specialize in apartment complexes that have buyers. So I will call them if a seller says, “I want to sell in the next three to six months.” Then we talk a strategy. Do you want it on the open market? Do you want it in LoopNet? Because there’s two trains of thoughts. You put it on the open market and then you get flooded with offers and then you’re going for the highest and best offer in a short window. I’m talking like three to five days, but if somebody is not in a hurry and they’re going to ask for top dollar, then frequently, they’ll tell me, just put it in your silent market, tell somebody it’s available, but don’t put it on the open market.
Marcia Edwards: Can you change your strategy midstream on that?
René Nelson: I do it all the time, when a seller changes. Yes.
Marcia Edwards: So navigate it with Rene by your side. It’s tough to go in that market by yourself.
Join Eugene, Oregon, real estate experts: Bob Nelson, Real Estate Investment Broker with Pacwest Real Estate Investments, and Marcia Edwards, Residential Real Estate Broker with Windermere Real Estate, daily at 5:30pm on KPNW for the “Real Estate Today” radio show.
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