I’m sad to announce that, after two years, this edition heralds my last article (for now) for Property Investor News. I’ve loved writing these articles, but I’ve taken on some big new projects recently, which are more time consuming than anticipated, so it’s time to pass the baton on to a new commercial property columnist.

With this last edition I’m going to go back to the start and talk about how you source commercial real estate. On the face of it, this sounds obvious, but as with all things commercial there is skill set that is needed in order to source the very best properties. There are many ways to source, but I list below my top five ways to source commercial property.

1. Niching
You didn’t expect me to finish my last edition and not mention niching, did you? The reason that niching is so powerful in commercial is that the market is so vast and within it there are so many micro niches that can be extremely profitable. Niching can be of benefit in so many ways – not least a laser sharp focus on your niching strategy and location, which in turn can make sourcing so much easier. It also means that you are not competing in crowded waters with the masses. As you are concentrating only on one or two areas it means that you can also build up knowledge and relationships – both of which are key to successful sourcing. It also means that, through the knowledge you have built up on your niche, you can make decisions quickly, which can provide you with a competitive advantage by providing speed and certainty to vendors which can often be reflected in the pricing of (particularly) off market assets.

2. Commercial Property Online Portals
The main portals that can be used to source commercial real estate include https://propertylink.estatesgazette.com, https://www.loopnet.co.uk (formerly Realla) as well as Rightmove and Zoopla commercial, amongst others. However, whilst many agents (particularly the larger agency practices) advertise on these portals, many do not and so it is worth looking at the individual websites of commercial agents in your investing location where they will usually advertise all the properties they have available for sale.