Daily Real Estate News  |  January 2, 2008  |   A Good Time to be in the Commercial Market
Real estate professionals facing a continuing slowdown can use this opportunity to expand their business into other areas, suggests Jerry Chautin, a business counselor with SCORE in Manasota, Fla.

Chautin says one good use of available time is to research commercial opportunities, which haven’t been as hard hit by the slump.

Here are some ideas that will help a novice in this area get his or her feet wet, Cautin says.

• Join professional organizations. For instance, attending meetings of the International Council of Shopping Centers and getting to know its developer members can lead to opportunities down the road.

• Volunteer at trade shows and other industry events. Being visible in organizations where there are people with opportunities to share can lead to good things.

• Subscribe to trade magazines. Magazines like “Retail Traffic” report on which developers are doing deals and point out the competition.

• Consider buying prospect lists. Lists are sold by ZIP code and are not necessarily high cost.

• Take a course or two. The Institute of Real Estate Management and Urban Land Institute are known for income-producing real estate education.

Source: Sarasota Herald Tribune, Jerry Chautin (12/31/07)

To learn more and access resources on the commercial market from NAR, visit www.realtor.org/commercial.