What's the best way to pick the right commercial broker (Connecticut)?
It's a tough environment and I've been working with a few brokers lately to lease out Medical/Mixed-Use spaces with minimal success. I'm sure the uncertain environment is part of the story, but not sure how much is due to personal reasons.  

I'll be switching brokers in the next few months and wanted to get some advice on how to pick the most effective one in my area. Any suggestions welcome!
[{"id": "g87t8uw", "text": "If you've gone through a few brokers I'd consider you may be the problem or your property and reflect on that.  Have they told you things you should fix and you blew those off?  Did you pick last time based on negotiating a lower commission and ran off more experienced folks?  Have you supplied them with the information they need and worked with them timely to resolve questions etc from prospects?\n\nAsk your current or prospective brokers for a list of recent transactions similar to what you are doing (not theirs, just total in the comparable market).  See who did them and call those guys.\n\nAsk your current broker why it didn't lease and what to expect if you renew.  That should tell you a bit.  Tell the brokers you interview exactly what they said and ask if they agree and have a similar perspective.", "replies": [{"id": "g87tw1a", "text": "&gt;umNumLobster1 point \u00b7 3 minutes ago  \n&gt;  \n&gt;If you've gone through a few brokers I'd consider you may be the problem or your property and reflect on that.  Have they told you things you should fix and you blew those off?  Did you pick last time based on negotiating a lower commission and ran off more experienced folks?  Have you supplied them with the information they need and worked with them timely to resolve questions etc from prospects?\n\nThanks, very helpful.\n\nIt's a new property that was only listed in March. There are no building issues that the current broker has pointed out, and commission is @ market rates. Showings have been coming in at about 1/month..", "replies": [{"id": "g87vklj", "text": "To be honest with you, without knowing your market of course, that is covid.  March was the worst time literally in decades to take a property to market.  Deals underway were all falling apart then.  New deals were non existent.  It is getting better now but that again depends a lot on your properties characteristics.\n\n--edit-- i'd ask the ones you interview how many tours they expect to do in a month too.  Ask 3 or 4 brokers that and you will get a real idea of your market.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g87u0ky", "text": "Don't pick the largest broker in your market and don't pick someone new.  \n\nIt's a pretty niche property type, did you find product on LoopNet you like?  If your credit is weak or you have not leased much property be humble and really plead your case to landlord in a practical way, provide business plan, etc.  A landlord is making an investment in your business so they need to believe in it.", "replies": [{"id": "g87up7p", "text": "He\u2019s a LL not tenant.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g87wnol", "text": "There are websites where traffic comes in. The broker needs to spend $200 a month to bring in leads. How willing are brokers want to foot the bill?", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g883yh6", "text": "Find the most prolific broker who handles your product type in your area and has mostly full buildings. Also pay attention to whether you are actually getting the broker that has the experience or getting passed off to one of their associates who doesn't know anything.\n\nObviously you want the guy getting the most call through volume. For that, you need the guy with the most presence in the area. That being said, you DONT want to sign up with the guy that has 5 buildings looking for the exact same tenant type that you are, within a mile of your property. In that circumstance, a lead that comes in on your building has a very high likelihood of being steered to whichever of the listings has had the vacancy the longest and is at the highest risk of firing the broker. \n\nWhat NumNumLobster said about COVID is true. Depending on product type and geography, COVID has brought a some leasing to an absolute stop. If you are desperate to land someone, lower your rate below market but structure the lease to where it goes back to market after 6 months or a year. EIDL and other loans/grants should be able to make up for the loss in the meantime.", "replies": [{"id": "g88deds", "text": "Thanks, very helpful", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g89218z", "text": "-Pick a broker that works with a full service firm that SPECIALIZES in your property type. Ex: if you own an industrial building, go with a industrial specialist. \n\n- Pay the guy what he's worth, don't try to slash his commission. Commission is gonna be high for a good broker bc he has specialist that assist him (1031 exchange specialist, Tax advisors, lawyers, consultant, etc.) \n\n-gives you options and suggestions and makes you realize the right choice rather than push you into something. (an advisor vs a sales man, and you'll know who you have once you talk more) and make sure to follow their advice for successful transaction. \n\n-side note: don't underestimate the power of a new guy in the field, every top broker was once in the same shoes and sometimes they get their hands on a deal no one else has. And if your task is atleast supervised by a senior, you should have no problem.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g894g91", "text": "RE has designations for brokers. See who's a CCIM in your area. Also, look at your local market listings and see who's doing the most, who has the best OMs, whos properties seem priced right to you?", "replies": [{"id": "g89hn8w", "text": "Whats an OM?", "replies": [{"id": "g8aaisc", "text": "offering memorandum , basically the marketing brochure they put out, you can find it on their websites usually , just look at some sample \"for lease\" brochures", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g89c5uw", "text": "a good start would be combing through costar listings and seeing who appears the most. don\u2019t be shy to ask questions and ask what they\u2019ve lease sold lately. also, often times the best brokers may be the busiest and kinda curt or difficult to get a hold of...be patient and whatever you do don\u2019t settle for someone that oversells themselves", "replies": [{"id": "g89hfak", "text": "What do you do about asking commission? The going rate here is 6%, is it better to take it or batgain? My fear is the ones that will take less then asking may not be the best..", "replies": [{"id": "g89nut1", "text": "i consider myself a quality broker working for a quality brokerage firm. i typically don\u2019t say anything and leave it at six meaning i get all six if there\u2019s no other broker. what you can do is request that if there\u2019s no other broker, they get four percent. oh, but that\u2019s for listing agents. here all tenant representation is paid by the landlord when a deal is struck w LL bromee getting 2% and tenant broker getting 4%", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g89gyta", "text": "Where you looking? Feel free to message?", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g89kmfc", "text": "LL\u2019s often make this mistake and think \u201dmy spaces isn't being leased because of my broker\u201d. Fire one pick up another, fire him pick up another.\n\nBrokers can't create a tenant. Here is what you want in a listing agent\n\n1) he\u2019s a specialist in your asset class.\n2) he works specifically specializes in your local area. (pending size of your area)\n3) he is well liked by his competitors. This is important, you want an agent who talks to his competitors all the time and knows which tenants are in the market.\n4) full service firms have more resources for you to access.\n5) experience, personally I strongly believe in a minimum of Ten years.\n6) if you asset class is small and brings in limited fees hire a young hard worker.\n7) being cheep on fees is going to hurt you. 100%\n8) make sure they are communicating weekly.\n\n9) make sure your are listed on every possible outlet.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g8cbs69", "text": "You don't say where you are or what are the desirable features of your \"medical/mixed use\" property. In our area it's very very slow for all kinds of medical properties, the lock down is still in effect here and that means that doctors like others can not see the future clearly and are reluctant to take on new obligations, in fact many are packing up and leaving. What else besides medical could your property be used for? What kind of incentive are you willing to offer to your broker? To your prospective tenant(s)? It doesn't sound like a broker problem to me, it sounds like you're living in the real world, and at the moment the real world is reluctant to commit to leases unless you're offering something extra special.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g8l43p5", "text": "I like the many suggestions to find a pool of possible brokers, you might also walk through some competing properties to find out who is handling leasing which may be posted on the directory in multi-tenant buildings. Once you have the group identified I've found that the number of recently closed relevant deals should be the most important criteria (if not the only)- brand name, designations, etc. are a far lower indicator of success. \n\nOne alternative idea which someone mentioned: If you can't find any objectively high-performing LL rep you might consider hiring an extremely \"hungry\" less-experienced rep/team. I know this sounds counter-intuitive but from a LL perspective I've had some success with this in tighter markets. The theory is that a far less seasoned agent with more to prove might get more excited about the assignment and put forth a more proactive effort. I've done this when a top team was clearly not interested in a sub-tenant or direct deal, yet they had someone in the office who was far more junior. I've also interviewed the agent that called me 20x in the past - base on tenacity alone it was worth a conversation. Just a thought", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]