Should I use a broker? And other advice please.
I jumped into our family business about a year ago, but I've had health problems and am moving somewhat slow. We own shopping centers and I'm supposed to get them leased up. 

Priority one is to find events to network with people. Idk why I haven't done this earlier. I'm hopeful there is more opportunity than just the every two months public realtor meetings. I don't have time for that.

I was going to call different brokers and ask them what we should do to get our centers leased up, how I can meet people, and if our pricing is right. I'm afraid every broker will just try to pitch a listing agreement to me.

Which brings a few questions. 

1 Should I use a broker?

2 Do brokers normally find clients that ordinarily wouldn't have come into contact with you, or do they general just get people who would have called you anyways from your loopnet ad or your parking lot sign?

3 If I should use a broker, should I use someone corporate like Coldwell Banker, or someone local?

Thanks!
[{"id": "e168krs", "text": "1 Meet at least two brokers. Hire one. (Where are you located?)\n2. There are good brokers and bad, you should interview two brokers to see the difference. \n3. Depends on the market. Meet one of each. \n\ntl;dr: Hire a professional broker after interviewing at least two. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e168m2o", "text": "Shopping centers are hard. Usually you have co tenancy clauses parking and signage issues ect. Drive around and see who has all the signs on properties similar to yours. If they are all for lease by landlord do it yourself you have trash properties and the broker you get will be shady as fuck. \n\nYou want to examine the properties you do have, the strength of the tenants, when their roll over is, what kind of market you are in, if you can make more selling to a developer ect. Brokers will charge you money if they lease the property, but they work for free until they do. I would meet with them to see what their opinion of your place is, they may have a couple of tenants already that would work. If you have vacancy, that means you can get rent now rather than waiting 8 months on a sign call. \n\nIf you want I can run a brief analysis on your property on Monday, would just need to know the address, then you can see what you are competing against, \n\n", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e16bjg5", "text": "It really depends on the type of shopping center you have. Is it a small strip center or a larger neighborhood center with tenants like grocery stores and drug stores? \n\nIn any case using a broker would be beneficial as brokers who specialize in retail leasing will get you the best results and tenants. \n\nMy company is the nations largest retail only focused brokerage company. If you want to chat real quick about it I can give you my guidance on options you may not have considered. My family also owns and operates shopping centers in California and I have been in the retail brokerage world for the last 14 years my father the last 40 years. \n\nLet me know! Talk soon! ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e16eru2", "text": "What market are you in?\n\nWhat kind of shopping centers?\n\nA corporate broker will have far greater reach than a local shop from marketing platforms and company relationships.\n\nIt all depends on what kind of properties they are, what markets they're in and what your goals/objectives are long term. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e16n8p3", "text": "There is way too much information for anyone to share here. If you are asking for basic advice like this, I strongly reccomend hiring a local broker to help. If you have a few to choose from, try to find one with some experience but who isn't so big they'll ignore your property. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e16nyn8", "text": "I've been brokering investment real estate for almost seven years now, long enough to have made it through the rough beginning, but perhaps more importantly, long enough to really understand the value a competent, professional broker brings to the table. Ideally you're going to want to interview at least two, possibly more brokers for the job. A good place to start is to ask other retail center owners or managers if they have any recommendations for brokers. This may seem counterintuitive, since they are theoretically your competition, but I've found most real estate people are happy to help each other with stuff like that.\n\nTo answer your questions:\n\n1) yes. Because\n\n2) brokers are going to hear from many of the same people that you would if you put up a sign, but they should also know all the potential tenants for that space. They should also be able to easily sort through who is going to waste your time. This is invaluable, because you don't want a potential tenant who is unqualified to tie up the property and then walk away. This will cost you thousands. You're basically paying them to a) put you in touch through thier effort with thier qualified tenants b) put in the legwork to reach out to all those folks and c) manage the transaction itself, keeping an eye out for potential issues so you can close the deal without too much of a headache.\n\n3) I work for an international corporate broker, but there are a lot of good brokers that work solo or in small shops. Kind of comes down to your preference. Upsides to both types and downsides to both as well. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e178bab", "text": "Ideally work with someone with strong local market knowledge. Use a 100% commercial brokerage, not a residential one. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e17qklx", "text": "Add up what the vacancy costs you in the lost revenue each year.  Then look at what it will cost you to hire a good leasing agent.  Is the lost more than what you would pay a leasing agent to fill the vacancy?  If the answer is yes them you need a leasing agent. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e1ydvgr", "text": "Filling shopping centers is a challenge now for even the best retail brokers. Trying to do that on your own without deep experience or using any broker who doesn't specialize in that sounds extremely risky to me.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]