Brokers, do you get cold-shouldered by owners/agents when calling on available properties?
I call on available properties to collect information on the inventory in my market. Some agents/owners are friendly in the conversation till they find out that I'm a broker and not a potential buyer or tenant.

I don't ask for sensitive info like the rent roll or tax returns, but getting basic info like the size and rate of a vacant retail space is unbelievably difficult sometimes. 

Why is this? If I have information on your property, I'm more likely to show them to my clients first. Are they just trying to avoid paying/splitting a commission? 

Has anyone else ran into this problem and how did you get around it? This doesn't happen often, just enough that I want to figure a way around it.



[{"id": "cmujilh", "text": "I'll chime in... I'm happy to work with other brokers. \n\nIf I give someone the cold shoulder, it's normally because they are wasting my time requesting info that could easily be found by searching a listing service, my website, etc. The most valuable thing we have is time and if I've spent my valuable time and energy listing a site and making sure all the details are easily found only to get a call from someone too lazy to search for it first, you're telling me that you're time is more valuable then mine. \n\nI also know most of the brokers that do deals in my area... You might want to spend more time networking and developing those relationships. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cmv3ov1", "text": "I'll add my two cents worth. I am a Florida broker and I get all sorts of calls from companies that want to \"update their database\". They aren't interested in selling my listing a to their prospect; they just want my data and are to lazy to look at my website. Then these same folks turn around and want to sell me real estate data. I am just over it and don't waste my time giving any information to any one who isn't working to sell my listing. \n\nThis situation has gotten really bad in the last year or so and most brokers I talk to feel the same way.\n\nIf you have a qualified prospect and are a serious broker I will spend all the time you need understanding my listings. If you just want to use my time for free to get free data, I have much better things to do.", "replies": [{"id": "cnfo626", "text": "Funny you mention this - I do research for a large firm and make these sorts of phone calls all the time - literally to update our database!\n\nMaybe your case is different, but many websites/software for property listings have inconsistent information. Also - a lot of brokers in my market are in an older generation - and do not update their websites in a timely manner.\n\nYou also may want to reconsider the cold shoulder and instead - direct the person to your website. If a broker asks me to find X square feet in this submarket - it could be your listing (assuming you didn't hang up on me when i called!)", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]