Commercial Lock Boxes
Just a short note on lock boxes for commercial real estate properties.
When you are looking to engage a commercial real estate agent, I recommend you only use a commercial real estate firm that uses commercial lock boxes on their listings. First, commercial lock boxes in the Boise Valley of Idaho are different than residential lock boxes.
1. As a rule, commercial real estate agents in this area do not utilize residential lock boxes so agents using residential lock boxes or button lock boxes are doing a disservice to their owner clients as the commercial agents will not be able to get in the space to show it to their tenant clients.
2. As we commercial real estate agents get to know our client’s needs by showing them properties, we begin to understand that other properties may be more suitable for them than what they originally outlined as their target size, location, or use. It may sound like that kind of information would be established at our initial meeting with the client, but from experience, I can tell you that information comes out when you are actually looking at places with the tenant client that was not discussed in the initial tasking. That’s a very typical scenario.
3. As our understanding of a client’s needs develop, we are able to guide them to properties better meeting their needs. So we’re out in the field with our tenant clients in tow when it becomes apparent another property may better fit their needs.
4. As we discuss alternative properties with them and if the other property is near by, we will very often go directly to that property. If there is no lock box on it we will not be able to show they your property. To complicate things, if we doing this during off-hours (after normal work hours, during weekends), we will typically keep going with other properties and your property will not get shown at that time – if ever to that client.
That may sound like a small percentage of the potential deals out there, but it is real, it does happen, and some tenants – under their own deadlines or set of conditions - will not be able to see your property because they’re from out of town and only have a limited amount of time within which to view properties.
As an owner, in a soft market, with a number of other available properties, it is in your best interest to only use commercial real estate agents who use lock boxes so we can come & go at will, rather than finding the right agent with the key to gain access to the property.
On the flip side, I’ve had commercial real estate agents tell me that they want to be present when the property is shown. That’s fine, you are more than welcome to come open the door, but remember, it’s nothing personal, but we may not want you to be physically present so that we can talk freely on whether the property will work or under what circumstances we can make it work.
If you have equipment in the space, it is understandable that you may not want a lock box on the property. True enough. But, for the other facilities (very few properties have equipment on-site when the leasing process is active), you will be much better served to allow agents to bring their clients to your property in an unimpeded fashion.
