Why Don't Brokers Respond to Emails?

I work for a family office and this is the first time in my life I've been involved in the deal sourcing process, so maybe I am doing something wrong on my end. But I'm kind of confused why I'm getting such a low response rate from emailing brokers. They sell commercial real estate, I write them an email about what I'm looking to buy, and they send me stuff or at least try to unload their current inventory on me. At least that's what I though their job was. But a lot of times I get no response.

The only things I can think of are:

1) We are a family office with no web presence. None of us are on LinkedIn (or are set to private) and we try our best to stay under the radar. Maybe people don't think we are serious investors. Although I am using a corporate email address for one of the largest family owned businesses in the tri-state area. I'd think that gives me some credibility even if the business has nothing to do with real estate. Maybe we need a web presence/investment company that showcases our real estate holdings.

2) $1-$10 million real estate deals are more of a phone business. I've done corporate private equity and even the really middle market ibankers were always responsive to emails, so I don't see why real estate brokers would ignore their emails.

3) They're busy with clients where they already have existing relationships.

4) Laziness on the broker's end. A lot of these guys just don't seem to give a shit. Probably because our interests aren't always aligned.

5) They only give a shit about unloading their current inventory and what we are looking for does not happen to be their current inventory.

6) $1-$10 million deals are small for NYC and no one gives a shit about smaller clients.

So if there are any NYC brokers on here, please let me know what I need to do to get your attention or if I am doing something wrong. Do I have to buy drinks or dinner or something before asking you for deals? Again, I am new at sourcing deals and I am genuinely interested in figuring out what I/we need to do differently to get your attention.

 

Could be any number of things, but you really can't go wrong picking up the phone. always better than an email. Try to hunt down some scrappy, young brokers, especially if you are looking in the 1-10mil space. Maybe even try to meet in person with some of them and explain your strategy/deal profile/what you're looking for. Id say as a rule of thumb

In person>Phone>Email. I'm not in NYC, but i'd think that would be especially true there, where theres a million brokers and investors. Establishing a real relationship will take you farther.

 

In my experience, brokers (and really most people in the industry) are much more likely to respond to phone calls than emails. People get 100's of emails a day, and if a broker doesn't recognize your firm as a big buyer they might just quickly glance at it then move along.

Also, if you're just trying to get in touch with the top brokers at a firm, you might try a little lower on the totem pole as those individuals most likely don't get as much phone traffic.

 

I've got a couple answers for you.

-Broker's email boxes are for the most part a dead zone, most of us have at least 2 email accounts. We all spam email our crap deals to each other so much that our inboxes are constantly filling. At my firm it is literally part of an "analyst's" job to clean out the garbage and put all of the relevant emails into a folder for the brokers to review later. -You are probably correct on the zero presence part. I cannot tell you how many times people call me, basically asking for me to teach them everything about real estate investing. We get a lot, and I mean a lot of unqualified buyers who want us to find them absolutely great deals and frankly, when we get those, we typically spin them off to someone we already know can close. -Lots of brokers are lazy, in my experience about half of them are complete sloths.

My suggestions; Simply give the young guys a call. Anyone with "Associate" next to their name is probably 25 and has rent to pay. They are for the most parts the ones looking for new business, a lot of the older guys are just churning business with clients they have already worked with. Second, go on loopnet and look at which guys are doing deals similar to what you want and give them a call.

 

I honestly never had this issue. Honestly in so many situations after signing a CA/NDA I get the broker calling me usually same day. They also respond to emails, but might take them a day. The reality is that broker's are busy and are rarely in the office. They are out with clients and in many situations giving tours of properties. They prefer to use cell phones.

Array
 

You have to consider that a lot of brokers are experts at valuing their time per hour. Brokers also know that generally speaking, buyers are liars. When fielding offers for investment properties, they may get one call in ten from a legitimate, well-capitalized prospect with a proven ability to execute and close. Touring, speaking to, and negotiating with phony buyers who can't close is a waste of time, and consequently a waste of commissions.

Get on brokers' radar as a firm in the legitimate category. In reality, there aren't that many investment sales brokers operating the sub-$10M space. Just spend some time meeting them in person and informing them about the capabilities of your firm. If a broker recognizes your actual ability to make them money I guarantee they will answer your calls or emails within 24 hours consistently.

 

Would it be fair to include properties owned/operated/anchor tenanted by the family business? We own probably 10,000x more real estate that way than investment properties via family office ownership. Making investments outside of the family business is a relatively new concept for us. My only concern there is, when a broker sees ~$100 million properties in our portfolio, they aren't going to show us any

 

There are insane amounts of random buyers out there. Our goal as IS brokers is to spend our time finding sellers that have reasonable expectations and/or they are motivated to eventually meet the market. Spending time having chats with buyers is relatively useless unless the broker is new to the game.

It's YOUR job as the buyer to stay in front of the brokers, especially if you don't have a track record of closing a lot of deals in the past 12-24 months. Old family offices have a bad rep of not being competitive in the current market. Once you tour a property and make a very strong offer you will then be considered "on the list" and will be privy to more of the broker's time and deals.

If I find a deal that's priced right I'll have it sold in two weeks regardless of whether or not some family office that I haven't dealt with in the past shows up to the party. That's the hard truth.

And to your point about interests not being aligned... You're absolutely correct because IS brokers represent sellers, not buyers. It's not the broker's job to go find you a deal that works for you because are 25-50 of you with slightly different criteria circling around at all times.

Make a list of brokers that have closed transactions that meet your criteria in the past 24 months. Cold call them every 3-4 weeks and get on their email blasts.

 
Best Response

You need to make the effort to meet the brokers. Set up meetings with them. It does matter. We have clients as well as lenders and equity investors that come in almost every week just to catch up with the team, talk about what we're all working on and see if anything we currently have in the hopper fits for the people involved. If not, we at least know exactly what they're looking for and what deals to show them going forward. People are always more likely to not only show you deals if they know and like you, but also pull for you if you're a finalist in the running (assuming your deal is more or less equally competitive of course). Certainty of close is of utmost important to most clients and especially brokers, so if you're some random buyer/lender competing with guys we've worked with before and know can be trusted through previous relationships, how do you expect to win any biz? And believe me, we know very well who can close and who is likely to retrade or flake out - it's our job. This sir, is why you are being ignored. Luckily, this is an easy issue to fix, so get out there and get in front of those guys.

 

Because they're busy making money with people the have existing deep rooted relationships with. You need to go out there and meet them. Deals don't fall in laps.

I had a flair for languages. But I soon discovered that what talks best is dollars, dinars, drachmas, rubles, rupees and pounds fucking sterling.
 

Similique quod sequi necessitatibus eum recusandae numquam quidem. Minus amet quia et ut. Delectus voluptates nesciunt voluptas voluptas et numquam vitae et. Totam voluptas eveniet enim sequi et. Rem repellat dolor ipsum autem ad. Pariatur mollitia iusto cupiditate et.

Est recusandae explicabo eum voluptatem a unde fugit corrupti. Expedita nam ea atque voluptates. Corrupti vel sed perspiciatis nesciunt aut. Eum tempora quae dolores autem mollitia consectetur maxime.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”