Searching multi-family/commercial investment opportunities

[JR Nieman]

What are the best sites to search multi-family/commercial real estate investment opportunities? I've been using realtor.com and loopnet.com, but I keep hearing that these sites are where deals go to die. I've got a broker that I work with as well but no one is as motivated as I am to find my next deal. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

[Chris Tracy]

@JR Nieman- The best use of Loopnet is not necessarily to buy the properties that are there, but to build relationships with the brokers that are on there.  You could also try Prospect Now for contact info of property owners.  You can do a free trial and you would get 1 county.  If I were you, I would sign up and do Charlotte.  Looking for deals, especially larger ones, is definitely very competitive and a grind so you have to be patient and that's awesome that you're motivated.  It took my group about 6 months before we got our first deal that made sense.

Direct mail is still alive too!  As far as that goes, you just have to be consistent.  You will most likely need to "touch" someone at least 6 times (meaning they see your postcard, talk to you, etc.) before the person is ready to take any action with you, as you have to warm them up and yes, some won't want to sell, but you want to be there if and when they are ready to do so.

If you want to chat, let me know... I have some tips for you that will help combat the not having a track record issue.