Has anyone used Loopnet?

[Ronnetha Darrett]

Was meeting with a person that I feel will help me on my real estate journey and he suggested that I review Loopnet to get an idea of what multi-families are on the market. Wondering if anyone has used this and what the pros/cons are.

[Don Konipol]

@Ronnetha Darrett

@Ned Carey is sooo right. There is one caveat however. Sometimes, at some point a seller of a property on Loopnet gets realistic and is willing to sell FAR below asking price. I know, because I’ve been that seller! As an example, I foreclosed on a property that I had a $180,000 loan on. With legal fees (borrower dragged bankruptcy out 18 months, prior to that TROs), I was owed $220,000. Because the appraisal I had was at $650,000, the broker suggested. We list at $650,000, and so I did. The type of property is difficult to sell and needed extensive repairs, but I figured what the hell. Anyway, just when I was ready to reduce asking price to $425,000, I received offer for $240,000. We agreed on $300,000 with some owner financing. Point is that there were probably a number of potential buyers that skipped over property because of listing price. The one that didn’t mind making an offer far below asking price was able to purchase it at what they considered a good deal.

This brings up a very important point. In any market other than a desperate seller marker (2009 - 2011), properties will almost never be listed at attractive prices. The investor who wants to successfully conclude a purchase will have two options. He can “work” a deal himself, or he can let the broker work a deal for him. Now, after the broker has “worked” the deal, I.e., gotten the seller convinced to sell at an attractive price (attractive to the buyer), which may have taken YEARS of effort, he wants to do two things. First, he wants to sell the property himself, not co broker it, so he earns both sides of the commission. Hence he needs to sell it fast, before the seller questions why it is not be advertised to other brokers. And second, he wants to present the property to buyers who can and will close.

So, if the investor wants to purchase a deal worked, I.e. price right by a broker, he will have to convince the broker that he is willing and ABLE to close when a qualifying deal is presented. How to do this is a whole different thread.