Figure out who the key players are in your area.

My understanding (because I haven't done it myself, but I invest with those who do) is that big commercial brokers hardly even call you back if you're not already a player, especially when it's a seller's market. well there are always broker working for the bigger brokers starting out you can share your journey with them.. so In a way I guess I mentored my client from Hawaii.. we closed this 5 mil deal I was happy..

Though it might not seem plausible, I think the "creative class" is a large player in the Portland jobs market.Buildings keep going up catering to "creative companies", and damn if they don't fill up all the offices.I myself have a desk in a rehabbed building in the bakery blocks, and it's chock full of lots of small companies no-one has ever heard of.  

In IT, nobody is building datacenters (small players) anymore everything is just about to rollover to infrastructure as a service.

We're a local private lender, so perhaps biased, but agree with his assessment that the local sharp shooters (local/regional funds) are better positioned to know the lending landscape than a national player.

You mentioned this property is near new casino construction.

I've learned that there tend to be a handful of large players in every market that wholesalers will come to BEFORE they market to their "buyer lists".