As an avid property owner and investor, there are times when you lose count of which of your property is currently being rented, whether your landlord-tenancy agreement is coming to an end, and sometimes, even keeping track of whether all your rentals are coming in on time each month. Your headache is amplified when you are an owner of “bigger” kinds of properties – ie: industrial factories, buildings, and so forth. It goes without saying that renting your factory to say a food manufacturing company is totally different from renting to a family of four looking for a double-story terraced home. The expectations and agreement of your tenants will be totally different. Not only that, but I am also sure many of you have your day to day job whether it is running big companies or operating your own businesses and only investing in properties as your side hobby. Hence, when you are looking to sell your properties due to factors like business expansion (selling off your current unit to get a bigger unit), retiring, downsizing of business, migration or the need to raise capital outflow rises, trust me, the last thing you need is the headache of doing this on your own and to ask them to professional real estate agents. Here are five reasons why.
Specialized and professional real estate agents know their stuff
As a landlord and owner, you know exactly the specifications of your factory and what are its unique selling points to your buyers or tenants. You probably bought it in the first place for your own use, but now you are looking to expand or downsize your business, or perhaps even retiring from it altogether. The problem then comes in – you don’t have the time to handle all the processes of doing so, from looking for a new tenant to take up your warehouse or factory to the last stage of signing on the dotted lines to seal the deal. This is where a professional real estate agent who specializes in industrial properties come in handy because they have dealt with so many kinds of industrial factories that their knowledge is at the tip of their fingers. They will be able to help you to secure a tenant or buyer such as a multinational company who will appreciate your property and possess a good payment record which means no headache of having to chase for your rentals every month. Not only that, because these professional real estate agents work on so many industrial deals at the same time in probably the same area, but they are also able to provide suggestions and advice on the kind of pricing you should be asking for from your tenant or buyer. In fact, an added bonus is that they can even suggest the kind of improvement you can implement in your factory so that you can actually ask for a higher price. This brings back to the earlier point of how not all real estate agents who handle residential, commercial and industrial factories are the same because each of them specializes in their field, so an agent who is selling a condominium in Mont’ Kiara may not have enough information about a factory located in Kota Kemuning and vice versa. A specialized industrial property real estate agent will also be working with a lot of tenants or buyers who sometimes may need to use the factory or warehouse or move in as quickly as possible, thus they are able to help you to rent or sell your properties should you need the cash flow urgently.
Real estate agents make sure your factories are used in a proper manner
As a landlord for industrial property, you generally impose more conditions to rent or sell your property. As industrial property landlords are big investors with no liquidity issues, you are generally more experienced and have the ability to hold the property on a longer-term while waiting for the right buyer or tenant. As a landlord, you may require tenants to possess the necessary local authority permit, from the local council, certain paid-up capital to ensure the company has the ability to sustain and pay the rent in the long term and conducting a CTOS check on the company. As an owner of the factory, it is only normal that you want to make sure your factory is being used for businesses that comply with the legislation and regulations of Malaysia. On top of that, real estate agents are also able to assist you to manage and negotiate with tenants on the terms and conditions of using the factory, the final rental or sale price and the refurbishment needed for the factory to be operational for the new tenant which can sometimes be a little bit tricky as it may be sensitive to raise these issues up, especially when it comes to multinational firms as they can be picky.
Real estate agents know the area well
Having a real estate agent who specializes in a few industrial properties hotspot is beneficial as and only they know the roads, amenities, and the kinds of tenants who would suit the area. This saves you a lot of time and research that you need to do to work on to ensure that the right tenant is brought in. As much as closing a deal is important, getting the right tenant is also important. Imagine not knowing the capacity of the road leading into the factory and only finding out the heavy machinery and big lorries are not able to be sustained by the road. It won’t be long before the tenant decides that they no longer want to rent your factory and the headache of finding a new tenant starts again (do not forget the clean up). Real estate agents can also work out on the best kind of long term tenancy agreement as their negotiation skills will come in handy knowing the area well and their unique selling points. It is also important to know that they are certain industrial units which the business owners have customized configuration leading to very complex designs or manufacturing process such as a fully integrated cold room warehouse, food manufacturing plant, where there are not many industries that will be able to use such factory. It is then the real estate agent’s role to advise you on what you can do with the factory. Good stuff
Real estate agents understand the market value of industrial properties
The last thing you want is to successfully rent or sell out your industrial property only to realize that the offer price was way undervalued. Because we do not deal with buyers and sellers everyday unlike real estate agents who meet two to three clients a day, it would be a lot of work to keep up with the knowledge of the market value of a specific factory at a specific location on a day to day basis. Real estate agents are running on the ground daily, so they would be the first to know of any changes in the market value of a factory. For example, say there is an announcement of a redevelopment of an area nearby to your factory and you did not know about it. The next day, the property value of your factory shoots up because the upcoming catalyst and injection of capital to develop the amenities and roads in the area have given a positive impact. How much is it your worth factory then worth now? What is the asking price of your factory? Your real estate agent may have a better knowledge than you as he would be the one being offered the prices and which leads to him being able to close the deal for you with the best value. Similarly for rental properties, what is the best price to ask for? Do we rely on listings available online or ask by word of mouth? As real estate agents get calls by tenants or buyers frequently and they know the kind of expectations these tenants have, they can then propose a price that is in line with the facilities, location, and amenities located in your property and match them with the expectations of the tenant. It is a relief to know that the kind of rental you get is in line with the market price, so no need to have sleepless nights of asking “should I have asked for more?”
Leveraging on their connections
Real estate agents will be able to source for you the best deals thanks to their wealth of connections of which buyers are in desperate need of a factory and are willing to pay for a higher premium. Because real estate agents deal with so many buyers, tenants, and sellers over a period of time, they also know who the “difficult” tenants are, which you may not know about without the consultation of your agent. Of course, it does not mean that you do not want to sell or sell to “difficult” tenants, but it does help to have a real estate expert to be the middle man as he will know how to deal with their requests and requirements. Ultimately, no one can force you to hire a real estate agent when it comes to investing in industrial properties which are high in value, but the commission that you pay to may be worth all the sleepless nights and worries to have an expert lift the burden of your shoulder. That is priceless.
The advantages using a industrial property estate agent in renting or selling your property
