A Silicon Valley Commercial Real Estate Broker Positioned To Work Remotely

The Coronavirus is certainly changing the way most people face work. If you’re a business owner or manager in Silicon Valley and in need of evaluating your real estate options in today’s turbulent environment, it’s very likely you’re facing a particularly difficult situation: 

How can you negotiate lease or sale terms, let alone find a new office, while sheltering-in-place in the middle of the worst pandemic since the Spanish flu? 

A possible answer would be hiring a Silicon Valley commercial real estate broker with the capability of working remotely.

5 Considerations When Choosing A Commercial Real Estate Broker In The Era Of Social Distancing

1) Home Office: What happens when you need lease comps or a quick turn around on a LOI when negotiating a deal, but your broker can’t deliver quickly because they either don’t have a home office or it’s not configured to operate efficiently or effectively… as the saying goes “time kills all deals”.

Rest assured that in addition to my office at Colliers, I maintain a home office that is second to none to ensure clients experience zero interruptions in service – this is achieved by:

• Maintaining a designated office space to separate work and personal life
• Utilizing a laptop (that is fully loaded) for mobility and flexibility to operate from anywhere
• Docking station configuration connected to 3 oversized monitors for maximum efficiency
• Wireless high-speed mesh internet so I’m always connected
• Cloud storage to access documents / information on the go
• RingCentral cloud phone system that includes video conferencing and screen share capabilities
• Remote VPN access to Colliers so clients can make informed decisions with confidence

2) Communication: Face-to-face interaction was the norm when negotiating and transacting in commercial real estate which is being disrupted by social distancing. Your assignment is important and unique to your business… questions will certainly arise along with complex situations that a phone call or email may not suffice to resolve. Your broker should be adapting to overcome these challenges.

For starters I utilize RingCentral’s cloud phone system which provides a suite of tools that have proven effective, such as video conferencing to provide a more personal and visual experience for clients. Additionally, screen sharing capabilities have streamlined lease negotiations when reviewing and discussing lease clauses with multiple parties.

3) Website: First impressions matter, especially when you are hiring a CRE broker to represent you. In the era of social distancing, digital is king. What’s the foundation of digital marketing? A website – so this is likely a good place to start… 

Check out www.MinnisCRE.com and let me know what you think. 

4) Social Media: Whether you want to ensure maximum exposure of your asset or you want the latest information on local happenings and market dynamics. A broker that is active on social media can provide this for you – especially during shelter-in-place mandates. 

You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

5) Thought Leadership: At the end of the day it’s not a broker that you’re looking to hire, but a trusted professional that can lead the market to help you overcome a problem you’re experiencing and/or take advantage of opportunities. While COVID-19 is causing rapid disruption in the way business was conducted yesterday, I doubt you are sitting idle while positioning to stay ahead in the post COVID-19 era of tomorrow… and neither should your broker. 

For innovative thinking, solutions and resources during these unprecedented times stop by the MinnisCRE Blog – after all, no one has experienced today’s situation and there is no playbook so we’re taking it upon ourselves to write one!