GETTING STARTED IN YOUR MARKET
As a Commercial Mortgage Broker you can work nationally in almost all 50 states without licensing requirements. CA, AZ, and Nevada are the only states where licensing is required. While you can work nationwide, you will want to have a primary Target Market where you invest the majority of your time, efforts, and marketing dollars. Good target markets usually have a population of over 200k in the major city. Of course, if you live in a smaller market, you will certainly market to your local real estate owners and referral partners, but you will definitely need to have a major market you focus on.
IT’S A NUMBERS GAME
The key to success in the Commercial Mortgage business is having a substantial amount of contacts in your database, including property owners and referral partners. Researching properties is the #1 way to find property owners to contact. You must consistently add property owner contacts to your database each and every week. In addition to property owner contacts, you should be adding referral partners to your database, including residential and commercial real estate brokers, residential loan officers, and bankers.
HOW MANY CONTACTS?
To really see results from your marketing efforts, you are going to need a minimum of 2,000 property owners with phone and email when getting started, as well as their property information, such as characteristics, loan balances, etc. ICS can help you with contacts, or you can sign up for a property owner contact database service like BatchLeads, Property Radar, or ProspectNow. In your first 6-months as a Commercial Mortgage Broker, you should have no less than 5,000 property owner contacts in your database you are emailing and calling regularly. These contacts will be specific to multifamily properties or other CRE property types. We highly recommend starting with multifamily property owners with properties that have 5 or more units.
REFERRAL PARTNERS
In addition to property owners, you will need to begin building a referral partners database consisting of residential loan officers, realtors, bankers, and financial planners. Again, 2000 contacts is the minimum you will need to really start seeing some traction. Residential loan officers are the top referral partners type because they see a lot of commercial deals, but do not have the experience or resources to align the deals with the best lenders, like you do!!
SPECIALTY CONTACT DATABASES
Specialty Contact Databases is a great 3rd party resource for purchasing referral partners contact information, especially residential loan officers.