Who Actually Buys Commercial Real Estate in Southern Oregon: A Study on Actual Deals

In today's ever-changing marketplace, we are totally focused on finding buyers and tenants. As most of our business is listings (seller representation), knowing true buyer activity is extremely valuable. We reviewed 73 of our own recently closed deals and studied the buyer type for each and every one. Here is how they broke down:

62% - Local, Private Investors or Owner Occupants

Not surprisingly, the most common type of buyer is a locally-based, private buyer/tenant, using the building for investment or their business.

31.5% - Regional and National Investors and Developers

A very real portion of deals were done with regional and national groups, proving the Rogue Valley's increased appeal and attention.

~6.5% - Non-Profit Organizations and Government Entities

An extremely valuable provider of liquidity for specialized properties, non-profits and govt. buyers typically close all-cash and help deals close. We are focused on presenting any viable listing to our contacts in this space.

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As a further analysis on this study, we wanted to share a candid view of how we've gotten deals done with the different types of buyers and how we see the market acting in the near future.

When we first take on a new listing, we can immediately think of typically a handful of the most logical buyers. Some of these buyers may be, for lack of a better term, long shots, and sometimes we can put together a deal with the neighboring or adjacent property owner if it makes sense for an expansion. However, with any type of buyer, we see taking a deal from start to finish as though you're crossing a minefield of potential deal-ending steps, from financing issues, property-level issues that were missed, development approvals, third-party approvals, environmental issues, tenant issues, and hundreds of other potential "deal killers". There are a number of factors that have to align and qualify a deal to continue moving forward.

The most valuable asset in today's marketplace is a buyer or tenant that is qualified and ready and willing to close. All marketing efforts, position of the listing, and presentation of data should be geared toward finding those qualified users. Of course, the study of buyer types does not factor in the handful of deals that have gone under contract and didn't get across the finish line, but we think it is a clear and helpful breakdown of the demand in the marketplace.

What is especially interesting is the surprisingly high portion of deals we're actively seeing get done with regional and national buyers. This further cements the belief and commitment of capital towards the future growth of the Rogue Valley.