Recently I showed several commercial properties (around the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex) to a couple from out of town who are in a hurry to purchase.  They had called me late in the afternoon from a listing I had previously posted on Craig's List and gave me the criteria that would meet their needs such as pricing, location, size, etc.  They wanted to be near a city and shopping malls for their business.  We set the appointment to meet at my office on the afternoon of the next day to begin the search.  The experience did not go as well as I envisioned since upon inspection the properties were in depressed areas and were unsuitable for their particular type business.  I could tell they were becoming frustrated and disappointed as they explained to me and repeated again what type of property they were searching to find.  Realizing I needed to reassert my credibility in the process, I brought them back to my office and showed them the searches I had previously performed and the criteria that was plugged into the various MLS services we use for commercial properties.  To demonstrate how searches worked, I started from scratch using an interactive map based search tool on my laptop screen and showed them that if price was not an issue that well over a hundred commercial properties (depicted by icons on the map) were currently available.  Of course price always matters!  So, I plugged in "X"  dollars into the MLS program as one of their criteria, and a few seconds later most of those properties disappeared (as expected) from the map.  Then I plugged in the acreage criteria and even more properties disappeared leaving about 15 for consideration.  About 10 of these were ruled out because of location, flood plain issues etc.  The  5 remaining properties we had just seen during an onsite visit where upon we ruled them out also.  Being at a dead end, the logical thing to do is to consider one or more of several options.  That is, change the price, location or size of the property that is being searched and chances are that you'll get a different outcome.  Unfortunately, due to time considerations, they may not find what they want without making appropriate and realistic changes in their criteria.   

If you're in the market for a home or other type property, please give yourself sufficient time to search when you arrive at your location.  If that is not possible, do as much market research as possible and start working with an agent prior to your arrival.  Also, be realistic about your expectations.  Real Estate professionals can only provide information and show you properties that sellers have placed on the market for sale.  Buyer's control the criteria and terms under which they are willing to purchase.  Being in a hurry to locate a property under limited or specific terms can sometimes ask the impossible of the real estate agent.  However, we're always happy to try and we sometimes even surprise ourselves!

Regards,

Bernie