The real purpose of physically inspecting property is to winnow thousands of available properties down to a few that would be suitable for your firm. On Long Island, the typical commercial real estate broker will have over 2,000 properties listed. With our clients, we like to reduce the field with physical inspections to half a dozen prospective sites worthy of an RFP (request for proposal.) Obviously, you are counting on your broker to make the first major cut. However, you will ultimately be making the decision on which alternatives are the most suitable for your needs. So, inspection tours are vitally important.

My first recommendation is to give your broker some latitude in selecting the initial properties. Let him show you properties that are perhaps a little too big for your needs, or as another example, a location that is less than perfect. The inspection tour is a learning experience..(MORE)