The Real Reason You're Not Finding Good CRE Deals
Every deal you look at feels overpriced, under contract, or just plain impossible. Sound familiar?
If you’re a new (or even experienced) commercial real estate investor who’s constantly striking out on LoopNet or waiting on brokers to call you back — this video will change how you approach deal flow forever.
In this episode, I break down why good CRE deals do exist — you’re just not seeing them… yet. And more importantly, I’ll walk you through a repeatable framework for finding deals before anyone else even knows they exist.
You’ll learn:
• Why passively waiting on listings is killing your deal flow
• How to build real relationships with brokers (so you get the first call)
• The system top investors use to find off-market opportunities
• My simple DEAL Framework for building consistent, scalable deal flow
Plus, I’ll share the story of Jess Reed, a door-to-door salesman turned commercial investor with over $50M in transactions, who built his portfolio by mastering this exact approach. If you’re serious about growing your portfolio, achieving time freedom, and creating wealth through commercial real estate — this is the one skill you need to master first.
Get commercial real estate coaching, courses, and community to jumpstart your investment journey over at CRE Central: www.crecentral.com
Key Takeaways:
Deal Flow Framework (DEAL):
Discover: Uncover opportunities before they hit the market
Engage: Build relationships with brokers, owners, and key players
Activate: Create systems to track and follow up on leads
Leverage: Use your network and track record to scale
Three Main Reasons Investors Struggle to Find Deals:
Being passive instead of actively seeking opportunities
Weak broker relationships
Lack of consistent follow-up system
Commercial Real Estate Insights:
Best deals rarely appear on public listings
Relationships are crucial in finding opportunities
Proactive approach is key (direct outreach, networking, calling owners)
Treat deal finding as an ongoing process, not a one-time effort
Practical Advice:
Spend 30 minutes weekly working on your deal pipeline
Build relationship equity with brokers
Use a CRM or spreadsheet to track leads
Consistently follow up with contacts
Attend networking events and broker meetings
About Your Host:
Tyler Cauble, Founder & President of The Cauble Group, is a commercial real estate broker and investor based in East Nashville. He’s the best selling author of Open for Business: The Insider’s Guide to Leasing Commercial Real Estate and has focused his career on serving commercial real estate investors.
Episode Transcript:
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Announcer, this
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episode of the commercial real estate investor podcast is brought to you by my cre accelerator mastermind, where you'll get access to my step by step investment blueprint, essentially a library of resources on how to invest in commercial real estate. You'll get connected to a supportive community of other commercial real estate investors that are doing projects just like you. You'll get personalized coaching and feedback from me every step of the way. Go to www.crecentral.com
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to learn more. Have you ever felt like every commercial real estate deal that you look at is either way overpriced, already under contract, or just impossible to make work like no matter how hard you search, you can't find anything that actually pencils out. If that's you, trust me, you're not alone. Most new commercial real estate investors hit this same wall, and over the years, I've helped a lot of them break through it. Here's the truth that nobody tells you. It's not that there are no good deals out there, it's that you don't have a deal pipeline to consistently bring those deals and opportunities to you. So in today's video, I'm going to break down exactly why you're struggling to find good commercial real estate deals, and more importantly, how you can fix it with a simple and repeatable system, the same kind of system I teach to investors who want to scale beyond their first property. By the end of this video, you'll understand the three big mistakes that kill most investors deal flow, and you'll walk away with a clear framework to start finding profitable commercial deals consistently.
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If you're serious about growing your portfolio, achieving financial freedom and creating wealth through commercial real estate. This is the single most important skill that you have to master. So let's get into it. Most people think that they're struggling because there just aren't enough good deals out there. But the real problem goes much deeper. If you're coming from the residential world, you're probably used to deals being right there on Zillow or the MLS, where everyone can see them. Commercial Real Estate doesn't really work like that. The best opportunities, the ones that will make you the most money, rarely make it to the public market, and if they do, you're probably already too late. Think of it this way. Residential deals are like picking apples at the grocery store. They're on display for everyone, and they're fine, but they're not the best ones you can get commercial deals are more like picking apples from a private orchard. You need permission to get through the gate, and you have to build relationships to be invited in. That's why so many investors feel stuck. They're only looking at the public listings where everyone else is bidding, and ignoring the far larger pool of off market opportunities hiding in plain sight. If you want to compete in commercial real estate, you need to change how you think about deal flow. Instead of passively waiting for something to pop up, you have to actively build a pipeline, one that puts you in front of motivated sellers and brokers before those deals ever hit the open market. That's the mindset shift that we're going to break down step by step in the rest of this video. So let's talk about the first reason you're not finding good deals. You're being passive instead of active. Most new commercial real estate investors think that searching listings is enough. They scroll through LoopNet wait for brokers to call them and hope the numbers just magically work. But commercial deals don't just come to you. You have to go out and get them. That means taking a proactive approach to your investments. It means picking up the phone and calling property owners directly, mailing letters to landlords who might be ready to sell, showing up at broker events and asking, What do you have coming down the pipeline? I've even seen investors go from reviewing maybe one or two deals a month to 12 or 15. Just by shifting from a passive approach to an active one, they didn't wait for listings. They went out and created the opportunities. Think about it like lead generation for any business. You don't sit back and wait for customers to show up, you market, you network, you prospect, deal finding and commercial real estate is the exact same game. So the first step is to stop waiting for the perfect deal to appear and start taking action to uncover opportunities others can't see that alone can completely change your deal flow. The second reason you're not seeing good deals is weak broker relationships and commercial real estate brokers are the gatekeepers. They control access to some of the best opportunities, especially those that never get widely advertised. I get them in my inbox all the time. But here's the thing, brokers want to work with serious and credible buyers. If they don't believe that you can close, or if you don't stay on their radar, they won't prioritize sending you deals. A lot of newer commercial real estate investors make the mistake of calling a broker one time and expecting to get on their short list, that's just not how it works. You need to build what I call relationship equity. That means showing brokers that you're responsive, professional and decisive. It means providing quick feedback on opportunities, even if you're passing on them. It means following up regularly so that they remember you when something good comes.
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Comes up. Always tell my students if you only reach out once, you're just another tire kicker. But if you consistently show up, prove that you can close and treat the broker as a partner instead of just a listing service, you'll start getting early looks at the deals that never see the light of day online. That kind of relationship equity is one of the most important tools that you can build as a commercial real estate investor. Now, the third reason that you're not finding good deals is that you don't have a consistent follow up system. Here's what happens to a lot of investors. They talk to a broker once, or they meet an owner at an event, but then they never follow up. Weeks go by, the relationship goes cold, and they miss out when that person decides to sell the property. Commercial real estate is a relationship driven business, and relationships have to be nurtured. That means having consistent systems in place to stay in touch with the brokers, owners, lenders, property managers, attorneys. Doesn't matter. You name it, anyone who might bring you a lead. It doesn't have to be complicated. Even a simple spreadsheet or basic CRM can work set reminders to call brokers every week, check in with owners you've talked to every month, and go to networking events every quarter. That kind of consistent follow up keeps you top of mind. So when a deal does come down the pike, you're the first person they think of. If you treat deal finding like a one and done effort, you'll consistently feel like you're starting from scratch. But if you build a routine and you stick to it, your pipeline will grow over time, and the deals will start to flow more naturally. Now let's put this all together with a framework you can actually remember and apply the deal framework. D stands for Discover. You need to get out there and uncover opportunities that others don't see. That means direct owner outreach, cold calls, mailers, networking, any method that helps you discover deals before they ever hit the market. E stands for engage. Once you find those opportunities, you have to engage with the people who control access, brokers, owners, property managers, lenders, etc, show them you're serious and that you can close and you'll follow through. Relationships matter more in commercial real estate than any platform or listing site ever will A stands for activate. This is about activating your pipeline by putting systems in place. Use a CRM or even a simple spreadsheet to track every single lead, every conversion, every follow up, stay top of mind so you never miss a deal just because you forgot to call someone back. L stands for leverage. When you start building momentum, leverage, it lean on your network, your credibility and your systems to scale faster and take down bigger deals. Leverage also means using your growing track record to negotiate better terms and attract better partners. If you use the deal framework, discover, engage, activate and leverage, you'll build a deal pipeline that works for you day after day, year after year. That's how the best commercial real estate investors stay ahead of the pack and keep finding opportunities that no one else ever even sees. Let me give you a real world example of what's possible if you stop waiting for deals to show up and start building a true pipeline. Just read, started out knocking on doors in 2009 working hard in door to door sales, then moved into residential real estate as an agent. He was great at helping clients buy and sell houses, but he realized he was consistently on the treadmill, closing one deal, starting over to find the next one, and repeating over and over again. In 2014 he had a moment that changed everything. He bought a home for himself, brought in roommates, and saw that his mortgage was completely covered. That single experience opened his eyes to cash flow, and he started to wonder, how can I get my properties paying my bills instead of me paying them? Just quickly moved from small, single family rentals to commercial real estate, partnering on deals all over the country. He learned that the best commercial opportunities rarely show up on public listings. Instead, they come through relationships trust and a reputation for closing all things that he built by consistently staying in the game, networking and following up. Today, Jess has overseen more than $50 million in real estate transactions and owns properties all over the country. And what I love most about Jess story is this, he didn't wait for the perfect deal. He went out and made it happen. He learned how to build relationships, to be consistent and move forward even when things got hard. That's the mindset I want you to take away from this video. Commercial real estate investing is absolutely within reach, but you have to build your deal flow and you have to stay committed to it. So here's what I want you to do next. If you're tired of waiting for commercial deals to magically show up on your front doorstep, start by taking one small action today. Reach out to a broker, make a list of local owners that you can contact box 30 minutes on your calendar each week to work on your pipeline. And if you want more support resources and proven systems to build your commercial deal flow, check out the link in the description below to my CRA accelerator mastermind. We've got some amazing people in there, brokers, investors, operators who are actively doing deals and sharing strategies.
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That you can apply right away. It's a community built to help you take action, avoid the costly mistakes and grow your commercial portfolio with confidence. Drop a comment below. Let me know what's the biggest challenge you're facing in finding commercial real estate deals right now, I read every comment, and I'd be happy to answer and help
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you. Episode of the commercial real estate investor podcast is brought to you by my cre accelerator mastermind, where you'll get access to my step by step investment blueprint, essentially a library of resources on how to invest in commercial real estate. You'll get connected to a supportive community of other commercial real estate investors that are doing projects just like you, you'll get personalized coaching and feedback from me every step of the way. Go to www.crecentral.com
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No clogged toilets. No late-night calls. Just checks in the mail.