years ago, the savvy investor can put in the same cash amount they would have before, for the same property. While the returns would be damped by the lower leverage, the opportunity to own prized assets with less competition on the bidding is very real. One key is to find those assets before the mass of competing potential buyers. Commercial real estate brokers specializing in investment sales have the inside track on their clients' situations. By working with an experienced broker, you can register your investment criteria and be invited to bid on available properties. For those wanting to target properties across geographies and not be tied to an individual broker, work with a national firm. The Private Client structures set up by the major brokerage firms allow you to tap into networks of brokers within those firms who share listings across the platform, providing the buyer with a broader pool of listings and the seller with a much faster time to sale and usually a better fit with the buyer's criteria. If you are a broker or buyer looking for properties to target, there are several tools to assist.

Real Capital Analytics (RCA) offers a set of tools useful to the investor. Their Capital Trends Monthly ® reports track the changes in sales volumes, cap rates, and price per square foot for major U.S. markets and property types. If you are willing to look outside the U.S., RCA offers a Global Capital Trendstm report. A Property Trade Search helps you research specific recent sales to determine pricing levels at a granular level. A new tool offered by RCA called the Troubled Asset Search lets you search for specific properties in some form of distress. The types of distress include the bankruptcy of the owner, lender, or major tenant. Finally, the Troubled Asset Radar report provides meaningful statistics and analysis for each market. Check out http://www.rcanalytics.com for more details on RCA's subscription products.

LoopNet offers another set of useful tools with their Distressed Properties Search. Available to premium members, this new feature lets you search for properties marketed for sale that are either foreclosed,