Phoenix tenants weighing LoopNet and Crexi vs a brokered search for office space usually hit the same wall: listing sites show what landlords chose to post, not what is actually on the market. A broker sees pricing, timing, and inventory the platforms never publish, often the difference between a fair deal and a rushed one.
By David Pierce, MHG Commercial
What LoopNet and Crexi Listings Leave Out That a Broker Can Tell You
LoopNet and Crexi solved a real problem: before online listing platforms, finding available commercial real estate meant calling around or waiting for a broker to send a list. CoStar Group, which owns LoopNet, and Crexi both built searchable databases that any tenant or investor can browse for free. What they show is a snapshot: square footage, asking rate, photos, and a contact name. What they don't show is context. A landlord's actual flexibility on term length, whether the asking rate is negotiable, how many other groups are touring the space this week, or whether the building has a pending sale that will change ownership before a lease gets signed, none of that lives on a listing page. A broker working the Phoenix market daily picks up that context through relationships with listing brokers, property managers, and landlords that a portal simply cannot capture in a data field.
Why Asking Prices on LoopNet and Crexi Don't Always Match Phoenix Reality
The pricing field on a LoopNet or Crexi listing is the number a landlord typed in, not necessarily the number a deal will close at. In a market like Chandler, Tempe, or Gilbert, asking rates can sit stale for months while actual achieved rates move with vacancy and absorption. A retail space listed at a certain rate per square foot might lease below that number if the landlord is motivated, or a broker might know a concession package, free rent, tenant improvement dollars, that never appears on the public listing. Pricing data on the platforms is also self-reported, so two similar buildings a block apart can show asking rates that don't reflect true market value, only what each landlord's broker chose to advertise. A tenant relying only on posted pricing to budget a deal is working from a number nobody has agreed to pay yet.
Why Not Every Available Phoenix Office and Industrial Listing Makes It Onto LoopNet or Crexi
Listing a property on LoopNet or Crexi costs the landlord's broker money and takes time to set up, so not every available space gets posted, especially smaller industrial bays, sublease space, or buildings still in lease-up. Many landlords prefer to work a short list of known tenants and brokers before opening a listing to the general public, particularly for industrial real estate in tight submarkets where vacancy is already low. Office space in a building undergoing renovation, or a suite that just became available after a tenant's early termination, can take weeks to show up on a public platform, if it ever does, even when comparable properties nearby are actively marketing. A broker in regular contact with Phoenix metro landlords and property managers hears about that space before it is formally marketed, which matters most in submarkets where available square footage is limited and timing decides who gets the space.
How Current LoopNet and Crexi Listings Really Are
Both platforms depend on the listing broker to update status, so a space that went under contract two weeks ago can still show as available. CoStar Group has improved verification on LoopNet over the years, and Crexi runs its own outreach to confirm listings, but neither system catches every change the moment it happens. A tenant touring a property found through a stale listing wastes a trip, and a buyer chasing an investment sales opportunity that already has an accepted offer wastes far more than that. Brokers active in the Phoenix market check status directly with the listing agent before sending a client to tour, which is a manual step the platforms can't automate away.
What a Phoenix Tenant Broker Finds That the Listing Sites Can't
The biggest gap between LoopNet, Crexi, and a broker relationship is off-market inventory, space that never gets publicly marketed because the landlord fills it through direct outreach. A tenant broker working the Phoenix metro maintains relationships across retail, office, and industrial ownership groups, so when a suite is about to come open, or an owner is willing to carve out space in a building that isn't formally for lease, that opportunity reaches the broker's clients first. A broker can also read a landlord's true motivation, whether they need to fill vacancy fast or can hold out for the right tenant, and use that to negotiate terms a portal listing never surfaces. For a business owner or investor evaluating multifamily investment, land, or a 1031 exchange timeline, that kind of informed search often matters more than the size of the public database being searched.
LoopNet and Crexi vs a Brokered Search: Comparing the Real Cost
Comparing LoopNet and Crexi vs a brokered search on cost alone misses how tenant representation actually gets paid. Searching the platforms yourself costs nothing upfront: both LoopNet and Crexi are free tools for anyone browsing available space. A tenant broker's fee, in almost every commercial lease, is paid by the landlord out of the commission already built into the deal, not billed separately to the tenant. That means a Phoenix tenant using a broker to search, tour, and negotiate typically pays the same base rent a landlord would have offered without a broker involved, while gaining access to off-market listings, pricing context, and negotiation support the free platforms don't provide. The cost comparison isn't LoopNet's free search against a broker's paid search, it's a self-guided search against a fully supported one at effectively the same price to the tenant.
Is LoopNet Free to Use for Tenants Searching for Space?
Yes. LoopNet offers free browsing of listed commercial real estate, with a paid tier for landlords and brokers who want premium placement and analytics on their own listings. Crexi works the same way, free for buyers and tenants to search, paid for the brokers marketing space. The free access is genuinely useful as a starting point, a way to see general pricing ranges, set saved search alerts for new listings, and get a feel for what's on the market in a submarket like Scottsdale or Gilbert. Where the free tools stop being enough is depth: they show what's posted, not what's coming, not what's negotiable, and not what similar deals nearby actually closed at.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Crexi more accurate or reliable than LoopNet? Neither platform is consistently more accurate than the other; both depend on the listing broker keeping status and pricing current. Crexi has built out stronger tools for investment sales and auction-style listings, while LoopNet, backed by CoStar Group, has a larger overall database in most Phoenix submarkets. A broker checking status directly with the listing agent is more reliable than either platform alone.
Who pays a tenant rep broker's commission in a commercial lease? In most commercial leases, the landlord pays the commission split between the listing broker and the tenant's broker, funded through the deal's total commission budget rather than billed to the tenant. This is standard across retail, office, and industrial leasing in the Phoenix market, though the specifics of any commission arrangement should be confirmed with the broker before signing a representation agreement.
How do I find off-market commercial space in Phoenix? Off-market space surfaces through broker relationships, not public search. A tenant broker active in the Phoenix metro hears from landlords, property managers, and other brokers before a space is formally marketed, and can reach out directly to ownership groups on a tenant's behalf even when nothing is currently listed on LoopNet or Crexi.
Do Phoenix landlords list all their available space on LoopNet or Crexi? No. Landlords often hold back smaller suites, space still in lease-up, or listings they would rather fill through a direct broker network before paying to market publicly. The share of unlisted inventory varies by submarket and property type, which is part of why a broker search and a platform search can turn up different results for the same building.
Talk to a Phoenix Tenant Broker Before Your Next Search
A search that combines LoopNet and Crexi with direct market relationships covers more ground than either approach alone, and it starts with a conversation about what your business actually needs. Contact our brokerage to talk through your space requirements and see what's available before it's posted.