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Here’s an example of investor shopping made easy, even in a rough-and-tumble economy: Call up a list of 60,000 individuals with an eye for a good deal and the big cash on hand to make a down payment.

That list was made available to Tom DeWaay, Jeff Panzi and Colin Panzi when they were tapped to open a Greater Des Moines office for Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc.

The national real estate broker closed $20.7 billion in transactions last year and, like many firms impressed with the relative stability of the Central Iowa commercial property market, wanted an entree into the area.

Marcus & Millichap, which is based in California and has more than 1,300 offices nationwide, recruited DeWaay and the father-and-son Panzi team away from CB Richard Ellis/Hubbell Commercial.

All three men had been the target of a Marcus & Millichap recruitment effort.

DeWaay and Jeff Panzi had developed a reputation as commercial investment brokers.

Last year, they handled the Hubbell acquisition of Clarke Co. Ltd. apartment buildings. Colin Panzi also was involved in the transaction, which was valued at $100 million by Clarke Co.

The transaction was named the Iowa Commercial Real Estate Association’s “deal of the year” for 2007.

Jeff Panzi said Marcus & Millichap had contacted him “every month or so” for more than a year before persuading the trio to leave Hubbell.

“We had no intentions of leaving,” he said.

But leave they did, opening an office in late June at 1011 Office Park Road in West Des Moines.

They like to talk about that list of investors, but they are more keen on the notion that capital is attract ed to Greater Des Moines.

Jeff Panzi said the list is voluntary, made up of people who give a price range for the types of real estate investments they are interested in.

Those investments range from a few hundred thousand dollars to several million dollars.

DeWaay said the focus in this market is the $1 million to $10 million range.

“Larger portfolios are not selling in today’s market,” he said.

The market is strongest for class A apartment buildings, which are benefiting from high occupancy rates driven by the slumping residential housing market and weak economy. The market also is strong for class A office buildings and, to a lesser degree, single-tenant retail buildings.

Since opening in late June, the West Des Moines office has placed about $19 million in transactions under contract.

“And we just got our computers hooked up a couple of weeks ago,” Jeff Panzi said. “The three deals we have tied up right now involve buyers from California, Florida and Omaha, and they all came off that list.”

Not to be outdone by out-of-state money, about 600 potential investors from Iowa also are on the list.

At present, banks are lending at about 80 percent of value, meaning investors can expect to provide about 20 percent of the purchase price. Interest rates are running at a fixed rate of about 6.5 percent over 10 years of a 30-year amortization.

And lenders are more circumspect in determining value than a year ago, basing the value of a deal on its current performance as opposed to an appraisal that attempts to predict the future.

In today’s market, DeWaay said, it is important to find properties that are generating positive, or at least neutral, cash flow.

“Otherwise, we get ready for a sale and find out that the bank won’t make the loan,” he said.

Still, there is a great attraction for apartment complexes.

Jeff Panzi pointed out that fewer than one-third of 1 percent of all multifamily properties are in foreclosure, meaning there is not a glut of properties at cut-rate prices due to bank ownership.

The past will play a role in the future for Marcus & Millichap’s local office. Jeff Panzi said the brokerage will handle the sale of Clarke Co. properties in South Dakota that were not a part of the Hubbell deal.