The term “big data” has been thrown around a lot lately. CRE is no exception with startups claiming to be harnessing its power. What is big data? It refers to large data sets of both structured and unstructured data sources. You’re dealing with structured data when you’re filling out forms. Each field in the form goes into a column in a table in a database. Unstructured data is typically text – like Tweets – where meaning has to be derived from analysis of the text. That’s where … [Read more...]
The Demographics of CRE Agents
As you may have noticed, most CRE agents are white males. While the percentages vary depending on the study and what positions/specialties are included, females represent anywhere from 10% to over 40% of the work force with minorities representing around 5%. They're also old - and getting older. Between 2002 and today, the median age of all real estate agents has climbed from 52 to 57. There are all sorts of explanations for these statistics. Bias towards women and minorities not only … [Read more...]
Automating the Agent
Remember all the talk about real estate industry disruption? The other "d" word being thrown with it was disintermediation, i.e., getting rid of the middleman. It's always been assumed that the middleman expected to disappear was the agent. But there has always been another middleman in the real estate process. The brokerage. According to McKinsey Analytics, when it comes to the likelihood of automation, brokerages have more to worry about. McKinsey gives brokerages a slightly over 50% … [Read more...]
The Other Data War
I don’t want to hear any more whining about LoopNet. It's just a marketing platform. You assess LoopNet’s value by how well they deliver leads that convert to deals. If they don’t deliver, you should stop paying for it. No whining about CoStar either. They’ve collected all sorts of data, added value and are charging you to access it. Same thing goes for those who use LoopNet as a data source. You can only whine if you know their data sucks, in which case, why are you still using them for … [Read more...]
Interview With a Millennial
I had the opportunity to interview Richard Lewis, an intern who worked at a commercial real estate brokerage for several months earlier this year. A local university student majoring in Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises, most of his internship involved introducing social networking to agents. Of course, I had to know how that went but I was also interested in his overall impression of the CRE industry and what he expected from brokerage. What did you think working as a CRE agent would … [Read more...]
What I Learned From CoStar’s Andrew Florance
During yet another panel on the future of CRE tech, I heard many of the same things I’ve heard before. How the driver-less car, 3D printing, mobile connectivity and VR are going to change the CRE industry. How the agent will transition from salesperson to trusted advisor. Better tools for agents, standardized transactions, more transparency, the importance of data, etc and so on. What made this panel a little different was the presence of CoStar CEO Andrew Florance. Not only was he … [Read more...]
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