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...]
Inside SIOR’s CRE Tech Sessions
Last week I attended SIOR’s Fall Convention in Chicago. There were several sessions on CRE tech – and I went to all of them! Here’s my highlight reel from these excellent presentations (nice job, SIOR and panelists!). According to Steve Weikal of MIT’s Center for Real Estate, what’s driving the technology boom in CRE is the realization that CRE is a big market ($) and a rush to service institutional investors who have become increasingly involved in CRE. Over the past decade, the share of … [Read More...]
Is Commercial Real Estate a Great Market?
I can't keep up with CRE start-ups anymore. They start out doing one thing. Months later it's something else. Not that there’s anything wrong with changing course when you notice you’re not gaining traction. It’s called responding to the market - or, more bluntly - change or die. Marc Andreessen wrote about this process – what he called getting the right “product/market fit.” Of the 3 things he believed a start-up needs to succeed – a great team, product and market – having a great … [Read More...]
Google Takes Another Look at Real Estate
Several years ago, Google offered a real estate search site. Powered by the now defunct GoogleBase, brokerages imported their data manually or via an app which fed the search site. GoogleBase also provided data for user generated real estate maps. But that was before February 2011. In their sayonara post, Google pointed to low usage but also suggested that the search and map models may not be the best way for users to find real estate. The Atlantic Monthly questioned the low usage excuse … [Read More...]
App News Featuring Lease Matrix and Pushbullet
Lease Matrix Cloud based Lease Matrix keeps adding more features to their “drop dead simple” lease analysis tools. Users can invite clients or colleagues to share lease docs which they can edit/collaborate online - a great way to keep versions under control. A new summary report shows data for selected properties in a compact format for easy comparisons. Plus, several new templates have been added for even faster lease analysis proposals. Fields you select are auto-populated plus you can … [Read More...]
Where Do Deals Come From – An Update
It’s been a while since I looked at the stats for where deals are coming from. And let’s face it – most come from relationships of some kind. Former clients, referrals, other agents and so on. But I was really interested in seeing how online sources were doing. For this brokerage, the numbers weren't that impressive. Overall, aggregator and social sites contribute only about 5% with the percentage fluctuating 2% either way in individual years. I decided to see if there was a … [Read More...]
Should Agents Do Their Own Marketing?
I was discussing the role of agents with someone who was adamant that of all the things agents do, marketing is of the least value and should be outsourced. It kind of surprised me. Isn't the job of an agent to find willing buyers/tenants and sellers/landlords? How can you do that without marketing? Many brokerages don't even have a marketing department anyway. Even if they do, agents are often left to their own devices when it comes to marketing whether it be generating leads, marketing … [Read More...]
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