[...] 16, 2010 by Sam Horowitz Leave a Comment I was reading a post on the Square Feet Blog about how much real estate information is available to any interested party thanks to the internet [...]

True story. I can’t tell you how much property research our agents have done driving around – it’s very clear that the Commercial Real Estate industry is changing. In fact, our Executive Director, Gary Tasman just published an article in our local (Fort Myers, FL) paper about the evolution of the Commercial Real Estate industry in general and what is required of us and our community to continue to evolve our brand and improve the Southwest Florida’s economy.

Have a look: ^[8]

Agreed. Our industry must evolve in order to keep up with the times and not become obsolete. Agents must become well versed with communication in person and with a presence on the internet. The only way we’ll remain ahead of the curve in the age of available information is become sources of information ourselves.

here is the thing, costar does this already and loopnet is consistently increasing their prices. before too long, the cost will be a lot closer than it is. the real problem with loopnet is verification. the public info is public and depends on the locale as to how much is available and how good that information is. also, the property history data is almost always garbage. i just reviewed loopnet comps for an NPL apt deal. loopnet gave me some very encouraging data regarding sales prices that i thought was lower than should be. costar reported higher numbers and calls to brokers revealed costar was much more accurate (think 10K per door vs. 40K per door pricing levels). that is a massive difference and would the difference between making money and losing money on an NPL deal. i dont disagree with the overall premise of the article, and some loopnet info is awesome. but for every awesome loopnet listing there are 50 that are unintelligible and worthless.

I agree with you Amber. The Commercial Real Estate industry is definitely evolving and commercial agents must adapt in order to stay ahead of the game. The “communication in person” and “presence on the internet” is crucial to survive in today’s market.

I think it’s time we take advantage of technology and masterfully craft it into our property leads. Combining old techniques and methods with today’s innovative social prowess can create limitless possibilities.

I agree to an extent. I think the case is being overstated though. Yes, its important to keep up with technology and change with your industry as it evolves, but we must remember that a RE broker will always be an important asset to businesses when they want to find a new space. It takes a lot of time and energy to research listings, make the necessary phone calls, arrange tours, educate one’s self regarding industry jargon, negotiate the best deal, and understand the lease clauses. Business owners are hard pressed to find the time to do this on their own while paying adequate attention to their day to day tasks, and most businesses don’t have a RE agent on staff dedicated to finding new spaces; therefore the tenant rep will always be an important asset to businesses so that they can operate their business while delegating the duty of finding a space to a knowledgeable, competent, agent who is “in-the-know” and honest. Make the process easy on your clients and they will always come back to you.

I am currently learning how to create my own online image as a tenant rep and property manager. I find it makes my life alot easier to have a presence online. Soon I will be writing commercial RE op-blogs myself.

Also – I agree with Joshua; Loopnet is geared to non-industry users and costs too much money, while Costar is free to list and therefore has a much broader database of listings and information. Costar has more listings than Loopnet which our clients don’t have access to. If Loopnet started operating the way CoStar does, but doesn’t change their prices….then we’ll have a larger problem, but still the business owner won’t have the time or resources to perform this function properly and will be better suited outsourcing this job to a commercial RE professional.

I can see everyone’s point. The internet is growing so fast that it seems like the loopnet kind of websites will turn into those FSBO kind of websites. If so, maybe there will be a higher failure rate of closed transactions. I wonder if that will lead to even more foreclosures.

Do you remember not too long ago (in the last 10 years), having a client requirement, how we would search through the multiple paper “brochures” that would be distributed twice a month by our local associations? Boy have things changed. We have learned quickly that we cannot operate any longer unless we have the “data base”….be it CoStar, Loopnet, or a local service. This is technology that has truly improved our service to the client with quicker responses and crisp tour presentations.

Nonetheless a data base is only as good as the information being fed into it. It gives us a place to start but we still need to “pick up the phone” to actually speak with the person responsible for the property. I agree with Amber and Mark…..we have to keep up with the technology but I don’t think our industry will ever let go of the personal communication.

Do you remember not too long ago (in the last 10 years), having a client requirement, how we would search through the multiple paper “brochures” that would be distributed twice a month by our local associations? Boy have things changed. We have learned quickly that we cannot operate any longer unless we have the “data base”….be it CoStar, Loopnet, or a local service. This is technology that has truly improved our service to the client with quicker responses and crisp tour presentations. Nonetheless a data base is only as good as the information being fed into it. It gives us a place to start but we still need to “pick up the phone” to actually speak with the person responsible for the property. I agree with Amber and Mark…..we have to keep up with the technology but I don’t think our industry will ever let go of the personal communication.

The world is changing and the sooner we adapt our methodologies to it, the better. Technology is here to stay and revolutionise the way we do business!

Technology is imperative in today’s markets. If you can’t keep up with technology, you can’t keep up with business.

Great post, you should do an update for these buildings.