a partner at Livemgmt.com, which specializes in technology solutions
for property managers, said new innovations could eliminate “wasted
motion and mundane, routine tasks. With the volume of data and
paper that this industry handles now, the workload levels exceed any
reasonable ability to check and proofread the documents, financial
statements, lease agreements, contracts, government mandates,
industry information and general correspondence—not to mention
the inflow of email and Internet news bites.”
Just as the industry embraced email and corporate websites,
the second wave hit: the widespread use of Wi-Fi and broadband
that served as catalysts for new options such as blogging and
online video.
And the changes haven’t stopped. ComScore Inc., which specializes in measuring the digital world, reports the number of people
using their mobile device to access news and information on the
Internet more than doubled from January 2008 to January 2009.
About 35% of the 63. 2 million people who accessed data this past
January did so daily—more than double as many as a year earlier.
Experts credit the increase to the growth of smartphones, which
have full HTML browsers for Internet browsing and Wi-Fi connectivity. Trends expert Michael Tchong predicts buyers will soon be
searching for property on cellphones rather than computers. “Just
watch how many people go into a restaurant and put their cell-phone or Blackberry next to their plate,” he said.
The challenge for commercial real estate firms is to stay on top
of technology—without spending excessive amounts of time or
money. Lori Burger, senior vice president of Eugene Burger
Management Corp. in Rohnert Park, CA, voiced a common complaint of property pros when she said there are just too many
options. “There are so many very worthy products on the market,”
she comments. “We are often solicited with fantastic products that
would ultimately streamline how we do things and improve our
bottom line, but if we try to engage each one, all we would be doing
is perpetual implementation.”
Sandra Acton, director of real estate development for the Cal
Poly Pomona Foundation, agrees: “Do we forge ahead into another
level of technology or stick with what we have? Technology has
become a blessing as well as a curse. I find myself spending lots of
time on an electronic device and spending less time face to face
with the clients I serve. It’s hard to find the balance sometimes.”
The bottom line is a matter of perspective: While periods of
rapid change are challenging, they also present great opportunities, experts agree. Take simple communication with clients. In the
not-so-distant past, clients contacted agents on their office or cell
phones. Now clients or potential clients are just as likely to text,
email, instant message or write on an agent’s Facebook wall.
It can seem overwhelming. But it is, in fact, a good thing. It
opens new lines of communication, which strengthens relationships and increases the level of personal attention a commercial
real estate professional provides. Brokers, for instance, are no longer tethered to phones or challenged to find opportunities to
return calls. Rather, they can now respond via email, send a text
message or even use a social media outlet. When it comes to staying
connected, the options are (virtually) limitless. ◆
