NUTS & BOLTS
CRE OWNERSHIP
How to Leverage Ownership Portfolios to Get Deals Done DATA-DRIVEN TECH CAN HELP COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS STAND OUT.
by Rich Sarkis
F
buyer and a seller, but prospective buyers often struggle to determine who, exactly, is the primary decision-maker for a property. The popularity of LLCs and holding companies means that a property’s owner of record isn’t always the person who actually calls the shots, and a single individual’s full ownership portfolio isn’t always clear at first blush. The strength of one’s initial offer on an asset can set the tone for the entire nego- tiation process, so it’s essential for brokers and investors to gather as much infor- mation as possible prior to crafting their pitches. This is where a complete owner- ship portfolio becomes remarkably useful. If a CRE professional knows exactly what kind of properties an owner already controls, it becomes much easier to as- semble a compelling, personalized offer that demonstrates an impressive depth and breadth of market knowledge. For instance, if a broker knows that an owner has recently acquired three multifamily properties in the same up-and-coming neighborhood, that broker can present a compelling case for an additional multi- family or even retail space nearby.
ew people will dispute that data plays a pivotal role in modern
Ownership portfolios may be assembled “private- investigator” style or using data-driven software systems that mine the public record for information. Similarly, a full ownership portfolio can give a broker insight into an owner’s current financial standing. If, for example, an owner is already carrying a substantial amount of debt as one of their property’s mortgages approaches maturity, they might be more likely to part with the asset even if it’s not officially listed. In this way, shrewd CRE professionals can find under-the-radar, unlisted opportunities, but it’s only possible if a broker or investor has all the informa- tion necessary to analyze a specific owner’s complete CRE portfolio. •
commercial real estate (CRE). Granular property information has always been at the center of much of what CRE brokers and investors do. While property records have migrated from filing cabinets to Excel spreadsheets to data aggregation platforms over the course of the last several decades, the underlying fundamentals of CRE have more or less remained unchanged. As such, the difference between success and failure in today’s CRE landscape often comes down to whether a broker or investor can put new technologies (and the associat- ed data they provide) into action in a better, more robust way than their competition. When everyone has access to key property information, it all comes down to how well you use it.
THE VALUE OF A COMPREHENSIVE
Richard Sarkis is the CEO and co-found- er or Reonomy, a powerful data engine of over 47 million commercial properties. Learn more at www.reonomy.com.
OWNERSHIP PORTFOLIO Every CRE transaction involves a
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66 | think realty magazine :: april 2018
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