What Do You Want In The TCI Commercial Website??
We will be starting a version of TCI for the Commercial Investor. This will be coming out in the next couple of months.
There will be a monthly fee for the subscription like our competitors, but the services will obviously be more than just real estate listings.
What features would you like to see in a Commercial Version of TCI??
Joel,
I would like to see a "You have made me a very happy person forum" and you can list me as the first poster.
Seriously this is an excellent idea, the commercial folks will, I am sure, see some exciting features and I predict it will become the number one site one the web for Commercial as is TCI for the creative investor.
John $Cash$ Locke
I just started investing (going to close on my first deal on 7/5) and although I'm not ready for commercial yet I think some very basics would be good - that way some of us can wiggle our toes in the shallow end before diving in
I'm looking at a laundromat going for auction 7/13 although I'm almost positive I won't buy it - but I've been doing some background work on the equipment/building/and trying to get a Schedule E or P & L (can't get either which is one of my biggest reasons for not even really considering it). but I'm trying to work through some rough numbers so I can see how close I come to the actual auction price
I looked at a 5 unit multi family a few weeks ago and I didn't realize that 5 units makes it a commercial venture and all the different requirements
so, a few very basics for small-time commercial would be great
I also want to say thanks for a wonderful site - I've learned so much the past few weeks
Joel,
I am a member of both CCIM and Loopnet (Premium) and really only use loopnet to list and look for properties. I would suggest that if you are going to offer something it would have to be INCLUSIVE of Loopnet. In other words. link to to Loopnet or be an augment to Loopnet. Not sure if this is possible, but can tell you that Loopnet already is available through other websites and makes deals with many third party sites.
Most people do not want to have to go to more than one place to look for property. I spend a great deal of time on loopnet and have "saved searches" that alert me whe a property with my saved criteria comes on the market.
I also use CCIM Site to do Business (STDB) for all my demographic studies, maps and brochures. In fact STDB is the main reason I stay a CCIM candidate.
I know you are looking for suggestions on what you can add, but other than discussions on commerical ( Which you already have and is poorly attended ( or visited) by commerical pros) I can't think of anything.
What do you have in mind adding that is not available on those sites?
Gregg
[addsig]
It would be the same thing. Basically, we are moving our Residential Property Database into Commercial. Since many people are adding in Commercial Properties already.
I am taking the community benefits approach to it. I have always wanted to build a community, not just a website. So that is what we will be trying to make.
The property database that we are building right now is not going to be just on www.TheCreativeInvestor.com. It will be spread out on multiple websites that are owned by us, but just different focuses. And of course we will strictly be US based, not all over the place.
other sites have much more advance serching capability, which I would like to see on the commercial side.
That's an easy feature. Any other suggestions??
Joel,
One **** of an idea. This is exactly what is needed and with very few competitors you will definitely succeed. Here are a few costly suggestions,
A tie in to a satellite overview (like terraserver) would be a good idea, and/or something similar to mapquest. basically click a link and the geographical information is available in different formats, like a map, satellite, and topography. This should be easily done by a script that automatically puts in the data in another page.
Also if possible the historical data of the property should be offered at an extra fee. Basically tie the site in with a national title search company to do the search and send the rough info instantly via email, or provided link to the info. Just the basics, last three owners, what they paid, etc etc . keep the report simple, quick, and the fee lower.
Only with commercial, you may want to sign on the larger law firms (no less than 100), and make them the preffered law firms of Commercial TCI. Collect a fee from them for advertising, and also get a refferal fee for everyone you send them. Have a hierarchy of guaranteed positions for a set monthly fee. This would also push some of the users to start using legitimate lawyers, instead of jimbobs cousin's uncle that happened to go to law school.
Offer a buyers agent as a middleman to gather the info for them and make any offers. Do it for one up front fee, and a percentage of the buy price. Sometimes I dont want the seller knowing who I am until closing. For instance, the neighboring parcels of a property I own for expansion and development.
Also, and this is important. There is a trend starting on trading properties to avoid fees alltogether. Basically people are posting there properties equity, and how much they have in mortgage. Making it available for trade. Then potential buyers post what they they have available for trade, usually a mixture of properties, belongings, and/or cash. I dont have a clue as to how you would set it up, but you may want to see if it is viable.
I would also offer the real estate agents a contest. Whomever sells the most properties that were listed on your site would win a mercedes, or hummer. It will drive the competition and also make them put more of there listings on the site, in turn increasing revenues to afford the prize given away. To ensure success you may want to make a minimum sales quota.
Basically if you could make it a one stop shop for all the information gathering, wether it be with the properties listed on your site or your competitors. If the info available on your site is better, eventually they will ask to post there properties on your site, as the ease of use, and "one stop shopping" seems to be the trend.
The commercial site is an excellant Idea, and if you can combine all the other websites offerings, you will easily dominate the market within a 1-3 year time frame. Let me know if there is any help you need.
Good Luck,
Kyle
Thanks Kyle for the encouragement and excitement. I am really excited because we are doing some major things right now that will help us with the technology.
Exactly what I was planning on bringing to the Real Estate Investing Profession.
any info on 1031's
referals, ect....
I hope the new commercial site will still be accessible to new investors such as myself... i.e. free...
Joel,
In the meantime it seems the existing properties function has become less usable to commercial type properties. Now when I attempt to list a property the first thing I get is "property type" with a pull down menu of property types none of which are anything close to the property I'm hoping to list. What do I do now?
Mark
Commercial.
You will have to wait. We have disabled that because people were forcing vacant land/apartment buildings etc into a form that wasn't designed for that purpose. I originally created the form over two years ago when I didn't think TCI was going to be this big.
The end result is data that is invalid and can't be used reliably for searches.
We are having to create and re-create some of the back end programming so that we will be able to handle ANY kind of property, not just residential.
Since we are working on this now, you can help by listing what criteria you feel are important on a commercial listing. We will be adding those fields in shortly and be able to get that up and running within the next week.
Joel.
I would like to see a section for the newbies out there who want to tap the commercial market. Maybe information on commercial lending and the basics of it.
How about a section that helps spurns new ideas from other investors about different types of businesses?
Thanks
Chris
People will be able to change what they are insterested in, but if you change it towards Commercial, you will not see the Residential version and vice versa.
Quote:
On 2004-07-16 09:05, sharpREI_PA wrote:
Joel.
I would like to see a section for the newbies out there who want to tap the commercial market. Maybe information on commercial lending and the basics of it.
How about a section that helps spurns new ideas from other investors about different types of businesses?
Thanks
Chris
Joel,
I love this new concept, and am happy to throw my thouyghts into the mix. Kyle gave a great run down of affiliations you might develop.
Let me walk you through my typical process for identifying a property online, and expand on what I'd love to see in a one-stop commercial database service:
1. I usually start by checking Loopnet or CIMM to find the property
2. then I go to website known as globexplorer, where I pay $29. a month for satellite photos (very helpful with identifying local shopping areas, neighborhood density and type of property, as well as boundary features, such as where neighbor's driveways or parking lots may begin and end)
3. geographic and topographic maps
4. title company for a free property profile
6. the property's county website to look for additional data - tax records, permits, planning, local funding opportunities, construction details and photos. (Many county websites do not give construction info or photos, so these two are yet other types of invaluable databases you might want to affiliate with).
6. Lists of realtors serving the local communicty would also be helpful,
7. and then again, getting a list of local management companies and their credentials would also be helpful
8. a list of local attorneys who profess to have specialty in commercial law (or condo conversions or whatever) would also be great.
9. local lenders
10 local commercial property investment groups. if any exist.
11. local contractors, by specialty
12. also, having a basic doctionary of terms and perhaps a library of articles explaining basic concepts would be great. For example, I went to askJeeves to learn about triple net leases and found their basic articles to be terrific
- but all this research often requires the opeing of several windows simutaneously. Plus, I often read something about a property and then can't remember it when I'm looking at another site for another piece of info, so all windows must be kept open at once. Switching back and forth from one to the other is a real pain, and my notes are on sticky notes that I try to keep together and organize pads and in paper folders, but they always run the risk of getting misfiled or plain old tossed away.
Then of course, I run out time, have to shut down all the wondows and start up again another time.
Soooo...being able to build a property information sheet with any combination of these elements on one screen would be a tremendous timesaver, and a definite pull to your website, especially if I could save it on your website, or better yet, download it to my own spread sheet program. And yes, I'd gladly pay a hefty monthly fee to have much of that info available to me by going to one site.
Hope this helps.
MarleneM 8-)
Just thought of another list I'd love to see. Serious training opportunities!
For example, I spent a couple hours today looking at commerical real estate organizations and their upcoming course offerings related to assessing profitability of commerical real estate (after taxes, current dollars vs. future dollars, etc.) There's a whole world of worthwhile training out there, but and most of us regular folks don't know about it (like the courses offered by the CCIM Institute - Certified Commercial Investment Member).
Lots of focus areas exist - even in valuation, or in property management, military housing, section 8 housing, or construction, for example.
Now this is just my humble opinion, but here goes: the educational side of real estate investing seems to be overrun by self-aggrandizing money-grubbers who make outlandish claims at free expos in an attempt to fill their $4,000 bootcamps. Meanwhile, they claim to be making a ton of EASY MONEY from their real estate dealings, but one has to wonder why the need to bother traveling around the country giving free but highly self-promotional lectures and running these massive bootcamps if they are so wealthy. I've asked several, and I get the same ridiculous answer: they've made their millions and now they enjoy teaching. Right.
From where I sit, they appear to make more money from their bootcamps and add-on products than from their rehabbing, or whatever angle they are teaching.
I'd encourage you to ask your new commercial website members to help you find these more serious training opportunities. A simple CGI program could let you gather names of organizations, contact info and topic of course, date, time, location, cost.
If you have the time, it might be worthwhile to contact the training organizations directly and ask them to allow you to publish their full training schedules and course descriptions for free. Some may eventually want to pay you for more extensive advertising.
Once TCI becomes known to this group, you will gain much more credibility and have the best of both worlds: online community and its promotion through systemmatized organizations.
You have the technology, they have the trainers --> they could send their students to TCI for discussion groups, both public and private, and spare themselves the hassle of setting up such a service for their students, or if they are all ready set up, they could run their discussion ideas by TCI members for added feedback. This arrangement could benefit TCI because these students might start poking around TCI. You provide the community (distribution channel) and they provide top-notch expertise and training. Many mutual benefits.
Meanwhile, you'll help us by letting us know about relatively inexpensive and very worthwhile training programs that are largely unpublicized, and you'll spare us from some of the dog-and-pony shows that are a complete waste of time and put us at risk of losing our small fortunes.
MarleneM
All of these great suggestions. One suggestion out of of your post that I got is that we are going to need a lot more occupations. A Lot more.
Some of your items, we can build into our website if we know the website to go to.
I highly urge you to move from Internet Explorer to the Mozilla Firefox browser located at http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/.
You said it was a pain going back and forth between windows when your researching. Mozilla has a featured called "Tabbed Browsing" which consolidates your "windows" into separate tabs. This is a feature, that once you start using, you won't go back because of it.
Anyway great to hear the feedback. We will try to focus on a lot of stuff when we move it over. Thanks.