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Helping Clients Digest Big Data in Today's Real Estate Market

Posted by RealNex on Apr 13, 2016 3:00:11 AM

The past few years have been extremely productive in the CRE tech industry. Overall access to data has improved dramatically, thanks to advances leading to increased capacity and lower costs. Cloud computing and better storage technologies are helping to make data gathering and analysis faster than ever before.

Along with traditional sources, data are being extracted from alternative sources as well –the Internet of Things allows us to incorporate into our decisions data from devices like traffic sensors and smart building technologies that report automatically around the clock. We also use what’s known as unstructured data: information beyond the spreadsheet. This can be from social media, emails, transaction logs, video, images and more.

Taken together, this powerful assemblage of data informs decision-making on all fronts: listing reports, negotiations, site selection, property valuation and management, forecasting and market analysis. Big data helps us to determine long-term value, risks, the true costs of a particular transaction, and more.

Our clients stand to benefit tremendously from the information that big data can give them, but they often need some assistance in connecting with the data that relate to their needs and goals. This has become an increasingly important aspect of customer service in commercial real estate.

How do you help your clients to reap the advantages of access to big data? We’re not all tech experts. Winnowing mountains of data to remove irrelevant or redundant information is an essential step in actually making good use of it. The magic happens when useful and relevant data are presented in a clear and digestible format. Light bulbs go on, connections are made, business moves forward.

This is important, but brokers rarely have the time or the tech chops necessary to aggregate and analyze data themselves. The broker’s role is evolving, and clients look to real estate professionals as industry consultants, sources of reliable information and expertise on our complicated marketplace.  Realnex incorporates data analysis into its suite of compatible tools for CRE, and enables creation of useful and up to date reports to meet the needs of our clients.

So having access to data is not enough; choosing the data that are relevant to specific tasks is a necessary first step. Analytics platforms handle this with blinding efficiency, and then assemble the desired information in a usable format.

Clients considering a given property need the information contained in a customized investment analysis. This type of report can be automatically generated, which saves the broker’s time while also making for more compelling and useful presentations.  Data aggregation services designed especially for CRE create user-friendly reports that help clients to see the impact of the data on their situations. Buyers can clearly see how a deal is likely to play out and what the long-term value of the property will be.

The power of big data helps fuel success in CRE. Brokers can put it to use by providing clients with comprehensive, real-time information. Go the extra mile by incorporating data into listings, map overlays, and marketing products. Then watch the fireworks.

Topics: blog

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