All Forum Posts by: Eric Odum

I finally received a straight answer from Loopnet/CoStar, for anyone who cares.  There is plenty of confusion at that company right now and I received multiple different responses as to what is going on, but this last person I spoke with seemed to have the most clue as to the policy changes.  Per this rep, if you are a premium subscriber to loopnet, your premium listings will be seen by CoStar subscribers, Premium Loopnet subscribers and to non subscribers on a limited basis.  But any basic listings will only be seen by CoStar subscribers.  IOW, the general public will not see basic listings at all any more....prior, some basic listings would show up but not all.  The biggest change, however, is that Premium subscribers to Loopnet used to be able to see all loopnet listings premium and basic.  Premium Subscribers no longer see basic listings either...they only see other premium listings.  As the majority of Loopnet listings on the site are basic, the value add of being a Premium Subscriber to Loopnet went down substantially.  And, if they severely throttle what non subscribers see (90% of their search users are end users), what is the real value here?  You are basically marketing to CoStar subscribers only...basically, the big brokerage firms.  

It will be interesting to see what happens going forward.  Other service platforms, such as Yardi, do not make money off of their listing services...it is a value add for their larger business, the property management software business.  Will Yardi become a larger player in the listing game?  Or others like them that don't count on listing offerings to power their revenue model could easily move in to the gap and create an opportunity for themselves.  

 I would pay to watch that.... :-)  

@Paul Smythe, supposedly, Property Comps (I don't care),   Property Facts (I don't care) and Premium Searcher are going away this month.  I don't know what Premium Searcher is.  Is this "Advanced Search?" If so, this is a problem for me.  I looked on their site and can not find anything that defines "Premium Searcher"  so maybe I am using it or maybe not....I don't know.  Comps and Facts I get from other sources....so good riddance.  I wasn't using anyway.  

I called Loopnet directly and the Loopnet rep said they are getting rid of all the subscriptions and the ability to search beyond a basic search are going away.  So, sounds like "Advanced Search" to me...but when I asked if "Advanced Search" is going away...She said "I didn't say that"  I said "Premium Searcher" and then she could not define what "Premium Searcher" is....so I am lost.  

If they take away the ability of outsiders/non-subscribers to look up listings for lease and sale, the product will collapse.  Their figures (not mine) are that 99% of their users are non-subscribers.  It will cease to have value to me and the vast majority of people who use their site.  I am willing to pay to give my listings access to the 99%, but what are they selling to me if a user cannot find my properties on their site?  

@Derek Carroll I am curious what data you are getting from CoStar that is of value.  I have found very little of their data to be of use and cancelled service many moons ago.  Perhaps, I am missing something.  Franchise and tenant info can provide a rough idea, but it far from accurate.  My clients (or I)  usually decline to provide them with information on leases.  I think this is more common than not.  And when I do provide them with info, I have been known to stretch the truth more than a little to protect another property comp nearby.  I can't recall the last time I gave CoStar anything they can use.  Sales data is provided by the respective county and I can pull that info for free.  So, I am a little at a loss at what CoStar provides that is worth $500+ per month per user.  

Now, on Loopnet, they at least provide a listing service.  It is still a valuable tool for marketing leases, at least today.  This might be changing.There are few other/better ways to find those small companies that could use the space for rent and it has been valuable for that...the national and regional guys, I maintain a database and have not found Loopnet to be particularly helpful there....but regardless, Loopnet service has been of use to me over the years for finding and marketing properties to lease.  

I am curious what others are doing with this service.  Starting in Feb, the search feature is going away and they are forcing people on to CoStar.  I am a broker, but seriously considering just dropping it all together. ...sure, I will continue to provide them my listings, but why pay for services from CoStar you can obtain for much lower costs elsewhere?  Besides, I have never liked the attitude of CoStar, and now that is a monopoly, it really hurts to  feed the beast and pay their extortion money.  What are others doing?  Switching over to CoStar or bagging it all together? 

We are commercial brokers.  We prospect in the I4 corridor and greater Tampa Bay area, mostly seeking > 5 unit multifamily properties and retail opportunities to either buy ourselves or market to investors.  The zoning and property identification systems are pretty bad in some counties in our market (i.e. Pasco is incorrigible...the property can be zoned multifamily, which upon further review could be a mobile home and a chicken coup) As a result, we frequently get hits on single family, mobile home, raw land and other properties, which we have limited ability to be able to market.  If you are interested in getting on our list, to receive email when we find such deals, please fill out the form and let us know what you are looking for... More prevalent areas tend to be Pasco, Lakeland, Polk, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties

http://investfloridashow.com/property-database/

What size deals are you looking for?  

Yeah, I really don't know of any. We tried to put together a MF group a couple of years ago and really could not get much traction. 90% of all properties are SFRs, so that is where the critical mass is to have a REIA group. I would be open minded about getting together with folks, though. I know there is a large one in Dallas...but I know of nothing in the C FL area

I have found plenty of great deals from owners with little to no financial info...there is opportunity there.  If you wait for the perfect deal with perfect records and perfect leases, you probably will not do many deals, particularly smaller deals.  Most of the mom and pop owners are terrible business people and terrible record keepers.  The pool of potential investors is smaller for this type of deal and the prices are more in the buyer's favor....usually.  

The economics of the deal make more sense the larger the deal, typically. There is a cost to syndicating and that cost distributed over larger $'s is easier on the ROI....