Commercial Real Estate Finance

Posts Tagged ‘linkedin’

Back in October, I had the pleasure of attending the Philadelphia Real Estate Council‘s fourth quarter round table, where the topic was a departure from the group’s usual fare (capital markets, urban development opportunities, valuation). The subject of this meeting was “Social Media and Real Estate.” Three guest speakers shared their experience with social media, its challenges and opportunities. The underlying question throughout this conversation was this: when it comes to commercial real estate (in all of its forms), what is the ROI for social media marketing?

I’ve tackled this subject before, here on the Llenrock Blog, and I’m going to save us all a lot of hand-wringing by saying this: It is impossible to know the ROI for social media marketing, in commercial real estate or anything else.

So let’s stop talking about social media in these terms. It’s difficult to calculate the value of social media for the same reason it’s difficult to calculate the value of any marketing/advertising. There’s a lot of guess work, but we know when it works. And that’s the point all those people in the social media business (myself included) are trying to make: even if we can’t make a direct connection between a company’s online presence and annual income, a connection still exists. Read the rest of this entry »

The tension between urban and suburban areas is nothing new. For a great deal of America’s history, this dichotomy has been a major concern in politics, business, culture, and of course, real estate. At risk of oversimplifying, this divide has engendered two different schools of thought, one that supports investment and development in cities and CBDs, another that sees suburbs and sprawl as essential to the nation’s economic and cultural future.

While population statistics are firmly on the side of the former, as I discussed last Wednesday, the question of where to build, renovate, and invest is far less clear. The commercial real estate industry, it seems, must consider the benefits and risks of both market types.

Last week, a New York Times op-ed reignited the city/suburb debate (as if it needed reigniting) by calling attention to suburban office buildings, which since the 50′s have been a mainstay of corporate America. The article’s author criticizes these properties as inefficient and inconvenient, as well as environmentally unfriendly: Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the top Major Metropolitan Markets in the US and their average rates for leasing Class A Office Space over the past year.  (Note that these are for the Metro areas, not just downtown space.) No surprise that most of the usual suspects show up here, but there are also some surprises that popped up.  Most of the markets are showing lower rates than a year ago, some considerably, but there are several markets that have shown growth and rising rates.

As you can see above, most of the major metros have falling rates for leasing office space, but there are a few notable exceptions.  New York is still going strong and showing just over a 3% increase as the city rebounds.  With more office space coming on the market in the next few years as the World Trade Center rebuilding continues, as well as difficulties for financial firms, look for this rate to stay steady or fall slightly as more space begins to open up.

Boston is also moving up once again as a high-tech corridor.  With a less than 1% increase in average rates, there is some action happening here, but nothing incredibly substantial.  We’ve seen more venture capital investment in Boston in recent years as well.

San Francisco shows the biggest jump with a 7.6% increase.  Most of this increase can be attributed to the new tech boom that is following on the heels of web companies like Facebook, Twitter, Zynga, LinkedIn, Netflix and others.  Additionally, the being in the same building as or next to Twitter or Facebook has helped to drive up average rates as well as companies are willing to pay more to be in close proximity to web company leaders.

Ohh the power of social networking…I have a feeling the majority of you already know about some networking websites that are currently out there (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc), but there are SO many more that are tailored to your needs and niches.In my line of work as a commercial real estate investment banker, you might wonder how this new age, hip social networking craze can be beneficial to such a unique business niche.Well, I’ll tell you – because at Llenrock, we are in tune with today’s trends.

The fact of the matter is that we understand the “social networking” philosophy – to socially engage those around you.You want to provide them with something of value, not some advertisement such as “Beautiful 3 Bedroom/2 Bathroom house for sale. FABULOUS! CALL TODAY!”That’s not how to network; that’s how to look desperate, and the majority of your audience is not going to even glance at your “fabulous” listing.

• Engage people!
• Talk to them!
• Think outside of the box!
• Keep it real!

Real estate marketing, be it at the corporate, property or personal level, has always relied heavily on relationships. There are several keys to promoting new, positive relationships via social media. Let’s review them… Read the rest of this entry »