Making Mapping Easy: MapRight Offers New Tools for CRE Pros

Who remembers the days of Key Maps? Or, more recently, printing out directions before you headed to a destination? Only in the past 15 years have we been able to rely on applications such as Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze.

“If you think mapping is boring or isn’t changing, you’re not paying attention,” says Steve Roberson, CEO & Founder of MapRight, an online and mobile mapping platform. “You used to have to use a paper map. The ability to see yourself on a real-time map has
only existed for maybe a decade.”

His company is taking that evolution even further, allowing clients to navigate and build maps whether they have GIS experience or not.

“One function on the MapRight mobile app allows a subscriber to send an interactive map to somebody. That somebody can get driving directions to a property and view it themselves without the agent even being there,” Roberson explains. “That person can evaluate the property’s boundary, floodplain and things like that. A feature like that had never really even been thought of except in the past decade.”

Roberson unlocked his passion for mapping decades ago as he completed his Master’s in applied geography with a concentration in GIS.

“I was always fascinated with real estate and how mapping interacted with it,” he says.

Real Estate Shakes Off Covid-19

Single-family homes are flying off the shelves. Commercial real estate is struggling.

But whatever you might say about the real estate market, you can bet the situation won’t remain that way for long. Those familiar with the market say residential real estate is already starting to cool off after the boom that started late last year. And yet at the same time, commercial real estate (including offices, warehouses and business sites) is seeing light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel.

Nothing is static in this business. Different types of investments face their own different pressures.

“Last year, there was concern regarding how commercial real estate would weather the pandemic,” says Raj Dhanda, CEO of Black Creek Group, a real estate investment management firm based in Denver. “Despite this concern, we believe fundamentals are healthy, especially in the industrial and multifamily sectors. Commercial real estate is emerging from the pandemic strong and stable, and we are seeing an increasing interest in private real estate.”

“Leadership in the real estate sector can ebb and flow as market forces impact residential and commercial real estate differently,” wrote Cinthia Murphy in a report on ETF.com, a research and analysis firm for the exchange-traded funds market. “If 2020 was a banner year for housing, 2021 is shaping up to be a great year for commercial real estate. Click to read more at www.fa-mag.com.

Here’s How To Reduce Energy Costs In Commercial Real Estate

High-quality automated shading slashes lighting energy use, while at the same time enhancing occupant comfort. Modern LED lighting with advanced controls also greatly cuts lighting energy use, and offers superior results. These are among key findings of research undertaken by the Portland, Ore.-based New Buildings Institute (NBI). The insights should provide commercial real estate owners and operators with keys into implementing lighting and shading retrofits in today’s commercial buildings.

In 2017, NBI spearheaded a major research undertaking underwritten by the California Energy Commission. Titled “Leading in LA,” the project addressed the crucial need to deliver cost-effective, scalable means of dramatically reducing energy use in existing commercial buildings throughout the Golden State. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and well-known energy-efficiency companies took part in the four-year endeavor, which incorporated lab testing and field demonstrations at two sites.

Click to read more at www.forbes.com.

New Year, New Approach to Budgets

Budgeting season is typically mundane. Most businesses have their standard process for creating the next year’s budget that has been that way for ages. But this year, we can all agree creating your company’s budget has been anything but normal. To start, with shelter-in-place orders varying across the country as COVID-19 hot spots flare up, 2021’s budgeting process should include a thorough evaluation of how productive your brokerage business can work digitally if it is required. Running a 20-person brokerage and acting as principal of a CRE software company (which has since been sold to Yardi), I had the opportunity to speak with numerous managing principals. These experiences gave me insight into conducting self-evaluations of business and operations. During your evaluation, every aspect of your business will likely be under review as the industry moves into an increasingly digital age. Although there seems to be overwhelming opportunities to digitally market listings, multiple options can help your CRE brokerage operate more productively and profitably on the back-office side. Amid all this chaos, covering the basics is still important when creating a thorough budget for the upcoming year. Some managing brokers have shared that they are also focused on enhancing agent time, effectively managing corporate desk cost, and understanding their deal pipeline. Click here to read more at www.ccim.com.