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- Sep 25, 2007
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- 201
Hi all,An article from the November 26th edition of the Globe and Mail (Online Investing). Exceprts:
The real estate business has always involved lots of legwork, but Greg McPhie says he is spending less time in the field and more in front of computers these days. So are his clients.
"More and more, our investor clients are doing their own homework before they come to see us," says Mr. McPhie, managing partner for British Columbia at NAI Commercial Vancouver, a unit of NAI Global, the Princeton, N.J.-based network of commercial real-estate firms. "They come better armed."
Online listings of properties for sale or lease - which came later to commercial real estate than to the residential market - have simplified investing in this sector.
ONE-STOP SHOPPING
Before websites such as ICX.ca, which was launched in 2003 by CREA and now lists nearly 90,000 commercial properties for sale and lease across the country, investors interested in multiple locations needed to contact many realtors, Ms. Prior says. ICX.ca is "a one-stop shop," she says.
"It covers the country from one side to the other, [although] it is certainly not a complete list of everything that`s available."
ONLINE DIRECTORIES
Several U.S. companies operate online directories of commercial property. Not all list Canadian properties, but one that does is San Francisco-based LoopNet.com, which launched in 1995. It now claims more than 3 million registered members and more than $535-billion (U.S.) worth of property available for sale. More than 900,000 users visit the site each month.
Besides allowing investors to find specific properties, LoopNet has tools that can help with general market research. For example, the site lists recent sales, which visitors can filter by market to get a sense of price trends. In addition, a service connects would-be buyers with commercial real-estate brokers.
PROVINCIAL LISTINGS
Real-estate investors have other resources to draw on. Those interested in Ontario properties can turn to 2Ontario.com, a site created by the provincial ministries of Economic Development and International Trade and Investment, the Ontario Investment and Trade Centre, and the Ontario Real Estate Association. It lists available commercial properties in the province.
Albertafirst.com serves a similar function for that province with help from the Alberta Real Estate Association.
Other useful online resources for real-estate investors include federal and provincial government sites that provide demographic information and other useful market data, Ms. Prior says.
But online information has made commercial real-estate investing less of an insiders` game and reduced research drudgery.
"I think we have opened it up more broadly as an investment category," Mr. Manning says, "because the information is more widely available now."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...y=grant+buckler
Keith
The real estate business has always involved lots of legwork, but Greg McPhie says he is spending less time in the field and more in front of computers these days. So are his clients.
"More and more, our investor clients are doing their own homework before they come to see us," says Mr. McPhie, managing partner for British Columbia at NAI Commercial Vancouver, a unit of NAI Global, the Princeton, N.J.-based network of commercial real-estate firms. "They come better armed."
Online listings of properties for sale or lease - which came later to commercial real estate than to the residential market - have simplified investing in this sector.
ONE-STOP SHOPPING
Before websites such as ICX.ca, which was launched in 2003 by CREA and now lists nearly 90,000 commercial properties for sale and lease across the country, investors interested in multiple locations needed to contact many realtors, Ms. Prior says. ICX.ca is "a one-stop shop," she says.
"It covers the country from one side to the other, [although] it is certainly not a complete list of everything that`s available."
ONLINE DIRECTORIES
Several U.S. companies operate online directories of commercial property. Not all list Canadian properties, but one that does is San Francisco-based LoopNet.com, which launched in 1995. It now claims more than 3 million registered members and more than $535-billion (U.S.) worth of property available for sale. More than 900,000 users visit the site each month.
Besides allowing investors to find specific properties, LoopNet has tools that can help with general market research. For example, the site lists recent sales, which visitors can filter by market to get a sense of price trends. In addition, a service connects would-be buyers with commercial real-estate brokers.
PROVINCIAL LISTINGS
Real-estate investors have other resources to draw on. Those interested in Ontario properties can turn to 2Ontario.com, a site created by the provincial ministries of Economic Development and International Trade and Investment, the Ontario Investment and Trade Centre, and the Ontario Real Estate Association. It lists available commercial properties in the province.
Albertafirst.com serves a similar function for that province with help from the Alberta Real Estate Association.
Other useful online resources for real-estate investors include federal and provincial government sites that provide demographic information and other useful market data, Ms. Prior says.
But online information has made commercial real-estate investing less of an insiders` game and reduced research drudgery.
"I think we have opened it up more broadly as an investment category," Mr. Manning says, "because the information is more widely available now."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...y=grant+buckler
Keith