Tuesday, August 10, 2010

What is Coming in NAI Technology… Soon

Here is a scenario for upcoming utilization of technology in real estate.
A client engages a real estate broker to manage a portfolio of a few dozen properties. The client wants to know the general condition of each property, surrounding market demographics and valuations, an opinion of value of each property including the general condition of structures and land including major assets and occupiable areas. Importantly, the owner needs specific information for each site, such as retail sales per property, to evaluate future site selections for possible disposition or even growth, and then ask the broker to determine a sales price for identified disposition prospects as well as developing a strategic plan for managing existing leases for both renewals and terminations. And the client wants this information available online for secure viewing both internally to key client users in various departments and to authorized vendors who may be needed for further advisory and consulting services, as well as brokers who may handle the transactions.

NAI Global will be able to do the following using advanced technology tools:

•Setup the group of projects in our REALTrac and CLAS™ web software systems.

•Identify each site by its key information of location, size, valuations, amenities, surrounding demographics and other key site information, ownership, contact information, etc.

•Show each site in our ESRI GIS mapping system seamlessly linked to REALTrac and embedded inside of CLAS™. By selecting a site on a GIS map, CLAS™ would immediately show important property and lease information on a dashboard, in real time.

•Assign brokers to visit each site, using smart pda devices to capture digital images of each site while completing condition assessment and property/lease information for each property as they visit each site – right on the pda device – and wirelessly linked back to our servers.

•On the same pda device, the broker would immediately see the resulting property data, pictures, abstracts, opinions of value, aggregated summary financial information, and important condition assessments including smart scorecards of each site evaluated against other sites in the portfolio.

•Later (or at the same time by others simultaneously using the system), important graphics and other data such as floor plans, energy utilization from the local utility company, and other key documents would be uploaded into the system for immediate viewing over the web. FLASH based drawings, charts, graphs, and other such key information would be seamlessly linked to each property and available to be viewed and managed over the web.

•For the more difficult sites, a car could even drive around the property with smart lasers producing 2D and 3D non-obtrusive survey models, plans, and elevations linked to the data.

•The broker might even have time to take their client to lunch, show them on their own smart pda an integrated analysis of the surveyed properties with included reports and graphics showing forecasts and scorecards to identify the best properties suitable for disposition, consolidation, or even new acquisitions, literally within minutes of a visit to a site.

•Then, at their leisure, the client could log onto the NAI system with a secure password, and view all their data, in real time, 24/7, from anywhere in the world. All in a day’s work.

The key is having these technology tools in the hands of smart brokers worldwide!
-Warren Bailey
Warren Bailey is Vice President of Corporate Technology at NAI Global.