RPR Commercial's 2024 Real Estate Market Outlook
Much like its residential counterpart, the commercial real estate market faced a pretty challenging year in 2023. Some say it was the most challenging ever. Big picture, the industry as a whole is suffering and still feeling the hangover effects of the pandemic. According to some experts, office space vacancy rates are at a 30-year high at 18%. This, coupled with rising interest rates and a potential recession on the horizon, have all been working against the business side of real estate. However, not all sectors of commercial real estate are scuffling. In fact, some are doing quite well, and are poised to offer more growth in the coming year. This is why RPR (Realtors Property Resource) is offering this 2024 commercial real estate forecast, as well as to offer some pointers about how using RPR Commercial can add value to your efforts as a commercial practitioner. RPR's 2024 Commercial Real Estate Forecast While many experts are expecting the residential market to bounce back a bit and improve across the board this spring, the commercial sector is a mix of optimistic growth and more of the same. Leading the more-of-the-same category (as in bad) is office space, which is predicted to be flat, or possibly worse. Office space As mentioned in the opening, office occupancy is historically low. The bottom line: people prefer working from home and corporations and businesses are trying their best to get them back to the office. But with unemployment low and individual productivity high or level, it's a tough sell to employees and businesses have almost no leverage to put butts in office chairs. Even hybrid schedules aren't enough to justify massive office buildings, as owners and investors try to pivot and figure out what to do with all the empty space. Some are getting creative and turning empty work buildings into apartments, while some are simply razing structures altogether and rebuilding for the future with an eye on data centers and warehouses. Either way, the future of office space is still bleak. On the flip side, here are some commercial segments that are primed for growth: Brick and mortar rebound? Even with e-commerce's continued growth and most mega malls being half empty, there is some hope on the horizon for neighborhood-focused retail success. Densely populated urban and suburban areas (strip malls) are propping up the retail sector with growth and positive numbers. With less new construction and therefore less competition, neighborhood and community shopping centers are showing strong vacancy rates and positive rent growth for the foreseeable future. When it comes to these types of retail locations, RPR Commercial can be a great asset. The Site Selection tool offers commercial agents an edge when it comes to finding ideal areas for retail business sites. Here's a top line of what it can do: Allows users to select specific attributes from broad data categories such as economic, demographic, spending, tapestry and more. With these attributes selected a user can search a large geography such as a county, and identify where these conditions exist in smaller geographies such as ZIP codes or neighborhoods. This drilling down allows a user to search for properties only in these geographies that have their desired attributes, ensuring that the core drivers of a client's business are in the area. For a strip mall focused site selection success story, check out RPR's article Spot-on Site Selection is how the Cookie Crumbls. Multi-family offers multi opportunities Multi-family (apartments and condos) investment opportunities appear to be on the rise. That's mostly attributable to rising mortgage rates from 2023 that have put homeownership beyond the reach of many families. Of course, housing shortages and a slowdown of new builds is also a factor. And while that might not be optimal for residential and the middle class as a whole, it does create demand for multi-family units and those who have the capital to invest in them. In fact, multi-family is among the few commercial categories that are seeing rent growth and increasing property values. When it comes to multi-family ROI research and number crunching, RPR is a great resource to tap into when you're working with commercial investment clients. The tools available to you in RPR, especially its collaboration with Valuate®, can help you assess a commercial investment in multifamily dwellings or buildings. Here's how to apply RPR Commercial to your multi-family research: Multi-Family Prospecting in RPR Commercial. Improve your commercial market forecast with RPR Commercial No matter what area you specialize in when it comes to commercial real estate, RPR Commercial can help. This digital tool, offered by the National Association of REALTORS®, offers practitioners access to 850K+ listings and 56 million+ off-market properties, allowing you to search, research and do your homework on commercial properties throughout the country. Plus, RPR offers indispensable, analytic tools such as Site Selection, Trade Area Reports, ROI and investment, and consumer segmentation demographics and data. As well as commercial comps, traffic counts and assessments, points of interest and climate risk assessment. Log in to RPR Commercial today for a successful tomorrow… and rest of the year! *References NAR Commercial Real Estate Market Insights NAR: Will the Commercial Market Hit the Reset Button in 2024? JP Morgan: Real Estate Commercial Trends Money & US News: The Commercial Real Estate Outlook CBRE: U.S. Real Estate Market Outlook 2024 What to Expect for CRE in 2024 Commercial Real Estate Trends for 2024 To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.

[Podcast] Empowerment, Authenticity, and Balance: A Deep Dive into Women's Professional Experiences in Real Estate
In this episode of The RENEW Podcast, host Lauren Martin sits down with Deena Zimmerman, vice president at SVN Chicago and the National Council Co-Chair of Retail for SVN. The two women talk about Deena's leap into commercial real estate and the initial challenges in a male-dominated industry — from gender biases and skepticism regarding financial acumen to the threat of harassment. The candid conversation revolves around the pressure on women to be more prepared, the importance of embracing individuality and the need for women to carve out their own space. The conversation also touches on safety during conferences and the essence of checking on each other. Listen to the full episode above, or click one of the links below to listen on the podcast service of your choice: ‍Apple Podcasts‍ Pandora Spotify‍ RENEW by RentSpree aims to help change the lack of women in leadership roles within real estate and foster a community that elevates female voices. To view the original article, visit the RentSpree blog.

Location, location, location: Site Selection provides deep commercial placement insights
It's a truism that finding the best location for your business is one of the biggest keys to success. But how exactly is a city councilmember supposed to know which might be the best businesses to try to attract to their specific district? And where would be the best spot to put the farmer's market that the township is hoping to launch next year? Real estate agents can become the go-to source for answers to these questions when they use Site Selection, an RPR (Realtors Property Resource) tool that's included as part of your arsenal as a REALTOR. It's perfect for commercial agents, business-owners, investors, and anyone else who's interested in building an economically thriving and diverse area. Read on for more details. RPR's (Realtors Property Resource®) Site Selection is an essential part of a commercial practitioner's toolkit. It's an advanced, data-driven tool that simplifies site selection by analyzing comprehensive demographics, economic factors and behavioral patterns. Site Selection helps commercial real estate practitioners and business owners and investors answer the question: "Where are the right people for a business?" Finding Business Locations with RPR A commercial Site Selection analysis starts with a large geography such as a city or county, and from there can be drilled down to identify where optimal conditions exist in smaller geographies, such as ZIP codes or neighborhoods. From there, even further refinement by applying specific attributes from a broad data of categories such as economic, demographic, spending and more. This process helps ensure that the core drivers of a client's business reside in the area, and have the spending power to sustain it. Traditionally, REALTORS® have utilized the RPR Site Selection tool to access extensive information about population characteristics, household incomes and consumer behavior. With this tool, practitioners can identify optimum real estate locations matched to specific client needs. Market trends and prospective investment opportunities can be discerned easily thanks to this valuable tool. Its unique capabilities make it an essential resource for commercial pros seeking instant access to critical information. However, local community leaders are now working with REALTORS® to use it to help build their communities and drive local economic development. Reshaping Local Economic Development With Site Selection Data from RPR's Site Selection isn't just about helping businesses find the ideal location. It's also great for local leaders such as mayors or city council members. The information it gathers helps these leaders make better economic development decisions about how they can improve their towns and what kinds of businesses would be best to attract. Think about it: What if we could find the perfect spot for a farmers' market where locals get the healthiest, freshest options and farmers have the opportunity to sell the fruits of their labor? Or predict what kind of shop would succeed on Main Street and, at the same time, fill a need for the community? RPR's Site Selection and Trade Area data can help with that, shining light on areas such as jobs, income levels, interests and spending habits in any given area. This data and insight could go even further and be applied from a different angle to help solve tricky planning problems, such as where to break ground on new buildings or how public transportation might affect development. REALTORS® share data and insight to help their communities REALTORS® play a crucial role because they're the ones with access to critical market metrics and data points. Local government officials and community leaders are encouraged to work with a REALTOR® to gain access to findings from RPR's Site Selection tool to help in their planning, proposals and roundtable discussions concerning community economic development. Combining this tool with the knowledge and experience of REALTORS® makes a powerful team in city planning efforts. When REALTORS® share insights with city officials, it means better strategies for growth that really fit what each community needs the most. To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.

RPR's Data-Driven Revolution: Shaping the Future of Commercial Real Estate Decision Making
In the digital era, data is king. And in the world of commercial real estate, this trend is particularly pronounced. As the sector becomes increasingly data-driven, commercial real estate pros need to be able to collect, analyze and interpret data in order to make informed decisions. This means being able to use data to identify trends and assess risk. It also adds to making strategic decisions about where to invest, how to manage properties, and how to market properties. The Current State of Data Use in Commercial Real Estate Today, commercial real estate pros are leveraging RPR's rich data offerings to enhance their decision-making processes. By providing access to over 800,000 listings and 57 million off-market properties, RPR empowers REALTORS® to conduct comprehensive property searches, analyze potential investment opportunities, and make well-informed decisions. For example, RPR's demographic and economic data can be used to identify areas with high consumer spending or high population growth-factors that are crucial when determining the ideal location for a new business. A perfect example of this is a case where a REALTOR® from Texas used RPR's Commercial Site Selection tool to find the perfect location for a trendy cookie bakery. By leveraging RPR's extensive data, including demographics, traffic patterns, and points of interest, the REALTOR® was able to find a location that was a perfect fit for the bakery's target audience. This is a prime example of how RPR's data-driven tools can guide commercial practitioners in making informed decisions for their clients. The Impact of Data on Decision Making RPR's platform includes advanced mapping features, such as Points of Interest, traffic counts, and data layers. These tools enable REALTORS® to conduct a more detailed analysis of potential locations, taking into account factors that may influence a property's desirability and value. For example, traffic counts can provide insights into a location's visibility and accessibility, while data layers can offer a deeper understanding of the surrounding area's demographics, infrastructure and environmental factors. The Future of Data-Driven Decision-Making in Commercial Real Estate Looking ahead, the role of data in commercial real estate decision-making is set to become even more significant. Advancements in technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning could enable more complex data analyses and predictions. This could lead to a better understanding of market trends and a more accurate prediction of future property values. Moreover, the future could also see more personalized insights. Using RPR, practitioners could offer tailored property recommendations to clients based on their specific needs and preferences, enhancing the customer experience. The Role of RPR in Shaping this Future RPR is well-positioned to lead the commercial real estate industry into this data-driven future. With its commitment to providing comprehensive and accurate data, and its ongoing efforts to integrate advanced technologies into its platform, RPR is at the forefront of this revolution. Furthermore, RPR's user-friendly interface and easy-to-use tools make its wealth of data accessible to all, regardless of their level of technical expertise. This democratization of data is a critical step towards a future where all commercial real estate decisions are data-driven. Data-driven decision-making is transforming the commercial real estate industry, improving accuracy, reducing risk and uncovering hidden opportunities. As the sector navigates the complexities of the digital age, the importance of platforms like RPR cannot be overstated. By providing comprehensive, accurate, and accessible data, RPR is not just keeping pace with the industry's evolving needs, but is actively shaping the future of commercial real estate. To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.

Discover How to Unearth Tenant Data with RPR Commercial
Are you a commercial practitioner looking to find the perfect property for your clients? Do you want accurate and up-to-date tenant data to make sure the building is a good fit for their needs? Detailed tenant data is available within RPR, provided by SMR Research, to help you understand the best fit for your clients. To access it, simply visit the Property Details page of a property. You will see the tenants of the commercial property, as well as detailed data about those tenants, including tenant name, contact person, phone number, suite number, move-in date, type of business and business start date. RPR Commercial: the data you need to get deals done You also have the flexibility to edit, add or print tenant data. So, if you have any additional tenant information you would like to record for your own use, you can now do so with ease. Don’t waste time trying to dig through commercial property data! Get detailed tenant information with ease and make sure you have the best chance of finding the perfect fit for your clients. Visit the details page of commercial property now to access this data! To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.

Multi-Family Prospecting in RPR Commercial
Last month, we showed you how to access and run a BOTE (back of the envelope) investment analysis for multi-housing opportunities. Here's the article: Multi-Family ROI Analysis in RPR Commercial. This time, we're going to dive a little deeper and learn how to prospect for multi-family clients in RPR (Realtors Property Resource). Let's take a look at what multi-family home investing is and isn't, and why it's a smart angle for commercial real estate investors, especially first timers. Multi-family property primer Multi-family properties are usually apartment or condo buildings that consist of five or more units. (A multi-family building that is two to four units is considered a residential multi-family, although the terms are quite often used interchangeably.) Other types of multi-family buildings include those that combine residential units with commercial spaces, such as offices, retail and dining establishments. Some low income housing and 55 and older housing also meet the criteria for multi-family buildings. Why should clients invest in multi-family? As far as commercial real estate investing goes, multi-family properties offer some clear advantages: A good way to grow passive income: Generating additional income does require some initial capital (it takes money to make money!), but let's assume for argument's sake that your client has some money to invest. You help them find a four unit building that costs 1M, but your client has the 25% to put down (typical lender requirement) to buy the building. Of course, there are several expenses to factor in (property taxes, upkeep, repairs, property manager fees, etc.) But at the end of the day, after paying the monthly loan balance and accounting for the expenses, your client ends up receiving $3,000 per month in passive income. That's income for not doing much, and where the "passive" part comes in. It takes some work and money to get there obviously, but the tenants are basically paying their loan, their costs and putting dough in their pocket every month. And the building grows in value, giving your investors equity and less principal to pay off. Stability in market fluctuations: Another great thing about focusing on multi-family properties is the market is generally more stable than single-family homes. It's not as impacted by ups and downs in the economy. Scale your income and use your leverage: As mentioned, when your tenants pay down their loan balance, they gain equity. As owners, they can tap into this equity for other investments, or decide to renovate their current multi-family property. Then they can charge more for rent, and pocket more monthly money. This is called leverage and helps commercial investors grow their assets. Multi-family assets are relatively stable: On a national level, apartment and condo buildings are solid streams of income. While rents certainly can fluctuate, they mostly just go up or hold steady in price. Multi-family investments aren't subject to the pains associated with retail and office spaces, most recently felt (and still going on) from the pandemic. Take a guided tour of RPR's multi-family prospecting feature As you can see, multi-family properties offer a slew of advantages for the right client/investor. Now, you just have to figure out where those buildings are, who owns them, and how to reach them. That's where RPR Commercial and our multi-family prospecting guided tour come in! In the RPR website, there are all different kinds of "Shortcuts" or guided tours that walk you through features of the platform. From the home page, you can click a button and learn how to: Prospect for Clients Search using a Map Create a Report Investor Analysis Opportunity Zones Create a CMA Tour Homepage And when it comes to multi-family prospecting, we've got you covered. Simply click into this link and follow the steps. You should see: Follow the wizard and make your way through the journey. The magenta colored boxes will tell you exactly what to do. You'll need some information, including addresses and ZIP codes for area searches to find target properties, that you'll be directed to type in as you progress through the tour. In the last step, with the RPR Mailing Labels feature, you'll be able to create a list of all the properties in your search area that fit within your search criteria. You can then export this information into a CSV (Comma-Separated Values) file. Your multi-family prospecting cheat sheet is here This file is your prospecting cheat sheet! With it, you have the street address of the property, the owner's or owners' name, the tax address (which is often the owner's mailing address), the city, state, and whether or not the person is on a "Do not mail" list. You can now pinpoint potential multi-family property owners for your investment clients! You can look for properties that are in distress, you can find ones that have gained significant equity and the owners might be ripe to sell, or buildings in a particular neighborhood or area that you know is ready for growth opportunities. And you can send them marketing mailing pieces to gauge their interest: try postcards, flyers, personal letters, or run property reports and send them in a big envelope to stand out from the rest of the clutter. You might even be able to track down a contact number with their name and address information. Use RPR Commercial and our guided tour to get your hands on a multi-family prospecting cheat sheet today. To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.

Using RPR Site Selection Tools to Help Businesses Find Their Target Audience
In our previous article, "Tap Into Big Data with RPR and Esri Tapestry Segmentation," we demonstrated how commercial practitioners can utilize Consumer Tapestry Segmentation data in RPR (Realtors Property Resource®) for research purposes and how it can provide support for their recommendations and client guidance. This time around, we're going to dig a little deeper and illustrate how Tapestry Segmentation plays an essential role in finding the right target audience by incorporating a household's interests and characteristics into the analysis. Unlike age and income, Tapestry Segmentation takes into account the relationships between these characteristics. It provides a more comprehensive view of a household's housing choices, consumption preferences, and decision-making tendencies. Most importantly, using RPR's Site Selection tool with Esri's Tapestry Segmentation, REALTORS® can analyze demographic data and focus on the attributes and behaviors that lead to a successful business location. How Does Tapestry Segmentation Help? Despite age and income being important to the demographic profile of an area, looking at these factors separately doesn't reveal any underlying relationships. But experience has shown households with similar interests and characteristics tend to make the same decisions. Let's look at how those interests and characteristics can be included by using Tapestry Segmentation data found within RPR's Site Selection analysis. In the two examples below, Household "A" and Household "B" appear quite similar. The average household income and ages between both households are practically the same. If the goal is to find new areas of expansion with specific types of consumer households, "A" and "B" appear to have equal demographics and spending power potential. However, once Tapestry is included in the analysis, a different story is revealed: Both neighborhoods contain distinct consumer markets, but "A" and "B" are very different types of households. They also display different housing choices and consumption preferences. Households in neighborhood "A" are classified as Metro Renters, while neighborhood "B" is classified as Up and Coming Families. Use RPR and Esri to drill down into Tapestry Segments to find the best targets As you can see, the income and ages of these households are closely aligned, but by adding the Tapestry Segment, a more focused picture comes to light. The name itself is a huge indicator and drilling down into the descriptions of these groups really helps solidify the context. For example, if your client is looking for a neighborhood or community to open a toddler-focused fitness and fun center (think My Gym), your main objective is to find young families. On the surface, Metro Renters and Up and Coming Families are very alike, but scratch just a bit in the Tapestry, and it's obvious that there are stark differences. Metro Renters are mostly young, single professionals who live in a big city. Up and Coming Families live in the suburbs, are in their early 30s, and most importantly, have young children. Of course, this doesn't mean that ALL Metro Renters don't have young children. It's simply a grouping that represents the majority of that demographic. The main takeaway here is to do your preliminary research ahead of time, use some common sense, and be sure to do your homework on each specific Tapestry Segment to ensure you're focusing on the most lucrative targets for a business. What is the best way to determine which consumer attributes are most important to a business? To figure out which consumer attributes are the most critical, the best place to start is with market research, which can include both primary and secondary research: Primary research can include surveys, focus groups, interviews, and other means of collecting data on consumer preferences, attitudes and behaviors. Secondary research can include analyzing publicaly available data such as market reports, census data and consumer spending habits. This data can then be used to identify consumer attributes that are most important to a business's specific product or service. See RPR's Site Selection tool in action For a run down and a video walkthrough of RPR's Site Selection tool, check out this article: How to Perform a Proper Commercial Site Selection in RPR. It's a smart way to show your clients not just who you are recommending, but why. You're not simply going after income and age; you're targeting specific attributes and behaviors that can lead to a successful business site. To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.

Tap into Big Data with RPR and Esri Tapestry Segmentation
Looking for the optimal business site? The right customers to support a business? A high-traffic area packed with disposable incomes that offers a significant ROI? Understanding consumer segmentation data can help lead you to the answers and working in RPR can help you build a commercial real estate strategy that's based on consumer and market trends, not a whim or a hunch. To get started, familiarize yourself with Tapestry Segmentation data from Esri, an RPR data partner/provider, which helps power two key areas: our Trade Area details and our Site Selection tool. Esri Tapestry Segmentation Esri Tapestry Segmentation provides a detailed description of America's neighborhoods. U.S. residential areas are divided into distinct segments based on their socioeconomic and demographic composition. Neighborhoods with the most similar characteristics are grouped together, and neighborhoods showing divergent characteristics are separated. In total, Tapestry includes 67 distinct market segments: 14 LifeMode groups and six Urbanization groups. How do these segments help in commercial real estate? Defining an area and conducting a search in RPR can help you find business opportunities that line up with commercial real estate recommendations. If your client wants to open a yoga studio and is looking for young, active moms with X amount of income, you can find where this group lives and spends. Read up on LifeMode groups and urbanization groups over on the Esri website. Esri Tapestry Segmentation LifeMode groups represent markets that share a common experience—born in the same generation or have immigrated from another country, for example—or a significant demographic trait, such as affluence. Tapestry segments are classified into 14 LifeMode groups: LifeMode 1 Affluent Estates Established wealth—educated, well-traveled married couples. Less than 10% of all households, with 20% of household income. Homeowners (almost 90%), with mortgages (65.2%). Married-couple families with children ranging from grade school to college. Expect quality; invest in time-saving services. Participate actively in their communities. Active in sports and enthusiastic travelers. Segment Name 1A Top Tier 1B Professional Pride 1C Boomburbs 1D Savvy Suburbanites 1E Exurbanites LifeMode 2 Upscale Avenues Prosperous married couples living in older suburban enclaves. Ambitious and hardworking. Homeowners (70%); prefer denser, more urban settings with older homes and a large share of town homes. Primarily married couples, many with older children. Financially responsible. Serious shoppers, from Nordstrom to Marshalls or DSW, who appreciate quality and bargains. Active in fitness pursuits such as bicycling, jogging, yoga, and hiking. Subscribe to premium movie channels such as HBO and Starz. Segment Name 2A Urban Chic 2B Pleasantville 2C Pacific Heights 2D Enterprising Professionals LifeMode 3 Uptown Individuals Young, successful singles in the city. Highest-educated market, highest rate of labor force participation, and averse to traditional commitments of marriage and home ownership. Urban dwellers, partial to city life, high-rise apartments, and uptown neighborhoods. Prefer credit cards over debit cards, while paying down student loans. Green and generous to environmental, cultural, and political organizations. Internet dependent, from social connections to shopping for fashion, tracking investments, making travel arrangements, and watching television and movies. Adventurous and open to new experiences and places. Segment Name 3A Laptops and Lattes 3B Metro Renters 3C Trendsetters LifeMode 4 Family Landscapes Successful young families in their first homes. Prosperous married-couple families, residing in suburban or semirural areas with a low vacancy rate (second lowest). Homeowners (79%) with mortgages (second-highest %), living in newer single-family homes, with median home value slightly higher than the U.S. median value. Two workers in the family, contributing to the second-highest labor force participation rate, as well as low unemployment. Do-it-yourself types who work on home improvement projects as well as their lawns and gardens. Sports enthusiasts, typically owning newer sedans or SUVs, dogs, and savings accounts/plans; comfortable with the latest technology. Eat out frequently at fast food or family restaurants to accommodate their busy lifestyle. Especially enjoy bowling, swimming, playing golf, playing video games, and taking trips to a zoo or theme park. Segment Name 4A Workday Drive 4B Home Improvement 4C Middleburg LifeMode 5 GenXurban Gen X in middle age; families with fewer kids and a mortgage. Second-largest Tapestry group, composed of Gen X married couples, and a growing population of retirees. About a fifth of residents are 65 or older; about a fourth of households have retirement income. Own older single-family homes in urban areas, with 1 or 2 vehicles. Live and work in the same county, creating shorter commute times. Invest wisely, well insured, comfortable banking online or in person. News enthusiasts (read a daily newspaper, watch news on TV, and go online for news). Enjoy reading, renting movies, playing board games and cards, doing crossword puzzles, going to museums and rock concerts, dining out, and walking for exercise. Segment Name 5A Comfortable Empty Nesters 5B In Style 5C Parks and Rec 5D Rustbelt Traditions 5E Midlife Constants Lifemode 6 Cozy Country Living Empty nesters in bucolic settings. Largest Tapestry group, almost half of households located in the Midwest. Homeowners with pets, residing in single-family dwellings in rural areas; almost 30% have 3 or more vehicles and, therefore, auto loans. Politically conservative and believe in the importance of buying American. Own domestic trucks, motorcycles, and ATVs/UTVs. Prefer to eat at home, shop at discount retail stores (especially Walmart), bank in person, and spend little time online. Own every tool and piece of equipment available to maintain their homes, vehicles, vegetable gardens, and lawns. Listen to country music; watch auto racing on TV; and enjoy outdoor activities, such as fishing, hunting, camping, boating, and bird watching. Segment Name 6A Green Acres 6B Salt of the Earth 6C The Great Outdoors 6D Prairie Living 6E Rural Resort Dwellers 6F Heartland Communities LifeMode 7 Sprouting Explorers Young homeowners with families. Multilingual and multigenerational households with children who represent second-, third-, or fourth-generation Hispanic families. Neighborhoods feature single-family, owner-occupied homes built at city's edge, primarily built after 1980. Hardworking and optimistic, most residents aged 25 years or older have a high school diploma or some college education. Shopping and leisure also focus on their children—baby and children's products from shoes to toys and games and trips to theme parks, water parks, or the zoo. Children enjoy playing video games on personal computers or handheld or console devices.Many households have dogs for domestic pets. Segment Name 7A Up and Coming Families 7B Urban Villages 7C Urban Edge Families 7D Forging Opportunity 7E Farm to Table 7F Southwestern Families LifeMode 8 Middle Ground Lifestyles of thirtysomethings. Millennials in the middle: single/married, renters/homeowners, middle class/working class. Urban market mix of single-family, town home, and multiunit dwellings. Majority of residents attended college or attained a college degree. Householders have traded their landlines for cell phones, which they use to listen to music, read the news, and get the latest sports updates on their favorite teams. Online all the time: use the internet for entertainment (downloading music, watching YouTube, finding dates), social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), searching for employment. Leisure includes nightlife (clubbing, movies), going to the beach, some travel and hiking. Segment Name 8A City Lights 8B Emerald City 8C Bright Young Professionals 8D Downtown Melting Pot 8E Front Porches 8F Old and Newcomers 8G Hometown Heritage LifeMode 9 Senior Styles Senior lifestyles reveal the effects of saving for retirement. Households are commonly married empty nesters or singles living alone; homes are single family (including seasonal getaways), retirement communities, or high-rise apartments. More affluent seniors travel and relocate to warmer climates; less affluent, settled seniors are still working toward retirement. Cell phones are popular, but so are landlines. Many prefer print to digital media: avid readers of newspapers to stay current. Subscribe to cable television to watch channels such as Fox News, CNN, and The Weather Channel. Residents prefer vitamins and a regular exercise regimen. Segment Name 9A Silver & Gold 9B Golden Years 9C The Elders 9D Senior Escapes 9E Retirement Communities 9F Social Security Set LifeMode 10 Rustic Outposts Country life with older families in older homes. Depend on manufacturing, retail, and healthcare, with pockets of mining and agricultural jobs. Low labor force participation in skilled and service occupations. Own affordable, older single-family or mobile homes; vehicle ownership is a must. Residents live within their means, shop at discount stores, and maintain their own vehicles (purchased used) and homes. Outdoor enthusiasts, who grow their own vegetables, love their pets, and enjoy hunting and fishing. Pay bills in person; use the yellow pages; read newspapers, magazines, and mail-order books. Segment Name 10A Southern Satellites 10B Rooted Rural 10C Economic BedRock 10D Down the Road 10E Rural Bypasses LifeMode 11 Midtown Singles Millennials on the move—single, urban. Millennials seeking affordable rents in apartment buildings. Work in service and unskilled positions, usually close to home or public transportation. Single parents with very young children. Embrace the internet, for social networking and downloading content. From music and movies to soaps and sports, radio and television fill their lives. Brand-savvy shoppers select budget-friendly stores. Segment Name 11A City Strivers 11B Young and Restless 11C Metro Fusion 11D Set to Impress 11E City Commons LifeMode 12 Hometown Growing up and staying close to home; single householders. Close-knit urban communities of young singles (many with children). Owners of old, single-family houses, or renters in small multiunit buildings. Religion is the cornerstone of many of these communities. Visit discount stores and clip coupons. Purchase used vehicles to get to and from nearby jobs. Segment Name 12A Family Foundations 12B Traditional Living 12C Small Town Sincerity 12D Modest Income Homes LifeMode 13 Next Wave Urban dwellers; young, hardworking families. A large share are foreign born and speak only their native language. Young, or multigenerational, families with children are typical. Most are renters in older multi unit structures, built in the 1960s or earlier. Hardworking with long commutes to jobs, often using public transit to commute to work. Spending reflects the youth of these consumers, focus on children (top market for children's apparel) and personal appearance. Also a top market for moviegoers (second only to college students) and fast food. Partial to soccer and basketball. Segment Name 13A Diverse Convergence 13B Family Extensions 13C NeWest Residents 13D Fresh Ambitions 13E High Rise Renters LifeMode 14 Scholars and Patriots College and military populations that share many traits due to the transitional nature of this LifeMode group. Highly mobile, recently moved to attend school or serve in the military. The youngest market group, with a majority in the 15- to 24-year-old range. Renters with roommates in nonfamily households. For many, no vehicle is necessary as they live close to campus, military base, or jobs. Fast-growing group with most living in apartments. Part-time jobs help to supplement active lifestyles. Millennials are tethered to their phones and electronic devices, typically spending over 5 hours online every day tweeting, blogging, and consuming media. Purchases aimed at fitness, fashion, technology, and the necessities of moving. Highly social, free time is spent enjoying music, being out with friends, and seeing movies. Try to eat healthy, but often settle for fast food. Segment Name 14A Military Proximity 14B College Towns 14C Dorms to Diplomas Six Urbanization groups Tapestry groups are also available as Urbanization summary groups, in which markets share similar locales, from the urban canyons of the largest cities to the rural lanes of villages or farms. Tapestry segments are classified into six Urbanization groups: Principal Urban Centers Young, mobile populations living in the most densely populated neighborhoods of the largest cities (populations of 2.5 million or more). Traits shared by more than 2.5 million people: crowding, high cost of living, and full access to urban amenities, including jobs. Youngest population among the Urbanization groups. Households are renter occupied by singles or roommates. The most challenging market for auto sales: half the commuters use public transportation, bicycles, or walk to work. Focus on style and image with liberal spending on apparel. Constantly connected, using the internet for everything from finding jobs to finding dates. Segment Name 3A Laptops and Lattes 3B Metro Renters 3C Trendsetters 8D Downtown Melting Pot 11A City Strivers 13C NeWest Residents 13D Fresh Ambitions 13E High Rise Renters Urban Periphery City life for starting families in neighborhoods that fringe major cities. The earliest suburbs, built before 1970, primarily single-family housing with some apartments. Young families with children. Homeowners living closer to the city, with below-average vacancy rates. Leisure focuses on the children (visits to theme parks or water parks), sports (soccer, basketball, football), and movies. Spending also emphasizes the children—clothing, toys, and baby products. Parents of small children favor family restaurants and fast food. Smartphones are popular for social contacts, downloading apps, games, and music. Segment Name 2C Pacific Heights 5D Rustbelt Traditions 7B Urban Villages 7C Urban Edge Families 7D Forging Opportunity 7F Southwestern Families 8A City Lights 8C Bright Young Professionals 11C Metro Fusion 12A Family Foundations 12D Modest Income Homes 13A Diverse Convergence 13B Family Extensions Metro Cities Affordable city life including smaller metropolitan cities or satellite cities that feature a mix of single-family and multiunit housing. Single householders seeking affordable living in the city: usually multiunit buildings that range from mid- to high-rise apartments; average monthly rents and home value below the U.S. average. Consumers include college students, affluent Gen X couples, and retirement communities. Student loans more common than mortgages; debit cards more popular than credit cards. Residents share an interest in city life and its amenities, from dancing and clubbing to museums and concerts. Convenience and mobility favor cell phones over landlines. Many residents rely on the internet for entertainment (download music, play online games) and as a useful resource (job searches). Segment Name 5B In Style 8B Emerald City 8E Front Porches 8F Old and Newcomers 8G Hometown Heritage 9E Retirement Communities 9F Social Security Set 11B Young and Restless 11D Set to Impress 11E City Commons 12B Traditional Living 14B College Towns 14C Dorms to Diplomas Suburban Periphery Urban expansion: affluence in the suburbs or city-by-commute. The most populous and fastest-growing among Urbanization groups, Suburban Periphery includes one-third of the nation's population. Commuters value low-density living, but demand proximity to jobs, entertainment, and the amenities of an urban center. Well-educated, two-income households; accept long commute times to raise their children in these family-friendly neighborhoods. Many are heavily mortgaged in newly built, single-family homes. Older householders have either retired in place, downsized, or purchased a seasonal home. Suburbanites are the most affluent group, working hard to lead bright, fulfilled lives. Residents invest for their future and insure themselves against unforeseen circumstances, but also enjoy the results of their hard work. Segment Name 1A Top Tier 1B Professional Pride 1C Boomburbs 1D Savvy Suburbanites 1E Exurbanites 2A Urban Chic 2B Pleasantville 2D Enterprising Professionals 4A Workday Drive 4B Home Improvement 5A Comfortable Empty Nesters 5C Parks and Rec 5E Midlife Constants 7A Up and Coming Families 9A Silver & Gold 9B Golden Years 9C The Elders 14A Military Proximity Semirural The most affordable housing—in smaller towns and communities located throughout the country. Single-family and mobile homes in the country, but still within reach of some amenities. Embrace a quiet, country lifestyle including listening to country music, attending country performances, riding ATVs, and camping. Prefer domestic products and vehicles, especially trucks. Shop at large department and discount stores such as Walmart. Fast food and frozen meals are much more common than fine dining. Many make a living off the land through agriculture, fishing, and forestry. Time off is spent visiting nearby family rather than flying to vacation destinations. Segment Name 4C Middleburg 6F Heartland Communities 7E Farm to Table 9D Senior Escapes 10D Down the Road 12C Small Town Sincerity Rural Country living featuring single-family homes with acreage, farms, and rural resort areas. Very low population density distinguishes this group—typically fewer than 50 people per square mile. Over half of all households are occupied by persons 55 years and older; many are married couples without children at home. Mostly homeowners (80%), but rentals are affordable in single-family or mobile homes. Long trips to the store and to work—often drive alone in trucks or SUVs, listening to country radio. Blue-collar jobs dominate the landscape, including manufacturing, agriculture, mining, and construction. Many are self-employed, retired, or receive income from Social Security. Satellite TV and landline phones are necessary means to connect. More conservative in their spending practices. Comfortable, established, and not likely to move. Segment Name 6A Green Acres 6B Salt of the Earth 6C The Great Outdoors 6D Prairie Living 6E Rural Resort Dwellers 10A Southern Satellites 10B Rooted Rural 10C Economic BedRock 10E Rural Bypasses How Tapestry data weaves its tale We hope you learned some useful information with our spotlight on consumer segmentation data found within RPR, via Esri. And why it's so critical, insightful and applicable in today's commercial real estate world. Check it out for yourself by searching a Trade Area or by conducting a Commercial Site Selection. These links will take you on a guided tour to get you familiar with the workflow. Good luck! To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.

RPR Launches a New Commercial Property Details Page
You could say RPR (Realtors Property Resource) is on a roll when it comes to new product releases. A few months ago, RPR made it really easy for residential agents to share local market data and stats with their clients, via the Market Trends charts and graphs. And last month, RPR unveiled a new and improved version of the RPR Mobile™ app, for both residential and commercial users. And now RPR is excited to reveal our latest product upgrade: a redesigned and refreshed version of our Commercial Property Details page. After months of collecting and seeking out feedback from REALTORS®, we're excited to present these redesigned and refreshed page designs. These visually appealing new layouts aren't just pretty to look at—they're also crafted for maximum productivity. You'll find these high performance, faster loading, data-packed pages offer more "at a glance" visibility with less clicks and scrolling. Basically, you'll find more of what you want, and you'll find it faster! So much is packed into the new RPR Property Details page, that the only thing there's less of, is clicks If you're familiar with the previous Commercial Property Details pages, you'll instantly notice that the new version places all the "Basic Facts" just to the right of the property photo. This means there's no more scrolling and scrolling down the page to get a quick look at all the pertinent information. We've also added full search bar capabilities to the top of the Property details page. So users now have the ability to conduct searches and commercial "property hop" without having to circle back around to the homepage. And that's a big win for our users! Find more of what you want, with less effort The page navigation has also been updated. The real biggie here is the Trade Area tab has been made easier to locate and access by placing it in the navigation bar. Now when you're on a property page, and you're just one click away from economic and demographic data on a property and its surrounding area by viewing the Trade Area details. The My Updates tab now rounds out the sub nav bar. This section is easier than ever to get to, and its capabilities have been beefed up. In addition to being able to add notes, some nice improvements have been made to the Photos section, including the ability to select/deselect all photos, and a quick button to select a photo as your cover photo. Rewriting History and Additional Resources Here's another upgrade that RPR Commercial users will love: the new Listing History and Public Record History areas. For the first time ever in RPR Commercial, prior sales transactions will now be displayed in a side-by-side comparison grid. This new format will allow commercial practitioners to do in-depth research and homework on a property in an instant. We've also given the Additional Resource area a facelift with the addition of two new resources: CompStak and LandBroker COOP. (Keep an eye out for a more detailed article on these new integrations in next month's RPR Commercial blog page.) More intuitive, more improvements, more REALTOR® input The changes in this redesign are sure to make agents more productive and more precise in RPR Commercial. We revel in taking your feedback and turning it into real, tangible improvements that make your RPR experience easier and your business more successful. Watch this video to see it in action, and also be sure to check out these convenient Printable Guides that offer step-by-step explanations on all the new features. And these are just the highlights! For even more details on the Commercial Property Details, dig deep with these product release notes. To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.

California Legislature Approved 4 New Bills to Support Building Millions of Units of Affordable Housing in Commercial Corridors
California, like many states, suffers from a lack of affordable housing. According to the California Department of Finance, the median price of a single-family home in May 2022 in California was $898,980, up a significant 1.6% over the previous month and an increase of nearly 10% over the same time last year. AB 2097 amounts to a statewide boost to residential and commercial development near public transit. The bill prohibits local municipalities from imposing any minimum car parking requirements for projects located within a half mile of metro, bus, or other transportation centers. AB 2221 incentivizes ADU (Accessible Dwelling Unit) construction by clarifying rules around "granny flats." Under existing law, developers are allowed to add the units only to existing multifamily buildings. AB 2221 extends that allowance to proposed projects. It also clarifies local agencies' timelines for approving ADU projects, raises certain height limits, and other changes. Smartly, California is turning to the sometimes underutilized commercial space to convert it into residential living space. The bills are incentivizing affordable housing construction in areas not traditionally thought of as residential living spaces. To qualify, 100% of affordable projects must be located in areas currently primarily used for office, retail and parking, and mixed-income projects must be located in "commercial corridors" – local roads typically used for strip malls and parking lots. With the move to more remote workforces post-Covid, more spaces like this have opened up, providing the potential for more residential inventory. AB 2011 and SB 6 are companion bills that incentivize affordable housing construction in commercial areas. Under the AB 2011 bill, a developer can build housing "by right" — which means skipping lengthy and costly local review processes, including the cumbersome California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA — as long as they pay workers union-level wages and offer health care benefits, among other requirements. The legislation is intended to "expand the potential sites where housing can be developed, while directing development away from existing residential neighborhoods — in particular, existing single-family neighborhoods," according to a bill analysis. These four bills come on the back of California's SB 9 bill, signed on January 1, which permits development of up to four residential units on single-family lots across California. Proponents believe it will allow homeowners to ease the state's housing shortage and protect renters from ever-increasing rents in more expensive areas. They say it creates a path for homeowners to establish multi-generational equity, while creating new housing locations for residents normally priced out of the market. Many cities across California, however, are suing over SB 9, stating that it strips zoning authority from local municipalities where it has traditionally been placed. According to California state housing analysts, California must build 2.5 million homes by 2030 to address the current housing shortage. Of those, nearly half – or at least 1 million, authorities say, need to be affordable to low-income households to maintain the state's economy. Opponents to the bill say while the intent is to reduce a significant housing shortfall, it does not provide funding to address the traffic, health, school, safety, or infrastructure needed when additional housing density is delivered. Opponents also believe SB 9 will raise home and land values in urban areas, making it harder for first-time homebuyers. Most importantly, the SB 9 bill does not require the newly created homes or lots to have any affordability covenants, or to be restricted to moderate- or lower-income households, therefore not accomplishing the most important goal of the legislation. The bills are currently in the hands of Governor Gavin Newsom for signature. Programs similar to these bills are also in place in New York. In his 2022 budget, former Governor Andrew Cuomo included measures for adaptive reuse of commercial and hotel properties to create permanent affordable housing. Proposed measures would relax light and air requirements for Class B and C commercial spaces in Midtown (defined here as the area between Ninth and Park avenues from 14th to 60th streets), and for hotels through most of the city, for conversion to either supportive housing or at least 20% affordable housing over the coming five years. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Tap into RPR Commercial to Land More Closed Deals
A member of RPR's Industry Relations team recently had an interesting conversation with a Realtor at the Realtors Land Institute National Conference. Stephen J. B. Davis spoke with our RPR rep about how much he loves RPR (Realtors Property Resource) and that he uses it quite frequently for recreational and agricultural land deals. But here's the twist! He utilizes RPR Commercial to get those deals done. Using the commercial mode of RPR to get the ball rolling on recreational and agricultural land projects is a unique approach, for sure. We set out to speak with Stephen one-on-one to hear more about his RPR usage. Hi Stephen, how long have you been a REALTOR® and what area do you specialize in? I got my license towards the end of 2018, so about three and half years. And apart from practicing residential real estate, I also specialize in land. Tell me about how you got started using RPR. Well, I first started using RPR to get up to speed and to be informed about my area. I work in Kentucky, yet I'm not actually from here. And for some people, they simply don't want to work with a non-lifelong resident. So, as a transplant, I use RPR because it's really simple for getting solid info on a particular area. It's just so easy to get super specific data! Right down to the zip code and neighborhood level. I'm not an eighth generation Kentuckian, which is important here, but with RPR, it looks like I've been here for a while. Good point, almost like a relocation specialist learning about neighborhoods through RPR. Exactly. RPR gives me quick reliability for my clients. The market updates, they really make me look smart. What's the tag line, "Wow your clients and close more deals"?! That's me! I love using the tools at my disposal. You don't become excellent on accident! That's an idea I really believe in, and I use RPR to fulfill that. Explain how you use RPR Commercial in your land business? Land wise, I use it for hard data on comps. Land isn't centralized. It's so much more spread out and it's not on Zillow or realtor.com. With RPR access, I'm able to bypass gatekeepers on certain MLSs, ones where there's a paywall, where I don't have access. But I can go on RPR and figure what has sold in the last six months, year, two years. It's a great starting point. It's invaluable. So you use RPR Commercial to check on sales data and comps for land purchases? Well, I first started using RPR to get up to speed and to be informed about my area. I work in Kentucky, yet I'm not actually from here. And for some people, they simply don't want to work with a non-lifelong resident. So, as a transplant, I use RPR because it's really simple for getting solid info on a particular area. It's just so easy to get super specific data! Right down to the zip code and neighborhood level. I'm not an eighth generation Kentuckian, which is important here, but with RPR, it looks like I've been here for a while. What are some of your favorite, "go-to" features of RPR? I mostly use it for sales data, as a way to compare similar properties. I choose property types to see what has sold in the last few years. And then I might double check with another platform to see if it's there as well. Just to verify, I use as many sources and resources as possible. I also use the commercial side for sales records, actually sold, and how does that land use fit for what I'm trying to compare it to. And I use it for all of my listings appointments. Any stories about how you've used RPR to "wow" a client? Sure, all the time I hear clients say, "Oh wow, you have that? Where'd you get that?" But what's even better, is when I "wow" people in my own office! They say, "How do you know so much?" (laughs) I say, "It's from using RPR." I wonder why everyone in my association and MLS aren't using it. You've got to use it! RPR is one of the best things that NAR offers its members. It's fairly simple to use, but you know, I don't tell my clients that. I want them to think that I spent hours finding them this great data. Great advice, Stephen! We love hearing about the creative and resourceful ways our users are applying RPR to their business successes. If you want to see how you can use RPR when it comes to locating and prospecting land, check out our on-demand webinar: Looking for Land in all the Right Places. And remember: you don't become excellent on accident! To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.

Digital Transformation Helps Commercial Real Estate Firms Offer Flexibility and Convenience
Over the past few years, the business landscape has changed significantly, especially in commercial real estate. From temporarily shuttered buildings to the explosion of digital technologies supporting remote interactions, change has been constant. Change can be uncomfortable, but when it's about providing truly flexible experiences for both businesses and customers, organizations should embrace it. Trending toward transformation The goal of any business is to maximize profits and delight customers with exceptional experiences that keep them coming back. When unexpected circumstances block that progression, organizations must adapt quickly. Sudden office closures presented such a barrier—as well as an opportunity to transform how they do business. Successful companies realized quickly that they needed to shift to a hybrid and remote workforce to survive. Even now, as companies are reopening their physical offices, the trend toward a hybrid workforce and remote and self-service customer interactions is going strong. According to a new poll by Gallup, 53 percent of respondents indicated a clear preference for a hybrid work arrangement now and in the future. The same is true for consumer preference: brands scoring the highest in Forrester's Customer Experience Index all digitally transformed their operations to better serve their customers. For commercial real estate firms, this means providing the flexibility employees and customers desire, including implementing contract management technologies that enable remote interactions. Current challenges For most organizations, agreements between employees, customers, partners and vendors codify how business gets done. This is especially true for commercial real estate firms that manage myriad contracts and leases. When contract management is seamless and simple, it's a massive business driver. But when it's chaotic and confusing, it can quickly sap productivity and jeopardize deals. This contract chaos is typically rooted in manual and paper-based processes, leading to a host of challenges for real estate investment firms, such as: Unnecessary delays during tenant turnover that negatively impact consistent rental income Postponements of critical and emergency maintenance projects that frustrate occupants and service providers Version control issues and legal risks from buyers and sellers changing terms numerous times, right up to contract signing Months-long negotiations and contract redlining delaying closing times due to complex sales processes with multiple stakeholders Delays, legal risks and mounting frustrations can be disastrous. Digital transformation is key to streamlining the contract management process and providing employees, tenants, and business associates the simplicity and flexibility they want. Time to transform While full-scale digital transformation is the end goal, it can be overwhelming to consider and prioritize all the areas ripe for modernization. It truly does change how an organization does business, from improving how employees collaborate to how customers interact. But with any large project, it's a journey. Knowing where to begin is just as important as envisioning where to finish. A great place to start is for an organization to evaluate how it creates, signs and manages all of its contracts and agreements. For commercial real estate firms, there's a laundry list of documents to manage, such as leases, renewals, work orders, NDAs, purchase and sale agreements, addendums and many more. Trying to manage these manually, or even partially digitally, can be a recipe for chaos. Centralized, cloud-based contract lifecycle management software is a must for organizations looking to streamline their processes, boost productivity and—perhaps most importantly—offer employees, clients/tenants and partners the convenience of remote and self-service interactions and transactions. More specifically, end-to-end digital contract management offers the following benefits for commercial real estate firms. 1. Collaborate with virtually anyone, anywhere at any time Digital contract management software delivers the flexibility and speed needed to complete agreements from virtually anywhere. In addition to supporting a more distributed and hybrid workforce, it's critical for business continuity during unexpected disruptions. But even with digital tools, agreement workflows can still be unnecessarily complex. A mostly digital workflow that still includes steps requiring manual interventions and in-person interactions will undermine the purpose of implementing these tools in the first place. When agreements are managed online from end to end, businesses and customers can work together, even when they're not in the same room, country or time zone. 2. Minimize legal risk and extract new intelligence Commercial sales contracts and leases are lengthy documents with extensive back-and-forth redlining, possibly exposing companies to legal risk if a word or clause is missed in all the different versions. Contract lifecycle management gives legal teams broader control, helping them understand exactly what's in an agreement and tracking changes so there's less risk of violating terms, tarnishing reputations and losing income. Going a step further, storing all contracts in a central repository enables firms to review them for the most historically favorable terms and hidden risks. But tasking humans with this analysis can be time-consuming and error-prone. Contract management software with built-in AI tools can quickly find, filter and analyze thousands of agreements, massively reducing manual effort and errors. 3. Realize faster income while reducing costs Commercial leases are often complex and can take weeks or months to complete. And when they're paper-based and require manual interactions, it adds even more time, delaying critical rental income. Digital contract management tools accelerate the entire leasing process by eliminating paper and enabling quick and convenient interactions—cutting costs and helping firms receive valuable income much more quickly. 4. Focus on what's most important Negotiating is an essential part of property acquisitions and dispositions, as well as commercial leases, to ensure a favorable deal for all parties. Businesses should be able to focus on getting the deal finalized without worrying about the hassle and red tape that comes with tracking changes and versions of contracts saved in multiple locations, or worse, on paper documents. A fully digital agreement process lets users access all of a document's previous drafts—and the actions taken on each—back to the day it was created. This removes confusion and disagreements, and frees up valuable time. 5. Create better experiences for lasting success When agreements are onerous, companies risk losing top talent and valued customers. There are simply too many other options in the current market to justify enduring repeated bad experiences. Digital transformation is essential for providing the flexible and fast interactions people now expect. When work gets done more efficiently, and agreements are reached faster, it's a better experience for everyone—helping businesses attract and retain top talent and keep their customers returning. To view the original article, visit the DocuSign blog.

RPR Commercial: Parcel Overlays
In our last few RPR Commercial articles, we've honed in on specific map tools that can help commercial practitioners in property research and advising clients. We've covered map POIs, data layers, and drawing tools to show you just how deep RPR's data goes, and how easy it is to access this important information within our platform. We're continuing the trend by putting a spotlight on one of our Commercial mobile app tools: the parcel overlay. And here's why: during a recent member feedback session, one of the participants offered up some advice on a digital application that she's been using to great success. It was a parcel overlay app for the state of Florida. She then said (and we're paraphrasing), "If only we had a national tool like this that covered the whole country. It would be so valuable." Turns out, you do. In fact, every REALTOR® does! It's the Parcel Overlay map filter found in the RPR Commercial app, and it's a nifty little feature that doesn't get a lot of attention. Here's how it works and how you can leverage its value… Parcels that deliver the goods Before we dive into the "how-to's" of using the map parcel overlay, here's a summary of what it can do for you as a practicing commercial real estate agent. By turning on parcels on the map from your phone, you can click on a property and have instant access to the: Property Owner Acreage Boundaries and property lines Square Footage Property Address Transfer Date School District Sale Price Building Description Directions Trade Area and population info "Call agent" button Imagine standing in front of a property or prospecting in an area, and clicking a button to reveal all this information. The investment and development possibilities are endless with this type of digital data tool and it could potentially give you a huge competitive edge. It accelerates the job of contacting owners and "digging" for intel or gauging interest in offers for their property. The days of going from website to website and making endless calls for basic information are no more. With RPR Commercial map parcel overlays, you simply find the property and then access the data with ease. A visual representation of parcel data can really help you make informed decisions about the potential value of properties. Here's how to do it. The "How-to" on commercial parcel overlays Step 1: If you don't have it already, download the RPR app for your smartphone or tablet. Step 2: Make sure you switch the mode in your RPR app to "Commercial" Step 3: From the home screen, hit the magnifying glass icon to conduct a search. Enter an address, ZIP code, city name, MLS ID/APN or Tax ID, then click "search" right below the bar. You'll be taken to a map that looks like this: Step 4: See the little round navigation button in the bottom right, the one with the three smaller dots in a row? Press this button to reveal the map options: Step 5: Press "Parcels" to "on" to activate the parcel boundaries overlay feature. Now search the map pins, and select a property, and a page that looks this will appear: Step 6: Click on the photo of the listing and scroll down to see the Listing Details and the property description. Step 7: Scroll down even further to reveal the Location Details, Property Facts, the Price Change History and more. It's so easy to make RPR's commercial data work for you! The parcel data available to you in the RPR Commercial app could be a game changer. With just a few finger taps, you now have the ability to research and gather key information on millions of properties. Give parcel overlays a test spin while you're in the field or on the go. Download the RPR app today to streamline and optimize your commercial research tomorrow. Good luck! To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.

RPR Commercial: Exploring Data Layers
RPR (Realtors Property Resource) offers commercial practitioners access to 826K+ active listings and 56 million off-market properties, all in one place, for no extra charge whatsoever. You can also utilize various types of data-driven reports and tools to help you advise and serve your commercial clients. In this article, we're going to focus on how to effectively use the RPR Commercial Maps, specifically how to apply data layers when conducting research. Map Data Layers are an overlay that add trends, indicators and flood zones to the map. Commercial Map Data Layers: reveal, then peel You can start a map search by clicking the Research menu (in the upper right navigation area) and then select Commercial Map Insights. Within the map, RPR provides data layers intended to provide a visualization of important attributes in order to help identify the best area for a business or property. Commercial pros can enable these layers on the map to help further their search parameters. Note: when you use the Commercial Map Insights to navigate, the Data Layers will automatically be displayed. If you click on the map or start a search from the main homepage search bar, just hit the Data Layers icon in the lower right section of any map to bring them up. The Data Layers showcase Demographic Indicators such as: Average Family Size Average Household Income Median Disposable Income Married/Unmarried Comparison Married/Divorced Comparison Highly Educated/Less Educated Comparison % of Population Who Are Children % of Population Who Are Tweens % of Population Who Are Teens % of Population in Early Adulthood % of Population Who Are Middle Aged % of Population Who Are Seniors You can use this type of information to help advise a commercial client on ideal locations to open a business, or perhaps to advise an investor client on multi-unit housing needs in an area. Within the same area, you can also reveal Residential Indicators such as: Estimated Home Values 12-Month Change Estimated Value Estimated Value per Sq Ft Concentration of Distressed Average Sale Price Average List Price Pending Sales Concentration List Price vs Sales Price Housing Density Year Built Flood Zones This layer will show color-coded flood zone areas as identified by FEMA. Simply click the More tab for a full explanation of flood risks and how they are determined. Once you have selected your data set, you can change the geography boundary and click Apply to see your selected data visualized across the larger area. A legend for interpreting the data is shown on the bottom right of the map, as well as an explanation of how the data was collected. Pro Tip: It's helpful to choose the "Road" map view option when using the map layers so you can better visualize the data. Data layer map wrap Peel back layer after layer of data and then advise your clients accordingly. RPR's powerful map functions provide important insights and provide a strong tool for visual analysis. This can arm you with community intelligence that will help you promote a property by understanding the competition around a potential new restaurant, or do a quick check to see if a building is in a flood zone. To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.

9 Things New Users Should Know About RPR Commercial
If you're new to RPR, welcome aboard! We know you have a lot riding on your next deal (maybe your first!), which is why we built the nation's largest property database for commercial practitioners. And we built it for one thing -- your success! Search on- and off-market properties through RPR You can now search any property right from the RPR Homepage. Simply toggle from "Residential" to "Commercial" and all the search settings change accordingly. This gives commercial professionals instant access to more than one million active listings from partnered sites such as Biproxi/OfficeSpace.com, Brevitas, CREXi, Catylist, and TotalCommercial.com—plus, the ability to search 56 million off-market properties, making RPR an indispensable asset. Use RPR to deliver data-backed advice and insight Here are some more highlights of specific improvements that RPR offers commercial users: The new shortcuts: Take guided tours of business-building features such as prospecting, mapping insights, reporting, investor analysis, Opportunity Zones and comp lists. Smoother navigation: Locate the tools you need from anywhere in the site by clicking one of the main navigation items. Need quick access to Commercial Site Selection? It's in a drop down menu on your homepage, under the Research tab. Market activity mapping: You can now set up "My Markets" that will be displayed right when you log in to your RPR account. Monitor selected geographies and specific properties to keep an eye out daily for client opportunities. Streamlined saves: Finding saved items clearly and quickly was a popular request from members. Now saved searches, properties and listings are easier to find and retrieve. Helpful details: Each Property Details page features call-outs to strategic, partnered commercial real estate resources, including national listing platforms. Just for you: The RPR New User Series These nine "how-to's" cover everything from simple searches, to how to trade areas and site selection, mapping, and our ever-popular RPR reports. Each article includes a breakdown of what you can expect from RPR and how to easily incorporate RPR tools and features into your every day business operations. Here's an overview of what you'll find in the RPR New User Series: Data Partners RPR has partnerships with various commercial data partners which help power the tools and reports you'll find inside of its platform. Commercial Search Learn how to get started searching for specific commercial properties or commercial areas in RPR, and how to view and refine your results. Commercial Map Insights Find ideal locations and set your listings apart by doing property searches and conducting research in RPR's Commercial Maps. Opportunity Zones Learn to use this powerful data layer to analyze and search for properties within the 8,700 Opportunity Zones throughout the U.S.. Property Details The commercial version of RPR's Property Details page is jam-packed with facts, stats and records that you can use to make solid commercial real estate recommendations. Trade Area Details The data found with RPR's Trade Area Details will help you measure, predict and target optimal locations for your business and investor clients. Site Selection Where are the right people for a business? Learn how to zero in on them with RPR's Commercial Site Selection tool. Commercial Reports RPR offers three Commercial Property Reports: the Commercial Property Report, the Trade Area Report and the Trade Area Analysis. Each one is an impressive deliverable to share with clients. RPR Mobile™ Download the free RRR app to instantly view on- and off-market properties. The app also provides a customizable feature that allows you to create, save and share reports with just a few quick taps on the screen. Designed exclusively for REALTORS®, RPR is included in your membership dues, and requires no extra fees or upgrades. Simply go to narrpr.com, and get the login process started. You'll soon be searching properties, creating reports and delivering data-rich, professional-looking materials to your clients. And in no time, you'll use RPR to "wow" your clients and close more deals. To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.

RPR Spurs Some Positive Chatter at the C5 Summit
The C5 Summit (Capital, Connect, Commerce, Community and Commercial) is sponsored by the National Association of REALTORS, and is the "Commercial Real Estate and Economic Impact" event of the year. It's billed as three days of Commercial real estate networking, learning, and deal-making with an array of panels, speakers and exhibitors. It was held on September 27th-29th in New York City and proved to be a hub for industry influencers to forge relationships, discuss the latest trends and get some deals done. RPR's (Realtors Property Resource) Emily Line, VP of Member Experience, was one of the emcees of the event. And when she wasn't gushing about keynote speaker Alex Rodriguez, she heard various mentions of RPR Commercial in one particular panel discussion. This Q&A with Emily will give you a recap of that session to give commercial practitioners who couldn't be in attendance a chance to hear what RPR Commercial can do for you and your business. Q. Hi Emily! During a recent guest speaking gig, we heard Dave Garland, the Managing Partner of Second Century Ventures, speak to how many people he heard discussing RPR's commercial capabilities at C5. Yes! The RPR chatter Dave Garland referenced was from a great panel on the future of PropTech, which was facilitated by Ashkán Zandieh, who is the Head of Strategic Growth at REACH Commercial. The panel also featured Tyler Thompson of Second Century Ventures, Andrew Flint, the Co-Founder of Occupier, and Deena Zimmerman, vice president of SVN Chicago Commercial. Q. Anything that stands out from that session? One thing that Tyler Thompson said during the tech panel: "Give me a big, boring problem that involves manual processes, spreadsheets, and pen and paper, and solve that. Because while the problem might not be sexy, the returns attached to solving that problem are." Q. Very true. Why did his quote grab you? I thought it summed up the imperative role RPR plays in the industry as the foundation for users. Too often we talk about futuristic, Jetsons-like "what ifs" and distract ourselves from the solutions that need our focus most. RPR sees the future by investing time in vetting new technology and engaging the active RPR Advisory Council in the review and seeing if the solutions make sense to introduce as an extension of their member-driven benefit. That said, RPR never loses sight of the foundational needs of having inventory in one place and continued focus on prospecting. We're focused on solving problems for REALTORS®, and that always includes commercial specialists. Q. Strong point and some great analysis. Here's another strong take from Ashkán Zandieh about focusing on REALTOR® members and their tech needs: "Since 2010, over $100 billion has been invested in proptech startups, with the lingering question: What's next? I'd say the answer from us to this group is always embracing the members first by studying their needs, recognizing their pain points and serving as an advocate for streamlining technologies so that the user isn't lost in the focus." Q. That's RPR's main mission and this sounds like a great discussion. What did Deena have to say? She spoke about using RPR to do property research and the advantages of using Trade Area Reports for her clients. Here's an excerpt from a REALTOR® Magazine article, "What's Holding Back Tech Adoption?" by Stacy Moncreif, that captures some of Deena's comments word for word: …Zimmerman is not only a sharer but a zealous advocate for technology. While her company subscribes to CoStar, she said she's also a fan of Crexi, a commercial listing platform that offers a discount to NAR members, and Realtors Property Resource, where commercial practitioners can research properties and market areas and find deep data on more than 1 million active commercial listings and 55 million off-market properties. There's no cost for NAR members to use RPR. It's a benefit of membership. She also uses ArcGIS from ESRI and SitesUSA to help tenants do site selection. Having access to such tools routinely help Zimmerman beat out larger real estate companies in her tenant rep business, she told the C5 Summit audience. In one instance, adding an RPR trade market report to a proposal led to an hour-long discussion with a potential client. No other broker had offered near that depth of information, she said. She won the business and earned a sizeable commission. Q. Great stuff, Emily. Sounds like RPR's commercial capabilities were really well promoted. What are your parting thoughts from the conference? It is becoming abundantly clear for a greater audience that the power of the "R" includes both residential and commercial real estate. This inaugural C5 Summit was proof that all facets of the commercial real estate industry benefit by coming together under one roof to learn about the latest trends and close deals. It was incredible to see NAR in the driver seat for this influential, game changing event! And I'd be remiss if I didn't add that it completely warms my heart that RPR commercial data tools contributed to the discussions and deal-making that happened onsite. I'm already geeking out in anticipation for next year's C5 Summit August 15th -17th, 2022! To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.

RPR Offers Specific Benefits to Commercial Members
Earlier this year, RPR rolled out a new and updated version of its website. Redesigned from top to bottom, the platform now boasts a more modern look, feel and functionality. Many of these upgraded workflows were made with the commercial member in mind. In fact, RPR provides data, tools and reports that help solve many commercial practitioners' pain points. REALTORS® asked—RPR listened RPR's refreshed design and functionality was directly influenced by REALTOR® feedback. Months of one-on-one testing groups and various committee sessions revealed that users wanted an easier and more streamlined way to find their items, past searches and saved properties. One meeting in particular, the Commercial Committee session during the REALTORS® Legislative meetings in May of 2020, voiced a need for a "dashboard" style type of navigation. The new RPR Homepage delivers on this "ask" in a big way. The more user-centric homepage was rebuilt for efficient productivity, with the member's regular routine in mind. It offers "Shortcuts" to tools and features, and customizable "My Market" areas with quick access to property hot sheets. Simply put, users can now get more done with less clicks! Raising the bar Another huge upgrade is commercial property searches. Now, any property is available for search from one search bar area. Simply toggle from "Residential" to "Commercial" and all the search settings change accordingly. This gives commercial professionals instant access to more than 900,000 active listings from partnered sites such as Biproxi/OfficeSpace.com, Brevitas, CREXi, Catylist, and TotalCommercial.com. Plus, the ability to search 56 million off-market properties, making RPR an indispensable asset. Use RPR to deliver data-backed advice and insight Here are some more highlights of specific improvements the new RPR offers commercial users: The new Shortcuts: take guided tours of business-building features such as prospecting, mapping insights, reporting, investor analysis, Opportunity Zones and comp lists. Smoother navigation: locate the tools you need from anywhere in the site by clicking one of the main navigation items. Need quick access to Commercial Site Selection? It's in a drop down menu on your homepage, under the Research tab. Market Activity mapping: you can now set up "My Markets" that will be displayed right when you log in to your RPR account. Monitor selected geographies and specific properties to keep an eye out daily for client opportunities. Streamlined saves: finding saved items clearly and quickly was a popular request from members. Now saved searches, properties and listings are easier to find and retrieve. Helpful details: each Property Details page features call-outs to strategic, partnered commercial real estate resources, including national listing platforms. Real world applications RPR's updated site offers quick support for commercial agents to grow their businesses, and here's an example of how to apply them in a real world setting. Gail Clements is a REALTOR® who operates in a variety of real estate categories, including residential, commercial and land. Gail took advantage of an RPR Opportunity Zones Tips and Tricks webinar, which helped her locate properties in Opportunity Zones on the RPR maps, connect with owners via the RPR Mailing Labels feature, and present the properties to investors using comprehensive RPR reports. This is a textbook example of how to utilize RPR to find, reach and impress your commercial and investor clients. From urban high rises to small town strip malls, you can apply these techniques to help build up your business, and you can do it all for no additional cost. Access to RPR is included in your National Association of REALTORS® membership. Take your commercial business to the next level by logging in today at narrpr.com. To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.

How to Search for Properties and Get Results with RPR Commercial
Getting started in RPR (after creating and setting up your account, of course) usually begins with a property search. Any property, including commercial properties, is available for search from one search bar area right on the RPR homepage. Simply toggle from "Residential" to "Commercial" and all the search settings change accordingly. This gives commercial professionals instant access to more than 900,000 active listings from partnered sites such as Biproxi/OfficeSpace.com, Brevitas, CREXi, Catylist, and TotalCommercial.com. Plus, the ability to search 56 million off-market properties, which makes RPR an indispensable asset in your research and recommendations to clients. This article will explain exactly how to execute a commercial property search, and how to review the results, in RPR. The basics of commercial search First, set the toggle to Commercial and begin your property search by entering a specific address, APN, or listing ID in the location field to go directly to the property. If you're looking for a piece of land without an address, but you have the APN or Tax ID, you can search for that directly from the search bar. If you're searching by multiple APNs or Listing IDs at one time, use a semicolon to separate each. In this case, you'll be taken to search results displaying each property. You may also find that using the Commercial Map Insights found by selecting Research from the main navigation is a good way to look for land. (Note: Also access Site Selection from the top navigation Research menu.) Searching areas vs addresses You can also search for properties in a general area. To do that, you'll need to make sure that you have the correct "Filters" set. RPR will remember your last filter setting, but it's a good idea to make sure they're still set properly before beginning your search. You can also quickly remove previously set Filters by selecting the Filters icon (that's the little funnel icon in the upper right navigation menu) and then the Reset button. Next, enter a neighborhood, ZIP code, city or other defined geography into the location field. As you type, RPR will auto suggest results, based on the location nearest to you. If you select the name of the auto suggest, your search will automatically be executed. Filter down your commercial search If you started your search without any filters, or have too many results, you can now narrow down your results by selecting the type / status for your search. For example, drill down by selecting properties that are For Sale or For Lease or Active Under Contract. You can even choose Off Market Public Records. Each status has a corresponding calendar that can be used to set the date parameters that will restrict your search to that exact time period. One helpful tip as you are learning how agents in your market prefer to list properties, is to keep the "Commercial" property checked as this is a catch-all property type and can house a mixture of properties that you may be interested in. Select your Price or Lease Price and enter the building or leasable square footage parameters and/or enter the lot size. Note that RPR features a mobile responsive design. This means that the layout will adjust based on screen size. For smaller screens, some search options are moved to the "Filters" area. Select the filters icon (the funnel) to expand the advanced search. You'll immediately see the count of properties matching your criteria. This is a helpful reference that will allow you to better pinpoint the specific properties you're looking for. PRO TIP: RPR has a max number of properties that you can search. Once your search area exceeds 5000 properties, RPR will show a message requesting that you adjust your search filters to narrow down your results. Advanced search filters include distressed actions, land use, and miscellaneous fields such as occupancy type, owner name, year built, time owned, and keyword search. Search results: List View Now that we've gone over the basics of searching, let's move on to property search results. Choose List View to arrive at your search results (the first set of icons in the upper right). To continue narrowing down your results, select the Filters icon and adjust the parameters of your search. You can also sort your results by clicking the Sort By dropdown or one of the column headers. From the List View, you can also save properties by clicking the heart icon (all the way to the right of the column). The property is automatically named after the street address, but you can type a new name if desired. Then select Save and the property will be added to your saved properties. Your Saved properties are listed on the homepage, or you can access them from the top navigation by choosing My Work and My Saved Properties. Printable View If you're looking for a printable view of the search results, select the properties you want by using the corresponding checkboxes and then selecting Print. A window will open allowing you to print Only Selected Properties or All Results. Note: selecting All Results will print the properties currently showing on your screen. If you have a large number of properties to print, make sure to scroll to the bottom of the screen to view all your results. From this results list, you can also create mailing labels or similar data to export into a CSV file, which is great for importing building and owner details into your customer relationship management system. Do that by selecting Mailing Labels from your search results and then walking through the onscreen prompts. You can also go straight to creating a report, by selecting Create Report. Photo and Map View There are also other options for viewing your property search results. You can change to a Photo Grid View or to the Map view by selecting those icons (in the upper right). The Photo Grid View gives you a way to view larger photos of the property. And the Map View allows you to further define your own search areas by drawing them on the map, or by displaying the outlines of geographies such as neighborhoods, ZIP codes, Opportunity Zones and more. And finally, once you've found a property that you want to review further, select it to view the full property details. To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.

Using RPR Commercial Maps Insights to Your Advantage
If you're a commercial practitioner or a resimercial specialist, there's a lot of data for you to explore and leverage in RPR Commercial Maps. This article will cover how to use them to visually search for properties and uncover market trends. We'll also go over how to use the RPR map to help better understand and target a Trade Area using Points of Interest, Traffic Counts and Data layers, as well as how to search for properties and create trade area reports by using any of the drawing tools. Let's get to business...

How to Perform a Proper Commercial Site Selection in RPR
The Commercial Site Selection tool in RPR gives commercial real estate practitioners an edge when it comes to finding ideal areas for professional or retail business sites. Here's a top line of what it can do for you: Allows users to select specific attributes from broad data categories such as economic, demographic, spending, tapestry and more. With these attributes selected, a user can search a large geography such as a county, and identify where these conditions exist in smaller geographies such as ZIP codes or neighborhoods. This drilling down allows a user to search for properties only in these geographies that have their desired attributes, ensuring that the core drivers of a client's business are in the area, which is a time saver from looking through properties that aren't.

RPR's Commercial Mobile App: Tackle Commercial Tasks on the Go
When you're in the field or away from the office, there's an easy way to stay super productive. In this article, we'll show you how the RPR app can help you access commercial property information, market conditions, and reports. If you haven't already downloaded the RPR app, do so now by visiting the App store or Play store on your smartphone or tablet.

Commercial Market Chat with Deena Zimmerman
With many businesses shutting down and workplaces realizing that their employees can easily work from home, it seems that commercial real estate will most likely look quite a bit different moving forward. Even with these not-so-hopeful indicators, there are some silver linings and positive signs on the horizon...

How to Find Commercial Comps Using RPR
Commercial practitioners need access to commercial property details, history and data to give their clients the best guidance possible. Finding comparable properties gives you an idea of a property's current market value, which is a vital part of creating a Broker Opinion of Value (BOV) also known as a Broker Price Opinion (BPO), which helps guide a purchase or listing price decision. However, getting this done on the commercial side of real estate has always been a little tricky. Commercial comparables have typically been pieced together by visiting various public record websites and/or paying a vendor to collect data and have it packaged up for you to extrapolate and organize. Thankfully, things have gotten much more streamlined and RPR makes it easier than ever.

How to Get More Eyes on Your Listings with Eli Randel
In this video, we chat with Eli Randel, Chief Strategy Officer at CREXi. We'll walk you through what makes a listing stand out in difficult times like today, as well as the booming times we look forward to getting back to. We review simple things such as including as much detail as possible, to more advanced tips like creating virtual due diligence processes for potential buyers.

RPR: Collaborating to Bring REALTORS a Pain-Free Commercial Resource
The convenience of a national, one-stop-shop in commercial real estate is complicated to say the least. Bouncing around from website to website and resource to resource just seems to be the norm. The ability to go to one place, for on- and off-market listings, for investment analysis tools and data, never seemed like it could be a reality for commercial practitioners. However, RPR is conducting research with members and collaborating with the strongest commercial real estate partners to make this come true for REALTORS.

RPR Commercial: 3 Ways to Start 2020 on a High Note
Happy 2020! It's a new year and another opportunity to set goals, reach new heights and have as much success as possible. We kick off the 20s with a "task-solution-process" look at how you can use RPR Commercial to farm for new prospects, run trade area reports to market your properties, and apply investment analysis tools to gauge ROI. Good luck in the coming year and be sure to incorporate the following tips into your commercial real estate workflow.

Top 3 Underused Commercial Search Functions in RPR
The actions taken to do a property search really haven't changed much since real estate and the internet first came together. For decades now, we've gone to listing sites to be immediately greeted by that oh-so-familiar search bar, and within a few clicks (with a little help from the magic of the internet), properties of all shapes and sizes pop up. In RPR Commercial, the same basic process holds true, but the use cases for search have grown well beyond just finding available space. With that in mind, I wanted to share a few of my favorite, but perhaps lesser-known, non-listing search functions.

Reverse Engineered Site Selection with RPR
Sometimes you come up with a great idea for a project, but you're just not sure where to start. Often times that means a trip to YouTube University for a video on how to change your oil, or maybe a cooking tutorial to help you nail that palak paneer dish you've been wanting to make. As a society, we know that turning to experts for knowledge is a great way to get up-to-speed more quickly, or fill in knowledge gaps that might otherwise cost us. So why not apply this approach to your commercial site selection process?

Educate and Empower Your Agents with RPR's New Commercial Learning Series
Introducing RPR's new Commercial video learning series, a self-paced introductory course designed to give agents quick, self-paced tutorials on the RPR Commercial system--a tool that will amplify their market expertise and help them be a more efficient REALTOR. The series includes seven courses, each lasting 10 minutes or less, with a printer-friendly handout to accompany each lesson. It's a helpful resource and opportunity for members to learn about new tools and techniques to help deliver a unique, competitive advantage.

Esri Refreshed with New Trade Area Data and Site Selection Options
This year's Esri refresh brought two new options for site selection along with the annual refresh of economic, demographic and tapestry segment data, available to REALTORS® nationwide! The most exciting addition is found in your attribute based site selection tool. The update now shows spending behavior at brick and mortar stores for multiple retail types.

Staying Ahead of the Game with Comprehensive Market Research
With more than four decades of experience in commercial real estate, Danny Levison knows a good thing when he sees it. That's why the principal of Atlanta Investment Properties (AIP) is a big proponent of Realtors Property Resource® (RPR®) when conducting market research. With a background that includes stints as a REALTOR®, investor, landlord and manager of a commercial brokerage that purchased, leased and managed multi-tenant commercial properties, today, Levison is head of both CommissionTrac and SharedSpace—a company that provides co-working opportunities throughout Georgia.

How to Get Started in Real Estate Investing, According to the Experts
Meet Our Panel of Experts REALTORS are natural entrepreneurs who constantly look to grow their businesses and increase efficiencies. As I travel the country, the most common questions I receive are "How do I break into investing in real estate?" and "Where do I go to get training to take the next step?" So I wanted to talk to the people at the forefront of investment.

Top 5 Data Needs for Researching Commercial Properties
Here are the top five areas in RPR Commercial used by commercial practitioners to help bring clients to the closing table. 1. Property Details RPR Commercial makes it easy to assess every property's potential by aggregating public records with data from preferred partners such as CIEs/CMLSs, MLSs and national brokerages for on-market commercial listings. Currently there are more than 372 thousand on-market listings, over 35 million off-market properties, and with the integration of SMR Research, an additional 7 million tenants occupying space available for your research exploration.

Spring Ushers in Major Refresh of Esri Data
The RPR development team has completed the annual Esri data refresh which includes over 1 billion data points! Esri data plays a critical role in RPR and is the data behind the commercial trade area analysis, federal and local economic area reports, and residential neighborhood statistics. Successful real estate companies know that opportunity comes from the detailed understanding of local communities and insights into their preferences. Esri's data sets amplify your market knowledge with location-based data to help you better understand factors that drive growth, thus allowing you to uncover opportunities and create competitive advantages for you and your clients.

A Realtor's Path from Selling Homes to Investment Real Estate
Mark Howe's career began like many Realtors, working a second job to make ends. To add to the challenge, Mark's start as a Realtor in 1982 was compounded by interest rates as high as 20-plus percent. While many may have let a less-than-ideal market discourage their path, success in the form of a commission check encouraged him to continue his real estate career. Mark voiced feelings that residential real estate was only a starting point for him, so we wanted to explore more about his path into investment/land brokerage and uncover some of his keys to success in this real estate arena.

A Look Inside the Power of RPR Commercial
Tangible, authoritative, reliable data. That's what commercial practitioners across the nation tell us about what they need to succeed in the marketplace. And RPR is ready. From demographics, psychographics and predictive analyses, to economic data and a full suite of reporting tools, RPR Commercial is a REALTOR's right hand. Check out this infographic for a breakdown of how commercial practitioners can use RPR to identify the who, what and where for every town/city in America:

Beyond Spreadsheets with Real Estate Financial Modeling Tools
More than a year ago, RPR decided it was time to upgrade what it offered for analyzing real estate investment opportunities. Based on years of REALTOR® feedback, we scoured the internet and trade show floors to assess what was available and began narrowing down our list of potential partners. One of those companies, Real Estate Financial Modeling, LLC (REFM), built a platform called Valuate® that seemed to not only meet but exceed many of our wants, so we ran a test group that gave us the thumbs up to move forward with a partnership. From that point, Founder/CEO Bruce Kirsch and the REFM team have worked non-stop to expand this platform. We wanted to share with you a little about this journey.

Tenant Data Comes to RPR Commercial
RPR Commercial is your database of more than 35 million off-market commercial properties, 330,000+ on-market commercial listings with over 107,000 available leasing opportunities. You've had access to who owns a building, property specs, tax records, mortgage information, and legal descriptions for properties nationwide and now, with a recent integration with SMR Research, you have the ability to see over 7 million tenants that occupy space within a structure.

Mortgage Data Turns Table in Buyer's Favor
Every Realtor® has run into it once or twice. Encounters with sellers who are less than forthcoming about their property's shortcomings, including withholding facts about the outstanding mortgage. "Those kinds of surprises are detrimental to closing the deal," says Andrew Balalovski, broker and owner of Balalovski Real Estate in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. "So before I ring a client's doorbell, I'm two steps ahead of the seller. I know everything about the property's worth, its past mortgage, deed history, loan amount, taxes, characteristics, and even how the market is doing in the neighborhood."

Discovering Local Opportunities By Assessing National Trends
Staying up to date with trends affecting commercial real estate should be easier than ever. We have a multitude of informed experts at our disposal via social networks, news outlets, and a myriad of newsletters that magically appear in our inboxes. All of this information can become overwhelming, but through careful curation of who you pay attention to, you can begin to see the opportunities through the trees. Take for example the Commercial Real Estate Alert from NAR. In it are a number of trends that could impact your CRE business –– from demographics impacting the use of space, to sustainable building features becoming increasingly important for tenants/investors, to getting your next project financed through a crowdfunding website.

Downsizing to Downtown: Boomers Hitting the Road
We've talked about Millennials seeking the work, live, play mantra as they locate to communities. Ironically, Baby Boomers have similar lifestyle preferences with walkability to entertainment and amenities as their core preferences. The Wall Street Journal recently published "It's OK to Party When You Turn 60." According to the article, more people are celebrating age rather than lamenting getting older. Also, 4.3 million babies were born 60 years ago. There are now more Baby Boomers than ever turning 60, with an approximate rate of 491 per hour. For Baby Boomers, an active economy is a leading driver when considering a move to urban living. They tend to downsize to communities where there are part-time job opportunities as well as nearby shopping, dining, healthcare, and recreational activities.

The Future of Integrated Technology and Real Estate
Leaders from Realtors Property Resource, Xceligent, Valuate and Buildout join Commercial Real Estate Show’s Executive Producer Michael Bull, CCIM, to share insight on how the use of integrated technology can add efficiency and profits to your business. In this segment, Michael and guests, including Nathan Graham, commercial services director, discuss the future of these technologies and how they’ll help the real estate industry. Part 1: Integrated Real Estate Technology from Valuate and Realtors Property Resource Part 2: Integrated Real Estate Technology from Buildout and Xceligent Part 3: Integrated Technology for Brokers Part 4: The Future of Integrated Technology and Real Estate

RPR / CommercialSearch™ Integration: Easier workflow with insightful data
Good news for commercial practitioners challenging tech firms to play nice in the sandbox with one another. You've been heard. Now, thanks to a newly formed collaboration between property data powerhouses Realtors Property Resource® (RPR®) and Xceligent™ CommercialSearch.com, your daily fact-finding missions are just a few, quick clicks away. "The RPR Commercial and CommercialSearch.com integration allows REALTORS® a single point of entry to collect detailed property data, along with analytics to support business sustainability. This is a huge benefit," said Greg Hrabcak, CCIM, Columbus, Ohio, who represents companies such as Kroger, Inland Real Estate Growth Fund, Textron Financial Services, United Parcel Service and Five Guys, to name a few. "The collaboration shifts my focus so I can draw insights for my clients more effectively and efficiently through an easier access and process for aggregating data." Access to real time data and intuitive reports are just a few of the value-driven features offered through the RPR/ CommercialSearch integration. Here's how to put all six features to work for you. 1. Expanded (and free) listing exposure CommercialSearch.com is a free national listing platform for marketing commercial real estate availabilities to tenants, buyers, and other brokers. Listings are visible to visitors of CommercialSearch.com and to more than 30+ million monthly visitors of Realtor.com.

Commercial Real Estate Delinquency Rates Climb – Watch Out In 2017
Commercial real estate trends point to prices falling by as much as 5 percent in the next 12 months. What gives? A storm is brewing, creating a tsunami of issues for the commercial sector. The global surge in U.S. property investments that drove record values in years past is expected to wane alongside lower oil prices and disjointed debt markets. Property sales by publicly traded landlords, debt maturities, and tightened regulations are furthering the trend. The instability is creating a volatile commercial real estate selling atmosphere, with uncertainty about U.S. policies following the presidential election worsening matters. Let it rain Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) float amidst a tumultuous market in which borrowing costs for landlords are higher, inhibiting future price growth. Properties in small cities, dependent on Wall Street banks for funding, have been hit especially hard – a global market rout in February sent prices plummeting after Wall Street dealers were unable to provide liquidity when hedge funds were forced to sell CMBS holdings. Regulations such as Dodd-Frank are also not helping the situation, making it increasingly expensive for banks to hold securities.

Opening Doors to Real Estate Investing
Garland Harris Jr., REALTOR® Masters in Community Development, BA in Architecture from Prairie View A&M University Garland Harris Jr. may be new to the REALTOR® family, but he is already primed to make his mark on the Houston area. By keeping his eyes open for opportunities, he has moved from watching developers as a service provider, to building an investment team and client base driven not only by profit, but also positive community impact. Our conversation with Garland should encourage anyone looking at real estate investing to become a sponge for knowledge and enact a plan for 2017. When did you become a Realtor® and how did you start working with investors? Garland: I joined the REALTOR® family in 2016, but started working with real estate investors in 2014. My first exposure came from working as a design architect for some local townhouse developers. After learning the development side, I gained interest in real estate investing, and became a REALTOR® to get access to data and build relationships with agents, affiliates and lenders. How is working with investors different from working with a client who intends to occupy a property? Garland: The main difference is what drives them to a buying decision. An investor is not focused on things like street appeal, but on how the numbers work and how the investment fits into their overall business goals. Understanding your investor's financial wants and goals is critical.

Has 2016 Delivered on the Projected Commercial Real Estate Trends?
Trends are emerging that will disrupt "business as usual" in the commercial real estate market. Dropped your crystal ball? No worries – we'll fill you in. Time's they are a changin' – redefining this market segment and plotting a new course: More general developmentIn this sixth year of recovery, office, industrial, hotel and residential development are expected to grow as the economy shapes up, interest rates increase, and access to financing widens. Retail stalls, warehouses boomE-commerce continues to change the landscape with faster delivery options and the rise of online shopping/in-store pickups. Autonomous vehicles and car sharingCould transform real estate markets – and parking situations. This includes drones and driverless vehicle technology.

Commercial Real Estate Pro's 5 'Must Have' RPR Tools
One might think that 27 years in the industry would make anyone an expert on virtually anything real estate related. Yet, for Carlos Fuentes (CCIM, CIPS, TRC), the learning never stops, especially in commercial real estate. "I have to learn everything there is to know about a client's operation if I'm going to find the right location," he said. "Then I use stats, maps and reports to ensure the location is viable for that type of business. That's where RPR never lets me down." Asked which of RPR's tools and features he finds most helpful, Carlos replied, "All of them! RPR is an incredibly efficient and accurate resource that provides everything I need to know about a commercial or residential property. And I know it's more accurate than any other resource available in today's market." Here, in his own words, Carlos describes his favorite five RPR tools: 1. Best Business Report What he likes:"I use the Best Business Report all the time. The Esri data goes much deeper than what you'd expect. It breaks populations into segments like household income, male/female, married/single/divorced, etc., but the extra sections—like how and where consumers in the area spend their money—is invaluable. And the report itself is really impressive. My clients love the graphs that show which business types are over- and under-represented." How he uses it:"It's one of my most powerful influencers. If I have a client that wants to open an ice cream shop, I can run the Best Business Report and show him there's an abundance of similar shops in the area. But I won't leave it at that. I might advise my client to open a Dunkin Donuts, or a bakery that serves cakes as well as yogurt smoothies or frozen yogurt—something that gives him a competitive edge. On the other hand, I can also use the report to lead clients into areas where there isn't such tough competition." Carlos' Tip for RPR Reports"RPR's commercial reports are lengthy, as they should be. I like that I can customize them to reflect my brand, add notes, etc. But a lot of people don't realize that RPR intentionally leaves off the page numbers so that we can further customize the report by pulling out pages that aren't helpful to particular circumstances. Every single report can be tailored to that client's needs and interests, including adding our own pages."

Create the Perfect Commercial Presentation Package with RPR
The perfect presentation package can be timely and expensive to compile for REALTORS® working with commercial clients. Having the right reports and data to help walk a client through your expertise is essential in gaining their trust and business. It's your job to learn your client needs and wants; from space requirements, approved uses, amenities needed, etc., to specific attributes that might support who they want to be around for potential customers, tenants or even employees. The more thoughtful your asks, the more precise you can be with pinpointing the right location. Having this conversation provides you with a checklist for your research process and presentation package. Once you have your client's checklist, the data collection begins... STEP 1: ESSENTIAL ATTRIBUTES Review your client's checklist of attributes and determine the most important economic, demographic and spending behaviors that best suit your client's needs. For example if your client is looking for a multifamily investment, you might focus on finding areas heavily populated with those in early adulthood (20-39) who have college degrees, and who live in an area with population growth.

RPR On-Demand Video Tutorials a Plus for Real Estate Pros
REALTORS®, broker brand managers and association staffers consistently reach out to RPR to request recorded versions of our webinars. We're happy to offer the recordings to participants, but did you know that RPR also offers on-demand video tutorials? In fact, these popular videos have been recently updated. How can RPR video tutorials help? To find out, we've surveyed three business professionals, each with different roles and perspectives. Here's their take on the matter: MEET OUR REAL ESTATE PROS #1: The REALTOR® Researching and identifying site use potential was easy for this St. Louis area REALTOR®. "The space is in an industrial area so I knew a sit down restaurant would cater to the area's working demographic," said Norma Nisbet, ALC, CCIM, CIPS, Vista Properties and Investments. With a quick look at RPR's Business Points of Interest (POI) video, Norma learned how to analyze nearby restaurants by type, annual sales, staffing levels and number of years in operation to determine how the new restaurant might fare against its competitors. Capturing this information within moments allowed Norma to then focus her attention on recruiting the right restaurant for her space.

5 Ways RPR is Opening Doors for ClientLook Subscribers
Now, REALTORS® who subscribe to ClientLook, a commercial real estate CRM with users in nearly 1,000 cities nationwide, have one-click access to Realtors Property Resource® (RPR®). The combined assets of these two new partners will be a major benefit to commercial brokers, investors, and owners who use ClientLook to manage and analyze customer interactions, and who want the added advantage of RPR's extensive property analysis and reporting tools at their fingertips. But that's not all... Instant access to RPR opens up a world of data for ClientLook users. Demographics, psychographics, consumer spending data, market activity, and economic statistics are available by simply activating RPR directly from ClientLook's property module. "It takes less than 60 seconds to connect with RPR while on the ClientLook platform," says Michael Griffin, President and CEO of ClientLook. The company even has a two-minute video to walk REALTORS® through the process. Beyond that, users will see three distinct buttons within a dedicated RPR section of ClientLook's property module: 1. Location Details, 2. Demographic Analyses, and 3. Client Reports. Each hold drop downs for further options.