There has never been a better time for access to information about the commercial real estate industry. Whether you are a seasoned investor, a first-timer getting started on your first property, or just curious about the industry, with a few clicks of the mouse there is a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips.
Here
are three things I do every day to stay on top of things in the world of commercial real estate:
1) Listen to a podcast.
Podcasts
are terrific and portable sources of information. They are better than talk
radio, and there is almost no level of detail to which you can't drill down to
find the exact info you seek. Although there are numerous podcasts specific to commercial real estate, I tend to favor shows that are more investment-based
in their approach, but still deal with CRE. Three shows I tend to favor are:
- Bigger Pockets. This show is more or less the gold standard of real estate investment podcasting. Their most recent episode (as of the writing of this blog) is #290 “7 Paths to Financial Independence” and it is an exceptionally good listen.
- Real Wealth Show. Always real estate focused, lots of multi-family information, useful information, always.
- Invest Like the Best. This show is more traditional capital market focused, but still has good discussion about investment principles.
2) Read a blog post.
A
quick Google search can bury you in CRE blogs but I tend to gravitate towards the
ones that speak to brokers and broker development. By preparing yourself as a
broker, anyone can get an insight into the investment side of the industry.
Again, this list probably changes weekly, but lately some of the ones I seem to
keep going back to are:
- Coy Davidson, Colliers International – The Tenant Advisor Blog. This is the blog of a Houston-based commercial realtor and covers the gamut of topics in the industry. He writes a lot about the Houston MSA, but his general articles are always relevant.
- Wolf Richter – Wolf Street – Howling about Business and Finance. Quite engaging and no-holds-barred commentary on markets and finance. Not specific to the CRE industry, but a good markets blog in general.
- CBRE Blueprint. This is a blog hosted by CBRE and although some of the articles can be fluffy, I still find myself looking at this blog every week for information.
3) Read a Book
Who
has time to read books? Simply put, if you’re not reading, you’re not
learning. A few of the books I find myself picking up more often than not for
either reference or perspective include:
- What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow by Frank Gallinelli. There is a lot of Real Estate Investment 101 in here, but that’s okay. When I started in the industry, I don’t think there was a book I referenced more frequently than this one.
- Investing In Real Estate by Gary W. Eldred. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that Mr. Eldred took a few of the CCIM course manuals and used them for a framework to write a book, but that’s perfectly fine because this book, though slight in size, leaves no method or metric of real estate investment uncovered.
- The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller. Written by the founder of Keller-Williams, this book is written for residential realtors, but there are mounds of good information that can be gained by just about anyone in the real estate industry.
- Right now I’m reading Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss. Simply put, it's an essential read for anyone who negotiates anything (which is pretty much all of us).
When
it comes to information about commercial real estate, the internet is your
friend, and indeed, the groundswell of information can seem overwhelming but if you start someplace and take the information in bite-sized chunks, you'll
begin to see what works and what doesn't. The important thing if you want to
get ahead in the field is simply to start somewhere.
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| Jon Smith, CCIM RE/MAX Commercial Brokers, Inc. (504) 838-0001 | (504) 330-4879 jsmith@nolacommercial.com |
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