An eye popping chart over at Naked Capitalism that shows commercial real estate may be in a bubble caught my eye. With cheap funds and a growing economy it is natural for real estate prices to climb. What’s the natural level for them to calm down at? Surely the rate of growth, at least, is…
Why Simple Brands Win from HBR.
Simplicity. I preach it, I try to live it, it’s really hard. HBR brings the hard hitting summary: Why Simple Brands Win. Take a look at their lists of companies (both established and disrupters). I can give you a 15 second summary of each company’s value as a 3rd party without hesitation. Each company has…
What is value in CRE?
The golden ticket of any industry is convincing customers to pay for your value. Apple has done the world’s greatest job and is currently capturing nearly all smartphone profits globally. Most everyone else in that industry is forced to commodity pricing with razor thin margins because customers are hesitant to pay premiums. For awhile Samsung…
When people ask if it is time to leave, that’s usually the time to stay – Houston market.
CoStar has posted an article where investors are pondering exiting the Houston market. Houston is unique in that it follows the cycles of the Oil & Gas industry. As oil prices rise, rents and occupancy rise. As prices drop (as they have over the past year) then market levels drop. It doesn’t help that there…
Discomfort is often the first sign that something is working correctly.
Humans naturally seek to avoid pain and discomfort. Discomfort is a sign that something is not correct in our world. Most of us are highly attuned to our environments and even the slightest changes can set off our “spider senses.” I have worked with a large number of clients and one thing is always true when…
Every company is NOT a technology company. Technology is now a commodity.
Over at LinkedIn Meg Whitman of HP posted an article on her new job. Her first headline within the post reads: Every Company is a Technology Company This is a common theme I hear these days. The problem is that it is untrue. Untrue as in not right, completely wrong and the reverse of reality….
Do you know your actual Workplace occupancy levels?
Occupancy has been on my mind a lot lately. The primary purpose of commercial office buildings is to provide a place for employees to work from. But for most companies, if you provide 100 desks you have no idea how many are used on an average day of the week. Empty seats are no different…
What do you need to do to be a mover of CRE Technology? ….let’s start with the basics. #CRETech @dukelong
I love me some Duke Long. He recently visited CRETech in NYC (why have I not made it yet? I have to be nuts….) and came back with a post about the event. I’ll wait here while you go read it. Done? You haven’t read it….? Try again and then we’ll start. If you don’t…
It’s been a long and productive week….is it over yet?
I’m struggling to wake up this morning. A few hours out of bed, 3 cups of coffee, music blasting but still nothing. I feel like if I lean my head back I’d be asleep in a second. But it has been worth it – a good week of productivity leading up to a slew of…
Have I mentioned that CRE is difficult lately?
I was at CoreNet in Los Angeles this past week. 3 days absolutely flew by. It was my first time and it both met my expectations while also being completely unexpected in ways. The breakouts and sessions were great but expected. They cover the topics that most of us would have written down with a…