BY EMILY LINE

When working with clients, REALTORS® are generally given specific criteria needed to support a business. RPR Commercial pinpoints the "right customers" based on a client's needs. This analysis allows you, as a REALTOR®, to help your client find the best place to locate using various data to identify areas with a high volume of target customers for the business.

For example, a REALTOR® in Washington DC oversees office expansion for a technology company. The client has indicated they are looking for a location in Irvine, California. From a recruiting perspective, it's important for this company to have access to areas with young adults who have technology backgrounds. They also want to ensure that the location has projected growth to accommodate the corporate commitment of locating offices in areas with convenient, desirable amenities for employees.

Incorporating the client's criteria, you can run a location analysis by following a few simple steps. From the RPR Commercial dashboard, you would choose to run the analysis "Where are the Right Customers for a Business?". After entering the desired geographic, and selecting the attributes from the list in the drop-down menu, you can run the analysis.

After doing so, the REALTOR® is able to see the best trade area matches both on the map and in a list view based on the client's criteria.

From the results, the option to look for office space or take a deeper look into trade area details to reiterate the location selection with specific demographics and consumer segmentation. Let's say you elect to dive into trade area details for the top area that matched the client's criteria in Irvine. They are able to see details on the population including the following on the dominant consumer segmentation, driving home the corporate culture presented by the client and further validating your expertise as a REALTOR®. The analysis results highlight trade areas that meet a client's criteria and the trade area report validates location analysis.

All REALTOR® members have access to RPR Commercial as a free member benefit. Register for a LIVE tutorial webinar today at blog.narrpr.com/commercial

 

 NAR Issue Brief

Commercial Issues and Actions
April 2014

►ISSUE: Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT): On January 2, 2013, President Obama signed into law the American
Taxpayer Relief Act, providing a permanent “patch” that prevents tens of millions of taxpayers from being subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT), starting with the 2012 tax year. Specifically, the measure sets the exemption amounts (i.e., the income not subject to taxes under the AMT) at $50,600 for individuals and $78,750 for couples filing jointly, then adjusts these amounts yearly for inflation. It also allows various non-refundable personal credits to be claimed against the AMT. The AMT was created by the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to prevent higher-income taxpayers from using credits and deductions to completely offset their federal income tax liability.

NAR Action: NAR successfully worked with Congress to ensure a permanent patch to the AMT.

►ISSUE: Basel III: The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) have finalized a new risk-based capital category – High Volatility Commercial Real Estate Exposures
(HVCRE) for commercial acquisition, development, and construction (ADC) loans. Specifically, the new changes raise the risk-weight for an ADC loan from 100% to 150%. In response to the final changes, it is highly likely that banks would substantially change their current lending practices and reduce the amount of available credit in order to avoid the higher capital charges associated with ADC loans.

NAR Action: After several letters to bank regulators and lawmakers, including comments sent to the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC, NAR continues to meet with Congress and the Administration to modify the final rule in order to prevent a reduction in commercial real estate lending as well as an increase in borrowing costs.

Read more …

By Steve Brown

May 29, 2014

Revitalizatrion and redevelopment are terms that not only apply to commerical practitioners efforts in the Route 66 corridor in Tulsa and in Detroil, but also reflect NAR's renewed efforts to promote the value of commercial real estate externally while also building support inside NAR, too.

AS part of this renewed focus, I am thrilled to be able to share my thoughts as your 2014 NAR president through this column.  While I wish I wasn't the first NAR president to have a column in Commercial Connections, it is my sincere hope that this serves as a trend for my successors to follow.

The reason is simple.  Our commercial practitioners are a valuable component of the Association, and at more than 70,000 strong, represent the largest commercial real estate voice in the industry.  You are trusted advisors, experienced brokers, and relationship builders with your clients and your community.  You help strengthen the economic health of our cities and towns, and you help business owners establish themselves and grow.  NAR's commitment to you as a commercial real estate professional has never been stronger.  We are focused on adapting and growing our resources and tools to better serve you.  Enhancements to NAR's communications, and technology tools such as the Realtors Property Resource® will support you in your business success.  We'll continue this year to plant new seeds so that you can reap benefits in the years to come.

Thank you for being a member of NAR, and for your involvement and dedication to the commercial real estate industry.