Samuel P. Thomas, CCIM, serves as a senior investment advisor for Sperry Van Ness specializing in the sale of office, industrial and retail properties in Massachusetts along Route 128 and Interstate 495.
With more than $500 million career sales and leasing transactions volume and 25 years of commercial real estate experience, Sam has assisted his clients with the disposition of property, sales and leaseback transactions, negotiations, and has consulted with clients both nationally and internationally.
I was intrigued when I saw the e-mail from CIRE looking for writers who had something to say about the impact technology has or is having on the real estate professional. I for one have been absorbed by the technology bug and wonder at times if I am a real estate professional or a technology wannabe. I’m not sure I have the answer to my own question but, I am pretty sure I am a combination of both. To live in one of the most exciting times in history as it relates to new technology as well as new ways to finance and sell commercial real estate is grand. So here is my story which may or may not provide others with a view and or choice to their future.
More than 25 years ago as a young college graduate at a time that would later be known as the eve of the technology burst, I started my real estate career with a well established boutique real estate firm in Boston, MA. My degree was in American History and I assure all of you that the thought of going into commercial real estate let alone joining the business world was far from where I wanted to be. Just the same it was employment and in the eyes of parents and friends it seemed to be the right thing to do.
My first job was in property management which provided me with a peak at how buildings needed to be cared for as well as the tenants. Technology was not part of my job and the desk top computer did not exist. Most of the building technology that is used today was not even a thought. Paper, paper, paper was the recording method and a hand held Dictaphone along with an HP Calculator were about the only technology tools of the day.
A year later I was brought into the brokerage side of the business and was given the task to build a series of databases as well as gather and collect information on properties. Lots of hours in Assessors offices along with bundles of note cards which, would later be at cataloged in boxes and then sorted and mapped with the hopes of having gathered enough information to know who owned what and how to get in touch with them. On the business database side it wasn’t much different. More note cards and hours upon hours of sifting through phone books and multiple directories to find out who, what and where in order to once again compile some logical game plan to attach and develop a book of business for someone else in the firm. Mind you, this was a great job if you didn’t mind sitting at a desk all day long or in a TownHall gathering information. As a history major I seemed well prepared for this job until I realized just how anxious I was to be with people outside the office and not inside the office. Ah, the dues we must pay and pay we do!
Within a year the on-line database servicing companies began to see an opportunity to assist database driven companies. With that a new piece of equipment was placed in our office. It was a large CRT along with a keyboard and a modem coupler for the phone. The goal was to take all the information on the note cards and enter them onto the system via the phone line. It was the first time that I recall where a large amount of information was being gathered and could be used to sort by various wants. The year was 1980! There were two of us who were given the responsibility of entering this information and clearly one of us was going to be far more aggressive about learning the systems pros and cons faster. It wasn’t me! Something about the whole process seemed boring and having visions of being something else or being somewhere else helped bring a quick conclusion to this undeserved opportunity. Years later when maturity and interest had developed further and a greater understanding of what it was I was doing became clearer, I acknowledged the failure to accept the job as part of the learning curve required to be what I have become over the last 25 years. The advent of the personal desk top computer had arrived and where it was going to take us is still to be learned. Needless to say, it has changed everything.
The story from there is not worth covering detail for detail other than to say that as each new piece of equipment entered into the business world and our personal lives, the thrill of recognizing how it could work for us was the added challenge to our careers. First it was the desk top computer with stacks of discs and software that had to be loaded onto the computer each time you needed it for either a database, writing a letter, spreading numbers out for a cash flow analysis, etc. Then the fax machine arrived increasing the ability to send and retrieve information from others faster and less time consuming. The first personal portable computer from Compaq came but its size and small screen had there disadvantages. Never fear, the cannon sized desk projector would let you show others what you had spent days on entering onto the computer discs and if you were fast enough you could just about dazzle anyone as long as they did not fall asleep from lack of light and oxygen. Move forward a few more years and the laptop and desk top now had memory as well as a new operating system that would let you jump between programs and really put together the ultimate presentation. Fonts and graphs and even in some rare occasions color made your new proposal better than the last even if some of the information may have been questionable. Learning that what came out of the machine was only as good as what went into the machine. Virtually limited time to slow down and focus on details was being driven by the demand for faster information. Choices had to be made. Do you pass the responsibility of technology on to others and focus on building the relationships with the customers and clients or do you decide that it is as important to stay on top of the technology and be just as good there, too. For those who chose to pass the responsibility on to an administrative person who could be counted on, congratulations! Unfortunately, there are those who just could not give up the adventure of learning and being the master of all. I am one of them and although it may have hampered my ability to further develop my business then, in the long run it helped me build my business in a way I could have only dreamed about.
New notebooks, faster PDA’s, cellular phones, digital cameras, blue tooth technology, on-line data information, high speed internet, better and faster software and endless other tools that just keep evolving as fast as you have learned the last old software are creating and changing how we as professionals run our lives. We have far surpassed the days of James Bond’s toys, (although you never know what they will come up with next) and moved into an area where some of us who did decide to stay with the technology regardless of how many long hours (well into the early mornings) we spent learning while running our daily business of cold calls and building tours will now allow us to grow in other ways. These opportunities are endless and the ease of using these “techno toys” makes these opportunities real and reachable.
Today, I run my company as a virtual business. My office is a show place with a good business address and a real person answering the phone. The availability of conference rooms and other services which, are paid for on an as needed basis lower the operating costs considerably. The rest is seamless and though I rarely see my office, I run my business from wherever I am and no one knows the difference until a cow moves to close to the lawn chair or a fog horn can be heard in the near distance. You see my office is a cell phone and a lap top computer with wireless capabilities. My databases are all reachable through the internet and if I don’t have something I can get it in minutes from the internet so long as I have my AMEX Gold card in the other hand. My clients can reach me 24/7 if I let them and my proposals and information needed by my clients can be delivered in any type of format from my multiple virtual assistance who are on the other side of the country. My costs of running my business are one third of what they were a year ago and dropping and my time spent focusing on clients and prospecting for new clients has three fold in the last year. Each year my revenue increases by more the 50% and where I work from is my choice and no one else’s. My colleagues, like me no longer hasten to an office to be accounted for or sought out for information by curious others. I can reach one or all of my 500 plus partners with a quick e-mail, internet conference call, fax or cellular phone call. Needs, wants and delivery are faster and far less stressful. You see my business has evolved into a dream career. It has become fun and isn’t that what it really is suppose to be? I can’t wait to walk into my office at home leaving rush hour for others and seeing all the technology gadgets that in some way will help me promote my business and solve my client’s needs. Today, I purchased another printer that will print onto my CD’s rather than print paper labels to put on the CD’s. Tomorrow I am going to upgrade my Blackberry only because it has gotten better and easier to use. I know that my new Dell laptop will only last 2 years and that’s okay with me because I know that what is coming will only make it easier for me to do the best job possible. But best of all, I just bought a new car, a very nice car. Why is that important? Because all the running around I use to do spending hours on the road didn’t allow me the luxury of buying new. For the first time in years I went right to the “new car” desk and passed the “pre-owned” desk.
So is all of this good? Only you can decide what is good for you. I know a lot of professionals a bit older than me who probably cannot turn a computer on or use a PDA and they will make a lot of money letting others do their technology. I for one think they are missing out on the real fun part of the business. A personal choice on how and where you run your business! In the end, it still boils down to some pretty basic things. Technology is a choice and whether or not you decide to embrace it is neither right nor wrong. It has to do with how you want your business and daily life to be. But let no one fool you, making the calls, the presentations, creating opportunities where others don’t see them and continuing to improve yourself professionally in what ever business you are in will never change. It is still basics and pure fundamentals. If you need a mentor get one! If you need a better alarm clock buy one! But if you can get out of bed in the morning and polish yourself to look the best and follow a well designed plan for each day without missing a beat, then why not throw in a little technology, too. You might find yourself talking on the cell phone with a client who has just e-mailed you a $6 million offer with no contingencies from his sailboat off the coast of California while you lie in a hammock and forward it to your Seller! Rush hour traffic, parking, anxiety, company politics…is it really better?