The Strength of a REALTOR®: Resourced with Data for Commercial Business Needs

With social media buzz surrounding hashtags like #REALTORTEAM and #GETREALTOR, the public is being reminded about the expertise a REALTOR® brings to the table for investors. Since the National Association of REALTORS® represents members involved in all aspects of real estate, strategy around value added data to support each REALTOR's® specific business needs continues to be an ongoing study.

To dive deeper into commercial members' needs, RPR recently went into the field, so to speak, to ask more than 100 Commercial REALTORS® what they find to be the platform's most valuable features—the tools that help them impress clients, win more business and save money; ultimately reiterating reasons to work with a REALTOR® versus a non-member.

Here are the top three features according to participants:

Site Selection Analysis

Working with a developer who is trying to find a location for a mixed-use community with apartments and retail space?

Use RPR's demographic, psychographic and spending data to identify high concentration areas of consumers, employees or renters. Users can also run an analysis targeting areas with young, successful singles seeking urban lifestyles and who spend their disposable income on dining and shopping.

Economic/Demographic Reports

Need to further validate characteristics of a market?

Key components of RPR's selection tools and reports are powered with Esri Tapestry data. In addition to targeting the right areas through site selection analysis, the RPR Commercial Trade Area Report validates a REALTOR®'s expertise in an intuitive presentation of data that clearly illustrates demographic and economic statistics for the current state of the market as well as projections to 2020. RPR users can provide a client a clear depiction detailing who lives in an area, living arrangements, socioeconomic traits, and purchasing habits.

Public Records

Involved in discussions with an economic development council and want to learn about business growth in a specific area?

In commercial real estate, it's the practitioner's job to know the market in its entirety, which means having the ability to access on-and-off market data. RPR offers access to property facts, owner information, legal descriptions, and tax and mortgage information nationwide. It's a great opportunity to search an area in RPR Commercial and then reach out to building and landowners in advance to inform them about the potential to positively leverage investments in future economic development.

In addition to reporting the most valuable features, more than 80% of participants indicated that RPR Commercial saves them money they normally would have spent on alternative data solutions.

Editor's Note: Based on the survey results, it's no surprise that RPR Commercial has been gaining attention among non-members in the commercial real estate industry. As inquiries grow about access to the tools, reports and data, REALTOR® feedback suggests that it's also important for RPR to work through temporary, short-term trial access conceptually for non-REALTORS®. Doing so could help non-member commercial professionals see the value of REALTOR® membership firsthand and increase the National Association of REALTORS® commercial focused network.

To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.