Suppose you’re in the world of commercial real estate (CRE) in one way or another. In that case, you know that leveraging big data in your business is the best pathway to becoming efficient and successful, but where is all of this data hiding? It turns out, it could be right in front of you! There are many places to find data out there, but here are the most essential commercial real estate data sources that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Public Records
Public records are often the best place to start looking for CRE data because they are readily available to everyone and they’re free. Most real estate records are typically compiled into what’s called the assessor’s database.
These records can include:
- Building permits: give an indication of the development history and future in the area.
- Court records: help track pre-foreclosure and foreclosure data.
- Registry of deeds: a key to searching for sale transactions and prices which help to understand more about the market value.
- Zoning: this information is also included in the assessor’s database and can help you learn where industrial or residential buildings are permitted, which is essential for commercial real estate.
A quick Google search around any of the above record names, or the overall assessor’s database of a certain municipality, should come up with some helpful public records in which you can begin to collect data.
Transactional Documents
With every property sale, there’s a plethora of documents involved that hold helpful data and insights.
The best examples of commercial real estate documents that are data sources:
- Purchase & Sale Agreements: A legal agreement between a buyer and seller on the price and terms of a translation.
- Rent Rolls: A management document that provides data on rental income and the status of tenants. It can be used to predict future rental income.
- Offering Memos: A memorandum that provides the terms, conditions, and risks in a private placement deal.
- Property Deeds: A legal record used to transfer a property’s ownership, identifying the seller and buyer.
- Closing disclosures: A form that includes detailed information about your transaction, such as loan fees, interest rate, insurance, taxes, closing costs, and any other expenses involved
You’ll see these documents everywhere in the CRE world. And now, with the latest technology, you don’t have to comb through them manually. With BlueSuit, you can get access to APIs that help you extract all the commercial real estate data you need out of your documents. We also offer great insight into real estate trends and technology.
Brokerage Reports
Brokerage reports are full of helpful tenant and market data. They contain information such as the cost of properties, popular amenities worth investing in, types of return, and more. They’re usually released every quarter so they can be considered very up-to-date.
If you are a broker, you probably have your own reports that you can use to break down data
If you’re an investor, agent, or someone else in the CRE field, you can still look up brokerage reports. Many brokers publish their reports for free. Try Companies like JLL, Colliers, and Newmark Knight Frank.
While data is gold in the CRE biz, it doesn’t require any crazy mining machine in order to find it!
Lots of helpful commercial real estate data sources are right at your fingertips, and BlueSuit’s ExtractAPI can help. We can deliver clearly assembled data that will save your company tons of time, and allow you the access to the right information that will generate more success.
If you’re ready to gain more efficiency, check out our demo. Happy gold mining!