What's Real? ... Last week's Dispatch, Is Your Broker Fair and Balanced? (Oct 5) generated some heated comments, starting with this blast from a friend: "I must say that I'm quite taken aback by this blatant advertisement for CBRE." Whoa.

Full Disclosure: Many real estate brokerage firms produce high quality research reports. Likewise, several national independent research firms produce excellent reports. So when should you rely on one or the other? Below are some candid comments from Dispatch readers with their names deleted.

An investment advisor wrote, "CBRE does a great job selling, leasing and managing industry real estate in a lot of markets, but anyone who takes market information for free from a sell side broker definitely
gets what they pay for!"

However, a different investment advisor writes, "An experienced broker will be able to give you localized knowledge including lease comparables, recent sales, cap and discount rate levels, replacement cost levels and associated rents to justify new construction, new construction activity, etc. These are the issues that any buyer really needs to focus on."

Finally, a private real estate investor urges a balance between the two: "We recently compared the reports for a specific industrial market and found the CBRE study in direct opposition to the Torto Wheaton report for the exact same market. They even came to different conclusions about whether or not it was a good time to invest in the market. Lesson learned: read many different groups' takes on the markets and then trust your own judgment!"

Spread the Word... Many thanks to the CCIM Institute, "Experts in Commercial Real Estate," for sponsoring this week's Dispatch. If you would like to tell Dispatch readers about your product or service, please call me at 415-461-4703 or send e-mail. Only eleven more sponsorships are available this year.

--Peter Pike