1. NEW AND NOTABLE. The L&B Group, based in Dallas, TX, is an investment advisor to corporate and public pension funds nationwide. Note the subscription form for L&B Real Estate Reports under "Hot Topics." The Crescent Real Estate Equities Company is a REIT investing primarily in office properties in the Southwest and West, headquarters in Dallas, TX. Champion Partners, Ltd., which provides real estate strategy and implementation services from Dallas, features a very catchy entry page with rotating graphics.

Commercial Property News has launched its Interactive Edition with many articles from its print publication. Features to be added are Trendwatch, Transactions and Market Profiles sections. The Valuations Group provides independent valuations of limited partnerships and illiquid securities nationwide from Memphis, TN. White Palm markets innovative personal promotion products for real estate professionals, including a service that provides a new cartoon for your web site daily--residentially orientated.

2. WEB SUCCESS.. Tom Crawford of Durbin and Associates in Arlington, Texas, reports that he "closed an Internet sale this past week." The property was a $5 million apartment complex. Tom placed a request in Ted Kraus' listserv forums, Residential-Realestate and Commercial-Realestate. His message stated that he represented clients seeking an apartment to purchase in Houston. Several Houston brokers responded with packages. Tom presented these to his buyers, who flew to Houston, selected a property and made an offer. Because the seller lived in New York, the buyers later flew there to negotiate the transaction. Tom never saw the property, met the selling broker, Tom Wilkinson of Houston, or the seller. "This was totally handled over the Internet." So some people do make money on the net!

3. SPONSOR. This issue of the PikeNet Dispatch is sponsored by CREOL (Commercial Real Estate On-Line) at http://www.creol.com. "Revolutionary InterNet Retail Real Estate Research Tool for NY, NJ and CT." Attend a FREE seminar 4/29-5/8 and get 60-day FREE usage. Call 1.888.22.CREOL ext.125.

4. MARKET AREA BANNERS. If you have a web site with local market information and resources, consider a Market Area Banner, which will be seen every time a PikeNet visitor looks at categories and hit lists for your market. On average, every fifth person will click the banner and go directly to your web site. Prices vary from $25 to $100 per market based upon size. Full details are available by clicking the "Banner Advertising" hyperlink on the green stripe on the PikeNet home page.

5. COMMENTARY. As I talk with leaders in the real estate industry, I'm struck by two things: how far the industry has come technologically in the last 18 months and how far it has yet to go. Like the old software development joke: "We've finished the first 90%, now there's only 90% left to go." The issue of how to integrate disparate internal real estate marketing and information systems with the Internet, particularly for large organizations, is incredibly complex (and expensive). In the abstract, there is no ideal solution. No one model fits all.

So do something and learn what works best for you. According to Intel's Dennis Carter (Nov-Dec 1996 Harvard Business Review), "because of the rate of change, merely reading about this stuff is useless; you've got to be a pioneer." And as George S. Day of the Wharton School mentions in the same issue, "…what matters more than the financial commitment a company makes is senior managers' emotional commitment. Is there a deep conviction that the new technology defines the future of the company?" Those companies developing, operating and then re-designing their Internet presence today will be the leaders of the future.

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--Peter Pike