1. Listing Services--II Last week’s item on web-based listing services--What will be a successful business model?--triggered a number of very thoughtful e-mail responses. A common theme to these responses was that policing by a service provider is necessary to maintain accurate information and that subscribers will pay for higher quality information. However, there are exceptions. In some geographical areas a strong broker culture does promotes effective self-policing, and in these circumstances a totally free service may be practical.

……. As to how much information can be provided free, how much subscribers will pay and whether advertising will be a significant revenue source, these are largely unanswered questions. I don’t believe that any purely web-based listing service is totally certain of its exact business model. Everybody is exploring and learning as they go.

……. Related to the foregoing, check out PowerSearch at the Estates Today site in the U.K. PowerSearch searches a number of separate real estate information databases and combines the results in a single report. Although still in the developmental stage, PowerSearch claims access to over 9,900 listings. Searching separate databases is fraught with difficulties, but it raises intriguing possibilities of mega searches in the future. For example, what is the cheapest rent for a 100,000 square foot warehouse in the Midwest?

2. New and Notable. Inman Commercial News provides daily news service with "real time" stories. ……. Lenders Interactive Online Network is a site for mortgage professionals featuring confidential daily wholesale rate information. ……. Pacific Commons is an 800-acre corporate campus development project of Catellus Corporation in Fremont, CA. ……. PMLA and PMSF offer project management services for corporate tenants in Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA. ……. Green Street Advisors, Inc. and the Penobscot Group are securities research firms focused exclusively on REITs and publicly traded real estate firms. ……. Insurance Property Track markets a searchable CD-ROM database containing information on $50 billion of insurance properties.

3. Web Success. Baca Landata, based in Houston, has built a straightforward interface for you to search county assessment data for five surrounding counties: Harris, Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston and Montgomery. You can search by address, address range or owner’s name. You get summary, tax, subdivision, school and recent sales information, as well as a map. Try 2800 Post Oak Blvd in Harris County. Wow, imagine when counties nationwide have data this accessible.

4. Promote Your Site--Buy a Banner. Buy a banner at PikeNet to drive traffic to your web site and customers to your service. In August advertising banners at PikeNet were seen a total of 29,000 times. Buy a banner at the Top Level or over your Market Area. Full details are available by clicking the "Advertising" hyperlink at the bottom of the PikeNet home page (http://www.pikenet.com/advertising.html).

5. PointCast Announces Commercial Real Estate Channel. On September 17, 1997, PointCast, Real Estate On-Line and Realtor.com announced a new edition of the popular PointCast Business Network, the PointCast Business Network Real Estate Insider. "This new edition will instantaneously broadcast in-depth real estate industry news and market information to real estate, construction and mortgage industry professionals." PikeNet will supply directory information to the commercial section, which will be launched around the middle of October. You can sign up now for this free new service by going to the PointCast web site.

6. Knowledge Base: D&B Reports Online. Need a fast credit report on a tenant? You can use a credit card to order a D&B Business Background Report ($20) or GlobalSeek Report ($5) at D&B’s web site. I’ve posted the steps to follow in my Knowledge Base. Click the "Knowledge Base" hyperlink on the PikeNet home page and go to the Financial Research section.

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