This is a report on major trends noted at PikeNet 98, "Commercial Real Estate Internet Strategies," held in San Francisco, September 10-12. Over a hundred real estate service and information providers from across the country attended the conference. This Dispatch is longer than normal, but I think that you'll find the insights valuable. Please send your comments to me by e-mail at .

1. Online Data Explosion. ... Based on the presentation of data providers, we're just beginning to see the delivery of real estate research over the web. Wally Papciak of COMPS Info Systems articulated his Internet strategy to converge COMPS desktop products to full web compliance. COMPS plans to expand to 82 of the top 100 U.S. markets. ... Gary Van Siclen described the rich databases that Trade Dimensions has built over the decades by tracking the retail industry and how his firm delivers Internet products to industry participants, including retailers themselves and associated real estate professionals. ... Dean Stoecker of SRC, a builder of web based GIS systems, described the benefits of outsourcing the connectivity to demographic databases. Julie Clardy of Landauer demonstrated their new R-E-Search product, which will allow you to preview over 60 MSA's, as well as find property type overviews and commentaries written by industry experts.

All this talk of more data availability (and consequent multiple program interfaces) prompted Jeff Hipschman of Julien J. Studley to urge providers to develop "data feeds" so that his firm and others could integrate their data into their own intranet applications, thus simplifying access by their professionals. ... The data providers both on the panel and in the audience agreed that this was worth pursuing, but raised the issue of copyright protection for data that was very expensive to gather. ... I think that there is a growing role for data integrators who would be able to combine, for example, comparables, tax records and space available, all within a common interface.

2. Listings Battleground. ... Andy Florance of the Realty Information Group (RIG) and Dennis Deandre of Loop Ventures (LoopNet) each outlined the operation and vision of their two companies. ... You could hardly get two more different cost models. RIG employs over 200 researchers to acquire its own data on over 125,000 properties in 8 of the top 10 markets (with plans to rapidly expand to most of the major and secondary markets). Each record contains about 300 fields of information. Bandwidth constraints dictate that RIG data is delivered via CD-ROM, although Andy demonstrated how a record could be updated over the web. RIG data is available to subscribers only. ... By contrast, LoopNet's database is entirely self-generated. Brokers provide information on their properties for sale and for lease, and the data is provided free to the visitor. Dennis stated that LoopNet receives over $1.2 billion for sale listings and more than 22 million square feet for lease each week.

I've written frequently about the trade-off between cost and data quality. That is, you don't get totally comprehensive information on space available for free. So it really depends how you're using the net--research versus marketing. ... And then you should consider REALBID's Internet marketing service, which was demonstrated PikeNet 98. Emmett DeMoss outlined how REALBID is increasingly used by brokers to rapidly distribute information to institutional buyers and sellers, enabling them to expand the scope of their marketing reach at a very modest fee. ... And then you've got many regional listing services, like Commercial Search in Colorado, Commercial Space Online (Seattle, Denver, Portland) and the Commercial Real Estate Arena in the San Francisco East Bay. ... Finally, COMPS announced its plans for a new listing service, DealPoint. ... I don't think that there will be a single winner in the listings battle. Rather I think that there will be various services with different cost structures and market coverages that will successfully attract real estate practitioners in different markets. So this still leaves REITs and other large property owners with the question, "Where and how is the best place to list our properties?" Stay tuned.

3. Electronic Linkages. ... Wow, we heard some great descriptions of how firms are moving toward Internet connectivity internally (intranets) and externally (extranets). ... Scott Williams, the CIO of Grubb & Ellis, demonstrated their new intranet, which is entirely browser-based, and therefore accessible from any computer connected to the Internet. He demonstrated how easy it is, for example, for a Grubb & Ellis professional to acquire and send market information to a client, all with the familiar look and feel of a browser window. ... Shawn Stumbaugh with NAI described how their clients can check the status of assignments over their extranet. NAI has also successfully used chat sessions to promote communication between members.

Jeff Hipschman of Studley gave an impressive overview of the various efforts Studley has underway to link clients and brokers more closely together. For example, using their e-room concept, they have shortened the deal cycle for Microsoft from four months to forty-five days. Studley is also working on a buildings database specifically for Studley brokers and on the Studley e-lease to improve the leasing process. ... John Shields of RREEF described how their extranet allows clients to view their portfolios and to customize their own reports, a significant step toward increasing customer satisfaction.

Craig Severance of AMB demonstrated a terrific extranet application which enables AMB and a strategic partner, for example Trammel Crow, to exchange information. Craig showed how easy it would be to send an e-mail regarding, say, the management of a property and how that e-mail would become part of a database visible to all until resolved by the appropriate party. ... We're just seeing the beginning of possibilities for strengthening client service using the web.

4. Real E-Commerce. ... While we're a long way from genuine commercial e-commerce, Mike Mueller of AllApartments.com outlined a compelling vision of bringing efficiencies to the apartment rental market. AllApartment maintains a database of over 5 million units nationwide and posts extensive information on apartment availabilities, including asking rents, floor plans, square footages, maps and links to local amenities. The site also makes it easy to find related services like credit reports and rental trucks. Mike envisioned the day when all this information might enable a tenant to "bid" a rent on a specific apartment based upon her credit rating. Likewise, could landlords "offer" different rents to tenants based upon their credit ratings? Obviously, there are a host of legal issues that would need to be sorted out. But you get the drift. The more transparent the real estate leasing process becomes, the more finely tuned pricing can become. ... It's not hard to imagine adding this kind of interactivity to the purchase of electricity, building supplies and maintenance services.

5. Distributed Web Presence. ... Jerry Michalski of Sociate delivered the keynote address describing a future of ubiquitous connectivity as the web is embedded throughout the business world. For example, during a meeting you might use your Palm Pilot, connected to the web via a wireless modem, to send a question to a colleague on your buddy list. Answering that question might prove critical to a negotiation. Likewise, the proliferation of web-based calendar programs will enable you to quickly and easily coordinate meetings with your project team. ... According to Andrew Kessler of Velocity Capital Management, all of this will become increasingly possible as Moore's Law (under which chip speeds double every 18 months) is applied to Internet bandwidth.

David Weir, Managing Editor of Salon Magazine, delivered a fascinating talk on Friday after release of the Starr Report describing the impact of the Internet on the news business. The key difference between the old and the new media is the changing relationship between the producer and consumer of news. Electronic Interactivity allows readers to enter into a dialog with a reporter and the opinions of each may shift. In David's words, "The reporter now has the first word, not the last word with readers' comments trailing behind a story like a kelp." ... Hey, even real estate reporters may someday see their news stories followed by commentary from practitioners in the field. Now that would be lively.

--Peter Pike