How to Sell Your Real Estate Note

Author: Chintamani Abhyankar
Source: ezinearticles.com

As a homeowner, you have an obligation to pay your property taxes. If you fail to do so, the tax authority can take action against you. This action usually comes in the form of a property tax sale. There are two sorts of property tax sales.

In a tax lien sale, the tax authority, usually the county, offers its right to the tax lien on the property for sale. The buyer of the lien may then exercise the lien in order to profit from it.

In a tax deed sale, the county offers full ownership of the property itself for sale.

When you bid on a tax lien sale, you are bidding on the tax debt. You are not going to come away from a tax lien sale owning a property. In fact, you will be paying off the owner’s tax debt in exchange for first lien position on the title. The homeowner now owes you ahead of mortgage lenders, deeds of trust or anyone with a claim against the property, with the exception of the state. These sales are held at public auction, with the highest bidder winning the tax lien. To verify this position, the buyer receives a tax lien certificate.

Now, when the delinquent homeowner pays off their tax lien debt to the buyer, the buyer can consider an interest penalty of from sixteen to twenty-four percent. This is where buying tax liens becomes quite profitable. If the tax lien debt is not paid back to buyer in full, plus interest, by a designated time, the buyer has the right to foreclose and acquire the property.

At a tax deed sale, you are purchasing the property itself. If you are the highest bidder, you win the property and the right to take possession without any mortgages, deeds of trust, liens, or any obligation whatsoever attached to the real estate property. Properties at such auctions are usually sold for taxes owed, plus any fees and court costs, etc. They are generally very good real estate deals to make.

In order to find out where and when tax lien and tax deed sales are taking place, it is probably best to contact the county government offices or check on their website.

Before you purchase a property, be sure to review it thoroughly. Visit the property before the sale and attempt to determine its value. You want to safeguard yourself against risk as much as is possible. You know what they say about buying a pig in a poke.

If you scratch the lucrative surface of property tax sales, you will find many attractive bargains. If you want to know a little amount secrets behind this attractive investment opportunity, here are some useful tips offered by Chintamani Abhyankar.

Chintamani Abhyankar, is a well known expert in the field of finance and taxation for last 25 years. He has written many books explaining inside secrets of the magic world of personal finance. His famous Tax eBook “Stop donating your money to IRS” which is now running in its second edition, provides intricate knowledge and valuable tips on personal finance and income tax.

Author: Marte Cliff
Source: ezinearticles.com

Have you looked at many realtor websites? If you have, you’ll notice that most of them look alike. It’s almost like they were stamped from a cookie-cutter, with the only difference being the name of the firm. (Actually, I think many of them were.)

The only obvious purpose of most real estate websites seems to be that of offering a MLS search, or perhaps some Chamber of Commerce type information about the City.

And while that’s very generous of you, I don’t think that should be the purpose of your personal real estate website.

I think the purpose of your website should be to bring you leads. Don’t you agree?

With that in mind, you need to break out of the cookie-cutter mold and create a site that doesn’t look and feel like all the rest. Instead you need to create a site that demonstrates

Your area knowledge
Your marketing abilities
Your negotiation skills
Your care and concern for clients and customers
Your ability and willingness to offer guidance
Your problem-solving abilities
Your work ethic

That means your landing page needs to offer something more – even if you feel tied to showing a home search box on the first page, it needs to be accompanied by something that will lead your visitors to learn more about you and your services.

Even a paragraph or two that leads into your “about me” page and into your buyer and seller pages is better than saying nothing and assuming that your visitors will eventually find those pages. They might – but then again they might not.

Why make people search for the information you want them to have?

“Make it easy for the customers” is one of the mantras of business today – so make it easy for yours to realize that you are the agent who will guide them and help them realize their goals.

Marte Cliff is a Freelance Copywriter and former real estate broker who specializes in writing for real estate and related industries.

She’ll help you with one letter, or an entire marketing plan. For Real estate agents and brokers who are ready to get full value from their websites, she offers web copywriting and lead generation packages. She also offers a course called the Real Estate Career Builder, which covers best practices along with marketing methods. You’ll find it at http://www.promotemyrealestatecareer.com

Marte’s weekly ezine for real estate professionals offers tips and hints for building a successful business. To subscribe, and to see the other resources available for real estate sales professionals, visit her at http://www.marte-cliff.com/RealEstate.html

Author: Richard A. Lorenc
Source: articleage.com

Using the Internet as a tool for finding real estate for sale
and/or a real estate agent can be a rewarding technique or a
frustrating experience. There are hundreds of thousands of real
estate agents and brokers who have websites and often thousands
in the larger metro areas and many hundreds in the smaller
markets. The number of real estate related websites have grown
considerably over the past several years with the high volume of
real estate sales and new agents entering the business.

Agent Websites – Many real estate agents have their own
websites and their usefulness varies with the success and
experience of the agents and their webmasters. Most will display
the listings from the particular agent (if any) and sometimes
will also display other listings that may or may not be listings
of the agent. If no listings are displayed, the agent may be a
buyer’s agent or has no current listing active. The website may
also have a feature to search for active MLS (Multiple Listing
Service) listings. The search features can vary widely depending
on the website provider/builder. Some websites restrict use to
individuals who have registered with the agent and others permit
unlimited use without registration. Those agents requiring
registration typically use the information provided for
follow-up contact either via telephone, mail or email. Other
agent websites provide contact forms, chat lines and other means
for follow-up communications. The timeliness and quality of
responses can vary widely. The attrition rate for agents is
high, often over 80% during their first year so many websites
may be active but have been abandoned by their owners. Other
active agents are remiss in checking for messages and requests
go unanswered for days or weeks.

Broker Websites – Most real estate brokers
(international, national, regional and local) maintain websites.
They normally have property search features by area and often
will have individual real estate agent access information. Some
may limit the MLS information provided to the listings of the
given real estate broker, others will display any active MLS
listing within the given area, county, state or country.

Builder/Developer Websites – Most residential real estate
builders and developers maintain websites. These websites may be
specific to a sub-division being built or generic for the
regional and nationwide builders with access to specific
cities/states and the sub-divisions being developed. Usefulness
varies considerably with many providing detailed information on
house designs, available inventory, contact information and site
sales office hours.

Real Estate Related Referral Websites – There has been a
proliferation of real estate referral websites offering
individuals with agent referrals for a given area once they have
been provided details of your contact information, whether
interested in buying or selling and the specifics on the area
and home. Referral real estate websites typically have real
estate agents subscribers who pay fees for referrals. These fees
may be based on a per lead cost to the agent, a monthly fee to
the agent for a specific number of leads or a percentage of the
real estate commission paid if the lead culminates in a sale.
Typically the only criteria for an agent to utilize these
referral services is that the agent is legally licensed to do
business in their state.

Real Estate Listing Websites – There are a number of
national real estate websites providing limited listing
information and varying degrees of specificity in search
criteria. Some are more user friendly then others. Some have
real estate agent/broker fee paid subscription services to
highlight listings and or selected agents/brokers.

http://www.realtor.com – http://www.living.net -
http://realestate.yahoo.com

Search Engines – SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is an
obsession for most webmasters and real estate agents. Simply
stated, real estate agents, brokers, builders and referral
companies want to be in the first page or two of search results
so that the individual web surfer will be directed to their
website. These individuals and firms may be paying significant
fees to firms offering first or second page placement on a given
search engine. The major search engines such as Google, Yahoo,
MSN and hundreds of others use different algorithms to determine
how websites get ranked and their order of placement on the
results pages. To make it even more interesting/confusing, the
big search engines also offer websites owners various
sponsorship page positioning on a fee basis albeit they identify
the sites as such.

http://www.google.com – http://www.yahoo.com -
http://www.msn.com

Tips to Make Your Real Estate Search a Rewarding One!

1. Most major search engines have basic and advanced search
options and provide information and directions for using them.
Take five extra minutes and learn how to use the advanced
functions and you’ll be happy you did!

2. Learn as much as possible about the region, state, city and
neighborhood you are interested in to maximize your search
results.

3. Be specific in your search criteria. The more general and
generic the search, the less pertinent the results will be.

4. All search engines are not alike! Use more than one when
conducting a search, as the results will vary greatly.

Once you are seriously considering buying or selling residential
real estate direct your search to finding an experienced agent
that is responsive and has your best interests in mind. Then
have your real estate agent do the digging into the market to
present the listings and homes you will be most interested in.

Author: Chris B. Jenkins
Source: ezinearticles.com

You might already be familiar with the ins and outs of residential real estate investing, having concluded more than a few lucrative deals. But it’s not enough, and you turn your eyes toward the more challenging and rewarding affair of commercial real estate investing. Before crossing over, check on these few pointers that might make the transition smoother.

A commercial real estate is essentially property that is meant to support business and produce income. Residential real estate, of course, is for providing homes. With this basic difference, what are the things you need to keep in mind? For starters, commercial real estate makes more money. Consider first its value. Unlike residential space, commercial space is priced according to the available useable square footage. Some residential property may also follow this formula, but that is more exception than rule. In addition to the value of space, commercial property generates more income per square footage as well. In comparison to a residential property leased to just one family, your commercial property of the same square footage that is leased to five tenants will give you more for your square foot.

Given then that your commercial property costs more and earns more, it only follows that banks will treat it differently, differently meaning more expenses. A loan for commercial property will require a down payment that is around 30 percent more than what will be asked for residential property. And this will only apply if your bank actually finances enterprises on commercial property. Some banks do not entertain the venture. An important thing to keep in mind regarding banks and commercial property is that, contrary to widely held belief, commercial property is also subject to foreclosure, albeit reluctantly in the part of banks.

Other than the difference in value and gains, commercial real estate investing also offers a measure of risk diversification that you won’t see in its residential counterpart. To illustrate: you lease out shopping space, you have twenty occupied slots, five of your tenants decide to leave, and you lose 20 percent of your potential profit. That’s only 20 percent, not the all-or-nothing that you get with residential property. You also have a more stable source of income, considering that leases on commercial space are usually longer than on residential ones.

Before you commit yourself to an investment on a particular commercial property, make sure to collect some relevant background information. Start with the sellers; go through their cash flow statement, you’ll likely be seeing the same thing once you’ve acquired the property, at least in the first few months. Pay special attention to vacancy rates. Next, check up on the current tenants. Find out if their business is doing well. Had any problems with the rent? Also, ask about what they liked about the previous management and how things were handled. Lastly, gauge the economic health of your location. Investigate the population’s financial standing, their average income and income stability. Find out if new residential properties are being planned in the area. And, of course, check on businesses in the area. Are they coming or going? Would there be more demand for storefronts in the foreseeable future?

Finally, did you know there are 7 secrets that most successful Real Estate Investors don’t want you to know? In my free report SHOCK & AWE Crisis Investing, I”ll reveal these and many more techniques that can improve your bottom line.

Remember the report is free Click Here Now

Author: Leslie Collins
Source: ezinearticles.com

There are two basic ways to make money as a real estate investor. The first way is to actually buy and sell the property and the second is to find and assign the property.

Buy and Sell Property

Typical buy and sell real estate investor buy properties at a huge discount, rehabs it, and ultimately sells the property and makes a nice profit.

This is a great way to make money but it does require cash, credit and risk on your part. After all you will be incurring costs to repair, market and hold the property for potentially many months.

While those with deep pockets can afford the risk and time horizon to sell the property, those with less means are not excluded from making huge profits in real-estate.

This leads to the second method to make money in real estate, or the “find and assign” method.

Find and Assign the Property

The find and assign method involves virtually ZERO risk, you wont need cash or credit.

Basically you will be seeking out motivated sellers who may abandoned house owners, out of town owners, distressed owners in pre foreclosure, etc..

The beauty of finding and assigning is that you never actually take title to any property, you simply negotiate a sales agreement with the owner and transfer that “right to purchase” to a real rehabber who buys the physical property.

Of course the rehabber potentially stands to make a nice profit when he actually sells the property; 30, 40, 50K is not uncommon

However for zero risk, you can easily make a nice $3000 – $6000 per assignment, which you will receive when the property closes with the original owner. You never have to wait until the property is sold by the investor who bought your contract.

With foreclosures on the rise taking advantage of this opportunity will mean many will be making lots of money in the near future. If you’re interested in learning a great step by step method of exactly how to find and assign real-estate, see the link below.

Learn Real Estate investing by learning contract assignments the RIGHT WAY – Visit: Contract assignment

Author: Mark G. Jason
Source: ezinearticles.com

Real Estate Investing (REI) has always been a viewed as a long-term business. People know that real estate properties take years to appreciate. That is why there are only few investors venturing into real estate. You can’t blame other investors if they go after quick-profit businesses. Financial stability today, amid harsher times, is everybody’s concern. Smarter ones, however, know that they can actually earn quick money by investing in real estate.

There are methods of REI that can give you profits in just days, and others in just months. You won’t have to wait for years just to get money from real estate. Among the most popular forms of short-term real estate investing is wholesaling houses. This is basically placing a property under contract and then finding buyer for that property. You will then assign that contract to another wholesaler or a home owner for a fee. The assignment fee can vary depending on the location of the property and other factors.

Here’s a sample transaction. You found a distressed property for $55,000. You pay a few hundred dollars to the owner of the house to place his property under contract. You will then search for a buyer for that house. It will help if you have a buyer’s list, or a list of buyers who are ready to buy properties. Send details of the property to qualified buyers and wait for a response. Don’t forget to change the price of the property before sending the details. If you want to earn $10,000 for assigning the contract, then advertise the property at $65,000. Upon finding a buyer, let your title company take care of matters for you while you can worry about cashing and spending your check.

Another investment method you can use is rehabbing houses. Also know as fix and flip, you will repair properties in this business. It starts by buying a cheap property. (By the way, you can contact a wholesaler in your area of you need properties to rehab.) Rehabbers will then make repairs and improvements on the property before quickly selling it to home owners.

REI through rehabbing requires more capital but the returns are bigger. Most rehabbers seek financing from banks and other lenders because of the huge capital needed. There are a lot of sources of financing today so you won’t have to worry about funding your projects.

Whichever mode of investing in real estate you choose, what is important is that you educate yourself first. Go online and read articles at REIwired.com, which also contains informative videos. So go ahead of earn quick cash from real estate today.

Author: Vikram Kumar
Source: articlesbase.com

 If you are interested in pursuing an exiting and well rewarding career in PEI real estate, there are some important factors you need to know beforehand. Just as most jurisdictions of Canada, the PEI market have specific and regulatory legislation for PEI Real Estate. It is an obligatory requirement that you need to be licensed and be a member of an approved professional real estate panel. PEIREA is the best known and major association that has control over the individuals who practice as real estate agents with a real estate career in PEI.  If you become a PEI real estate agent, you need to know that this is an opportunity in intra-neutralism as well. Being an agent means that you will work under the appraisal of a real licensed real estate broker that will make sure that you fulfill all the standards required by this particular industry. This way it is insured that you will be protected from the unavoidable personal initial inexperience. As with any other profession or job, you need to start at the bottom and work your way up with experience to a high profile. The only dissimilarities are represented by you being able to set your own preferred work hours and the objective of career development in real estate or something else. Real estate is a mixture of entrepreneurship and regular employment and it is best suited for highly ambitious, self-motivated persons with an excessive amount of self discipline and strict moral values.  There are some strict specific regulatory conditions to fulfill in order to become a licensed PEI real estate agent. You need to be at least 18 years of age in order to qualify under the Act and also it is a compulsory demand that you live in the province. You also need to take a course that is done over a three week period and it is compulsory that you pass the prescribed test afterwards. If and when you passed the test, it is mandatory that you register with a brokerage and preserve a $2000 bond. A bi-yearly fee of $ 200 is required to be paid at the Ministry of Justice, where you need to be registered as well.  Try not to have great expectations from the real estate career if you are not prepared to work hard for it. It is a hard job and many of the realtors quit or fail during the first year because they underestimate it. Most of the deals take many months to be closed and your money will reach you only after the closure. You must also take into account the fact that the properties in this area are less expensive, so your return per property will be considerably lower than in other areas. When you begin your real estate career, you should have at least one-year’s income in terms of household expenses and personal budget. You will need to have a personal vehicle as well, because you will need it a lot for the meetings with your clients and some of the viewings.  Having a career in PEI real estate might be rewarding on terms of job satisfactions and financially, but you must be prepared to face the difficulties that might appear on start.

Becoming a PEI Real Estate agent is an important decision one person could make. Peipropertie: it offers the best advice and deals on PEI Real Estate available on the Internet.

Author: Carl Schiovone
Source: ezinearticles.com

Introduction

For the Real Estate Investor that has purchased or sold an outstanding investment opportunity, nothing can bring on more excitement than to know you did a great job with negotiating the price and terms of the deal. Although there may be instances when you will be “handed” or “give-away” a fantastic opportunity based upon extreme motivational factors like a divorce, foreclosures, illness, etc. The majority of deals will require some level of give and take effort from both sides. Although all negotiations should have an objective of a win/win strategy and outcome, it is usually the side that has prepared the most effectively that may come away from the table with a bigger piece of the pie.

This guideline has been written to provide an overview of basic negotiation techniques that you may want to apply. The following text is broken down into sections starting with some background information and leading into the three stages of the negotiation cycle.

Section I Background Information

Practicing Negotiations by Role Playing

All successful negotiators have established their own style of approaching a negotiation. During your training as a negotiator, it will be critical for you to work on your approach and modify it as you see how things work out. One popular training method that will help you to establishing more confidence in your negotiations is to do role playing. Role playing will allow you to experiment with your approach and to develop more confidence without the fear of losing a deal. If possible, conduct the role playing session with someone who has experience in negotiating so they could provide constructive feedback on the session.

One technique that will provide you with great input as you conduct your role playing sessions is to record them or even better, do a video recording. Having the ability to review these sessions will be extremely beneficial in your development of your negotiation skills. By having recordings, you can “see” the progress you are making over time.

Reasons for Rejection

There are many reasons why your offers may not be considered or you can’t even get them to agree to meet with you. During your real estate investing career you will come across many people who are in difficult, sometimes life changing situations. The successful negotiator will try to embrace the possible reasons for rejection and adjust their approach based upon the particular situation with that person. The following section will highlight the most common reasons for rejection and will provide recommendations on how you may alter your approach to counter their pushback.

Illustrate Why This Deal Is Good For the Other Side

As part of your negotiating strategy, you should include a discussion on how the offer you are making will benefit them. In many situations, the other side may be very familiar and knowledgeable with their potential benefits. However, you will come across opportunities when that will not be the case. As an example, let’s say you are trying to convince a property owner to hold a mortgage and they are inexperienced in this area. If you provide an overview of the anticipated principal and interest payment verses them taking a lump sum at closing, you may be able to convince them that this option may be better than counting on typical investment instruments like CD’s, mutual funds, etc.

Educate “The Other Side”

As part of your negotiation strategy, you may need to provide some education to the people on the other side of the table. Throwing out an improperly staged offer that in the eyes of the other parties is a ridiculous offer will only make them push back even further or perhaps discount the deal and maybe you completely. However, if you know that the other side’s position is perhaps based on inaccurate data, than you should take advantage of the opportunity and offer any data that may be helpful to them seeing things accurately. Of course in their eyes you may have a direct benefit and they feel they must ignore your data. However, it can certainly be worth your while to give it a try. An example of this could be let’s say they are providing a Pro forma that is indicating a proposed vacancy rate and you know it is understated, perhaps if you were to compile data from the local property management company’s stating the actual vacancy rates of similar buildings, you could be in a position to further negotiate. One way to establish credibility on this type of situation is for you to disclose the source of your data and suggest that they confirm the information you have provided to them using a third party.

Find a Connection with the Other Side

It can really be beneficial to break the ice on a new relationship or negotiation by discussing non-business and non-confrontational topics. Using this technique, you can gently ease into the discussions of conducting business. In addition, these social discussions can provide some clues to you on who you are dealing with and if you potentially need to modify your approach.

An example of this technique occurred during one of my meetings with a homeowner to discuss purchasing their home. Based on the horrible conditions of the property that existed for many years, I did not know what to expect during our meeting. My first goal was to spend some time with them so we can get to know each other. As I’m approaching their door on the day of my appointment I’m thinking what on earth will I discuss to break the ice with these people who are being portrayed as the slobs of the neighborhood. As I entered the home and introduced myself, I quickly observed that the entire living room was filled with fishing poles. I thought to myself Bingo! I struck gold because I was an avid fisherman. After spending the next half hour discussing the local fishing scene, we got down to discussing business.

Other examples of creating ice breakers based on your initial observations could include the following:

Carl Schiovone has been actively involved in real estate investing for nearly 30 years, he is the co-founder of Cypress Investment Properties, which specializes in the acquisition, rehabilitation, and property management of residential properties. Carl is also the Founder and President of Carl Schiovone and Associates Real Estate Coaching, Inc. this organization provides both group and one-on-one educational programs for all levels of investing experience. Please visit our website http://www.CarlSchiovone.com

Author: james kahnbr
Source: articlesbase.combr
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A new real estate agent, took his buyers, a husband and wife, moving into a new home, a bigger home, which the couple needed. After taking the couple around showing many homes, in different neighborhoods, the agent was about ready to close the door on these individuals. He was tired, and they showed no seriousness after seeing home after home. There were plenty on the market, that met the buyers needs, desires, and abilities, the three core categories that the agent customarily lists and uses in researching the best properties for potential buyer candidates Around 8:00 in the evening, the Realtor received a phone call saying that they want to make an offer on a particular residence which the agent took them too see earlier, in that tiring day. Like the others, the home fit into what they were looking for, but the agent did not anticipate they would call to make an offer, and the agent was getting ready to call it a day. He met the buyers at the real estate office and took them inside. Nobody was in the office, and the agent had to turn the lights on. On top of matters, this was the first time the agent would have prepared a purchase agreement and any corresponding real estate forms, in his new career in real estate. Nobody was around to provide assistance, but the agent was determined to keep the buyers, and make the offer. He took out the appropriate legal forms from the filing cabinet, and sat at the conference room table along with the buyers, and worked up an offer. He called the listing agent, who was available, and who immediately contacted the sellers. As it turned out, the sellers accepted the offer that same evening, and the listing agent went to the other agents office to pick up the agreement. The signatures were gathered, and copies of the legal forms were made. Everyone was very happy, and the the transaction went forward. It was a harmonious transactions, which took less than a month to complete. The buyers found a home that had what they wanted, and were very ready to start their new lifestyle there. The day after the agent worked up the contracts and obtained the signatures. he gave a copy to his brokerand the broker was very satisfied with the work done. It was a perfect contract offer, and the best part was, that it was accepted. It was a Win/Win for everyone in this real estate event. The buyer made a reasonable offer through the real estate agent, and the seller made a willing acceptance being joyous over the offer. Everthing went just right, and each form completed in the list of forms to be completed prior to closing.br
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pJames is a leader in writing about legal forms and agreements that may assist you when you are in the search of the right legal document. He writes many articles about forms ranging from, real estate forms, power of attorney forms, a rel=nofollow,nofollow href=http://www.forms.comlandlord tenant forms/a, and most any legal form that you are searching for./pbr
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Author: Anonymousbr
Source: free-articlesbr
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Chicago, IL August 14, 2004 — FPL Associates Consulting and The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trustsโ€š (NAREIT) announced the results of the 2003 NAREIT Benchmark Survey. The comprehensive report, conducted by FPL Associates Consulting, is designed to provide real estate investment trusts (REITs), real estate operating companies (REOCs) and other real estate industry participants with information and trends regarding a variety of key business practices.

The 2003 NAREIT Benchmark Survey is the first effort to date to benchmark and evaluate these key functions in the real estate industry. The results provide notable data for an industry seeking to maximize operating performance.

We see that the real estate industry is continuing to mature. Publicly traded companies in particular are acquiring many characteristics of other industries, especially with regard to developing effective and cost-efficient business practices, said Stephen Stoner, Managing Director for FPL Associates Consulting. REITs and REOCs are in most respects increasingly indistinguishable from other leading U.S. Corporations.

NAREIT President CEO Steven A. Wechsler, said We are pleased that so many NAREIT members participated in last years inaugural Benchmark Survey. We believe that the Surveys findings will provide significant data that can be used by other real estate organizations in a variety of areas.

Benchmark Survey

73 NAREIT members with combined equity market capitalization of over $125 billion responded to the survey. Industry sectors represented included office, mall, industrial, apartment, shopping center, as well as other REITs and REOCs. Respondents filled out a 34-page questionnaire divided into a section for each of the six business practices; corporate governance, investor relations, lease administration, tenant relations, information technology and marketing and leasing. Survey responses were grouped by number of employees, market capitalization and industry sector. The full report analyzes the results of each question in the survey.

Corporate Governance

A few years ago corporate governance was a seldom-used phrase. In 2003, it ranked third as an acknowledgeable duty of REIT boards after strategy and financial performance. The dominant trend shown by respondents is the rush toward formal structure. Many publicly traded REITs were, until recently, private companies in private hands. Public ownership brought reduced cost of capital, and along with it, the need for transparency. The attention towards adopting broader market practices has increased, making formal governance structure and independent board composition a definite priority among larger REITs, faster than their smaller counterparts.

Investor Relations

Investor relations have seen several key trends emerge. According to the survey responses, more information is being released on corporate governance, web sites are being expanded as an interactive tool, the emergence of individual investors as an investor class worthy of separate attention is on the rise and outsourcing the investor relations function is gaining acceptance.

Corporate governance information has become a popular addition to corporate web sites to not only communicate more efficiently, but to combat the recent increase of accounting scandals. And while one in four respondents conducts most of its investor relations communication through its web site, the effort going into these sites is phenomenal.

Outsourcing of important investor relations functions has also become increasingly prevalent, with 85% of all REITs outsourcing some portion of the function.

To handle the investor relations flow of communication, most functions seem to report to the board through the CFO, rather than directly. This appears to be stable, with 90% of REITs reporting satisfaction with their current reporting structure for investor relations.

Lease Administration

Despite the cumbersome maintenance of lease data and its interface with accounting systems, REITs have approached it in varying ways, thus, becoming more specialized and centralized. Most often grouped with leasing, accounting, or asset management, the majority of REITs have dedicated personnel to handle the functions. Two-thirds use full-time employees and handle lease administration in regional or national facilities. Apartment REITs were a notable exception, operating this function at the property level or complex level.

This labor-intense, mission-critical area continues to emerge. Half of all REITs have changed their lease administration techniques in the last two years, indicating that systems are definitely evolving.

Tenant Relations

Tenant relations remain the low-tech section of REIT operations. Internet adoption has been the slowest in this area, possibly because of the tenant and building diversity. Only 40% of respondents provide secure web environments for communication. Though email and Internet communication may be faster or cheaper, respondents still prefer phone or face-to-face meetings.

It is evident that owners are concerned with tenant perceptions. Almost 70% of owners send surveys to their tenants on a regular basis. When respondents were divided by size and industry sector, other distinctions emerged. More than 90% of office REITs send surveys to tenants, though only 44% use them to track tenant satisfaction. Larger REITs have more national tenants, and 55% of them deal with these tenants through a single point of contact.

Linking tenant satisfaction to employee performance metrics is still infrequent, but appears to be an emerging trend.

Information Technology

Taking into consideration the previous business practices, much of the change has stemmed from the trends of various attitudes toward technology, and degrees of adoption, which varied significantly by asset type and size. It was apparent that retail REITs (both shopping centers and malls) are increasing spending, attempting to reach the ultimate customer (the consumer, not the tenant) and to monitor the many businesses operating under their roofs. However, in other property types, spending is flat. Apartment REITs have cut spending, perhaps reflecting mature technology.

Despite the steady balance of enterprise technology alternatives for real estate other than the leader, JD Edwards, there continues to be a low level of satisfaction with software solutions and inconsistent technology training across the industry. In general, mid-size firms are happiest with technology and the smallest and largest are struggling to be consistent in adopting new technology solutions.

Marketing and Leasing

While REITs have discussed company-wide strategy for years, only now are we seeing the first applications of strategy in the marketing and leasing area, which is reflected in leasing plans and treatment of national tenants. Yet, other decisions remain at the property level, and are less under control of the centralized organization. It is apparent that the largest organizations invest in technology to communicate company strategy all the way to the field personnel.

Though most organizations market to national tenants, there is no clear consensus to measure the benefits of national tenant relationships such as interchangeable space, shorter lease negotiation and efficiency in planning, other than being tracked and managed centrally.

These practices are definite trends that will help the industry to conduct business in a more productive manner than in the past, said Stephen Stoner. Real estate companies will become more homogeneous in how they approach various business activities and will develop a best-practices orientation. This survey is one of the early steps in this evaluation.

The full results of the comprehensive report will be released to survey participants and can be purchased by the public on the NAREIT website at www.nareit.com. For questions regarding the contents of the 2003 NAREIT Benchmark Survey, call FPL Associates at 312.368.5040.

About NAREIT

NAREIT provides representation before national and state policymakers affecting the U.S. REIT and publicly traded real estate industry. It is a voice for the publicly traded real estate industry with the financial media and the investment marketplace. It provides numerous opportunities for U.S. REITs and publicly traded real estate companies to network among themselves and with a variety of service providers in the real estate industry and participation on any NAREIT sponsored committees. Members are U.S. real estate investment trusts (REITs) and other businesses that own, operate and finance income-producing real estate, as well as those firms and individuals who advise, study and service these businesses. Committees include: Accounting, Government Relations, Insurance, and Investor Relations.

About FPL Advisory Group, Associates Consulting Division

FPL Associates Consulting provides strategic planning, organizational design, and process improvement to clients in the real estate industry. The firms professionals work from five U.S. offices: Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Dallas. Our professionals have real estate backgrounds and extensive experience as practitioners representing a broad array of functional expertise. FPLs clients span the breadth of the real estate industry and include public and private companies.br
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