Corporate Real Estate Survey Results

Aug. 12, 2009 - PRLog -- Galaxy Partners, based in Atlanta, Georgia recently conducted a survey on important issues facing corporate real estate. From the results it is clear that the challenges of the current economy will continue to have an effect on how corporate real estate into 2010.

Here are the results:

1.   The most important real estate issue facing my business in the coming 12-18 months is:
•   53% reported Reducing occupancy costs with about the same locations
•   34% reported Expanding the number of locations
•   13% reported Reducing the number or size of our locations

2.   Regarding outsourcing real estate management tasks or services:
•   53% reported Currently outsourcing most or all corporate real estate services needed
•   40% reported Managing real estate in-house and it is working well
•   7% reported Is considering/open to outsourcing most or all corporate real estate services

Survey Takeaways:

Reducing occupancy costs can be accomplished by managing the portfolio more efficiently with a set of tools and processes. Real-time, instant access to space availabilities and usage will be required.  This allows organizations to be responsive to changing space planning requirements.

Organized and report-able lease data will be needed to provide year over year comparisons of real estate expenses, making variances and anomalies easy to find and remedy. Variances will need to be researched using the lease terms, documents and notes. In addition, current and historical financial data for existing and expired leases will need to be accessible for desktop audits and forecasting.

The remaining 47% are planning changes in their portfolio.  This means that documents, financial information, contacts and critical dates will all need to be tracked and leveraged during the lease life-cycle.

In regards to question 2, whether outsourcing or managing real estate internally, a system is needed to monitor the process.  Changes, progress indicators and information will need to be shared.

Summary:

The combination of well implemented processes and tools can help lower occupancy costs, manage portfolio change, and facilitate an effective relationship with outsourced services. Lease management software is a tool that when combined with effective processes, helps real estate department work more efficiently.  The key features of lease management software that are used to meet the requirements in this article are space usage tracking, expense tracking, flexible reporting, centralized documentation and easily accessible lease terms.

About Galaxy Partners:

Galaxy Partners helps companies get the greatest possible value out of their commercial property. Through managing a wide range of lease portfolios and corporate real estate transactions, their seasoned team has solved real estate issues for clients ranging from local businesses to Fortune 500 companies.  Galaxy Partners can be reached at 770-350-0411 or online at http://www.galaxypartners.com

About the Author:

Christopher Werely is Vice President of Sales at Visual Lease, LLC. Visual Lease is a powerful Lease Management Software solution that enables real estate departments to easily control and report on leases and other critical real estate information.  For more information contact Christopher at 888.876.6500 or visit http://www.visuallease.com

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Visual Lease is a powerful Lease Management Software as a Service (SaaS) that enables real estate departments to easily control and report on leases and other critical real estate information.