Reporting skills are key to success

Reporting skills are key to success

Reporting skills make the difference between a quality commercial real estate announcement and a mediocre one.

A real estate news reporter would tell you that a quality news release should have all the applicable details of the deal, while offering context on what the deal means for the real estate market and the area’s economy. That's where our reporting skills come into play.

At B2, a successful announcement is the result of gathering the information in a careful, thoughtful way. Doing this right requires using skills that a reporter would use.

First, we make sure all the information is complete and accurate, whether it’s the corporate names of the buyer and seller, the price, the property address, or the size of the property. With LLCs often involved as buyers or sellers, this isn’t always simple.

Then we take the time to ask about trends. Is this sale part of a larger long-term plan for the buyer? How does the sales price compare to similar deals in the area, and what does that say about the market? And how will the property be used in the future?

Sometimes, there isn’t a whole lot to say beyond the basic facts. But we aren’t doing our job very well if we don’t do everything we can to find out more.

A recent example of how our reporting skills can lead to success is an announcement we did for Colliers International about the sale of a Lakeland property to an industrial developer from Chicago.

It was a major deal, with Brennan Investment Group planning a 1-million-square-foot speculative warehouse as part of a major new industrial park. But importantly, our media outreach included context, noting how this was a sign of the continued bullishness of industrial real estate developers about the Lakeland market.

The news ran in such prominent local outlets as the Tampa Bay Business Journal, while also getting attention in national trade industry outlets like GlobeSt.com.