{"id":1004048858,"date":"2012-10-22T07:20:05","date_gmt":"2012-10-22T15:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004048858"},"modified":"2022-12-07T17:36:15","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T01:36:15","slug":"irem-special-report-leaders-focus-on-technology-training-and-trends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/irem-special-report-leaders-focus-on-technology-training-and-trends\/","title":{"rendered":"IREM Special Report: Leaders Focus on Technology, Training and Trends"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Paul Rosta, Senior Editor<\/em><\/p>\n

Technology, training, and trends in real estate property categories topped the agenda during the opening session of the Institute of Real Estate Management\u2019s opening general session in New Orleans on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Senior executives commented on the trends that will be shaping the major property categories in a panel discussion moderated by Jim Evans, IREM\u2019s 2012 president and president of Bruce G. Pollack & Associates Inc. of Grand Blanc, Mich.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndustrial is going to be very positive in the next few years,\u201d said Karen Whitt, Colliers International\u2019s president & COO of U.S. real estate management services.<\/p>\n

Some 40 percent of the nation\u2019s distribution space is becoming obsolete as retailers require 30-foot and 36-foot clear-space heights. She also cited e-commerce and the Panama Canal expansion as among the forces that are changing client needs.<\/p>\n

Whitt also noted that real estate management is affected from a declining footprint of office space, from 300 square feet per user to 200 square feet on average. And as the popularity of Apple stores shows, retail \u201chas become about the experience of shopping, not just buying.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the multi-family front, Fred Tuomi, president of property management for Equity Residential, cited the much-discussed demographic and economic factors that are propelling the apartment business: the entry of the Millennial generation into the work force, the postponement of home-buying and marriage. One striking statistic from Equity Residential\u2019s portfolio: 43 percent of the REITs units are rented by a single occupant, and of those residents, 51 percent are women.<\/p>\n

Both executives weighed in on the strategic issues that concern owners and managers of all property categories. \u201cClients want knowledge; what they get is data,\u201d Whitt said. A 50-page report is usually far less valuable to clients than insight into the global, local and national trends that will specifically affect their investment and development decisions, she asserted.<\/p>\n

On a related note, Tuomi challenged the effectiveness of the use of technology today. Real estate managers and others have plenty of sophisticated tools at their disposal. \u201cWhat I\u2019m not seeing our industry doing right now is leveraging that technology to reduce your cost of operations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Addressing the anticipated nationwide shortage of property managers, the executives brought up some similar qualities that they look for in recruitment. New professionals can be trained in finance and operations, Whitt observed; however, she added, \u201cYou cannot train people to have that energy level, that passion, that enthusiasm.\u201d\u00a0 For his part, Tuomi said, \u201cI look for the sparkle in their eyes\u201d and the ability to connect with people. \u201cYou can hire for attitude, then train for skills. It\u2019s very important to have that welcoming personality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about his approach to hiring seasoned managers, as opposed to less experienced recruits, Tuomi explained, \u201cWe don\u2019t have that many seasoned professionals\u2014we grow our own.\u201d A pitfall of hiring veterans is that they can be what he called \u201coverly seasoned, meaning that they\u2019re baked and they think they know it all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The most valuable quality a veteran manager can bring to the job is a never-ending thirst for knowledge, Tuomi commented. \u201cWhat I look for is not, \u2018I can bring to you my world of expertise,\u2019 but \u201cI can bring to you my curiosity.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Technology, training, and trends in real estate property categories topped the agenda during the opening session of the Institute of Real Estate Management\u2019s opening general session in New Orleans on Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":952,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21742,21787],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1004048858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest","category-technology"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIREM Special Report: Leaders Focus on Technology, Training and Trends - Commercial Property Executive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/irem-special-report-leaders-focus-on-technology-training-and-trends\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IREM Special Report: Leaders Focus on Technology, Training and Trends\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Technology, training, and trends in real estate property categories topped the agenda during the opening session of the Institute of Real Estate Management\u2019s opening general session in New Orleans on Thursday.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/irem-special-report-leaders-focus-on-technology-training-and-trends\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Property Executive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPExecutive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-10-22T15:20:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-08T01:36:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anna Spiewak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/irem-special-report-leaders-focus-on-technology-training-and-trends\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/irem-special-report-leaders-focus-on-technology-training-and-trends\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Anna Spiewak\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1bbb99675c2609ea2e6792f8b25d7b76\"},\"headline\":\"IREM Special Report: Leaders Focus on Technology, Training and Trends\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-22T15:20:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-08T01:36:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/irem-special-report-leaders-focus-on-technology-training-and-trends\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":556,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/irem-special-report-leaders-focus-on-technology-training-and-trends\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/irem-special-report-leaders-focus-on-technology-training-and-trends\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/irem-special-report-leaders-focus-on-technology-training-and-trends\\\/\",\"name\":\"IREM Special Report: Leaders Focus on Technology, Training and Trends - 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