October 2024 New Hampshire CIBOR president’s message - by Ethan Ash

Starting last month, NECPE.com, the website that allows its members to market commercial listings for lease and for sale anywhere in New England, moved to a new and updated platform. This is still powered by Catalyst but now includes some added benefits from the Moody’s CRE partnership. For those who don’t know, Moody’s is a ratings organization that conducts research and data analysis for investors. This partnership enables commercial real estate professionals to access even greater data that can be provided to their clients. I want to inform the audience reading this message about why members using NECPE to determine value and market their listings are ahead of their competitors who do not use a commercial property exchange.

First, this is a one-stop shop for various types of commercial listings. Leases, sales, and businesses for sale can all be marketed on the platform, which is easy to search by location, property type, lease or sales, price, or 35 other filtering options. Our members can also create saved searches for their clients, so when anything that meets their criteria is added to the system, both the agent and their client are informed right away, ensuring they don’t miss out.

Second, there is a tremendous amount of data and information about properties that goes above and beyond what might be available in a typical listing. For most properties, members can find information about the building (size, year built, building class), the lot (acreage, utilities, zoning), the history of sales and leasing associated with the property, the current tenants, the location score (how the property area compares in terms of economic prosperity, safety, transportation, etc.), as well as additional performance, financial, and media data for its members. Powered by years of comparable data that our members have contributed, along with national data, our members and their clients gain a much better understanding of how their property is viewed in the market, allowing them to price their properties more effectively for leases or sales.

Lastly, I want to highlight why many of our members initially join: to market their commercial listings. While many aspects of the marketing platforms remain unchanged, information about where leads for a property are coming from helps members tailor their marketing strategies accordingly. When viewing a listing on NECPE.com, members and the public can see reports for nearby retailers, demographics by drive time or radius, traffic counts, as well as flood maps and EPA facility reports to quickly assess any environmental risks on or surrounding the property. The quick and easy way leads can access this crucial information about a listing can help them determine if it is a viable opportunity.

I know change can be hard, and there is often reluctance to learn new things. I don’t fault anyone for feeling this way, as I often feel the same. However, I believe that once members and the public become accustomed to the new interface, they will find this updated platform to be beneficial for both our clients and the public in their commercial research needs.

Ethan Ash is the 2024 president of the N.H. Commercial Investment Board of Realtors, Bedford and is a real estate agent at Coastal Land & Commercial Group, Keller Williams Coastal, Lakes & Mountains, Portsmouth, N.H.