1. E-commerce--COMPS Acquires REALBID. ... On Tuesday, November10, COMPS InfoSystems announced the acquisition of REALBID, the Internet marketing service, in a move aimed at "revolutionizing how commercial real estate brokers list and sell properties..." Focused on "high end commercial property sales," REALBID pro-actively seeks to match broker listings with qualified buyers, thus enabling brokers "to do both the sell and buy side..." REALBID differentiates itself from a basic Internet listing service by using a combination of e-mail, faxes and telephone calls to "push" information to its proprietary database of investors.

So far in 1998, REALBID has marketed over $4 billion of properties with an average value over $10 million. One idea behind the sale is to broaden REALBID's database by coupling it with COMPS' database, which includes over 500,000 transactions, some as low as $250,000. While listing services like LoopNet and COMMREX could add this kind of "push" service technologically, REALBID's goal is to add value by developing the authoritative list of buyers. (Actually, I just noticed that COMMREX does allow registered users to subscribe to a listserv and receive notices of all properties listed.) Lease-oriented listing services like Realty Information Group and LeaseTrend LeaseTrend could also develop this kind of notification service, although aimed at tenants or tenant reps. All these services and many more are seeking ways to bring efficiencies to the commercial real estate marketplace. Keep your eye on this e-listings battleground!

2. Online Real Estate News--II. ... In England, Estates Gazette Interactive (EGi) publishes a major news and real estate information web site available by subscription only. You know that this has to be a valuable service because EGi has over 2,500 subscribers with a basic subscription rate of 350 British Pounds (about $580). It's much more than a news service. You'll also find comparables, listings, a job board and other resources. ... My impression is that it would be much more difficult to create this kind of service in the U.S. because of the competition from the major trade publishers, like Commercial Property News, National Real Estate Investors and Real Estate Forum. It would be expensive (and probably impossible) to build such a dominant site. Remember Teleres, which went dark after reportedly spending tens of millions of dollars? But in the U.K. the formula seems to work.

3. Corporate Lease Tracking--Part IV. ... More postings this week noted two additional programs for lease management. ... Lisa Csernica describes Fraser Williams' HORIZON system, which includes "the ability to record legal terms and conditions of a lease and generate invoices for rent and other payments..." Stephen Schragger with Kislak Betesh & Associates discusses Visual Lease ™, which "identifies and tracks all of the elements of a real estate transaction, including lease documents, financials, correspondence, CAD drawings, spreadsheets and the like." ... I received an interesting e-mail this week from David Nelson with Westmark Harris, who touted his Strategen system, which includes a demand management component for "tracking, projecting and managing a company's demand for space." ... Use the URL below to view these comments, and please add your own. (If you haven't already, you'll need to register to post to the Message Board, but not to browse.)

http://www.pikenet.com/cgi-bin/WebX?13@@.ee6b606/18

4. Web Success--Cap Rate Properties. ... According to Dean L. Curci, "As a result of marketing four of Cap Rate Properties' listings through a combination of targeted mass e-mailings and advertisement at our web site, www.caprate.com, we were able to find the right buyer suited for each of the deals..." Cap Rate Properties is based in Newport Beach, and the properties were leased to PayLess Drug, Circuit City, Albertson's and Blockbuster Music. ... Do you have a Web Success story? Send e-mail to . For other recent stories use the following URL:

http://www.pikenet.com/pike?func=WebSuccess09

5. Knowledge Base--Faxaway for Traveling. ... Need to print a document on a business trip? ... Faxaway enables you to send a fax to your hotel--or to anywhere in the U.S. for that matter--for $0.11 per minute. After registering over the web, you simply send e-mail in this format: faxnumber@faxaway.com. It's that simple. You can send to a person or a room and you can attach a file. ... For step-by-step instructions, visit the PikeNet Knowledge Base under the Web Related section or use the URL below:

http://www.pikenet.com/pike?func=showPublicPage&page=
questions/questions/question094

6. Get Dispatch Hyperlinks. .... Want to receive the PikeNet Dispatch with built-in hyperlinks? ...Join almost 700 subscribers who now receive the Dispatch as a web page. ... Just click the Edit User Profile link under the logo on the PikeNet home page. Enter your e-mail address and password. If you've forgotten your password, click the "E-mail My Password" button and it will be sent to your e-mail address immediately. After you login, choose the HTML option and click the Submit button at the bottom of the page.

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7. Sponsor. ... "Coldwell Banker Commercial offers a full spectrum of services for owners, investors and users of commercial space, from market research and strategic planning to implementation to ongoing advisory services. Our expertise covers all property types: office, industrial, apartment, hotel, retail properties and land. Our services include investment advisory, property and asset management and more! For more information, please visit our web site at www.commercial.coldwellbanker.com or call 800-222-2162."

--Peter Pike