Costar is a commercial real estate information platform to which i just subscribed again. It is by far the largest and most accurate database out there. They list every office, industrial and retail building available for lease in the Dallas Fort Worth area plus tons of other markets throughout the country. They list hundreds of thousands of properties for sale throughout the country. They verify this data with their own researchers instead of just relying on the listing brokers to keep things accurate (that will never happen). They list tenant information and sales comps.
But all that information and power comes at a price. I'm talking 3.5 - 4 times the price of the next best competitor. That's why I haven't subscribed in so long. It's been about 5 years since I subscribed and I have missed it.
Fortunately, Costar is trying to grab market share before that nearest competitor (Xceligent) dramatically ups its game after getting a huge cash infusion from a new investor. All this comes after Costar bought LoopNet (yet another competitor) and the FTC stepped in to keep things competitive.
Costar is still expensive don't get me wrong. But that market share grab has brought down the price considerably...at least for a while. So I'm back for now. The competitive landscape will probably be much different when my two-year contract expires.
It sure would be easier if the commercial world could get its act together and agree on a single database that has everything like the MLS for residential. I don't see that ever happening though.
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