CCIMREDEX Revealed

Good news for our clients and customers.  This new marketing and advertising tool has been a long time coming.  The CCIM institute has always been cutting edge when it comes to commercial real estate expertise, but now they have the tools to demonstrate the Technology and Intelligence of the organization.

- Erik

Tech Solutions

CCIMREDEX Revealed

By Rich Rosfelder

For CCIM designees and candidates who are shouldering a large portion of the workload in real estate offices around the country, efficient analysis and marketing are indispensable. "Our time is precious," says Rhonda J. West, CCIM, owner of West Commercial Real Estate Services in Austin, Texas. "If we avoid duplication of effort, we can be out there generating more business."

CCIMREDEX, the institute's forthcoming property data exchange platform, streamlines the listing process and carries the bulk of the property marketing load. The platform, which is integrated with STDBonline, will allow users to enter property information one time and send it to a variety of third-party online listing services and marketing tools.

The Power
"The platform's real value is the third-party applications," says Todd Kuhlmann, CCIM, director of CCIMREDEX operations in Dallas. After a CCIM member plugs in transactional property data, the listing can be simultaneously pushed to multiple local, national, and international commercial information exchanges. Platform users also can feed information to real estate listings subsites on Google, Oodle, Vast, Lycos, USBizTrader, AcreScout, and Commercial Investment Multiple Listing Service, which attract potential buyers that may not visit the major industry CIEs.

But CCIMREDEX users won't only be making an impression on buyers. "It's also a way for members to display their competitive advantage to clients," Kuhlmann explains. This advantage is bolstered by the platform's integration with tools that can provide a marketing edge. Using the property data stored in CCIMREDEX, members can create a dynamic Flash Web site, image-enhanced postcards, digital flyers, and e-mail marketing campaigns that can be delivered to more than 100,000 real estate professionals nationwide.

In addition to the marketing services, analytic tools will allow users to run detailed financial analyses, environmental overview reports, and STDBonline market reports. For Henry T. Kirk, a broker with Gillooly Associates in Midland Park, N.J., and a CCIM candidate, these applications will exponentially increase his small office's promotional power: "My company will appear to have a full-time marketing and research department," he says. 

The Performance
After logging in through www.ccimredex.com using a CCIM/STDBonline user name and password, members are greeted by a street map and task menu. By clicking on the map, entering an address in the search field, or uploading .xls or .xvs files, users can create a new property record that can be modified with images and hundreds of details including property type, square footage, and land area. All CCIMREDEX records published within the CCIMREDEX platform can be searched using one of two intuitive workflows. Users also receive Geo-RSS alerts when newly published records that match their saved searches are added to the system. Once the record is created, it's ready to be analyzed and pushed to third-party Web sites.

Because CCIMREDEX is similar to STDBonline's interface, the learning curve for new users is short. "Within minutes [of logging in], I was searching for properties, listing my client's properties for sale and lease, adding financial data, uploading images, and creating flyers," says Kirk, who beta tested a CCIMREDEX prototype earlier this year.

The platform's accessibility allows for smooth integration into the CCIM curriculum. Future industry leaders will get a chance to experience STDBonline and CCIMREDEX when CCIM instructors introduce the platform in the revamped CI 102 course. "STDBonline and CCIMREDEX provide real-world market analysis in the classroom," says CI 102 instructor George E. Wilson, CCIM, partner with Adams & Wilson Development in Mount Pleasant, S.C. "The ability to utilize both engines will be invaluable."