Transparent commercial brokerage with proprietary smart tools…

The real estate industry is antiquated. For most people they think of the residential real estate first, and that’s lagging enough. But technology and innovation in the commercial real estate space? That’s twenty years behind residential. An exception to this is Squarefoot, an online brokerage platform that enables companies to find commercial properties without going space to space.

Jonathan Wasserstrum, Co-Founder and CEO of Squarefoot (”a team of trusted commercial real estate experts armed with our own technology to help guide you from initial inquiry to lease signing and beyond”), joins Thomas Kutzman and Scott Pollack in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser. Presented by Prevu.

In this episode:

• The state of affairs of commercial real estate today, two decades behind residential real estate, comparative sizes of residential vs. commercial
  Enabling tenants to find space more easily
• The problem being solved by Squarefoot is offering transparency and technology, as a listings platform,
• Squarefoot’s biggest size deal ever, and the average size and company needs commercially
• Playing a role in helping solve real estate problems
• How Squarefoot clients can see the inventory
  Squarefoot aligns better incentives between broker and client, instead of commission based on deal size, a flat fee per broker, a different comp model, so its not about steering toward biggest commission.
• Most brokers aren’t still at the same brokerage after three years, and at Squarefoot the rate is better than the industry average
• First efficiency, not having to prospect, how inbound people search online and wind up on the Squarefoot site
• Offering further efficiency via tech and products in the space and discovery, and a proprietary app
• Looking ahead to the next level: agency business representing landlords
• Commission structure in commercial vs. residential similar, and how many buildings average landlord own
• A lack of interest from Squarefoot in competing against CoStar — being just a channel for tenants to find space and landlords to market the spaces, not a current interest in data.
• Is Wasserstrum a technology guy or real estate guy?
  Ample Hills ice cream makes a special appearance
• Are most companies actually tech companies?
• 20% of market is moving every year, but it takes 5 cycles for everyone to go through a new change of process/tech, with commercial taking even longer
• The need to ask “how do I do it better”
• Anything that can help increase the top line, and decrease expenses, should be a welcome thing
• A lack of Houston TX accent
• Houston’s lack of zoning

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