Archives for March 2016

Upcoming Meetings:
July 20, 2016 – HOST NEEDED
August 24, 2016 – HOST NEEDED
September 21, 2016 – HOST NEEDED
LIN Marketing Meeting Sponsor Form |  Contact Clay Azar to sign up.
This is a great way to showcase your property!
LIN, or the Leasing Information Network, is a networking forum for those involved in leasing commercial real estate. The monthly LIN Marketing Meetings are generally held two weeks after the CCIM NM Deal Making Session, or the second from the last Wednesday of the month from 7:30 – 9:00 a.m.
Click here to view the LIN page.

Are real estate land brokerages going the way of the dinosaur? With the advent of drone videos, Google Earth, digitized County GIS records, and property advertising websites, are the traditional services of rural land brokers still needed? This article is my attempt to address that question.
If you are a part-time or mediocre land agent who only does an occasional land deal, you should be worried about how necessary you are going to be to consumers going forward. Your services will probably not continue to be as relevant in the near future. Brokers that continue to get better at their jobs and excel in professionalism have a bright future ahead.
My conclusion comes from observing craftsmen in their trades. A mediocre cabinet maker with access to fine tools, will continue to make substandard cabinets. A master with ordinary tools can accomplish surpassing quality because they pour their heart and mind into their work. It isn’t the tools that do the work, it is the expertise and discipline of the craftsman.
Websites, videos, mapping systems, UTV’s, and internet access to information are all tools of the land brokerage trade. There have been immense advancements in technology in my short 8 years in this business. Mapping technology is infinitely easier to use than when I entered the field. Now every buyer has access to Google tools that allow them to zoom in and out, draw boundaries, measure distances and area, and determine distances to their home. This is no longer proprietary information that consumers rely on brokers to obtain. There have been similar developments in finding property listings and also about obtaining county tax assessor information on parcels.
A conversation like this begs the question,  “What do land brokers really do?” If you are a broker and your answer to that is that you put properties online and in the newspaper, then your days in this business are likely numbered. I answer it this way, “I help people buy and sell land.” The emphasis in that sentence is on, “I help people.”
Consumers like to work with people they trust. Our job as brokers is to give people all the information they need to make the best decision possible. For our clients, we also provide advice as to the proper course of action for their situation. In order for a broker to be able to provide expert advice, one must continue to learn and develop professionally. It takes a deep level of commitment to follow current trends, join professional organizations, network with others in the business, and constantly reflect on issues and trends that affect our industry.
My feeling is that brokers that are in this career for the long haul should join an organization like the REALTORS® Land Institute (RLI), and work toward earning their Accredited Land Consultant (ALC) designation. The Institute was founded by and for land brokers to promote the level of professionalism and increase the level of service to our customers and clients. Our members take an oath to conduct business in the most ethical manner, and agree to be held to a higher standard in their daily practices. The ALC designation is earned by those who demonstrate a commitment to obtaining the education and exercising proficiency in serving people who buy or sell land.
A consumer may be thinking, “But brokers are not necessary because I can use the internet to do what you do.” A portion of that statement is true, the internet is helping to educate consumers. There is an ample amount of good information from Toyota on how to change the timing belt on my truck. Is that something that I would personally try? Probably not. My feeling is to leave that to the experts, because messing up such an important task could cost me more than it would save me. WebMD is filled with information on diagnosing many important health conditions. Is it a good idea to diagnose and treat yourself based merely on the range of symptoms contained in the two paragraphs you read?  No. You should seek out the person with the training and knowledge to help you diagnose and treat the actual condition.
We should work hard to offer our clients the best possible service that leads to the best possible outcomes for them. Those brokers who take the time to get the proper instruction, master the tools of the trade, and do their work with expert skill will have a successful career. There will be changes in our industry, and some among our ranks will be weeded out. Make a commitment to do the things necessary to help you excel in our profession and elevate the reputation of our industry. There will never be a replacement for a passionate person, driven to excellence who excels in serving people. Those are the brokers consumers will line up to work with.
By: Jessa Bertinetti & Jonathan Goode ALC (Accredited Land Consultants)
Click here to view source article.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Developers will break ground this summer on a six-story building at the Innovate ABQ research and development site Downtown, providing new, high-tech facilities for University of New Mexico programs plus five floors of student housing.
It’s the first planned building for Innovate ABQ at Central Avenue and Broadway, where UNM is working with the city, the county and private partners to create a seven-acre research and development district in the heart of Albuquerque.
The 160,000-square-foot building will open by August 2017 and cost $35 million. It will be located on the northeast corner of the seven acres, which UNM acquired in 2014 for Innovate ABQ. UNM and others began planning the project in 2013.
UNM has no upfront cost as the three-member development team charged with managing the first phase of Innovate ABQ’s site planning and construction – Signet Development of Ohio, New Mexico’s Goodman Realty Group and Deker/Perich/Sabatini – will pay for the new building.
The 160,000-square-foot building will open by August 2017 and cost $35 million. It will be located on the northeast corner of the seven acres, which UNM acquired in 2014 for the Innovate ABQ project that UNM and others began planning in 2013.

UNM will lease the facility back from the developers for 30 years and take responsibility for renting out student housing and maintaining and operating the facility, said Lisa Kuuttila, UNM’s chief economic development officer and head of the Science and Technology Corp., the university’s technology transfer office.
The university will pay $1.8 million a year for the first five years. Payments will then climb to $2.175 million, followed by 1.75 percent annual increases thereafter. After 30 years, UNM will take ownership of the building.
The Innovate ABQ board approved the construction March 21, and the UNM Board of Regents signed off March 22, said UNM President Robert Frank during a public event at the site Monday afternoon to announce the project.
“This has been our vision from the start,” Frank said in a statement. “We’ve been working with our public and private partners to bring our students and researchers together with entrepreneurs and innovators in an inspired environment that can spur economic development and create jobs that benefit all of us.”

The STC, which is now housed at UNM’s Science and Technology Park at University and César Chávez, will move into about 10,000 square feet of space on the first floor of the new building when it opens, Kuuttila said. The university’s new Innovation Academy, which offers students direct experience and real-world skills in entrepreneurship, will be housed next door to STC on the first floor.
The ground floor also will include a cafe and a branch of the Nusenda Credit Union, a partner in the Innovate ABQ project. The Nusenda branch will be managed with kiosks connected electronically to live tellers, Kuuttila said.
“We’re thrilled that after three-plus years of work we’ve finally gotten to this point,” Kuuttila said in an interview Monday. “We believe this first building will jump-start other projects, especially with the city building out its newly planned entertainment district across the street. All that is part of the Innovation District.”
The STC and the Innovation Academy, which now has about 270 students enrolled, will share some common spaces in the new building, such as conference rooms and areas for events and seminars. The sharing of spaces is intended to facilitate interactions among students in the Academy and the students, staff and entrepreneurs connected to STC’s technology transfer activities.
“It’s great for our students to be connected with what the STC is doing to commercialize new technology,” said Innovation Academy director Robert DelCampo. “That allows for more collaboration and sharing of ideas and resources.”
The upper five floors of the building will be used for 155 two-bedroom, two-bath student apartments, where students in the Innovation Academy and other upper-level undergraduate and graduate students will live, work and play. The apartments will be limited to one person per bedroom, creating space for up to 310 students.
Mayor Richard Berry takes a picture of himself with Bob Frank UNM President following the new construction announcement at Innovate ABQ, photographed on Monday March 28, 2016. (Dean Hanson/Albuquerque Journal)
“This extraordinary opportunity is a catalyst for our city, higher education and Downtown,” Mayor Richard Berry said. “This project will help the revitalization of Downtown Albuquerque by bringing UNM’s Innovation Academy and student housing to the Innovate ABQ site.”
Under the lease plan, UNM will not have to invest any money in the new building. “UNM will have a lease for the entire building,” Kuuttila said. “We don’t have to finance it, but we will manage it.”
The lease arrangement differs from UNM’s other off-campus student housing project at Lobo Village on César Chávez near Interstate 25. The private developer American Campus Communities built and opened that facility in 2011. It fully manages it, taking the risk for filling the apartments.
“This is different in that the university is working in partnership with developers on development and construction costs,” said UNM director of real estate Tom Neal. “In this case, UNM will be responsible for all operations and maintenance.”
But UNM expects little difficulty in filling the apartments, Kuuttila said.
“We know how to do that – we run a lot of student housing now – and the university feels quite comfortable with it,” Kuuttila said. “We feel it’s a good deal for UNM. It allows us to move forward with our vision for the Innovate ABQ site in a cost-efficient manner, which is especially important during this difficult budget time.”
Meanwhile, the Innovate ABQ developers and partners have decided to retain most of the First Baptist Church buildings that remain on the property, although they will tear down one section of those facilities. The rest will be remodeled into offices and other facilities, but there is no decision yet on when that work will begin.
By: Kevin Robinson-Avila (Albuquerque Journal)
Click here to view source article.

 

Take a moment to read through this informative article that provides the details of the recent Out-of-State Licensee (OSL) Legislation. This legislation allows Wisconsin brokers to enter into a cooperative agreement with an OSL. The law applies to all types of transactions, including residential, commercial, farm, or vacant land.