Thoughts on CoStar’s “Suite” for Owners/Developers?
So I work for a developer and we just recently closed on a portfolio changing property in a decently large market (compared to the main US markets). I brought up that switching to CoStar May be in our best interest as we enter a relatively new league of real estate players and brokers. One of the suite’s features is that you can see when leases in other buildings expire, how likely that tenant is to relocate, and what their reasoning for moving is. Obviously CoStar has more to offer, but that one stuck out to me because it would allow us to toss our property’s hat into a tenant’s ring when it might’ve been over looked or not mentioned by the Tenant rep. Has anyone used this part of CoStar? If so, what was your experience with it and do you think it helped enough that you would recommend it to a landlord rep/broker who’s on the fence about upgrading to it? Thanks for any advice or insight!
[{"id": "ex3jalu", "text": "I use costar all the time and while I haven't used this specific feature I do know that the information can be spotty. I prefer to use costar to gather large amounts of data and then double check it with another program.\n\nI think it would be useful to you guys in the sense that you are looking at it in but I also think there are a ton of other tools that you would find useful.", "replies": [{"id": "ex3jqx5", "text": "Are there other platforms that you\u2019ve heard of where you can gain insights on tenant lease details like this one? That feature alone is what got our attention because we already have other tools to do everything else CoStar does, but we\u2019re trying to see if it\u2019s worth the switch from those platforms to CoStar.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ex3jyqn", "text": "As far as I know that's the best one besides just cold calling people and trying to get the info from them but I work on the buy-sell-refi side. We don't do much leasing", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "exiexqi", "text": "I\u2019m in multi family and only use costar to verify sales comps, and even then the info is either spotty or incomplete, often missing such massive details as who buyer/seller is, price, etc...\n\nCostar is only as good as the info it\u2019s given, and especially in the leasing world, folks are not always chomping at the bit to provide all the details of any property or transaction.\n\nFor example - I\u2019m currently listing a property in a major market and costar\u2019s unit count is off by a good 30%, the unit mix completely wrong, and it has the true owner\u2019s lawyer/registered agent as the owner.  Completely useless.\n\nI think costar really desperately wants to displace traditional brokerage and become the main \u201conline deal room,\u201d but it\u2019s nothing more than a sales ploy at this point given how incomplete it\u2019s data is.  Just my $0.02", "replies": [{"id": "exiqjbt", "text": "Thanks for the insight. One of CoStar\u2019s sales reps was telling us that they\u2019ve \u201cimproved\u201d their platform by implementing a rule where if landlords want their properties listed for lease they have to verify certain rent info with a CoStar market researcher and that they update their site info every 30-60 days. The CoStar rep also said they reach out directly to tenants after a \u201cnoticeably large\u201d deal is signed. When I asked how big a deal had to be for it to be noticeable, she said about 2,500sq.ft. Which I feel is pretty average for any market. The firm I work for mainly specializes in office and retail, with a bit of industrial. The company I work for mainly specializes in office and retail with a bit of industrial, so I wasn\u2019t sure if CoStar is typically more accurate in one sector but spotty in another or if they\u2019re just inaccurate across the board.", "replies": [{"id": "exitpx8", "text": "Yeah, that \"rule\" is complete bs. CoStar reaches out periodically for information. I'll give them the basics, but not sensitive info, and there's no way they'd take down my property if I didn't give them some piece of info. See my post at the top...", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "exiteqb", "text": "I have worked for CoStar as a sales rep and currently work for an owner/developer. The tenant portal on CoStar has improved a lot since I worked there but I would not call it a great tool for finding tenants to fill your space. The information is spotty, not complete and often time simply wrong. It can still be  useful tool, but don't count on much. As an owner and head of leasing at my company, the most value I get out of CoStar is tracking other availability in the market and what rents they're asking. Also for finding good leasing brokers because you can see their deal histories.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]