CRE Broker Tools: Looking to connect with brokers to ask a couple of questions
Hi all, currently doing some research on CRE broker tools for work (specifically focused on survey/client material preparation). 

If any CRE brokers on this sub have time to answer to a few questions, would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance!
[{"id": "gplz5kg", "text": "Costar...", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gplzkjj", "text": "Other than Costar reports for quick turnarounds, I use excel/PPT and my assistant has access to Indesign. A lot of the templates come down from our marketing dept but I'll typically retrofit them depending on the nature of the assignment/ client preferences.", "replies": [{"id": "gpq19yq", "text": "thanks for your reply - appreciate it. do you use indesign frequently in your process?", "replies": [{"id": "gpve1ls", "text": "So it honestly depends on the type of pitch / marketing materials. I can do a ton of solid stuff via PowerPoint. At times Indesign is helpful for the more intensive assignments. Really depends on the asset in my case. Feel free to dm me. Happy to chat.", "replies": [{"id": "gq4mc59", "text": "will do  - thank you!", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gpm1qpd", "text": "Costar is the best tool for all that... essentially the only tool. But it\u2019s definitely something that you should not pay out of pocket for yourself, your company should provide you that. If your firm doesn\u2019t offer you a costar key, work somewhere else.\n\nI used to have set templates for surveys in PowerPoint and make custom PDFs for my clients. Took an extra hour but added a nice touch to differentiate from every other broker sending costar reports. Lots of the info from costar reports are too dense for your client to understand and will simply overwhelm them.", "replies": [{"id": "gq4maku", "text": "thank you for the reply - appreciate it. do the majority of brokers just forward the costar report to their clients?", "replies": [{"id": "gq4xzau", "text": "Depends how large the client. If it\u2019s someone who has no current office and is looking to lease their first space, very little chance of getting a deal done so I don\u2019t wouldn\u2019t have spent a lot of time on it. If it\u2019s a large company that would make for a huge deal, we\u2019re going to the nines.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}, {"id": "gq4y2nk", "text": "But for the most part the data either comes from costar or internal data the firm might have on hand", "replies": [{"id": "gq5xc2a", "text": "how much of the data collection comes from calling up the counterparty broker?", "replies": [{"id": "gq5zk5t", "text": "Your own data and insight is essentially your leverage. So it really depends on your relationship with other brokers. Why would they want to give you comps? \n\nDepending on your market, check out Compstack. That\u2019s also an interesting concept I used.\n\nWhen you mean counter party, do you mean a broker doing a deal with you? They\u2019ll tell you only what you need to know to get the deal done.", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "gq64rty", "text": "My company was one of costars first clients. I give them an average of about 85-90% accuracy Subject to the market.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gq64nyn", "text": "30 years here and hi level Industrial RE broker\nDM me.  Happy to help", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gw5szyc", "text": "I found [this article](https://ascendix.com/blog/commercial-real-estate-technology/) that described the evolution of CRE tools for 15 years. The way from Excel spreadsheets and NotePad to a full-fledged portal and listing software and all-in-one tools.", "replies": [{"id": "gwbvutx", "text": "thank you!", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]