Guy Gray, Author at Quarem

About the Author

Guy Gray serves as Chief Operating Officer overseeing our technology and client services teams. He is responsible for guiding Quarem application development, networking and security, as well as new client implementations.

Feb 21

Top 5 Obstacles that Halt a CRE Professional’s Portfolio Growth

By Guy Gray | CRE Professional

There’s an old wives’ tale that coffee stunts a person’s growth. Whoever created this myth obviously wanted to hoardall the coffee. In reality, there’s no correlation between the caffeinated beverage and a person’s physical size. (Just look at the NBA’s coffee obsession for proof of this.)

When it comes to commercial real estate portfolios, however, there are several obstacles that definitely will halt its growth. (Spoiler: coffee is not one of them.) If you’re a commercial real estate professional, here are five things you need to overcome to grow your portfolio:

Feb 13

What is the Importance of a CAM Audit?

By Guy Gray | CAM Audit

Most commonly found in the commercial real estate industry, Common Area Maintenance (also known as CAM) is a section of the lease that clearly outlines what a tenant’s pro rata, or proportional, share of the operating expenses of the building will be. It details how the tenant and the landlord will share the costs associated with maintaining the common areas of a space, such as utilities, management fees, repairs and maintenance, landscaping, management fees, and more.

And while this sounds pretty black and white, at times, it can actually be a bit grey and blurry. For instance, the tenant may not be privy to the going market rate for common costs that are being handed from the tenant to the landlord. Similarly, the landlord may not know the current value of the property, at any given time. So, what happens when something unexpected warrants an increase in costs? Do you know that your CAM charges are accurate and fair? How can you be certain?

Feb 05

Commercial Real Estate Software and Automating Your Workflow

By Guy Gray | Automation , CRE Software

They say computers are going to take all of our jobs one day. Actually, it may have already happened, as Forbes claims that “technology has already taken over 90% of the jobs humans used to do.” This isn’t a bad thing, however. It just means that humans have more time to focus on the important stuff.

Take commercial real estate, for instance. As a CRE pro, would it be a bad thing if most of your time-consuming clerical tasks were automated? No, because you’d be able to spend more of your time doing more important things like relationship building, focusing on the big picture and growing your portfolio.

Well, the good news is that with a commercial real estate software solution like Quarem, this is very much a reality.

Dec 05

Tips for Property Managers to Stay on Top of Maintenance During the Winter

By Guy Gray | Property Managers

Commercial properties have a specific set of needs each season. In the spring, it’s all mostly about landscaping and potential repairs to the roof after winter. In the summer, the focus turns to air conditioners and pest control. In the fall, gutter cleaning, tree trimming and furnace tune-ups are the priority. But what about winter?

If you’re a property manager, here are some tips to help you stay on top of maintaining your properties during the cold-weather months.

Nov 27

Outsourcing vs. Adopting a Lease Administration Software Solution

By Guy Gray | CRE Software

You’re out of time. Your portfolio is growing and you have to decide how to make your efforts go further. Should you look into cloning yourself? Is there a way to make time slow down? Should you consider hiring full-time help?

While the former isn’t realistic and the latter may not be sustainable (or you may just not want the headaches), there is a solution worthy of your consideration: adopting a software solution. The only question is, would it be easier to just outsource your lease administration instead? Let’s weigh the pros and cons of each option.

Nov 13

Critical Date Management with Quarem’s CRE Software

By Guy Gray | CRE Software

Date management is all about organizing and remembering important meetings, deadlines and holidays on both your personal and professional calendars. When it comes to commercial real estate, date management is one of the most critical aspects of the job.

In fact, missing any timelines or critical dates can be unforgiving for a CRE professional. Fortunately, Quarem’s CRE software presents robust solutions for critical date management. Let’s explore some of the most common types of dates CRE pros track and how Quarem can help.

Oct 02

Is the Crowded Lease Administration Training Market an Endorsement for Lease Administration Software?

By Guy Gray | Lease Administration , Lease Administration Software

They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery. Whether it’s in professional athletics, product development or, heck, even commercial real estate, if you’re doing something that works, other people are going to try and do the same thing.

This brings up an interesting observation. With the volume of lease administration courses, lease administration certifications and dedicated lease administration careers out there, it demonstrates how involved and intensive lease administration is. If there was a way to do better lease administration — more efficient lease administration — wouldn’t you want to consider an investment in it?

Sep 27

Top Ways Commercial Real Estate Investing Differs from Other Investment Portfolios

By Guy Gray | Commercial Real Estate Investing

Wouldn’t it be nice if all investments were low risk, high return and required little or no work? Unfortunately, that’s not reality. As Warren Buffet once said, “if past history was all there was to the (investing) game, the richest people would be a librarian.”

Investing requires much more than knowledge of past history. You have to analyze trends, sure, but you also have to put in some hard work and often react quickly. Additionally, you have to tailor your strategy depending on the type of investment you’re pursuing. Take commercial real estate, for example. Should you treat your CRE investments the same way you would the stock market or other physical assets?

Sep 19

How Lease Auditing Software Will Help a CRE Professional Sleep Better

By Guy Gray | Lease Auditing Software

You’ve tried counting sheep, but that didn’t work. You’ve taken natural, sleep-enhancing supplements, but you still wake up just a couple hours into the night. Heck, you even cut back on your (admittedly excessive) coffee intake, but it’s had no effect. You simply can’t sleep at night these days.

Your mind is racing with the potential errors infesting your lease portfolio. Did you store that lease proposal document in the right folder? Do you have any expirations, termination or renewal options coming up that you didn’t know about? Are your rent projections for the next quarter on track, or did you input the wrong information in your spreadsheet?

Sep 10

CRE Software and Your CRE Asset Management Strategies

By Guy Gray | CRE Asset Management

As a commercial real estate professional, you spend a lot of time looking at your properties from an “outside” perspective. What is the square footage? What does the neighborhood look like? What’s the market value? But have you ever stopped to think about the physical elements that reside within a prospective or existing space? The physical assets in your space have tremendous value to your organization, so you’re going to need a thought-out strategy if you’re going to manage them properly.

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