Quarem Blog - Quarem

Mar 13

Commercial Real Estate vs. Residential Investing

By Guy Gray | Commercial Real Estate Investing

When comparing things, apples and oranges come to mind for most people. But what happens when the two things you’re comparing are a bit more similar than these two fruit? Take real estate, for instance. What are the differences between commercial real estate and residential investing? When it comes down to it, these two are more like nectarines and oranges, but if you take a closer look, you’ll see they have their differences.

From potential transaction size to financing nuances, let’s review how CRE investing compares to residential investing:

Mar 08

Franchise vs. Chain – Any Effect on Commercial Real Estate Professionals?

By Guy Gray | CRE Professional

If there’s one thing property managers don’t take for granted these days, it’s a good tenant. They might as well be sitting at the end of a rainbow, because commercial real estate professionals treasure them. Bad tenants, on the other hand, can be a major headache and cause tremendous damage to your portfolio’s future prospects.

The tenant’s actual business model is one huge factor as to whether they will be a “good” tenant or not. Is it sound? Does it have a long-term outlook in place? Whether the tenant’s business is sustainable or not can dictate whether they’ll be able to pay their rent for the duration of their lease. It’s on you as the CRE pro to decide whether you trust the sustainability of that business’ model enough to give them a space.

This is particularly true when it comes to deciding on franchise vs. chain models. Does either have any effect on property managers and other commercial real estate professionals? Let’s take a look.

Mar 04

Can Quarem’s CRE Software Help Reduce the Number of Days a Property Sits Vacant?

By Guy Gray | CRE Software

It’s been nagging at you day and night. You can’t sleep. You can’t eat. The sun isn’t shining quite as bright and coffee doesn’t even taste as good. You just want this waiting period to end. When will it end? When will it end???

While a bit exaggerated, every commercial real estate professional goes through something like this when one of his or her properties is sitting vacant. After all, every day the property sits vacant is another day money goes down the drain. Isn’t there a way to keep this from happening? While it may not completely eliminate all the days your property sits vacant, commercial real estate software like Quarem can help reduce them.

Feb 26

Hiring a Lease Administrator vs. Adopting Lease Administration Software

By Guy Gray | Lease Administration Software

There’s a popular meme out there with a picture of a man, a wall and a bunch of ladders. The man, who is peering over a wall he obviously wants to climb, is standing on the pile of ladders instead of using them correctly. The caption? “It doesn’t matter how many resources you have… if you don’t know how to use them, it will never be enough.”

Large operations run the risk of doing the same thing when it comes to lease administration. Just because you can add to your workforce, does that mean you should? Specifically, is it more beneficial to hire dedicated lease administration help or add lease administration software to your workflow? Does the best answer fall somewhere in the middle?

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.

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