Colliers ABR Merges with Affiliates

by Peter Boritz

Colliers ABR announced that they will be merging with Baltimore, DC, and St. Louis affiliates. This move appears to provide Colliers with a stronger platform to more effectively keep up with the widespread consolidation in the real estate industry.

One challenge all brokerage firms are facing is how to differentiate themselves. With all this merger activity, I believe it's important that firms focus on brand awareness and expertise.

RDM provides services and technology to all the major firm such as CBRE, Cushman and Wakefield, Newmark Knight Frank, and Colliers. We have been providing services to Colliers ABR for many years. They have a very solid platform and team of professionals that will bring significant value to the other offices. We wish them all the best.

Today, since the world is flat and functions on a 24-7 basis, smaller firms can survive and thrive by concentrating on local business. The larger firms are better situated to service clients looking for a global platform and major resources. Once thing that has not changed in real estate is the importance of the individual relationship between client and broker. This, not just capabilities, very often determines which firm gets a project.
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Technology and Real Estate 1.0

At times, Commercial Real Estate and Technology seem to be competing forces; CRE Technology is almost a contradiction in terms to some. This industry is for being resistant to change and slow to adopt innovation. It has become traditional “old school” stability and tradition versus modern tools and forward thinkers. We’re all too familiar with the old school “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” mentality – at times it seems the overpowering mainstream of CRE is doing business this way since time began and most are resistant to change. In a recent edition of Real Estate Weekly, Peter Boritz, CEO of Real Data Management, summed up technology use among real estate companies:
"Soon, real estate companies will find enormous value in mediums like online video, sophisticated e-mail marketing, animation, and social networks.

The industry is already observing apartment brokers using low-quality video footage that's easily captured on a PDA, uploaded to a computer, and published online. Instead of meeting that broker to view apartment features, prospective tenants can see it for themselves. This indicates a demand for tech-driven marketing in what has traditionally been a handshake business."
True, most modern day real estate businesses are using email and mobile devices and keeping up – but not expanding. The forward thinkers ponder how they can use existing and future tech to work smarter, faster – and make money. The truth is, whether industry veterans want to admit it or not, technology can be a game changer in Real Estate just as much as any other industry. With digital files, web 2.0 applications, mobile communications, voice recognition, and video readily available it won’t be long until one of the most unchanged bricks- and- mortar industries looks nothing like it did even ten short years ago. If businesses don’t keep up, they will almost surely fall through the cracks.

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RDM Softball Game 2

On a glorious summer afternoon, at the renowned fields of the Great Lawn in Central Park, the RDM Lazers squared off against the highly touted American Red Cross. Unfortunately, it looked like our beloved Lazers may have needed a little CPR from their rivals to wake up the bats and revive our normally solid fielding.



Prior to the first pitch, the RDM Lazers exerted high confidence and coolness, as they swaggered onto the Great Lawn looking like a red army ready to conquer their feeble nemesis. This confidence quickly escalated to cockiness, as the Red Cross only showed up with eight players, assuring an instant out every ninth batter (not to mention only being able to field TWO outfielders).



However, after the 1st inning, the Lazers brash confidence came crashing down, as they were only able to score a single run versus the Crosses three. It looked as if RDM manager Brian Sandler’s head was going to explode in disbelief.



Despite the outstanding pitching performance from Lazer’s ace Krystal Goff, aka The Goffinator, costly errors and untimely hitting with runners in scoring position allowed the Cross to obtain a one run lead going into the final frame. Its worth noting that the Cross 3rd basemen had a personal vendetta against Brian “Sandman” Sandler, as he quoted saying “This guy (Sandman) is playing the game like he has $500,000 on the line!”

All in all, it was a valiant effort from both teams, but the Lazers just didn’t have enough. But I will leave you with this final note: It’s not winning games that makes a team great. A great team is defined on how they bounce back from a tough loss, picking up the pieces and putting together the next go around. So on that note, Russell Reynolds Associates, I feel for you on Thursday. Cause the Lazers are thirsty for Vengeance!
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