RCA Technology & Intelligence Briefings Issue 2

Interview with Tim Hatlestad— First Quarter 2006

Tim Hatlestad
E-mail:
Tim Hatlestad, CCIM is president of RE/MAX Commercial Investment, a 45+ agent commercial investment real estate firm with three offices in Scottsdale and Phoenix. He is also the owner of RE/MAX Achievers, a 550+ member residential real estate firm located in eleven offices within the greater Phoenix metro markets.
Listen to the interview (mp3 format, 17MB).
Secrets to Staying Organized
1. As a dedicated list maker Hatlestad starts with pen and paper, but beyond that with technology, he uses ACT! as his contact management and scheduling program; ACT! software can track phone calls, meetings and things to do.
2. The Microsoft product OneNote is a free-form mechanism for posting notes on a project or follow-up notes for a staff member.
3. ACT! has new versions that utilizes a Sequel server, but Hatlestad has not switched over; he uses an older version on his desktop PC in conjunction with e-BLAST!, an email blast program from FortuneFlow.
4. Duplinator is another program compatible with the older versions of ACT! Tim uses to get rid of duplicate email addresses.
Favorite Tech Gadgets
1. For portable email access, Hatlestad relies on a Treo 650, a cell phone/PDA device.
2. For professional real estate photography he uses a Minolta Maxxum SLR digital; personally, he uses a highly portable Canon Sure Shot.
3. The HP 450, a battery operated Bluetooth mobile printer, is handy for traveling; although a little bigger than some other portable printers, it is solidly built and can print in both black and color.
Tools for the Marketing Process
1. The first step in due diligence on an investment property is financial analytics; Hatlestad sets up a basic Excel spreadsheet or workbook; if the property is to be listed, the investment details may be converted to planEASe for its graphic presentation capabilities.
2. In the marketing stage, Hatlestad may use Express Copy mailings, even for lease properties—he gets a business list of prospective tenants with the right profile for the property through the business list program on the CCIM’s Site to Do Business.
3. For investment and other For Sale user properties, he uses a CCIM product called Promoter—a direct mail program for email that provides feedback on when people open the message and view the presentation on the property; ReadNotify.com offers similar capability.
4. Knowing how much time recipients have spent viewing your materials allows you to prioritize follow-up contacts more effectively.
5. ACT! is useful for following up marketing leads.
6. SureClose is an online transaction management program that has potential for the contract and escrow stage as well as the marketing phase—documents can be uploaded, and stakeholders can be notified of milestones for the transaction; Settlement Room is another product commercially available.
The CCIM Site to Do Business (STDB)
1. Launching this commercially oriented web site was a risky venture by the CCIM Institute, but it is now a great benefit; Hatlestad was one of the founders of the site.
2. STDB is a single source for real estate practitioners for a lot of resources such as demographics, mapping, aerial photography, analytics; only CCIM designees and candidates now have access to all the online tools, but consideration is being given to creating a special membership category that will allow wider use of the site.
Tools for Later Stages in the Transaction
1. During the contract to escrow stages, in addition to ACT!, Hatlestad uses a proprietary Excel tracking mechanism, i.e., a spreadsheet showing due diligence items, the steps in the escrow process, communication with all parties and the status of everything.
2. As transaction platforms mature, they likely will provide this kind of checklist and notification capability; SureClose allows users to template a typical transaction, but often in commercial real estate, actual flow does not match the norm.
3. Hatlestad enjoys working with technology directly, but an affiliated technology company that he partly owns creates web tools, web sites and flyer programs particularly for residential agents; the tech support company streamlines work for the agents.
4. In house, Hatlestad’s company relies on strong hardware, networking, phone systems, copiers and other traditional tools; the company is always on the lookout for better ideas to enhance the work environment.
Tools for Small Practitioners
1. ACT! is worth considering as core software, along with add-ons such as ListGrabber (gets groups of names) and AddressGrabber (picks single names), which capture contact information and plug it into ACT! Fields. These ad-ons retrieve information from email messages and web sites, they also work for Outlook.
2. Also in connection with ACT!, e-BLAST! (for large distributions) and Outlook (for individual and small groups) are useful for sending email to communicate available properties and property needs.
3. STDBonline.com is especially valuable for small practitioners who do not have their own marketing and research departments; clients expect a high level of proficiency from practitioners in these areas because of the tools available directly to laymen.
Opportunities from Using Technology
1. The biggest challenge for the commercial industry is overcoming the inefficiencies in the marketplace; technology offers potential solutions on a global scale through property databases and on an individual scale through tools that improve productivity.
2. Tech tools speed up the transaction process and make property analysis more efficient; the industry needs to support real-time information exchanges such as LoopNet, CoStar and those provided by some local associations and CCIM chapters.
3. Individual agents need to take advantage of the marketing and communication tools that are available to improve the overall efficiency of the commercial industry.
Tips for Newcomers to the Industry
1. Take advantage of CCIM education; it may take three or four years to go through all that is offered.
2. Find a mentor (or several) to shadow and use them as models for your own approach to doing the business.
Favorite Web Sites
1. Hatlestad relies on his customized MyYahoo page to cull news feeds relating to his clients.
2. CoStar, Loopnet and CCIM.net are resources for finding properties and new names to add to his database.
Products and Sites Mentioned by Tim Hatlestad:
ACT!:
OneNote:
e-BLAST!: Products tab at
Outlook:
Duplinator:
Treo 650: Products/Smartphones page at
Favorite cameras: Minolta Maxxum SLR digital; Canon Sure Shot
Favorite portable printer: HP 450 Mobile Printer
Financial analysis software: Excel; planEASe
Express Copy:
The Site to Do Business:
Email tracking software: Promoter ReadNotify.com
SureClose:
Settlement Room:
ListGrabber and AddressGrabber:
Real-time information exchanges:
My Yahoo!: