In the world of industrial real estate, accurate data is critical. After all, there are very expensive decisions that are made on the weight of this data. Fortunately, in this highly-supported industry, property information is plentiful, diverse and readily available – depending on where you live and whether you’re willing to pay for it.
While large metropolitan areas like Atlanta, Dallas, San Diego, New York, San Francisco and other very big cities enjoy excellent industrial real estate data, both the amount and accuracy of data begins to fall when you look in smaller tertiary markets. And that makes sense. In a capital market, with paying customers in the hundreds or thousands, it’s worth the cost to employ big workforces capable of generating and maintaining accurate numbers. When you move to a smaller market with fewer customers, the resources to serve that market likewise shrink. And here’s the key – the data can only be as good as the time spent collecting it.
Here in northern Nevada, that’s the reason you’ll find purchased data in our market to be marginal at best. We recommend that you use it only after careful scrutiny and due validation.
And allow us to offer an alternative suggestion – partnering with an agency. But choose wisely. If your motivation is for accurate data, you should understand industrial agencies in areas like northern Nevada have four options:
Use inaccurate data that has been purchased and hope it’s close enough
Offer no statistical market data to clients and go by gut instinct alone
Borrow data from other agencies
Generate data through the tedious process of compiling market data as local transactions occur
Your first question to a potential agent should be easy – how do you access market data? Ask to see reports and databases. Those who see the value in generating this information will be happy to share it with you. Those who do not maintain this data will not, and understanding who is who puts you in a better position.
For more information about finding the right agent and firm, we invite you to read the following:
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