Shareby Nathan Graham, Commercial Services Manager, Realtors Property Resource®
Nathan Graham (NG): How did you get started in commercial real estate?
Ernie Anaya (EA): I started about 2 years ago. I previously worked as a healthcare Consulting Principal in a role where part of my time was spent advising on data center design and outsourcing, which provided great real estate experience.
NG: Which sector do you consider your specialty?
EA: Health Care with a focus on assisted living.
NG: What is the most interesting trend you have noticed in the assisted living sector?
EA: Te market for senior living is trending up, baby boomers are aging and there are already 40 million seniors of which only 1.8% are in assisted living settings. Due to this increasing demand and the fact that the majority of residents are private pay, we are now seeing a pent up need for middle income facilities.
NG: You started using RPR in April of 2014. What has been the most valuable enhancement added to the application since you created your account?
EA: Integration of the investor software, Valuate®. Based on the potential cash flows we were able to display in Valuate®, we now have a property under contract that had been vacant.
NG: How does using the RPR platform ft within your other tools and business process?
EA: I use platforms such as NIC MAP® Data Service to fnd on-market senior housing opportunities and then go into RPR Commercial to see how suitable the areas are around them from a demographic/economic standpoint.
NG: You mentioned Valuate® as an important new enhancement, what drew you to RPR Commercial in the first place?
EA: Site Selection Analysis and the Commercial Trade Area report. Both are equally valuable and go hand in hand.
NG: What’s an example of a recent analysis you performed using RPR?
EA: With an assisted living opportunity, I conducted an attribute summary and included those in their 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, those with average household income levels above $50,000, as well as housing values within the targeted area because when a house sells, it helps pay for the assisted living care for the future residents. I then could take a look at primary markets, growth of population and employment rates, reviewing the Business Points of Interest (POIs) within the RPR maps to locate within proximity to hospitals, golf courses, and shopping. Normally this type of market study would cost between $3,000 - $7,000 by a third party, but with RPR Commercial I am able to jump into a trade area analysis, identify the right areas that meet my client’s criteria and then generate a Commercial Trade Area report with in-depth market details without spending additional money. At the end of the day the report generated makes it look like I’ve spent hours compiling data and definitely differentiates me from my competition.
NG: If you could advise your REALTOR® peers on how to most effectively leverage RPR Commercial, what would you tell them?
EA: Using the trade analysis tools to identify similar markets for clients that are expanding is key to earn assignments. Being able to sit down and show a client how the new market matches their current one, based on their specific business criteria, is incredibly valuable. Tey can visually see that I am not pushing any available property but only the location and sites that ft their needs.