69% of commercial real estate (CRE) brokers say they made more money in 2021 than 2020, according to the latest Apto National Broker Buzz Poll. This represents a dramatic turnaround from 2020, when the historic COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of the economy for at least part of the year, and most brokers made less money. Here are the results from Apto’s survey, which was conducted between December 6 and December 20, 2021. (Both customers and non-customers were polled.) Brokers’ 2021 income – 69% of brokers made more money than in 2020, up from 34% who reported higher year-over-year income i ..read more

Like many commercial real estate brokers, you probably have learned a lot about yourself during the Covid-19 pandemic. Most likely, you miss your co-workers as well as the office camaraderie — brainstorming ideas on the fly, standing in a colleague’s doorway chatting about whatever, sharing a sandwich over lunch. This has been a huge worldwide experiment in remote work, formerly known as telecommuting. One thing is for sure: You’ve had to embrace technology more than ever before to fulfill your job responsibilities, see people and try to stay sane. The latest Apto National Broker Buzz Poll co ..read more

The nation’s workers may be crawling back to the office, but commercial real estate pros are leading the return to in-person work. The latest Apto National Broker Buzz Poll shows that 88% of brokers are back at the office grinding it out. More specifically, 42% say they are back full time, 19% are working a hybrid schedule, 8% never stopped going to the office, and about one in five say their home office is their main office — so work has never stopped. Still, for many people there remains uncertainty: 11% of brokers say they are not sure when they’ll be going back into the office with their ..read more

Taking action with your commercial real estate data no longer means manual processes and only making phone calls; it’s about incorporating tech-focused data. Especially tech platforms and real estate data providers that include property details, financial analyses, demographic data, socioeconomic data, geographic data, comps, and research aggregated in one place that’s constantly updated. Smart brokers have the right commercial real estate aggregators for cloud-based access to their data for informed decisions at any time and pulling the most current stats for analytics to stay ahead of compe ..read more

Successful commercial real estate (CRE) brokers have been closing deals and maintaining their networks for years, even with limited use of technology. But as more and more sophisticated software and information services have become available to the industry — and as tech adoption has increased — it’s become clear to brokers that they need to adopt technology to win business, get deals done efficiently, and maintain their leading edge. New research from Apto — the first annual “Apto CRE Broker Tech Benchmarking Survey” — measures the extent to which commercial real estate brokers are using tec ..read more

Implementing commercial real estate technology at your brokerage will give you a competitive edge. Period. But it can be difficult to know which technologies are right for your business, and broker tech adoption can be equally challenging.  Ikea Green, Director of Operations at Feldman Ruel Urban Property Advisors, faced an added challenge when assessing potential CRE software solutions for her brokerage. Feldman Ruel—a Washington, D.C.-based, eleven person brokerage specializing in retail, office, industrial, mixed-use, multifamily, and development—opened its doors in early 2020, on the ..read more

When you think about growth, do you solely focus on more revenue and leads? Or do you dig in deeper with continual commercial real estate training that ensures you’re updating systems, strategies, and processes to stay relevant and fresh? Creating a high-earning business, especially for leaders of brokerages and managing directors, comes from diligently working on CRE training and building it into the framework of how you evaluate your company. Apto works with top real estate coaches on training for new hires as well as top leadership to help refine performance with specific tech tools and met ..read more

Many of us remember exactly where we were or what we were doing the day WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic. So much has changed since that day last year, and we would be remiss to not take a closer look at what happened in commercial real estate. The roots of Apto were born out of the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008. Our Founder and CEO, Tanner McGraw, was a commercial real estate broker at the time trying to figure out how to support his new family with a commission-only career. The recession gave him the time and space to reevaluate and adapt and build something that commercial real estate ..read more

We’re back with our annual roundup of commercial real estate conferences to attend! While many in-person events and conferences have been canceled or postponed until later this year, there are still plenty of opportunities to network virtually in 2021. Prospecting, nurturing relationships, and networking are crucial to success in commercial real estate. And brokers know that one of the best (and most fun) ways to network is at conferences. Even if you’re attending these events virtually, they are still great opportunities to learn about industry trends from highly regarded speakers and through ..read more

Change is inevitable. In all aspects of life, you can normally separate people, businesses, and ideas into two groups: those who are willing to embrace change and adapt to it, and those who refuse change and are soon forgotten. Culture is constantly changing, and I don’t think that has ever been more evident than in 2020. In the eyes of many, commercial real estate has long been viewed as an industry run by stodgy old men in fancy suits. Slide decks and paperback deliverables have been the quintessential tools of the trade. I’m here to tell you that if you’re a broker in this industry and stil ..read more