How buyers and sellers transact business has dramatically changed over the last 10 to 20 years due to technology.
Not long ago, a buyer of commercial property would have to get in a car and drive somewhere to do almost everything, from researching tax bills to taking pictures of the property.
Via the internet (invented by Al Gore), owners and buyers now have endless websites and applications to verify data and/or learn about a specific property as they search for the perfect location (or inspect the one they currently own).
Google Earth arguably has become the go-to resource by all professions associated with commercial real estate, using even the standard tools of this web based application, you can get a general measurement of a particular parcel, drop down on a main street, and even check out the neighboring properties.
Other sites that give you a boots- on-the-ground perspective include www.mylocalcrime.com, which displays an interactive map with up to date data for specific addresses. Lastly, a simple search on the internet of a property address will yield a lot of information about a commercial property, both good and not so good news.
Yet the greatest high (flying) tech utilized these days for evaluating the location of commercial real estate is a drone. The basics of this technology are simple: a camera affixed to a remote controlled flying machine. Yet, the perspectives they capture digitally are incredible. Drones can fly places where planes and helicopters cannot. It is that simple. And the cost to capture pictures and video come at an incredible savings to old-line technologies.
Finding the best location, or inspecting the roof of a commercial building has been getting easier and easier. To find a drone service, maybe try an old-fashioned internet search. Or be even more old-fashioned—call and ask a good broker for a referral.
