Al Gore’s movie and Nobel Prize, Kyoto, green credits, demand response, wind farms, smart grids, record oil prices and the list of reasons energy is such a hot topic goes on and on. Venture capitalists poured over $148 billion into clean energy technologies last year alone.

According to a Wall Street Journal survey of the Fortune 1000 annual reports, over 65% of these companies have the support of the CEO and Board for clean energy initiatives.

It’s a dizzying sea change of activity in the energy markets that will affect the next few years and beyond in ways we have never seen before. The impact on multi-site organizations is being felt from the bottom line to the boardroom to store operations and beyond. Focus on energy management from commodity procurement, facilities management, environmental controls, utility program management, and the myriad of options for efficiency projects and incentives, not to mention the swarm of vendors knocking on the door, is creating unique issues for multi site companies. The need for help in sorting this out, tracking it and making sure the performance and return on investment is captured has never been higher.

Join Peter Weigand at AMTdirect’s 2008 User Conference for a discussion on clean energy technologies, current and pending regulatory changes and key trends that will impact your organization in the very near future. Also learn how AMTdirect is getting involved to develop technology aimed at helping multi site companies manage their energy programs.

I recently substituted for one of AMTdirect’s Technical Support Personnel while one of our full time “Techies” was on vacation.  This wasn’t that much of a stretch for me because I used to work in that position, but it always amazes me how shocked people are when you’re nice to them.   

Where has Customer Service gone? Why should we be shocked when we get a “live” person on the line on the first try without pressing 20 buttons and wasting 45 minutes of our precious time, and why should we be shocked further by the person who answers the phone being nice to us and doing what he/she says she’ll do?  It’s such an easy thing to do – treat others the way you want to be treated, but still it’s seldom done.  Simple Solution – Be nice. 

I remember when I first started my journey at AMTdirect over 2 years ago – I was LOST!  It helps to remember where you’ve come from – not just where you are now.  That’s what I do when I work Tech Support.  I remember that a lot of the people on the other end of the line are just like I was:  wanting answers from a real person who is patient, and takes the time to work through their problem like it was my own!  They want someone who will listen to their issue, find a way to solve it, or if that can’t be done, create a case for it, and follow up!  They just want to know that their problem is not only real to them, but it is also real to someone else.  Simple Solution – Listen. 

Sometimes, the real problems also have a simple solution.  When someone works with Tech Support to solve their issue, and we take you through the steps to solve the issue, remember, that many times, you have to restart your computer before the “solution” will work. This is the computer saying, “I learned something new – now I have to add it to my brain.”  It may also be as simple as adding the url as a trusted site, or allowing pop-ups from the web site.  These little things can keep the User from getting into the system; which is a Real Problem.  Simple Solution – Restart the computer, allow pop-ups, and add the site as a trusted site.   

Sometimes, Tech Support professionals are not so lucky, and the issue is something we cannot solve on the phone, so we pass it along to the “Real Computer Gurus” to get the ball rolling.  Either way, communication is the key.  Our Clients are the most important part of AMTdirect, and without you, we wouldn’t be here.  So if you need us, give us a call or shoot us an email – we will be here for you, as always, to create Simple Solutions to your Real Problems. 

I feel extremely confident saying "the SaaS model is a perfect fit for Commercial Real Estate Management".

Wikipedia defines the SaaS model as:

"Software as a service (SaaS) is a software application delivery model where a software vendor develops a web-native software application and hosts and operates (either independently or through a third-party) the application for use by its customers over the Internet. Customers pay not for owning the software itself but for using it.")

Why?

Let's first review the alternative(s): (more…)

Unless you're flashing back to a grade school vocabulary test, stewardship isn't exactly a word that you bump into everyday.  It's certainly not one that gets bandied about in real estate circles very often…but it should.  Merriam Webster defines stewardship as "the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care."  As a real estate manager, you are entrusted with the care and maintenance of millions of dollars worth of investment, asked to be the steward of some of the most valuable economic assets and drivers in the land.  And yet, isn’t it ironic that your average real estate manager is asked to manage his/her portfolio like MacGyver… deftly holding it all together with limited resources akin to chewing gum, a pencil and some paperclips?

In today's environment, real estate managers face the traditional challenges of budget and resource constraints while managing the requirements of a diverse and growing portfolio (lease administration, occupancy cost management/reduction, maintenance and repair, etc).  At the same time, you are burdened with undertaking these challenges in a legal and regulatory environment that demands unprecedented levels of transparency, speed and reporting.  I am not talking about babysitting buildings with just a paint can and roll of duct tape…I’m referring to a commitment that spans years, even decades, and requires discipline, dedication and technological savvy.  Thankfully you have more than ample budget and resources to shoulder this noble endeavor, right?  (Obviously, my tongue is planted firmly in my cheek.)  (more…)

I worked for a large bank in their lease administration department that had properties throughout the north and southeast. This large corporation definitely would have benefited from a real estate software system in the management of there owned, 3rd party, parking lot leases and subleases. I was one of eight, each keeping track of 3,000 leases spanning multiple states, tracking renewals, required COI’s, expiration dates, and even who their property manager was at the time. With the events notification that is available with on-demand real estate solutions, all lease renewal and COI expiration dates would have been provided with a touch of a button. The on-site property managers or regional managers would have been notified in plenty of enough time for lease negotiation with this option. Some leases expired and went MTM without anyone being aware of it and MTM rent was not being collected. A lot of lost income. I also recorded rent for the leases under my care, the process you had to go through to enter an AR batch was taxing with no way to double check you’re entries until the month-end balance statement was distributed. By this time, it was too late to make any changes for the current month and adjustments were to be made in the following month with detailed explanations that got lost in the shuffle.  Looking back on my previous job, I couldn’t imagine doing my job without an on-demand real estate solution at my fingertips.

Many companies are weighing the options of becoming a paperless environment.  Electronic document management can make a large impact on your company, your processes and procedures and how you operate day to day.  It can improve your environment, increase productivity and workflow within your organization. 

What are the benefits of becoming a paperless company? 

There are many benefits of getting rid of the paper documents and going to a document management system, especially when you are managing a large number of locations.  An electronic document management system will eliminate the need for multiple copies of documents in a company.  With so many companies that are managing real estate, there seems to always be two or three copies of documents.  Legal, lease administration and accounting sometimes will all have their own copies.  Now you have three different departments with three different filing systems.  When amendments, notices or other documents are created there are multiple files that have to be updated, not to mention all the file cabinets taking up valuable space to store all these copies.  Scanning your documents and saving them in a data site will eliminate the need for multiple copies and will free up all the space being used for the files.

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Operating expenses are the cost incurred in operating and maintaining a property.  Such cost can include maintenance, repairs, utilities, landscaping, security, snow removal, management fees, property taxes and insurance.  The lease will define which costs are included in a tenant’s prorate share.

Lease Language 

The language in the lease surrounding the calculation of the tenant’s CAM expense can be very complex.  There are often very specific provisions for capping certain expenses, varying prorata shares per expense type, gross up calculations and the calculation of Base Year.

Operating expenses are often capped based on whether expenses are controllable or uncontrollable.  The lease should define specifically which expenses fall into each of these categories and/or which expenses the cap is applied to.  Typical uncontrollable expenses can include real estate taxes, utilities and/or insurance.  Landlords will likely exclude these expenses from the cap calculation since the cost of these items are something the landlord has very little control over.  Leases may even include a different percentage increase allowed on certain line items as opposed to a flat percentage increase on all capped expenses.  The calculation of a tenant’s prorate share can vary for certain expenses.  You will likely see this in properties where larger tenants pay certain expenses directly or where there is a high use by a certain type of tenant such as restaurants who have a high volume of rubbish removal in comparison to the other tenants.  Additionally, the cap calculation can be a cumulative calculation or based on prior year expenses.  Landlords must carefully scrutinize their gross up calculations to ensure expenses are recognized in the appropriate reconciliation period and based on the occupancy level if allowed per the lease.  Otherwise they may be setting a low base amount for the next year’s cap calculation.

Tenants – Opportunity for Savings 

Because of the amount of detail surrounding the calculation of operating expenses, this is an area of huge potential savings for tenants.  It is the burden of the tenant to ensure that their prorate share of expenses are being properly calculated by the landlord who may have distinct lease language for many tenants in a property thus increasing the likelihood of a mistake.  This not only includes the mathematical equation of the calculation but will require the appropriate back up documentation to validate the accuracy of the expenses being passed through.
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