We still stick to a traditional way of renting commercial real estate. It’s time for change.

The commercial real estate industry is quite firmly rooted in tradition and resistant to change. In many other sectors we have modern technological solutions – such as Airbnb, Booking or Uber – and the aforementioned industry is just beginning to shyly enter the area of new technologies.

Airbnb and Booking significantly facilitated the short-term rental of flats or rooms. When renting apartments, one has numerous websites and applications that help filter offers and contact a potential contractor to choose from.

On the commercial real estate market, the Realko24 platform is a pioneer in this type of solutions, and its popularity among tenants and landlords is growing day by day.

However, the use of brokers’ services is still very common – even though it is an expensive and unnecessary solution.

Why is that so?

So far, there were no technological solutions

As mentioned above, Realko24 is the first solution on the commercial real estate market that in many respects is reminiscent of Airbnb, Booking or Uber.

So far, nobody has come up with such a platform – even though the assumptions behind it are simple.

This is probably because the industries through which such large sums of money flow, just like in the case of commercial real estate industry, are not prone to changes.

It is a common saying that money likes silence

When it comes to the rental of office, commercial and warehouse space, people are playing game for the highest stakes. In this respect, the housing industry is far behind.

When the largest companies are able to pay a rent of several hundred thousand euros a month, it is not difficult to count that one, several-year lease agreement is worth many millions.

A broker who makes such a transaction may feel as if he or she has discovered a vein of gold. In an instant, his or her account may be filled with money that for most people is difficult to imagine.

The largest brokerage agencies in world markets have turnover calculated not in millions but in billions.

Would it be in the interest of the industry to come up with a solution that virtually eliminates the need to use brokers in the lease process?

Of course it would not be. In order for such a solution to be created, it was necessary to have someone who, as a former broker, not only knew the industry from the inside out, but also stood outside the business for a long time.

“We won’t make it without a broker”

The commercial real estate market is specific. There is some unwritten dogma around it that says one can not rent without a broker, because one just does not do it. The use of agency services is the norm.

This belief is true as long as we do not turn to technology that allows one to not only shorten the procedure of connecting the tenant and the landlord, but also significantly cut the cost of the entire process.

One has to realize that even though some solutions are common, they may be largely outdated. There is a more modern option at one’s fingertips, and its advantages can not be overestimated.

Even if the industry itself can not stand this solution for understandable reasons.