A place for sleuths

Over the last month we have seen a dramatic shift in available stock. From a position where the cupboard of available stock was almost bare, to a flood of opportunities on the market. With many of those opportunities being sold by auction, it means that buyers must be selective as to which opportunities they expend energy, time and money in pursuing. Resources are finite, and especially in cases where agents are unwilling or unable to provide all the necessary information to feed into the decision making process, calls need to be made as to which properties are worth following up, and which are not. Which means that the more information (and that means primarily numbers) is provided from the outset, the easier it is for meaningful decisions to be made.

We have been reading about similar situations in the industry in the USA. As a result of the inefficient and ineffective process which can result in hundreds of hours wasted, frustrated investors are turning toward a new business concept – acquisitions as a service offering. In addition to utilizing in-house acquisition efforts, investors are working with third-party firms that leverage data to help find deals and move faster than the competition to deploy capital. As one investor says "We can only talk to so many sellers and make so many calls on our own"

In parallel to our market, there has been serious capital flooding into the US industrial market, in their case as investors trade out of office and retail assets. Which means that capital is often not the issue, but finding supply has become increasingly challenging.

Perhaps there is an opportunity in our market for innovation in the sector of data driven deal sourcing?