The Journey to Complexity

Ask Google whether the journey is more important than the destination, and here is one of the answers you will get:
While the destination is important it is the journey that defines the destination, because  through the journey a person gains tolerance, wisdom, and experience. 
 
Looking back over the last couple of decades in the industrial real estate sector, the journey through both tenancy and ownership has become substantially more complex. New rules, regulations and safety measures are constantly coming at us. Adding the new to the existing has created a mass of complexity - not all of which is either good, or useful.
And I would throw significant doubt on whether the journey  through that increased complexity gains us either tolerance or wisdom.
 
Not too many years ago if a tenant was seeking a building for their business, or an investor wanting a property as an  investment, the process was relatively simple, and after viewing and due consideration, the process went to either an Agreement to Lease, or a Sale and Purchase Agreement.
Now, of course, the process is much more complex. The prospective tenant or purchaser will need to look at the obvious such as location and size and cost, but also now IEP,  zoning, potential asbestos content, Compliance Schedule, Fire report, Insurance Valuation, Evacuation plans Hot works permits and more.
 
But has that increased complexity been for the better?
A Sale and Purchase agreement has gone from 11  pages not too long ago to 48 pages in a recent agreement.  The section on PPA alone is 6 pages. And while there is  an  increase in length (and complexity) of the document, how much of the salient and important information does it actually convey about the property?
As an example, where chattels are listed, invariably all are crossed out – because to list those chattels which are actually part of the building gives a warranty that they are in working order – even though from a practical perspective such a warranty is not enforceable. Duh !! So what is the point of that section ?
But then the factors which determine the real utility of the property are either missing in action from the Sale and Purchase Agreement, or superfluous. Just as in an Agreement to Lease there is a  “Personal Guarantee” section which is redundant and pointless as from a practical perspective it is unenforceable, in a Sale and Purchase agreement there is no mention of compliance schedules, fire reports, evacuation plans, hot work permits, make and model numbers of appliances,  insurance valuations and so many other essential elements of most properties.
 
The journey that has been engaged on over time has been to add in complexity to the process. To make the destination more attainable , and the journey more enjoyable, surely the process should have been simplified. Simplification should mean easier to understand. I am often told by real estate agents that many of the potential tenants or purchasers , and often vendors, are not  “ Real Estate People”. Which is simply another name for not knowing or understanding how the industry  and processes operate. And whose fault might that be when the industry has piled complexity on complexity without stopping to consider the impact ?  What thought (if any) has been given to the customer experience ?
 
Most tenants are professionals at what they do. Be it in manufacturing or logistics or maintenance or whatever, they  know their business. But very often won’t understand what has become a very complex (and often a minefield) business of operating a property.  The reality is that the industry is making decision making and understanding the issues  more difficult for their customers. Most industries try and make the buying decision easier rather than harder.
 
Too often risk aversion is manifested by adding layers of complexity. But complexity makes it more difficult to actually get things done. Perhaps as an industry there needs to be an effort made to uncomplicate – rather than confuse ?
 
We have clients who embark on the journey because they want to get to the destination of ownership or occupation. Making that journey easier to navigate would  enable those who embark on the journey to gain tolerance, wisdom, and experience. And perhaps even reach the destination with a more favourable view of those in the industry.