REALTOR® Sees RPR Commercial as a ‘Game Changer’ Based on the Size of his Market

This month’s installment of RPR’s (Realtors Property Resource^®) Success Stories welcomes Dave Ferro.

Dave is the Managing Broker and Vice President of Watson Realty Corp in Gainesville, Florida. Dave is a REALTOR^®, a practicing commercial practitioner, and an investment real estate specialist. He’s also been active in leadership roles, including being the past President of the Gainesville Alachua County Association of REALTORS^®, and the past District Vice President of Florida REALTORS^®. He is currently the Florida REALTORS^® Commercial Alliance Committee Council Chair. This latest role is how we heard his story.

The RPR Member Experience team recently attended (via Zoom) one of those Florida REALTORS^® Commercial Alliance Committee meetings and heard some eye-opening tidbits about RPR from Mr. Ferro. When it came to discussing using RPR Commercial as a resource, he said, “RPR reports really “wow” my clients. I see RPR as a game changer based on the size of my market.”

Speaking to him about using RPR in his commercial business seemed like a no-brainer! Here’s our Q&A with Dave Ferro…

Q How long have you been a REALTOR^®? And what area do you specialize in?

I’ve been a REALTOR^® since 2004. I’m a broker and manage an office, but I also do deals myself, both commercial and residential.

QHow were you introduced to RPR?

I’d heard about it, but I wasn’t exactly aware of what it could do for me, as far as my commercial needs. But then I found out that RPR had collaborated with and was receiving listing info from Crexi and other listing sites. That access really got me to pay attention.

For me, I use RPR to see stuff in the market. Not just MLS stuff, but everything. The commercial members of our board wanted better exposure nationally, and they were paying for third party services. I advocated for our users to use RPR and integrate with RPR. I said, “Let’s keep our commercial guys happy and adopt RPR. It’s free!” I also run three offices that are residential, and they all use RPR, too. The reports are really impressing all the sellers that we work with.

How are the reports doing that exactly?

Well, in our offices, we really support, nurture and encourage old school farming. We like to canvas an area or neighborhood, do a quick intro, and then provide some info for the homeowner. The leave-behind we hand them is an RPR Seller’s Report. They just make us look so smart! They're beautifully packaged and it looks like you spent a ton of time on them–but you really don’t. It’s a huge time saver and gives us a bunch of credibility. They’re especially great for newcomers and really make the practitioner look brilliant!

What are some of your go-to features or tools?

I use the Property reports a lot. For a listing appointment, I come in with the property report, I personalize it, and it gives them something to chew on and read. It’s a great leave-behind. And when it comes to property valuations and that type of thing, I usually know the number in my head because I know my local area so well. But when I present this data as backup to show I know what I’m doing, it’s proof! The reports show I’m informed and I’m credible. All of it makes me look professional: “Here's info you may not have seen.”

I have to admit, sometimes commercial guys don’t always put together the best presentation packages. We just don’t have the time. And most smaller mom and pops don’t always have that ability either. But RPR Commercial gives you that quality. It’s very useful to small and mid size shops, that’s for sure.

Does RPR relieve any commercial pain points for you?

Search! RPR Commercial allows me to do a quick and dirty report for listing appointments. Sometimes it goes like this: I get a call and someone says, “I want to sell my building, can you swing by this afternoon?” So now the pressure is on me and I don’t have a lot of time. That’s when RPR comes through. It shortens the amount of prep time I need. When there’s zero time for a fancy presentation, I can create a report on the fly. And I come off as relatable and informed. I do them on my desktop in the office right before I head over. Then I bind them, show up and present them to the potential client. It makes for a really impressive deliverable.

How do you use RPR in regards to the current market? Where do you find yourself most when you’re on the site these days?

Again, it’s searching for properties and listings. RPR really simplifies my search. We have a lot of partners, all these websites, and it just takes up a lot of time. I go to RPR Commercial to save time and simplify. That perfectly sums it up for me. I don’t have to go to each individual's website for listing info. RPR Commercial gives me a head start. I can see all my properties and deals in one location. It’s such a great place to search, every commercial agent should try it.

Knowing what you know now about RPR, how would you have integrated it into your workflow back when you were running a small commercial brokerage?

I would probably base all my decisions on what I get from RPR. It would’ve saved me a lot of time back then. If I had to go back, I would’ve pushed for RPR sooner in my market. I’d go to the board and explain that the flexibility to go from these other sites to RPR is unreal. There’s just too many benefits to not utilize it.

Any good RPR “wow” stories?

I have some customers who are really analytical types and they just love the reports. It’s perfect for people who are data driven. They love it. Detailed folks, it gives them so much to chew on, it really satisfies their need to back up a decision with data. That certainly “wows” them and appeals to their personality.

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Detailed property data “wows” is something we always like to hear! Great insight Dave, and thanks for sharing.

As you can tell, RPR can help commercial practitioners in so many different ways. Whether it’s searching over 800,000 listings, researching over 56 million properties, creating property reports for presentations or tapping into site selection and trade area tools, RPR can help you and help your business grow.

Try it today at RPR or sign up for this free webinar to learn more and see RPR Commercial in action.