System and method for collection, distribution, and use of information in connection with commercial real estate

• US 6,871,140 B1
• Filed: 10/23/2000
• Issued: 03/22/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Costar Realty Information Incorporated (CoStar Group Inc.)
• Original Assignee: CoStar Group Inc.
• Inventors: Glick, Michael, Florance, Andrew, Violagis, Constantine, Newmister, Mark, Foster, Bruce, Schaffel, David, Choi, John, Stroman, Robert, Hamlin, Harlan, Bulkin, Vladimir
• Primary Examiner(s): Chilcot, Richard
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kramer, James A
• Application Number:
  US09/693,988
• Time in Patent Office: 1,611 Days
• Field of Search: 705/25, 705/26, 707/3, 701/213, 701/207
• US Class Current: 701/207
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/16 Real estate

Abstract

A system and method for creating a unified commercial real estate data model through collection, distribution and use of information in connection with commercial real estate and for creating a web-based marketplace that facilitates the efficient and secure buying and selling of commercial properties. The invention provides a digital marketplace in which the members of the commercial real estate and related business community can continuously interact and facilitate transactions by efficiently exchanging accurate and standardized information. The present invention also facilitates mortgage lending and provides enough information to allow lenders to underwrite a property. The present invention also provides a mobile data gathering and dissemination vehicle as well as a system tracking and dispatch of mobile vehicles. The present invention further provides correlation of data stored in a remote location to vehicle position in real time.

Claims

1. A system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location, retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location, and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user, the system comprising:

user equipment sets, each user equipment set comprising a display and a location determining device for generating data pertaining to the user'"'"'s location and for transmitting the data pertaining to the user'"'"'s location to a remote computer automatically;

a computer, the computer equipped for wireless communication with geographically remote users that are equipped with the equipment sets so as to send data to the equipment sets and receive data from the equipment sets including the data pertaining to the user'"'"'s location; and

a database in communication with the computer, the database storing information that includes information identifying a location of a property and features of the property;

whereby, in response to receipt of the data pertaining to a user'"'"'s location, the computer automatically;

identifies in the database, from the information identifying a location of a property, a property nearby the user'"'"'s location,

retrieves from the database the features of the nearby property, and an identification of features of the property that have not been entered into the database,

transmits the features and the identification of missing features of the nearby property to the user'"'"'s equipment set for display on the display, and

prompts the user to update the features and input the missing features through the user'"'"'s equipment set.

2. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location, retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location, and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 1, wherein the each user equipment set further comprises a data input device for allowing the user to input the missing features.

3. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location, retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location, and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 1, wherein the display is a color display adapted for displaying photographic images.

4. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location, retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location, and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 1, whereby in response to receipt of the data pertaining to the user'"'"'s location, the computer automatically retrieves information describing commercial real estate near the user'"'"'s location and transmits the same to the user'"'"'s equipment set for display on the display.

5. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location, retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location, and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 1, whereby in response to receipt of the data pertaining to a user'"'"'s location, the computer automatically retrieves information describing residential real estate near the user'"'"'s location and transmits the same to the user'"'"'s equipment set for display on the display.

6. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location and retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location, and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 1, whereby in response to receipt of data pertaining to a user'"'"'s location, the computer automatically retrieves information regarding at least one of commercial enterprises and landmarks near the user'"'"'s location and transmits the same to the user'"'"'s equipment.

7. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location and retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location, and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 1, wherein the user'"'"'s equipment set includes audio capabilities, and the features of the property include audio data.

8. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location and retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location, and automatically transmitting selected data files to the user according to claim 1, wherein the computer further transmits the information pertaining to the user'"'"'s location to the user'"'"'s equipment set for color display on the display.

9. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location and retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location, and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 8, wherein the information pertaining to the user'"'"'s location further includes information on commercial enterprises located near the user'"'"'s location, the information on commercial enterprises including information on at least one of the products, goods, and services provided by the commercial enterprises, whereby in response to receipt of the data pertaining to a user'"'"'s location, the computer automatically retrieves the information on at least one of products, goods, and services provided by commercial enterprises near the user'"'"'s location and transmits the same to the user'"'"'s equipment set.

10. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location and retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location, and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 1, wherein the computer automatically retrieves information describing real estate near the user'"'"'s location and the display shows a pop-up window including the information describing the real estate.

11. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location, retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location, and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 1, wherein the information stored in the database includes at least one of the following:

square footage available for lease;

whether a property is available for sale;

property address;

contact information; and

price.

12. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location, retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location, and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 11, wherein the information stored in the database also includes at least one of the following:

a digital image of the property;

square footage data representing a square footage of the property;

data characterizing the selected use of the property;

rental price of the property;

sale price of the property;

data about the tenant in the property;

a real estate submarket identification;

sales comparable information;

lender information;

a grade indicator of the property, the grade indicator having an alpha numerical representation and being a function of a classification system of the property that is consistent with accepted standards and providing a representation of the quality of the property;

a classification of the property based upon at least one of the following;

a building grade, an age of the building, and an extrapolation of comparable buildings; and

information pertaining to the submarket including at least one of (i) rents, (ii) vacancy, and (iii) absorption rates for each of the submarket and nearby submarkets, and (iv) other indicators of submarket and location attractiveness.

13. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location, retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location, and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 11, whereby in response to receipt of data pertaining to the user'"'"'s location, the computer automatically retrieves information describing the commercial real estate near the user'"'"'s location and transmits the same to the user'"'"'s equipment set for display on the display.

14. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location, retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location, and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 11, whereby in response to receipt of the data pertaining to a user'"'"'s location, the computer automatically retrieves information describing the residential real estate near the user'"'"'s location and transmits the same to the user'"'"'s equipment set for display on the display.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the database stores information about commercial real estate, the database comprising data records, including information pertaining to lease information, sale information, comparable sales information, and tenant information, and

wherein the computer allows a plurality of users to query the database, add data to the database, and retrieve the information from the database.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the database further includes at least one of:

data about a tenant in the commercial real estate;

building-specific information including data representing an age of the commercial real estate, and data representing financial obligations and tenancy status of the tenant in the commercial real estate;

square footage data representing a square footage of the commercial real estate;

data characterizing a selected use of the commercial real estate;

cost data including a rental price of the commercial real estate;

a real estate submarket identification;

a classification of the commercial real estate based upon at least one of a building grade, an age of the building, and an extrapolation of comparable buildings; and

information pertaining to a submarket including rent data, vacancy data, and absorption rate data.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the data records include market analytic information.

18. The system of claim 1,

wherein the display generates a plurality of digitized video images of real estate, each digitized video image depicting a real estate,

wherein the database stores data records concerning the real estate including the digitized video images, textual information concerning the real estate, and information identifying the location of the real estate,

wherein the location determining device determines a location of the user,

wherein the computer retrieves data records corresponding to the user'"'"'s location, and

wherein the display displays the digitized video images and textual information from the data records corresponding to the user'"'"'s location.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the database is a unified group of correlated databases that provides real estate data to facilitate a real estate transaction, wherein each database of the unified group is a discrete data module, wherein real estate data entries of a first database of the unified group are associated with corresponding real estate data entries of the remaining databases of the unified group,

wherein the computer is adapted to collect the real estate data from real estate industry data sources,

record the real estate data in the first database of the unified group,

determine an effect of the recorded real estate data on the remaining databases of the unified group,

reconcile remaining real estate data in the remaining databases based on the effect, and

distribute the recorded real estate data and the reconciled real estate data to real estate industry professionals and to real estate industry customers.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the real estate data includes property information and tenant information, and the unified group of correlated databases comprises a property information database, and a tenant information database.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the real estate data further includes comparable property information, assessment information, and market analytics information, and the unified group of correlated databases comprises a comparable property information database, an assessment information database, and a market analytics information database.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer collects the real estate data by receiving web-based input from the real estate industry professionals and the real estate industry customers.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the computer further collects the real estate data by receiving information from a mobile data acquisition vehicle that contains a user equipment set.

24. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer reconciles the remaining real estate data by confirming that the real estate data entries and the corresponding real estate data entries that were associated are internally consistent.

25. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer distributes the recorded real estate data and the reconciled real estate data by providing a web-based interface in communication with the unified group of correlated databases.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the computer further provides communication between parties to a transaction, and transactional services in support of a transaction.

27. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer distributes the recorded real estate data and the reconciled real estate data by accepting a property search query from a user and running the property search query in the unified group of correlated databases and returning property search results to the user.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the computer is further adapted to:

add properties to the property search results as directed by the user without running another search query;

remove properties from the property search results as directed by the user without running another search query; and

run negative search queries in the property search results as directed by the user to remove properties from the property search results.

29. The system of claim 27, wherein the computer is adapted to accept a second property search query from the user, run the second property search query on the property search results, and return a second set of property search results to the user.

30. The system of claim 27, wherein the property search results provide data from at least one of leasing history of a specific building, history of a market in a particular geographic area, and history of the specific building relative to the market.

31. The system of claim 27, wherein the computer is adapted to:

save the property search query as directed by the user;

run the saved property search query at a periodic interval; and

notify the user of new properties that satisfy the property search query.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the saved property search query has at least one field that relates to market conditions and at least one new property satisfies the property search query because of a change in the market conditions.

33. The system of claim 26, wherein the computer provides a derivatives marketplace in which to define, value, and exchange real estate commodities.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the commodities are real estate cost futures.

35. The system of claim 17, wherein the user equipment sets are adapted to:

display a user interface on the display,

display a display element on the user interface to indicate a property for which information is recorded in the unified group of correlated databases,

provide a link to the information on the user interface proximate to the display element,

allow a user to select the display element, and

in response to the selection, retrieve and display the information.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the user selects the display element by dragging a pointer proximate to the display element, and wherein the information is automatically displayed.

37. The system of claim 35, wherein the user interface is one of a chart and a map, and the display element is one of a text listing and an indicator.

38. The system of claim 35, wherein the information includes at least one of a photograph of the indicated property, an address of the indicated property, a building class size of the indicated property, a building size of the indicated property, a number of floors of the indicated property, a year in which the indicated property was built, a buyer of the indicated property, a sale price of the indicated property, a price per square foot of the indicated property, and a cap rate of the indicated property.

39. The system of claim 35, wherein the user equipment sets allow the user to select the display element by providing one of a click-through button, a touch screen, and a voice activated response system.

40. The system of claim 1, wherein the database comprises a core data warehouse, and wherein the computer comprises:

data sources that gather and generate real estate data;

data mining applications in communication with the data sources, wherein the data mining applications receive and organize the real estate data into separate interrelated modules, and wherein the data mining applications evaluate the real estate data and reconcile the real estate data among the interrelated modules;

a contact management system in communication with the data sources and the data mining applications, wherein the contact management system directs data mining applications to conduct continuous pollings of the data sources to update the real estate data,

wherein the core data warehouse is in communication with the data mining applications, and wherein the core data warehouse receives and stores the reconciled and updated real estate data from the data mining applications;

database processes in communication with the core data warehouse, wherein the database processes access the reconciled and updated real estate data from the core data warehouse and create database sets; and

network integration applications in communication with the database processes, wherein the network integration applications manipulate the database sets in response to commands from a user and present results of the manipulation to the user.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein the network integration applications comprise at least one of a look up property application, a search database application, and an add listing application.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein the search database application accepts property search queries from the user, runs the property search queries, and returns property search results to the user.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein the search database application adds properties to the property search results as directed by the user without running another search query, removes properties from the property search results as directed by the user without running another search query, and runs negative search queries as directed by the user to remove properties from the property search results.

44. The system of claim 40, wherein the data sources include at least one of property managers, proprietary databases, Internet sources, site inspections, building owners, brokerage firms, real estate investment trust filings, tenant canvassing, public records, and comparable property databases.

45. The system of claim 40, wherein the data mining applications include at least one of a property information database, a tenant information database, an assessment information database, a comparable property information database, and a market analytics information database.

46. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer receives the updated features and the missing features, and enters the updated features and the missing features in the database.

47. A system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location, retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location, and transmitting the selected data files to the user, the system comprising:

user equipment sets, each user equipment set including a display and means for inputting or determining a user'"'"'s geographic location and for transmitting information pertaining to the user'"'"'s location to a remote computer;

a computer, the computer equipped for communication with geographically remote users that are equipped with the equipment sets so as to send data to the equipment sets and receive data from the equipment sets including data pertaining to a user'"'"'s location; and

a database in communication with the computer, the database storing information that includes information identifying the a location of a property and features of the property,

whereby, in response to receipt of data pertaining to a user'"'"'s location, the computer automatically;

identifies in the database, from the information identifying a location of a property, a property nearby the user'"'"'s location,

retrieves from the database the features of the nearby property, and an identification of features of the property that have not been entered into the database,

transmits the features and the identification of missing features of the nearby property to the user'"'"'s equipment set for display on the display, and

prompts the user to update the features and input the missing features through the user'"'"'s equipment set.

48. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location, retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 47, wherein the features of the nearby property include information concerning comparable properties.

49. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location, retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 47, wherein the features of the nearby property include information concerning three dimensional video description of properties.

50. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location, retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 47, wherein the features of the nearby property include information concerning historical performance of commercial properties.

51. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location, retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 47, wherein the features of the nearby property include information concerning comparable lease data for commercial properties.

52. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location, retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location, and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 47, wherein the information stored in the database includes information pertaining to commercial real estate located proximate to the user'"'"'s location, the information including at least one of data and images describing the commercial real estate, whereby in response to receipt of data pertaining to a user'"'"'s location, the computer retrieves information describing the commercial real estate near the user'"'"'s current location and transmits the same to the user'"'"'s equipment set for display on the display.

53. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location, retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location, and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 47, wherein the information stored in the database includes information pertaining to residential real estate located proximate to the user'"'"'s location, the information including at least one of data and images describing the residential real estate, whereby in response to receipt of data pertaining to a user'"'"'s location, the computer retrieves information describing the residential real estate near the user'"'"'s current location and transmits the same to the user'"'"'s equipment set for display on the display.

54. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location and retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 47, whereby in response to receipt of data pertaining to a user'"'"'s location, the computer retrieves geographically pertinent information and transmits the same to the user'"'"'s equipment set for display on the display.

55. The system for correlating information stored in a remote database with a user'"'"'s location and retrieving pertinent data files from the database based upon the user'"'"'s location and automatically transmitting the selected data files to the user according to claim 47, wherein the display comprises:

(i) a map of a geographic area;

(ii) an indicator on the map to indicate a property for which information is recorded in the database; and

(iii) a pop-up window linked to the indicator, wherein the pop-up window appears when the user'"'"'s location is proximate to the property for which information is recorded in the database, and wherein the pop-up window displays the information recorded in the database.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein the information includes at least one of a photograph of the indicated property, an address of the indicated property, a building class size of the indicated property, a building size of the indicated property, a number of floors of the indicated property, a year in which the indicated property was built, a buyer of the indicated property, a sale price of the indicated property, a price per square foot of the indicated property, and a cap rate of the indicated property.

57. The system of claim 47, wherein the display provides three dimensional video depictions.

58. The system of claim 47, wherein the display comprises:

(i) a map of a geographic area;

(ii) an indicator on the map to indicate a location of a property for which a data record exists;

(iii) a link to the data record on the map proximate to the indicator; and

(iv) a pop-up window proximate to the indicator, wherein the pop-up window appears when the link is activated, and wherein the pop-up window includes at least a portion of the data record.

59. The system of claim 58, wherein the link is activated by one of dragging a pointer over the indicator, touching a touch screen at the indicator, and voicing a command to a voice activated response system.

60. The system of claim 58, wherein the pop-up window provides access to an image of the indicated property, audio content relating to the indicated property, video of the indicated property, and textual information on the indicated property.

61. The system of claim 60, wherein the textual information includes one of an address of the indicated property, a building class size of the indicated property, a building size of the indicated property, a number of floors of the indicated property, a year in which the indicated property was built, a buyer of the indicated property, a sale price of the indicated property, a lease price of the indicated property, a price per square foot of the indicated property, and a cap rate of the indicated property.

62. The system of claim 58, wherein the indicator signifies a characteristic of the indicated property.

63. The system of claim 62, wherein the indicator signifies that the indicated property is one of an office space, an industrial space, and a retail space.

64. The system of claim 62, wherein the indicator signifies that the indicated property is one of a condominium, a townhouse, and a single family home.

65. The system of claim 62, wherein the indicator signifies the price range of the indicated property.

66. The system of claim 62, wherein the indicator signifies the price of the real estate indicated property.

67. The system of claim 47, wherein the computer receives the updated features and the missing features, and enters the updated features and the missing features in the database.