For those of you who have been living inside of a cave or perhaps you are one of the "Oceanic Six" just making it back from The Island from sixty days ago, you may have been wondering what is going on with your TV set. I am not referring to the switch to digital (no more rabbit ears!). I am talking about the "Financial Crisis", the "Wall Street Meltdown", or whatever other newsflash you are fond of using. I am also talking about the fact that we have no more commercials asking, begging or demanding our vote. Yes, we have a new president. Yes, we are in a downturn.
I raise these issues to point out that although there is uncertainty in the marketplace as it relates to jobs and mortgages, we are slowing removing potential nomenclature roadblocks to our real estate deals. Let me explain. Yes, we will all be waiting to see what Black Friday has to bring to our retailers and yes, we will all be waiting to see what President Elect Obama will do in his first 100 days. However as we become more and more removed from that fateful week in September, we also secure some foundation on where we are going. Less variables equals more clarity. More clarity is better for us all.
Among the things that can help bring clarity is strong leadership. Recently we had the President of the CCIM Institute, Mac McClure come to speak to us about his thoughts from a national perspective. McClure is now heading the 17,000+ member Chicago based organization that is home to some of the best commercial real estate professionals in the world. When asked on his outlook of the current financial turmoil he looked back. He reflected that in the 1960's it was a group of CCIM's that created the standard that we now know as NOI; in the 1970's over a few drinks some CCIM's developed IRR and worked with HP to develop the 12C Calculator; in the early 1980's a group of CCIMs went to congress help write tax relief to get us out of the high interest and inflation of the previous decade and in 1987 the CCIM program was used to help train the RTC, FDIC and the General Accounting Office to help in their tackle of the real estate problems then.
So as we look back at the history of CCIM as a leader in practice in the commercial real estate market it should not surprise that the goal of the CCIM Institute is to help its members, and the general public through this current situation and hopefully bring some clarity to all of us. So as we look at some of great lingo that is used to describe our current dilemma, know that there is leadership from the CCIM Institute that is active. For more on Mac McClure please visit podcast.ccim.com. For more on the local chapter please visit www.neccim.com. I am Chris Norwood and I approve this message.
Chris Norwood 2008-2009 President New England CCIM and president of NAI Norwood Group. Bedford, N.H.