Nation's Top Commercial Real Estate Reporters Say It's Best Beat in Business

ATLANTA (June 21, 2010) - So you want to be a commercial real estate reporter? Then listen now to what the experts say.

The beat is dynamic, interesting, ever changing and even fun, three of the country's top commercial real estate reporters said on a panel at the NAREE convention this month in Austin, Texas. More than that, because of the predicted commercial mortgage meltdown and resulting flood of foreclosures, it's the business beat of 2010.

"There's always stories in commercial real estate," said Dan Taub, who covers commercial real estate out of Los Angeles for Bloomberg. "There's always buildings being built, buildings going under. Commercial real estate people love to talk."

Steve Brown, who's covered real estate at the Dallas Morning News "since like the Hoover administration, fell into the beat. He agreed that CRE people love to talk "and they usually know what they're talking about."

Commercial real estate's swashbucklers and characters make the beat anything but boring, the panelists said. "The players usually want to talk," Brown said. "They're full of bulls--t, don't think they're not. But at least they'll talk."

Kris Hudson, who focuses on retail and hotel coverage at The Wall Street Journal, says commercial real estate affects anyone who shops, works and stays at hotels - in other words, everyone.

"It's important to think of commercial real estate as part of the mix," he says. "It's all interconnected."

At regional dailies across the country reporters who traditionally covered residential real estate are being asked to cover commercial as well - partly because of cutbacks designed to save money. This is what prompted NAREE to put together its "So You're New to the Beat" panel that attracted scores of conference attendees.

Shannon Behnken, who covers residential real estate at the Tampa Tribune, moderated the panel. She also has started to cover more commercial real estate. She's likely to enjoy doing it, according to Hudson's comments.

"It's actually kind of fun once you figure it out," Hudson says. "Real estate is of interest and of great influence in any community."

One key to success, Hudson says, is to cultivate sources at real estate brokerage firms and banks. "They love to talk about other brokers' deals." As someone who covered the beat for several years, I concur. That advice is spot on.

Comments

[Resume Writing Service]

There's always stories in commercial real estate," said Dan Taub, who covers commercial real estate out of Los Angeles for Bloomberg. "There's always buildings being built, buildings going under. Commercial real estate people love to talk."

[Dissertation topic]

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