Real Estate Opportunities and Challenges

Opportunity in Adversity

In addition, the crisis has helped to improve the quality of the industry providers who are best in class. Before the crisis it was typical of the Czech real estate market that everyone who owned a property had a real estate agency trying to make as much profit off of them as quickly as possible. While the economic crisis brought the Czech Republic’s real estate market to an almost complete stop, Meier suggests it has also had a revitalizing effect in the real estate agency market. With every major economic and subsequent real estate cycle comes consolidation and revitalization - local agencies go out of business and those that survive consolidate this in turn and provide a labor pool of available and experienced agents for hire. This gives rise to the next generation of either lasting or new agencies with a chance to hire those best suited for the job.

Targeting the “SME” (Small Medium Enterprise – the Backbone of the Economy)

When discussing the office leasing market, Meier believes that for the medium term we have seen a peak in the demand by new large national and multinationals establishing their offices in Prague and other Czech towns. It is now time, he thinks, for real estate agencies to focus on “the small guy” and support the demand for smaller and medium –sized office space. “These continental or Czech businesses aiming at establishing their regional offices will not be looking for a 1000 square meter office but rather for a 100 to 300 square meter one” says Meier. In this he sees an opportunity for potential new key players in the real estate market who can offer these businesses professional services meeting all of their specific needs.

Time for a New Key-Player?

Meier emphasizes that the companies looking for new office space will seek out a professional, transparent, reputable and dynamic real estate agency which will be able to provide them with highly individualized and customer-oriented service. “Looking for office space is a daunting task for most companies, it’s entering unknown territory” claims Meier and adds that the main challenge for real estate companies is to make this as quick and easy as possible for their clients.

The business world today has so much information for consumers and ways of accessing it. The key to success is to balance how much information and how one can discern it. Meier believes that an agency should provide just enough accurate, comprehensible and well-organized information on a real estate agency's website which the client company’s representatives can simply read through in the comfort of their offices so they already know what to expect when they pick up the phone and call the real estate agency for continued support. Apart from this, the potential new key player on the real estate market should – according to Meier – be Czech-based and staffed predominantly by well versed Czechs in the industry. This in turn will develop and benefit from strong referrals by satisfied clients to their industry peers also seeking commercial real estate support. The future looks bright for those agencies able to adapt and adjust to an ever-changing commercial real estate landscape.