When it comes to buying and selling commercial net lease properties, you’ve probably heard that the most important thing is location, location, and location. But we’re not talking about the physical location of the real estate.
We’re talking about the online spaces where these properties are marketed and sold across the nation. The internet has transformed the real estate marketplace for commercial net lease properties. Nowadays, whether you can find a property that’s perfectly suited to your investment goals depends on where and how you look for it.
There are dozens of multiple listing services available online for commercial real estate listings. In this article, we’re going to compare the two largest listing engines, Loopnet vs CREXi, so you have the best tools available to conduct a property search that matches your investment goals.
How do Brokers and Investors Use LoopNet and Crexi?
Brokers, investors, and sellers use listing sites to discover desirable investments in the commercial real estate industry. While the practice is as old as the internet itself, digital innovations and consumer trends are shaping how we interact with commercial real estate through property technology.
These platforms produce a large volume of prospects, and users require the right resources to navigate the process of finding the perfect investment. If you’re looking for passive investment in the triple net lease space without the hassle of conducting high-volume searches and paying high membership fees, get in touch with the NNN lease commercial real estate experts at NNN Deal Finder. We’ll find you the perfect passive investment vehicle with historically reliable brand tenants. It’s that easy!
On the other hand, if you prefer to dive deep into your projects and scour listing engines for deals, you may want to check out LoopNet or Crexi.
LoopNet
LoopNet began as a venture capital project in 1995, and today it operates under the Costar Group banner. As one of the most popular online commercial real estate marketplaces, the site provides thousands of tenants and investors with commercial property listings for sale and lease across the United States and Canada.
The platform is used for sellers and lessors to market their property and for buyers and investors to conduct refined searches to find real estate prospects of interest. In the market, Loopnet has proven to be a powerful tool for brokers and investors to discover property in the commercial space for over 25 years.
Features
LoopNet offers a range of commercial property types, including office, retail, industrial, land, and residential income properties. Office and retail alone make up over 50% of its inventory.
The platform provides relevant information such as the location, square footage, price, agent contact details, and interior and exterior images. Data analytics and reporting features allow users to gather insights about the interest their property is fielding.
Loopnet Highlights
- Large database and search volume outputs
- Property type searches are detailed and can be refined by type, price, location, square footage, units, and cap rate percentage.
- Many listings are detailed and provide high-quality images with in-depth descriptions
- Long-standing brand recognition
Loopnet Limitations
- Offers commercial real estate listings only
- Data accuracy depends on the listing agent
- High plan premiums to upload listings and upgrades
- No information about property taxes
Who Should Use LoopNet?
If you’re looking for exposure and high inventory, Loopnet is a great site for brokers, investors, and business owners. The platform claims to advertise more properties than any other marketplace, with more than 1.1 million property listings, over 5.1 billion square feet for lease, and 5 million unique monthly site visitors. Many commercial real estate professionals value the high visibility this platform offers.
However, with LoopNet, you will likely spend more time sifting through the mammoth search volume to find properties relevant to your investment goals. Additionally, with an interface that appears dated compared with more modern listing platforms, high-tech processes and transaction management are left to its competitors.
Crexi
Commercial Real Estate Exchance, Inc. (CREXi) is a powerful digital marketplace for commercial real estate buyers, sellers, and investors operating in direct competition with LoopNet. Launched in 2015, it is the younger of the two listing services and is the industry’s fastest-growing and most active digital real estate and technology platform today. It’s headquarters are located in Los Angeles, California.
With Crexi, commercial real estate professionals and investors can streamline, manage and grow their businesses easily with ultra-modern transaction management solutions. Since launching, the platform has enabled its six million users to execute transactions on more than 500,000 commercial properties, equating to over $1 trillion in property value.
Prized for digital innovation in the real estate marketplace, Crexi has the more streamlined and user-friendly interface of the two companies. Users gain access to tools that help them manage deals from listing through to closing.
Features
Crexi is recognized for its helpful and personalized customer service. On the platform, brokers, sellers, and investors can actively engage in the sales and leasing marketplace with features such as marketing, deal management tools, and analytics. Brokers can find, manage, and communicate directly to qualified leads through in-app messaging. The platform also allows sellers to market commercial real estate listings with customizable emails.
Commercial real estate listings include multi-family properties, retail, industrial, restaurants, land, and office space listings. Office and retail currently comprise half of its total market.
Crexi Highlights
- Excellent customer service
- User-friendly interface
- Consolidates the entire CRE process from listing to closing
Crexi Limitations
- Database size limitations may not cater to demands in all areas
- Data filtering is contingent on the listing agent
Who Should Use Crexi?
The platform is well known for exceptional, hands-on customer service and provides a platform for modern real estate tech innovations. Crexi is popular among those who prefer to manage the entire process of listing and selling commercial property with one seamless and accessible platform.
While the inventory is not as high as LoopNet, the accuracy of property listing data in refined searches is superior since results are derived from the integrity of the information provided in the listing rather than advertising upcharges. Properties listed with more information will naturally gain better exposure.
Which Site is Best for Commercial Real Estate Listings?
So now we have talked about the features of our two commercial and residential property search giants, let’s dive a little deeper with a direct comparison between the two.
Fees and Membership
Both platforms are free to browse and post listings, though each has individual bonuses that come with a paid membership.
Crexi offers comparable-store sales data, property records, market reports, demographic analytics, and research trends in the area or property of interest. There are no paid advertising options or upcharge opportunities to rank your listing higher in the searches. Unlike LoopNet, users can access unlimited property listings with a paid membership.
LoopNet is free to list and search, though the website offers premium membership in basic, silver, and gold listing packages. Silver and gold memberships require users to buy a maximum exposure placeholder on long-term contracts. In exchange, properties appear in priority over other listings and across various searches. This paid advertising model may be more valuable for sellers than buyers and investors.
Exposure and Accuracy
LoopNet allows you to pay for exposure. But what about the natural exposure of properties listed on these two sites?
Because Crexi rates listings by the information provided, users are more likely to gain results that are relevant to their searches. With LoopNet’s high inventory and paid placement feature, results tend to be less refined than its competitor.
Access to Sales Comps
Sales comps are valuable to prospect properties and compare the overall investment opportunity of one property to another. LoopNet does not provide sales comps to users directly. However, since it’s operating under the CoStar banner – which has one of the most comprehensive comp databases dating back more than 20 years – users can pay in addition to their monthly membership to access this information from CoStar.
Crexi offers comps as a part of the membership subscription. Users can only access a few years of comps data, which is sufficient for many investors.
Process Management
Loopnet makes it simple to search for commercial real estate properties online and contact brokers representing those listings.
On the other hand, Crexi has been built upon the stage of digital innovation, allowing brokers and investors to manage the entire sales process without having to leave the platform. Since 2015, approximately 40% of sales have been transacted exclusively on the site.
Summary
Online listing services are a popular way for commercial real estate brokers, sellers, and investors to buy, sell, and market properties online. When comparing LoopNet vs Crexi, investors must keep their goals and objectives in mind to determine which platform will best serve their needs.
If you prefer to have high exposure and large search volumes in one of the longest-standing platforms available, LoopNet is a great option. Users otherwise may choose Crexi for its innovative technology, outstanding customer service, and advanced transaction management solutions. However, these options come at a premium price if you’re willing to move beyond the first step.
For investors seeking passive commercial property opportunities in the NNN space without the competition and high premiums, contact the triple net lease passive investment experts at NNN Deal Finder. We offer an affordable service to help you secure your dream investment property the simple way.