How Can Real Estate Brokers Use CREXI to Maximize Efficiency and Success

Aviva (00:00)
This week's listener of the week is SellitSunsetJK. SellitSunsetJK, thank you for leaving us a five star review. And for those of you listening, if you leave us a five star review below, you might be next week's listener of the week, week, week. This week on Commercial Real Estate Secrets, we have Jessica LaRusso.

Jess is the regional director of sales at CREXI. Jess, thank you so much for being on the show today.

Jessica L (00:35)
Aviva, thank you so much for having me.

Aviva (00:37)
This is really exciting because, CREXI is, I don't even like to use the word up and coming, but I do feel very, very much up and coming in this space. So I'm excited to chat and, you know, essentially bring the listener some value and understanding of who CREXI is and your position in the industry and what it...

Jessica L (01:01)
Mm -hmm.

Aviva (01:06)
is going to look like and how it will affect us in the future anyway, before we get there. Jess, so can you tell us a bit about who you are, where you come from, how you got to CREXI, and then a bit about CREXI itself?

Jessica L (01:11)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah, absolutely. so I'm originally from Chicago, have worked in a variety of spaces before I joined the commercial commercial real estate space. kind of started my professional background actually in the military, out in New York city. So I spent four years there and then, kind of ended that on the recruiting side. So that's really when I fell in love with sales and, you know, really learned kind of the nuts and bolts of.

how I should run my own business and sales. Fast forward a few years later, I was in LA working for a few pretty rapidly growing startups, really in the tech space. And I had heard of CREXI, they were shouted out and built in LA and quite a lot of other companies as up and coming. So I actually reached out, I was like, I didn't understand what this company does, right? I've always been.

really fascinated by real estate, it affects everything, right? So I started with CREXI in 2019, actually as an account executive, so an individual contributor. And it was pretty early days at CREXI, you know, we've been around since 2015, but 2019 was early stages of some of our software that we were selling. And for those that don't know what CREXI is we are a...

fully open commercial real estate marketplace. So really our whole goal is to democratize the space and bring everyone into one place. So if you are a buyer, a seller, a landlord, a tenant, a developer, right? You can use our site, find listings, market listings, get property records data. So we've really done away with this having to use five, six, seven different systems.

and brought everything all into one suite of tools. And our reach is massive now. I believe we have something like over 50 million registered users within CREXI's database. So yeah, that's a little bit about CREXI. I currently oversee a sales team that works the Texas and Oklahoma markets. So very strong markets for us. We're out there all the time meeting brokers and our whole goal is really to speed up your sales cycle, right? And your velocity and help you close.

Aviva (03:18)
Well.

Jessica L (03:39)
More deals.

Aviva (03:42)
You know what's funny is I was at the Real Estate X Gala. I don't know if you were there. Were you there?

Jessica L (03:48)
yes. Was that in New York? My colleague Ashley was there.

Aviva (03:52)
Yes.

Okay, okay, I met a few of your colleagues. What's so funny to me about CREXI and the people who work for CREXI is that there is this like enthusiasm and like life and excitement that the whole team brings anytime you talk to any of them. And I think of some of your competitors and it's the exact opposite when I talk to some of the people who work for your competitors.

And it makes me really excited about CREXI because CREXI is so focused on one thing and that's bringing value to commercial real estate owners, investors, developers, brokers, tenants, et cetera. And some of your competitors are taking their eye off the ball and ultimately people like myself, like the brokers who's were on these platforms.

Jessica L (04:53)
Mm -hmm.

Aviva (04:54)
at least 20 hours a week, like intimately. We spend more time on these platforms than with our partners and family. So just the like joie de vivre of the CREXI team has been really refreshing because it's not something that we have seen. Well, me in my 10 years in commercial real estate has really seen. So.

How do you create such a happy sales team and a sales environment like that?

Jessica L (05:31)
Well, I'm very happy to hear that's your experience with us Aviva. And quite honestly, the culture at CREXI is top notch. I would say we're really a broker centered business, right? You know, our leadership team comes from the brokerage space and the commercial real estate space. And that trickles down to all the managers and all of our sales people. We really genuinely enjoy when you guys are winning, right? It's gratifying for us because.

We are selling an amazing product, but it's a product that works. And a lot of that is us hearing from you, you know, getting testimonials like, Hey, you signed me up on CREXI. I just sold a listing in, you know, 30 days. Right. So I think when you're selling something that's really working and bringing true value and commission dollars, right. To our clients, that's super gratifying. So we have this really great feedback loop with our customers.

where we're always hearing what you guys are getting out of CREXI and that's really, really important to us.

Aviva (06:34)
What do you think are the three top features for brokers using CREXI? This is a selfish question.

Jessica L (06:40)
Absolutely. I mean, so using CREXI, right, if you're a listing broker, I would say far and away are leads, right? The ability to actually see in real time, every single person that's engaging with your listing, you know, who they are, where they're located, how many funds under assets do they have? It gives you that ability to be proactive, right?

Brokers are busy, we know you're definitely not gonna call necessarily every single person looking at your listing, right? But you can certainly remarket to those people and call the best people. So that's, I would say what really put us on the map, right? Secondly would be our ability to use AI to market your properties. We've been doing that since CREXI Pro, that's kind of our broker software, right?

we'll analyze your deals and then find the right buyer or tenant for that property and email market to that person automatically. So we're essentially playing matchmaker for your deals, right? If you've put a listing on the market, you've probably already circulated it to your other contacts and your clients, right? So now you need to go hunting and find somebody and we help speed up that process.

Aviva (07:57)
I know I'm taking notes for what I need to tell my my CREXI contact to do next week. So great customer service.

Jessica L (08:03)
Good, good. I would say, especially in the last few years, what we've really been spending a lot of our time and our focus on is the data that's in CREXI So now being able to use us both as a prospecting tool or research tool, right? Big one is we have private financing information in CREXI . So seeing when loans are coming due on properties and interest rates and...

Being able to directly contact owners, that's been a big piece of the puzzle that we've been focusing on. So if you haven't looked at our data, definitely check it out.

Aviva (08:40)
and if you've been called by a broker, now you know why. It's so funny, when I started in the business, I started like 10 years ago. And you know, it was really old school when I started, you know, like hit the books. You know, it was like drive around warehouse areas, write down the address, find the owner and call them kind of vibes. And it was at a time where owners were not.

Jessica L (08:42)
Now you know why.

Mm -hmm.

Mm -hmm.

Aviva (09:08)
quite acclimated to like the fact that their information was on the internet. So there was a lot of answering the question like, how did you get my information? And it was like, turns out it's in databases all over the internet. There's a lot of information about you on the internet. Now, owners are, you know, you get a lot less, where did you find my information?

Jessica L (09:13)
Right.

Mm -hmm.

Aviva (09:35)
get drilled about that, but I just think it's just the funniest thing because I'm like, man, everybody should Google their own name and know what the internet says or their property address because the internet is a crazy place where there's a lot of information. And yeah, so I just, yeah.

Jessica L (09:53)
100%. It's out there, but I'm, I'm glad to hear that, you know, the conversation is changing a little bit in that regard, because I think people are a little bit savvier now that when they're filling out, you know, their info to gain access to a website that can be pulled. So.

Aviva (10:08)
Oi.

Yeah, and I just wanna throw roses at CREXI. I am working on a purchase agreement right now for a high seven figure property as a buyer broker. I found somebody who was looking at a property I had listed on CREXI, called them because you guys give us that information. And now we have a great relationship and we're working on deals. So it's like, yeah.

Jessica L (10:42)
Yay! Congrats!

Aviva (10:44)
Yeah, I think about your competitors who gatekeep our clients' information for themselves exclusively. You guys don't do that, which is lame. And definitely an attractive feature of your platform that helps not only the brokers, but the buyers, because the more we can connect, the more we can do deals. And that's why we're all here. So.

Jessica L (10:52)
You

100%. Yeah. And our interface is very different, right? It's very friendly to the buyers and tenants to find what they're looking for. And that's kind of our loop, right? Our feedback is we, not only do we need to help you guys sell or lease your properties, but we need to keep our buyers and our tenants engaged. So a lot of our design, how we've built the site is geared to make it very simple and easy for them.

And we have a very active database. A lot of people are coming to CREXI almost even daily, even on the buyer and tenant side.

Aviva (11:46)
Yeah. Can you talk a bit about technology and commercial real estate and.

why you think commercial real estate tends to be a little behind the curve, specifically if you just A, B it to residential.

Jessica L (11:59)
A hundred percent. I mean, residential, I think has always kind of been ahead of the game in embracing technology and letting the tools work for the agents. commercial real estate to your point has been behind, but companies like CREXI really saw what was going on in other spaces and also in residential and have thought, why can't we do the same thing? Like this, this needs to be easier for everyone. And so while, you know, maybe 10 years ago,

really the majority of your buyers or tenants, local signage, right, in market, everything has shifted with the internet, right? Everyone is coming to websites now to start their search. They might not get completely all the way there, but it'll get them in touch with a local broker or somebody that knows what's going on in the market. And we're seeing a lot of capital moving outside of market, right?

could have a listing here where I live in Austin and a huge amount of that buyer pool is coming from out of state and they're using a site like CREXI to do their diligence and start to find assets that might be a good fit. And then they're getting in touch with the broker. So our whole goal is not to ever replace the broker, right? But it is to help speed up that transaction and provide that democratized space where...

Also, people from out of market can see what's out there and make investments or move their office across the country if they need.

Aviva (13:29)
It's also priced really fairly compared to your competitors, which is nice. You know, I get heart palpitations every time I pay your competitor's bill, but your bill is not a bad one. So thanks.

Jessica L (13:35)
You

Well, thank you for shouting that out. Yeah, we want to be very fair. You know, that's a big thing. You know, brokerage, you're making commission, right? So it doesn't really make sense to charge something for this and all this a la carte because we bundle everything into one site and we have all these tools in one place, we're able to get you a very fair rate on our services. So thanks.

Aviva (14:07)
Yeah, it just feels honest and good. And that's how everybody wants to feel when they do business. You get the warm and fuzzies. That's what we want, the warm and fuzzies. So tell me about the overall state of the market in commercial real estate. Is it going down? Are we done? Should we pack our bags and go home?

Jessica L (14:18)
Exactly. 100%.

You know, there's a lot out there in the media right now, right? A lot of kind of scary headlines. And we're seeing it very differently on our side. You know, CREXI is actually having a record breaking year. We have more brokers coming over to our platform. Brokers, owners, developers, right? Coming in using both our marketing services, but also our data and analytics services than ever before. So.

To me, that speaks to, no, the market is not in this spiral, like everyone is saying, but certainly, I think with financing being what it is today, it makes deals a bit more challenging, but that is where you need to cast wider net and get in front of more people because deals are still happening. It just has to make sense in terms of the price point and finding the right buyer or tenant. So.

Aviva (15:33)
You know, I always say, don't bring out your tissue box for your local landlord. Most of them are gonna be okay. You know, don't waste your time crying over your local landlord's CBS headline. But it has been a hard year for brokers, specifically ones who don't use the internet to their advantage. That's the funny thing is I...

Jessica L (15:53)
Mm -hmm.

Aviva (16:00)
talk to some of these brokers who are starving and I'm like, whoa, that, man, you should post on LinkedIn. Like, whoo, I chew, you know, get out there, use these new tools because all you have to do is get creative and put effort in and it's really abundant. It really actually, yes, there are issues with financing right now, but there's also a ton of cash on the sidelines and.

Jessica L (16:10)
Mm -hmm.

Aviva (16:30)
a ton of opportunity and it makes me really excited for the future of the industry.

Jessica L (16:37)
Absolutely. And to your point, I see so many creative ways of brokers getting their listings out there, utilizing podcasts, utilizing YouTube. That's a big one that I've been hearing lately, really hitting LinkedIn. That's a free network, right? To get listings out there. So I think it's just kind of changing and to your point, letting the internet work for you.

Aviva (17:01)
yes, I've been saying this over and over. It works for you when you sleep. Why, what's a better deal than for free? That's crazy. So I love it. Jessica, before I have you tell the audience where they can find you, follow you, CREXI contact, whatever. What makes you happy with what you do day to day in commercial real estate?

Jessica L (17:30)
I think two things, one, hearing the stories from the brokers, you know, like yourself, when we have really helped them with the deal and helped, you know, bring them in, you know, more commissions, right? you know, it, that is so gratifying. I was on a flight actually back from ICSE and I was wearing my CREXI hat. This was just a couple of days ago and there was a gentleman sitting next to me.

not from the brokerage space. And he asked me, what is CREXI? So I start telling him and literally one row behind me, there's a broker from Trinity. It's based here in Texas. I didn't see him. He popped his head over and he goes, I love CREXI. I've made over a hundred million dollars. I've sold over a hundred million dollars in assets with CREXI. You guys rock. And so like that really warmed my heart, right? It's like those stories really fuel our team to keep doing what we're doing.

Aviva (18:18)
Wow.

Jessica L (18:29)
and secondly, you know, being a manager, helping my team achieve their goals. It's awesome to see them grow. so that's what keeps me going day to day.

Aviva (18:41)
Jake Hamilton, call me. That's my CREXI guy, it's a joke. I'm sorry.

Jessica L (18:43)
Jake's the best. I love Jake. He is awesome.

Aviva (18:49)
No, he is great. I just, I have to give him shit, because what else would I do? That's awesome. 100, 100 million in transaction. That'll put food on the table. Jess, where can?

Jessica L (18:53)
Hmm.

Yeah. And that was an unsolicited testimonial. So.

Aviva (19:08)
Yeah, seriously. Where can the listeners find you, follow you, find CREXI, et cetera?

Jessica L (19:16)
Absolutely. So CREXI is very simple. C -R -E -X -I . com. Definitely go and check out our site. For me, I am just Jessica at CREXI, J -E -S -S -I  -A. And you can also find me on LinkedIn, Jessica LaRusso.

Aviva (19:32)
Awesome, Jessica, thank you so much for being on the show and for everybody listening. We'll see you next week.

Jessica L (19:39)
Thank you so much for having me.

Aviva (19:40)
Yeah. See you next week.