Property information exchange is unveiled

Real Estate Weekly, Sept 14, 1994

Property Information Exchange (PIX), the country's first and only centralized source of current information on commercial real estate investment properties for sale, is open for business - starting with more than $1 billion worth of investment properties in its database, announced PIX founders Thomas S. Foster and Philip M. Wharton.

"We are delighted to unveil PIX to the real estate community at large," said Foster, PIX's President. "After six months of intensive product development, we are confident in our ability to provide the most effective supplementary means of introducing investment property to a stellar list of serious buyers."

PIX, which serves investors, sellers and brokers around the U.S. and internationally, already boasts an investor-client list of more than 150 investors. Their exclusive investor-client list includes many of the country's most influential investment advisors and brokers, including Sam Zell, George Soros, JMB Realty, The Yarmouth Group, Alex Brown & Sons, Cushman & Wakefield, LaSalle Partners and Sonnenblick-Goldman.

"PIX offers sellers a new way to access the most active and serious investors in the United States and abroad," said Wharton, PIX's Chief Executive Officer. "And for investors, PIX is the only independent source of information on commercial real estate investment property listings - custom-tailored to meet changing investor criteria."

Foster and Wharton, both experienced institutional real estate advisors, created PIX in response to a clear need for organized and standardized information in the real estate investment arena.

"In advising our institutional clients, we found that information on properties for sale in multiple markets was difficult to gather, organize and maintain, since the sources are so diverse," Foster explained. "PIX fills that void in the marketplace. Serious investors now have a place to turn when they want concise, standardized information on available properties of various sizes, types and locations."

The PIX database of commercial properties offered for sale is divided into seven key regions: Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Mid-West, Southwest, Mountain, and West. Investor-clients are able to define their criteria and receive the property information that satisfies their requirements.

"Our investor clients request these property listings," Wharton said. "There is no audience more receptive or more qualified."

In order to ensure the integrity of its investor-client base, PIX has limited the number of principal investor-clients it will accept in each region. This select list of proven investors, including international buyers from England, Canada, France, Germany, Holland, Australia and various Asian countries, directs PIX to deliver, on a regular basis, customized property information.

"Sellers who wish to reach PIX's exclusive investor-clients need simply provide PIX with information and, for a fixed fee akin to a classified advertisement, we produce and deliver a full-color property promotion/information sheet," Foster said. "Sellers may also direct their listing to PIX's broker-client list, which includes some of the most prominent investment property brokers around the country."

The PIX property information sheets are attractive, full-color, glossy promotional marketing tools, complete with photographs, first-level data, location maps and direct contact names in a standardized, easy-to-use format. PIX develops these property information sheets for every investment property listed, a service included in the listing fee, which ranges from $100 to $1,000 for a quarterly term.

"PIX does not take the place of the broker," Foster stressed. "We offer a means of introducing investment property to an expanded, highly-qualified list of serious investors. Once our clients are interested, they call the listing broker and we step out of the way. The rest of the work, the negotiations, the due diligence, is up to the seller and the broker."

"In the past, similar services were criticized because the information was not presented carefully and was distributed too broadly, creating the appearance that properties were being 'overshopped'," says Philip Wharton, Chief Executive Officer. "PIX has been designed to ensure that the information is accurate and thoughtfully presented, and, most importantly, distributed only to an exclusive audience of discreet investors who are actively seeking that type of investment."