Tenants. Tenants, Everywhere.

Throughout the past year, one of our goals has been to develop a better understanding of who our users are. While we have always had a general idea about this, it was important for us to confirm our understanding of the matter, especially considering how much we’ve grown over the past 12 months.

We’re now averaging nearly 150,000 new users visiting OfficeSpace.com per month. So we had to ask ourselves: who exactly are our users? And more importantly, what are they looking for?

We set out to find the answers by, well, simply asking our users themselves. We implemented a short survey on our site and received a flood of responses.

In short, here’s what we found:

  • Over 75% of participants said they were tenants who were searching on their own.
  • 80% stated that they were interested in seeing what was available on the market.
  • 31% wanted to see photos and floor plans.

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What does this mean? Tenants are actively searching for available spaces on our site, and the majority are using OfficeSpace.com as the starting point for their office search. While this doesn’t come as a huge surprise to us, it’s a great feeling, as our efforts over the past year have been focused on improving this very experience. Of course, there’s always room for improvement, and we’re continuously working towards improving the search experience across all fronts.

More importantly, this confirms how online platforms like OfficeSpace.com are an amazing opportunity for CRE brokers to market their listings and ultimately connect with tenants. Unlike existing pay-to-access services (e.g., Loopnet, Costar), that are primarily used to market to other real estate professionals, our unrestricted platform attracts tenants who are actively searching and researching on their own. With over 75% of our users being tenants searching for space without any initial help, the majority are looking to connect with someone as evidenced by the number of tenant inquiries we pass through on a daily basis. A recent survey also revealed that nearly 60% of all tenants and investors start their commercial real estate search online.

So tell us, how have online platforms like OfficeSpace.com changed how you find and connect with tenants?

Update: To learn more about tenant trends, check our latest survey results. We reveal how tenants are searching for office space and what they’re saying about their CRE search experience.