SAN DIEGO-The playing field between older and younger loans is uneven, and figuring out how to level it is a challenge for investors, Jim Evans, president of Grand Blanc, MI-based brokerage firm Bruce G. Pollock & Associates and past president of the Institute of Real Estate Management, tells GlobeSt.com. IREM is chairman sponsor for RealShare Investment & Finance here June 17-18, part of the RealShare Conference Series produced by ALM Real Estate Media, which also publishes GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum.

Evans says the playing field is uneven because older loans, which were given at higher interest rates and/or for properties that sold for higher prices than today's, also have a higher cost basis than new loans at historically low interest rates for bank-owned properties that are selling for less because the banks want them off their balance sheets. “So how do you level the playing field when your costs are so much higher?”

Many investors in REO properties are new to the market and have snatched up properties for 20 cents to 40 cents on the dollar, paying all cash and able to make up for deferred maintenance, while investors in older properties don't have the same advantages. “Maintaining your property at a very high level is one way to compete, and by offering some free rent,” says Evans. “Our firm has more five-year leases than we've had in years. Owners are giving free rent on the front end and making it up on the back end.”

Another challenge investors face is keeping up with social media as a way to gain exposure for their properties. Sites like Twitter, Facebook, Craig's List and Trulia are changing the way real estate transactions are performed on a daily basis. “Social media is becoming a bigger and bigger piece of our lives, but how do we maximize exposure of our properties on these sites? The days of calling up a newspaper to run an ad for a property are gone.”

The industry is still seeking answers to these challenges in a market that seems to change at warp speed. Fortunately, however, the tools to help streamline transactions are becoming more prevalent and user-friendly than ever, as GlobeSt.com previously reported.