Despite a disappointing experience to date, Camden Property Trust has not thrown in the towel when it comes to investing in technology. The nation's fifth-largest publicly traded owner and operator of multifamily properties, Camden has invested in five technology firms that have or are developing software of potential value to the multifamily industry. One of the companies has gone out of business and none of the others have been able to turn a profit. Those poor results have taken their toll. Camden's funds from operations for the fourth quarter of 2001 totaled $0.75 per diluted share, or $33.4 million, down from $0.89 per diluted share, or $39.9 million, for the same period in 2000.
"Right now, these investments are worth pennies on the dollar given where we are today in capital markets in regards to technology," says Laurie Baker, vice president of property services for Camden. Baker says Camden's technology investments had been listed as an asset of $9 million on its balance sheet in 2000, but had been revalued down to $200,000 as of early 2001.
Despite these mishaps with technology, Camden is not averse to future tech investments. "The bottom line is that Camden will continue to invest in technology where we can add near-term value to our core business," Baker says.
Camden has been active in driving the development of several technology products, such as OpsXchange (a private exchange for procuring goods and services), ElectricStreets (a resident portal that links off Camden's web site), as well as an in-the-works yield management system. "We've been guiding the direction and development of these products and offering them out to our communities as we speak," Baker says. "So although we don't have plans to put any dollars in those at the moment, Camden will always take a look at whether this is a value-add to see if it makes sense."
The Real Deal
MortgageRamp has signed Fannie Mae and LJ Melody & Company as customers of its DealCentral software, an online tool designed specifically to assist commercial real estate companies in managing deals from beginning through closing and delivery. A provider of technology solutions and products for the commercial real estate industry, MortgageRamp's positioning is to eliminate the dirty work when it comes to the cumbersome lending process.
"We have technology that allows lenders to directly submit loans to Fannie Mae through our DealCentral software," says Michael Greco, president of MortgageRamp. The Fannie Mae deal is the first initiative developed in conjunction with the standards efforts announced by the Commercial Working Group of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, established in 1999 to develop and maintain commerce standards for the mortgage industry.
Real estate investment banking firm LJ Melody will be utilizing DealCentral as an underwriting, packaging and pipeline management platform. "We are one of the country's largest originators of commercial real estate loans and with more than 30 offices nationwide, we are always looking to be more efficient," says Brian Stoffers, chief operating officer and executive managing director of LJ Melody. "DealCentral gives us that efficiency by allowing more loans to be distributed electronically so that we are streamlining our processes with our 300 professionals nationwide."
MortgageRamp (www.mortgageramp.com) offers technology solutions for a variety of financial needs, whether it's providing due diligence and underwriting support, accelerating loan closings, or performing appraisals and property inspections. Aside from DealCentral, MortgageRamp offers MultiTrak, which reduces the time and costs involved in multifamily loan origination by cutting out the paperwork, as well as FastTrak Services, which assists with the appraisal and inspection process.
