Marketplace had a telling interview with Susan Smith of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the editor-in-chief of a new report about the commercial real estate market titled “Rough Road Ahead for Investors.”

She says that the commercial and residential real estate markets are different and there are still opportunities out there for investors… but she doesn’t invest in real estate much herself because she knows “what goes into it.”

Napoli: And that’s the upshot of this report, even though you’ve titled it “Rough Road Ahead for Investors”?

Smith: I believe so, because there’s more difficulty in going out and finding that property that you want to buy or even listing a property and trying to sell it, so in terms of what buyers and sellers were used to over the last ten years and what they’re encountering now, it’s definitely going to be a rough road, but it’s also important to realize that there are opportunities out there for investors. It’s just a matter of what your strategy is and I always like to think that real estate investors are optimistic.

Napoli: You also have to have a pretty strong stomach, I’d imagine.

Smith: I think you do, I think you do. People always say to me “well, you’re in real estate, I can’t believe you don’t own so much real estate” and I say I know what goes into it. I know how people react to all the things you have to watch in real estate: what’s going on with employment and what’s going on with the consumer and to me, there’s just too much to focus on that it does… you need a strong stomach and good optimism.

Mixed news for commercial real estate [Marketplace]
(Photo:AngrySicilian)

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.