In this issue

• 15 Critical Questions To Answer To Keep Your Real Estate Investment On Track

When you make an investment in real estate, it is implied that you want to make money. The cash can come from direct income from the property or from capital gains from a sale after an increase in value. Either way, the investment must be managed, considered, and watched at all times. If the owner and manager are taking care of business, there may be ways to increase the income, and the value......(more)

• Office Building Comparisons

Newer office buildings may fill up at the expense of older office buildings. Since new buildings cost more to build than the older ones, rents may be higher. The actual dollars-per-square-foot costs must be compared, along with other benefits that the tenant may receive, before a final decision is made by the tenant on staying or moving. One of the most important jobs of a leasing agent for a building with available space is to analyze other buildings to see if any tenant could be induced to move. Here are some of the items for comparison:......(more)

• Factors To Consider For Any Commercial Investment

When any particular commercial building is under consideration for purchase, there are a number of factors that should be considered. Here are some of the more important points:.....(more)

• How To Negotiate A Lease Termination

One or both of the parties to a lease of commercial or office space may want to sever the relationship prior to the end of the lease term. A tenant may want to terminate the tenancy, for example, because his business has grown since he first moved in and he requires larger quarters. A landlord may want to terminate the tenancy because there is a better prospective tenant available.....(more) Click Here For This Months Newsletter

In this issue

• Choosing The Right Investment Property

No single property can fit all of the investment goals and rules an investor has set. Even if the investor tried to build a property to specifications, he would find some things “not quite right”. The investor is, therefore, wise to anticipate problems and have some basic strategies for dealing with them. Here are some suggestions to help the investor devise other approaches to meet special needs.....(more)

• Lease Negotiations With A Corporate Team

A few years ago, senior corporate managers were able to make major real estate decisions by themselves. Now, a negotiating team will negotiate leases. This team may consist of legal counsel, finance department representatives, outside specialists such as real estate brokers or tenant representatives, design and engineering consultants, and others. In today’s market, corporate tenants with high credit ratings, who are willing to make long-term lease commitments negotiate from a strong position. Therefore, corporations that formerly treated real estate transactions in a casual way have now developed detailed real estate negotiating strategies. The corporate tenant sees these negotiations as a way to cut costs within the company (whether upsizing or downsizing). Landlords, developers, and brokers must be aware of this new style of negotiation. While the real estate executive plays a key role in developing the strategy, the other parties must be ready to respond quickly to requests for information and be prepared to discuss issues that rarely if ever arose in the past.......(more)

• Drafting The Shopping Center Lease

When leases for shopping centers are being drafted, they can be more difficult than most other commercial leases. In a shopping center, the owner wants the leases to be as uniform as possible, but knows that each lease must have variations to meet the individual tenant’s particular problems in business and in certain size or shaped spaces. Here are some suggestions of items that should be covered in your shopping center leases. There could be many more depending on each property......(more)

• Who Buys Commercial Property

When we represent a seller of a commercial property, we try to determine, as soon as possible in the marketing process, what type of buyer is most likely to be interested in this particular property. We then focus the main appeal on those elements that are most important to that type of buyer.......(more)

• Your Real Estate Investment

Knowing what you can do in some investment situations can be the difference between an annual profit or loss in your currently owned commercial property or the one you intend to acquire. How you acquire it can be important......(more)

• Your Commercial Real Estate Broker

How can I be of service to you? When you are buying or selling a commercial property, of course. At other times, we can handle property management for any properties you might own. Let me help in determining the value of your investment, anytime you need to know. Call my office when you need services of an expert in this community’s real estate. I have the records of all properties for sale at all times. Today’s interest rates, availability of loans, and any other financial information that can affect your property is as close as your phone. Keep our newsletter as a file of useful real estate information and to remind you to call me whenever you need “Professional Service”. (more)

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In this issue

• Negotiating The Sublease

With changes in business strategies, a major existing tenant wants to sublease all or some of their rented office space to eliminate some locations and shrink operations in others. In this situation, the problem for landlords is whether it is a better strategy to enforce lease restrictions against subleasing or to work with tenants on the theory that the sooner sublease space is filled, the better for all. (In addition, another problem could be whether landlords should insist on sublease restrictions in new leases being negotiated now.)....(more)

• Individual Building Or Commercial Condo

Which is the better investment — a separate (single) commercial building or a commercial condominium within a larger complex? Each has its own unique set of attributes, and so the answer really depends on the needs, goals and characteristics of the investor.....(more)

• Unusual Pieces Of Real Estate

In many metropolitan areas, commercial land for development is in very short supply. Developers are converting older warehousing to shopping areas, demolishing existing buildings to build new projects in areas in transition. However there may be many hundreds or even thousands of unusual parcels of property that have been overlooked. Many are ready for commercial development close to downtown areas, suburban commercial developments, and densely populated areas. Owners of many of these properties consider the property as “surplus” and have not considered development. Some of these properties are in the inventories of city, county and state ownership and are surplus parcels that were unused in street, highway and freeway development. Others are owned by railroads.......(more)

• Extra Income From Campus Apartments

When an owner has an apartment property near the campus of a University, there are particular problems. The competitive situation dictates that leases be offered for one semester of nine and a half months. A twelve-month lease for students is virtually unheard of. That means there are lots of vacancies as soon as final exams have ended. (This does not apply to a few University communities where there is always an apartment shortage. In those few places, the student must lease for 12 months or have no lodging.).....(more)

• A Step-Down Rental

Tenants understand the need for step-ups in their leases because they recognize the inevitable upward trend of costs. There is no reason for elaborate set of definitions in the lease. The lease simply needs to spell out in a schedule the applicable period and the rent to be paid during that period.......(more)

• Screening For New Tenants

The property manager provides the tenant applicant with the lease application which must be filled out for the interview. A leasing agent may assist during the review process, but the final selection of tenants is ultimately the property manager and owner’s responsibility.......(more)

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In this issue

• How To Handle Distressed Commercial Real Estate

It is hard to believe that someone can totally neglect a valuable investment property like a multi-unit office building or an apartment complex. It happens. The run down property may have been acquired from a seller who did not understand real estate investments and failed to manage it at all. The professional investor can usually spot the low-priced and currently unprofitable income property that can be purchased, then upgraded with some reasonable expense so that it becomes a cash flow property. That property can then be added to the investor’s real estate portfolio or quickly sold for a profit. First, a professional management company must take over the property. It is faced with a problem property that the new owner has purchased for the purpose of a “turnaround” for profit....(more)

• The Proper Balance Within A Shopping Center

In Recent years, many stores have widened their lines and no longer specialize in only one form of merchandise. Such operations as supermarkets may sell anything from CDs and DVDs to refrigerators, and drugstores are as apt to carry pots and pans as well as pills. However, in order to insure the success of small as well as large store operations within the shopping center, management specialists must try to create a harmonious balance and limit the amount of “overlapping merchandise” that causes unnecessary competition. Big Box stores sell almost everything but are usually a “stand-alone” store......(more)

• How To Handle Lease Provision Questions

When a landlord and a tenant agree to a commercial lease, it may contain clauses covering things that neither party to the lease ever expects to happen. Occasionally, one of these will happen with costly and damaging consequences to the tenant. One lease clause that may seem very reasonable to a tenant is one that agrees to subordinate the lease to any future mortgages that the landlord may place on the property. After all, it is reasonable for an owner to want to refinance a property. The result of the provision is that the foreclosure of a mortgage loan will either automatically terminate the lease or entitle the lender, at its option, to terminate the lease (depending on the law of the state involved)......(more)

• Corporate Shared Office Space

With the new revolution in communications, building owners must keep up with the changing needs of the corporate tenant. Often the larger, well-organized businesses do not need the space that was necessary just a few years ago. Electronic communications to and from employees have substituted for leased office space. Managers are more willing to grant favorable lease terms to operators of shared space. The operator sometimes receives a monthly management fee for operating the shared space plus a portion of rent revenues over a certain amount.....(more)

• Real Estate Investment Consultants

When you need professional advice and help in commercial real estate please come to our office. We are experts in values and knowledge of the entire market in this area. If you have been looking for a certain type of property we probably have the full information on several like it already. Today’s investor in real estate must have a grasp of market conditions and potential that is usually beyond their own available time to attain. Investors need assurance about the true condition of the market. With increased competition, the market place is becoming more complicated. As your professional commercial real estate advisors, we are in the position to represent you in real estate transactions by setting up sales, exchanges, leases, purchase and sales of options, and management of real estate More investors are turning to real estate consultants as a means of providing a sounding board for their ideas as well as expertise in the planning and construction stages for their projects. Feasibility studies are essential for commercial office, industrial, resort and hotel investors. With this kind of information, planning is better and there is less chance for error. Real estate investing is not just the structure and the land. It is investing in the type of property that you want at the price and terms that suit you at the time you want to make the purchase. We can be your consultants. Lets talk and find out if we might be a fit......(more)

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In this issue

• Understanding The Different Kinds Of Commercial Leases

​A lease is an integral part of many real estate investments. It should outline all the obligations of the tenant and of the landlord. This sounds simple, but many questions arise. If, for example, property taxes increase, does the tenant pay all of the increase or only part of it? If the property must be modernized, who pays for the improvement? Can the tenant be moved out during the renovation? If the costs of servicing the property rise, should the tenant pay none, all, or part of the increased costs? How should inflation be handled—with automatic rental increases? With increases tied to some index, perhaps the Consumer Price Index?....(more)

• What Is A Service Joint Venture?

Whether times are good or bad, lenders always have foreclosed properties in inventory. During a recession the inventory may be high. One of the problems that banks and insurance companies have is disposing of this real estate owned (REO). They are faced with the decision of whether they wish to dispose of the property immediately or hold it for a period of time to hope for an increase in value. They would like to see the value of the REO increase to equal the loan amount. These lenders are not professional real estate investors but money managers. Therefore, they are reluctant to invest any additional money in the properties. This problem is compounded because a troubled property needs more attention than does a healthy one. It would not have been in foreclosure if it didn’t need help....(more)

• How To Select Tenants For Commercial Centers

Owners must think about vacancies when checking a prospective tenant. Will the tenant’s business survive? When you have a prospective tenant for a commercial center, you must consider whether that prospect would be a good tenant. There are two key standards to apply; (1) the prospective tenant’s financial stability; and (2) the prospective tenant’s potential for success....(more)

• Providing Rentals For Seniors

Not all retired people want to own their own home. Many prefer to be tenants. Many feel that the proceeds from the sale of their old home can be used to supplement their pension and social security, rather than reinvested in another home. The money can be used for travel, visits to children and grandchildren or for medical expenses. For living quarters, these seniors prefer to be rent payers, not owners. A modest-sized apartment suits their needs and, as tenants, they are relieved of any worries about maintenance and repairs.....(more)

• Investment Real Estate Experts

Come to our office when you need professional advice and help in commercial real estate. We are experts in values and knowledge of the entire market in this area. If you have been looking for a certain type of property we probably have the full information on several like it already.....(more)

Click Here For This Months Newsletter

In this issue

• Choosing The Right Investment Property

​No single property can fit all of the investment goals and rules an investor has set. Even if the investor tried to build a property to specifications, he would find some things “not quite right”. The investor is, therefore, wise to anticipate problems and have some basic strategies for dealing with them. Here are some suggestions to help the investor devise other approaches to meet special needs:....(more)

• Lease Negotiations With A Corporate Team

A few years ago, senior corporate managers were able to make major real estate decisions by themselves. Now, a negotiating team will negotiate leases. This team may consist of legal counsel, finance department representatives, outside specialists such as real estate brokers or tenant representatives, design and engineering consultants, and others.....(more)

Drafting The Shopping Center Lease

When leases for shopping centers are being drafted, they can be more difficult than most other commercial leases. In a shopping center, the owner wants the leases to be as uniform as possible, but knows that each lease must have variations to meet the individual tenant’s particular problems in business and in certain size or shaped spaces. Here are some suggestions of items that should be covered in your shopping center leases.....(more)

• Updated Information For The New Property Manager Improvements

There may be lengthy negotiations between the owner of a property and the management company before a management contract is signed. When the management plan has been worked out between them, the management company is hired and the manager takes charge of the property. At this time the manager must collect great amounts of information necessary to manage and control the property. Some should have been available from the owner, but all files must be updated and appropriate information collected, such as:...(more)

• Your Real Estate Investment

​Knowing what you can do in some investment situations can be the difference between an annual profit or loss in your currently owned commercial property or the one you intend to acquire. How you acquire it can be important....(more)

Click Here For This Months Newsletter

This month's newsletter has just been released! Check out the latest tips for tenants and users of commercial real estate space. In this issue

• Allowing Subleasing for Commercial Tenants

In some office building markets throughout the country, some existing tenants have sought to sublease some or all of their rented space as they shrink operations or eliminate locations. The problem for landlords is whether it is a better strategy to enforce lease restrictions against subleasing or to work with tenants on the theory that the sooner cheap sublease space is filled, the better for all. (In addition, another problem could be whether landlords should insist on sublease restrictions in new leases being negotiated now.)....(more)

• Lease Clauses Needed For Protection Of Confidential Information

​Typically, a landlord has access to leased premises at all times for purposes of making repairs and inspections. But in today’s information age, many tenants have valuable trade secrets, confidential information, and unique documentation in tapes, CDs, DVDs, listings, and other intellectual property that should not be accessible to the landlord. A software company tenant, for example, should try to obtain the right in the lease to maintain locked documentation rooms where even the landlord’s janitorial and maintenance people have no access and the landlord is given no copies of keys, pass cards, or cipher lock combinations to the additional locks installed by the tenant on the documentation room door......(more)

​​​​​How To Make Quick Profits When A New Hospital Comes To Town

​​​​What happens to nearby property values when a new hospital is built? Usually the surrounding area feels a ripple effect. Land values increase. Developers are quick to provide new space for offices and stores. The biggest profits are realized by the investors who get involved early (during the planning stages) before or while the hospital is built.......(more)

• Critical Lease Clauses

The following is a useful list of items that should be clarified between the parties in the lease of a commercial building:......(more)

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This month's newsletter has just been released! Check out the latest tips for tenants and users of commercial real estate space. In this issue

• The Master Lease- A Sellers Guarantee

When new development is occurring in a market and developers are anxious to sell when the construction is complete, use of a master lease may facilitate a sale before the lease-up period is ended. A master lease is a form of seller guarantee that has several specific goals....(more)

• What is Adequate Parking For Commercial Real Estate?

Parking is not just important at your commercial building or apartment property; it is absolutely crucial for any business. Without it, potential tenants and their customer will reject the building. Parking spaces may be located below, at, or above ground level but wherever located, there must be enough spaces to accommodate the realistic, projectable needs of the particular building.....(more)

• ​​​​​The Ideal Team For Negotiating Commercial Leases

In the corporate world of today, a negotiating team will negotiate commercial leases. This team may consist of legal counsel, finance department representatives, outside specialists such as real estate brokers or tenant representatives, design and engineering consultants, and others. In today’s market, corporate tenants with high credit ratings, who are willing to make long-term lease commitments negotiate from a strong position. Therefore, corporations that formerly treated real estate transactions in a matter-of-fact way have now developed detailed real estate negotiating strategies. The corporate tenant sees these negotiations as a way to cut costs within the company (whether upsizing or downsizing)......(more)

• ​​​​​Land Development Agreements

The acquisition and improvement of land is a large-scale operation and requires large amounts of capital. This has created methods of land acquisition that gives the developer access to and control over a large enough tract to make development economical without requiring an initial outlay of all of the capital necessary to acquire such a tract. From the point of view of the landowner, the disposal of a large tract at a good price may require a formula that will encourage the developer to commit improvement and development money for part of the tract that will build future value into the entire tract......(more)

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This month's newsletter has just been released! Check out the latest tips for tenants and users of commercial real estate space. In this issue

• Negotiating The Termination Of A Lease

One or both of the parties to a lease of commercial or office space may want to sever the relationship prior to the end of the lease term. A tenant may want to terminate the tenancy, for example, because his business has grown since he first moved in and he requires larger quarters. A landlord may want to terminate the tenancy because there is a better prospective tenant available....(more)

• Your Investment Portfolio Check-Up

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​When you make your investment in real estate, it is implied that you want to make money. The cash can come from direct income from the property or from capital gains from a sale after an increase in value. Either way, the investment must be managed, considered, and watched at all times. If the owner and manager are taking care of business, there may be ways to increase the income, and the value. There is always the possibility to make a sale for the right price and terms. Keeping aware of the market might bring an opportunity to make a tax-deferred exchange into a property with more benefits for the owner. Real estate investors often own various kinds of properties. They may have a mix of commercial, residential income, land and groups of houses. These owners have an extensive portfolio of investment real estate. Owners of portfolios of stocks and bonds meet with or call their broker often. Like seeing a doctor or dentist at regular intervals, it makes sense for real estate investors also to meet with their real estate investment representative or counselor at least a couple of times a year. Exchanging ideas with the professional who has the daily pulse of the real estate market can be profitable. At each meeting, the investor can plan on finding out the current market conditions that will have an effect on equities that are now owned or that could be acquired....(more)

• ​​​​​Alternative Rental Suggestions

​When there are vacancies in commercial buildings, tenants may feel that they are in a good position to seek concessions from landlords on new leases or in exchange for extending or renewing existing leases. Landlords are apt to make deals for two reasons: (1.) The landlord may be facing high vacancy rates, and (2.) The landlord also recognizes that tenants may also be suffering from declining business and are less able to pay the high rentals of a few years ago. The landlord will be looking for a formula or concession that will give the tenant an economic break, but at the same time allowing the owner to show a scheduled (on paper) rent roll that is sufficient to satisfy a banker who is providing financing for the property.....(more)

• Office Building Comparisons

Newer office buildings may fill up at the expense of older office buildings. Since new buildings cost more to build than the older ones, rents may be higher. The actual dollars-per-square-foot costs must be compared, along with other benefits that the tenant may receive, before a final decision is made by the tenant on staying or moving. In many areas, there are still a number of vacancies reported in office buildings. Most of this available space is in the newer properties. One of the most important jobs of a leasing agent for a building with this available space is to analyze other buildings to see if any tenant could be induced to move......(more) Click Here For This Months Newsletter