Tuesday, March 19, 2013

How to Be a Great Property Manager

By Graham Peters


Commercial properties are a great way to make money. It's not for everyone though because of the huge investments and stakes.

Try to get a lender who can make commercial property offers. Get recommendations from friends and fellow investors before choosing a local lender. Research these lenders to determine which one most suitably fits your needs, prior to taking any other steps toward investing in commercial real estate. You will find the process of getting your loan to be much easier when you have taken the time to get all of your details arranged ahead of time.

Properties are subject to a life-cycle similar to ours, where they will eventually parish if not ordered and maintained. Ignorance may be bliss at first, but avoiding this fact could mean you lose a lot of money toward property upkeep, wiping out any savings you might have gotten from the initial purchase. It could need a brand new electrical system or an updated roof. All buildings degrade over time, but some building types are more prone to it than others. Make sure that you budget future repairs and maintenance work into your budget.

Verify the terms that match your pro forma and the rent roll. If you concentrate on these points, you can find an issue with the property.

Before you invest in real estate, be certain that you understand the implications regarding your taxes. In addition to depreciation benefits, many investors enjoy tax deductions for interest expenses. There is also "phantom income", which is taxed by the government although not received by the investor as cash. Before investing, become more familiar with this sort of income.

You should try to purchase property which has a significant number of units. If there are many units, it would be easier for you to spread the income that you are getting from each unit. Many buyers don't look at a property with less than 10 units, and many think the more units you have, the more cash you can earn.

There are many websites available that offer information to investors; therefore, learn all you can before searching for commercial property. You can never know too much about commercial real estate, so keep learning!

Compile a number of people to partner with financially. These can be professional lenders, friends and family. This will allow you to ascertain cash flow. Ideally, your contracts should include clauses that allow you to pay back loans with fixed-interest rates; you might also devote a set percentage of your revenues from the property.

A letter of intent should be simple to begin with, covering only the larger issues. Once an agreement on those terms are made, you can begin addressing the smaller issues. This lets you get the bigger issues out of the way first and makes small issues simpler to complete.

If you are touring several properties, be sure to utilize a checklist to make things easier for you. Certainly take down initial proposal responses, but don't get into anything further without informing the property owners. Do not be scared to let the owners know about other properties you have in mind. Making them aware you have other options may get them to accept a lower offer.

If you are planning to rent your commercial properties once you purchase them, opt for solidly constructed buildings that are simple in their design. Tenants will be more likely to rent space in this type of building, as it looks taken care of. Such buildings also usually need fewer repairs, which is an advantage for the tenants, as well as the landlord.

Clearly, investing in commercial real estate will not bring you money for nothing. It takes a large monetary investment, followed by effort and time, to make a success of a commercial real estate investment. Sometimes even when you do everything right you still lose money.




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