The Unique Real Estate Blog

No matter what kind of mortgage you apply for, whether it’s a commercial mortgage or a residential type of mortgage, you will find that great credit and good collateral will make it easier and more cost effective when it comes to the application process. But if your credit is not ideal, or even if you are planning on buying property in a bad part of town, you still may be able to get the financing that you require. Lenders are much more flexible and willing to work with you these days.

Investing in shopping centers in California presents a real challenge for many investors. Most shopping centers in the state offer very low if not the lowest cap rate in the nation, e.g. 4-6% range. As a result, the cash flow is weak compare to shopping centers in other states. Investors will also need more money for a down payment, e.g. 40-70% of the purchase price to qualify for a loan. The upside is that the vacancy rate for retail properties in the state is among the lowest in all 50 states. For example, the retail vacancy rate in San Jose is only about 4%, the second lowest in all major metro areas (Oakland has the lowest vacancy). This means the income stream should be very stable. So, as an investor, if you don’t achieve strong cash flow, you must look for property with strong potential for appreciation to achieve better investment returns. To accomplish this, you could:

When it comes to commercial real estate investment, investors often want to know which types of properties they should consider investing. This article discusses about 5 groups of properties and reasons why you should or should not consider them.

One of the least considered, but perhaps most important aspects of successful real estate investment is insurance against losses. Even though the market for residential real estate has begun to cool, commercial real estate investment opportunities abound. Commercial properties have additional risks that need to be mitigated and in today’s litigious society, it is important for investors to take the steps necessary to protect themselves and their investments.

People often say there are three things that determine the value of a property: location, location and location. Location is also an important factor in commercial real estate investment. For retail properties, location is the key as a lousy business will be successful it is at a good location. When a commercial property is at a good location, it will attract tenants to the property and retain them there. It will also attract the customers of your tenants to the property. As a result, you as the owner of the property can demand the higher rent & price for the property. So how do you as an investor determine if the property you would like to invest is at a good location? Look at the property and see if the property has these features:

Although serious supply-demand imbalances have continued to plague real estate markets into the 2000s in many areas, the mobility of capital in current sophisticated financial markets is encouraging to real estate developers. The loss of tax-shelter markets drained a significant amount of capital from real estate and, in the short run, had a devastating effect on segments of the industry. However, most experts agree that many of those driven from real estate development and the real estate finance business were unprepared and ill-suited as investors. In the long run, a return to real estate development that is grounded in the basics of economics, real demand, and real profits will benefit the industry.

The real estate industry has experienced both periods of intense growth and periods of recession in recent years. Changes in tax laws, relocation of business due to technological changes and demographic shifts, and new practices by real estate lenders have all contributed to—and been affected by—these boom and bust periods.