The Unique Real Estate Blog

Why Should You Care?
Cost Segregation Study (CSS) allows you to claim 50-70% more depreciation on your commercial property. This reduces your income taxes and in turn increases your cash flow from the property.

Each month your property manager will send you a monthly report. Each company has its own format, using different property management software and internal processes. However, you should receive the following:
A one-page summary that highlights key issues about the property, e.g., one tenant is 30 days behind on the rent.
Income & expense statement. This should be a short statement showing the base rent, Common Area Maintenance (CAM) charges for each tenant, rent and CAM payments received from each tenant. It also shows maintenance expenses and management fee; so you may quickly determine if each tenant has paid rent or not. This statement itemizes all of the income and expenses which may include:
Late fee: when the tenant pays late, he has to pay the rent plus the late fee. The late fee amount is normally stated in the lease. Normally, when the tenant pays late, the property manager has to do extra work to collect it. The amount of work depends on whether the tenant is too busy to mail the rent check, does not have the money or simply does not want to pay. Typically, the property manager is entitled to the late fees as an incentive to collect the rent.
Management fee: this fee is usually a percentage of the monthly income from the property that both you and the property manager agreed in the management contract. If you have a very stable property with the same income every month, then the management fee is the same. Otherwise, it varies from month to month.
Leasing fee: you typically see this when there is a new tenant or a renewed lease.
Security/Fire Protection: your property may have fire & security monitoring services.
Electricity: this is most likely for parking or common area lighting.
Water: this is for both drinking and irrigation.
Disposal: this is for garbage collection paid to the city.
HVAC repairs & maintenance: this is the maintenance costs for Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning. Usually, there is a service contract for HVAC whereby the maintenance company will inspect the HVAC twice a year: once before the winter and once before the summer. So, you may receive the service bills only twice a year.
Garbage dumping: sometimes people dispose their unused furniture, mattress on the property because there is no one around at night. The maintenance crew may have to clean up these things. Normally, you or the property manager will want a picture of the dumping to make sure that it is a legitimate bill.
Landscaping: this is often the biggest expense item. Typically, the landscaper signs a one year contract to maintain the landscaping on the property, such as mowing the lawn, trimming the trees/shrubs, and planting flowers. Thus, the monthly payment should be the same for the whole year.
Sweeping: the parking lot is usually swept daily, either late in the evening or before the tenants open for business. In the winter, there may be an expense for snow removal.
Steam cleaning: the concrete sidewalk is normally steam cleaned once a month. This is done by the same company that handles the sweeping and landscaping.
Roof maintenance: the roof of a commercial building is often flat and requires regular maintenance especially during the rainy season. The roofer may charge each time he is called to fix a roof leak. So, this is not something you see on the statement on a regular basis.
Supplies: there are various things on the property that have to be replaced periodically: light bulbs, trash bins, sprinklers, etc.
Bank charges: sometimes the tenants pay by check with non-sufficient funds. The bank will charge a fee each time the check is bounced.
Legal fees: you may see this if the property manager has to evict a tenant.

The high tech communication protocol and high tech living has all but blurred virtual boundaries globally – which has lead to an exponential increase in the incidence of business travel. This coupled with the increased incidence of pleasure travel would well continue to sustain the booming travel industry – evidently then the hotel industry is here to stay and in the coming years the hotel industry would continue to be one of the most viable of investments!

When you invest in a commercial property, you all hope that the property value will go up and the income will continue to increase. However, you also have to plan for the downturn too. There are ways to minimize your risks when you invest in a commercial property:

Setting The Record Straight

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.