Aug
13
Create a Commercial Real Estate Empire by Specializing in One of These Commercial Properties
Posted By: Ramon Rivas on August 13, 2010 at 10:22 amThere are many types of commercial properties available to those who work in the commercial real estate industry. Many people like to work in a specific area by working with only one or two types of commercial properties. They do this because they have expertise with that specific type of property.
Commercial properties differ more than in just their appearance and use. How you purchase, sell, operate, manage, evaluate, and price each property can be very different. Although there are some similarities, being an expert in one or two properties can greatly increase your ability to analyze good deals and maximize your profit potential. When you know the inside and out of the processes that take place with a certain type of property, know what hidden things to look for, and what mistakes to avoid, you are less likely to run into problems, and will generate positive, long lasting results.
The first are office buildings, or office parks. The term office can be used to refer to floors, parts of floors, an entire building, or an entire office park with multiple buildings positioned in a community type setting. Office space is used for a variety of reasons. It can be used for actual offices for companies, or it can be used for places of business operations, or to meet a tenant’s specific functional and technical needs. An example of this would be an office building for medical purposes.
Office buildings can be segmented into three basic levels. The first is low rise, which has fewer than 7 stories above ground. A mid-rise has between 7 and 25 stories above ground. A high-rise has more than 25 stories above ground. These buildings are often rented by the square foot according to the total usable square feet available to the tenant.
The next type of commercial property is retail property. These are places of business where products and services are provided. There are many types of retail properties which include big boxes, outlet centers, strip centers, regional centers and power centers. Each of these has distinct characteristics that differentiate one from another. Business owners can better choose where they want to lease by identifying their product position, where the best location is, and the type of retail center that will best sell their products and services.
A big box is a large, free-standing building that is often much like a huge warehouse. They can often be found near major shopping centers and along major corridors. Companies such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Target are all example of big boxes.
Outlet centers are usually located in tourist or rural locations, and the businesses there offer their products and services at a discount. Strip centers are consecutive narrow parcels that have a variety of stores. They are often found along main roads and commercial corridors.
Regional centers are characterized by an enclosed, inward orientation of the stores. A walkway or common area connects the stores that offer a variety of products and services. There is usually a large, common parking lot found along the perimeter of the regional center.
Power centers are areas of business where large retailers, including large discount centers lease out the buildings. Category killers can also be found here. These are companies that offer a large selection at low prices. Ross, Mervyns, and Kohl’s can all be found in power centers. Think of the one stop place to shop retail center, and you have a power center.
Any of these types of retail centers can be chosen areas of specialization for an investor, developer or builder. This gives them a competitive advantage in the commercial real estate industry because it is the only thing in which they concentrate their efforts. You can bet there is not one thing that can pass by these people when it comes to retail centers, and they know exactly how to maximize their resources.
Industrial and warehouse properties are the next category of commercial property where you will find freestanding properties, research and development, large manufacturing, as well as industrial park properties.
Freestanding industrial properties can vary greatly in construction type, design, and overall function. They stand alone, and are usually occupied by an end user, so the building is specific to a special purpose.
A research and development property is characterized by having office space and manufacturing on the premises. You can find them most often near universities, and close to other locations of professionals.
Industrial parks are large, planned developments that can be used for special scientific and technological use, or sophisticated communications uses. They have many buildings for mixed-purpose or a single purpose that are scattered in an often functional way.
Industrial buildings and warehouses are crucial to a city’s economic development, and cities often provide tax incentives when jobs are provided and new companies are brought to a city, especially to one experiencing rapid growth.
Multi-family property is another type of commercial property in which you can specialize. They offer huge opportunities to create value. A multi-family property is not considered a commercial property unless it is greater than 5 units. Duplexes and fourplexes are not considered commercial properties, though they can be a great investment. The larger the apartment complex, for example more than 100 units, the more money you will be able to return on investment. These multi-family units have living space, appliances and amenities. Multi-family units can range from low-end to luxury type units.
The last type of commercial property is raw land. Raw land is characterized by untouched land with no improvements such as utilities and roads. It can be the most difficult property to involve yourself with; however, it can return the greatest results.
Whichever property you decide to specialize in, only begin a new project in a new area with a person who has lots of experience. You can learn a lot from someone by using this strategy. It will give you a solid foundation to do the next project on your own. This partner or associate will help you to gain the experience and insight that may otherwise take you years to learn.
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If you run a real estate business, you are well aware of the importance of marketing. If your potential clients don’t find you, they are likely to find your competitor and give their commissions to them.
Internet marketing is an excellent solution for real estate agents. A real estate agent can reach people who they would not be able to meet otherwise by using Internet marketing. Here are five tips to help you reach your potential customers:
- Create A Professional Web Site For Your Real Estate Business. You need to present a professional online image to attract real estate clients. Potential clients who find your web site will equate the professional look and feel of the web site to your own professionalism, since the web site is the only piece of information they have to evaluate your real estate business.
The web site for your real estate business should have a professional look and feel and have information about you, your business, and services that you provide to your clients. There should be a way for potential clients to contact you. After all, you would like these people to get in touch with you and start working with you.
- Publish A Real Estate Newsletter. Not everyone who comes to your web site is going to be in need of your services immediately. Many people shop around, reading information about dozens of real estate agents before picking a real estate agent to work with. Others may not need to buy or sell a house now, but they maybe in need of your services at a later date. You need to be able to keep in touch with people who come to your web site, but are not ready to hire you yet.
A newsletter is a great tool to keep in touch with your web site visitors, share information with them and educate them about your products and services. Make sure that you have a newsletter subscribe form on every page of your web site, and that you offer a compelling reason for your web site visitors to subscribe to it.
- Offer A Compelling Reason For Your Web Site Visitors to Subscribe To Your Newsletter. If you are not inviting your web site visitors to subscribe to your newsletter, you are losing money in the long run. Make sure that you are offering a free report, or some other free gift for everyone who subscribes to your newsletter. By doing this, you will be able to get more newsletter subscribers and more clients for your business.
- Optimize Your Web Site for Search Engines. Search engine optimization is the process of modifying web page content and meta-information to improve the search engine ranking of the page. By optimizing your web site for search engines you can get more people looking for real estate agents in your area to your web site.
- Publish Your Articles Online. Publishing articles is an excellent way to show off your expertise, let others know about your real estate business and drive traffic to your web site. When you write and publish your articles, other web site owners pick them up and publish them on their web sites, while giving you a link back to your web site.
Use the five techniques we outline above to drive targeted potential clients to your real estate web site. Effective Internet promotion of your real estate business will help you drive clients to your real estate business every single day.
Whenever you buy or sell real estate, you may be like millions of other people out there, in thinking that you don’t need a real estate agent. Most people who buy or sell homes, generally think that a real estate agent is a waste of money. Those who choose to buy a new home, think that real estate agents only add to the cost of purchasing the home.
What most people aren’t aware of, is the fact that real estate agents are normally paid by the seller, not by the buyer. As a buyer, you’ll get to work with a professional real estate agent without really having to pay for it yourself. The policies can vary greatly from state to state and company to company, which is why you should always check any paperwork or contracts that are provided to you to ensure this is the case. When you are interviewing agents, make certain to ask about any type of fees as well.
A lot of real estate agents out there may work with both buyers and sellers, although most specialize in working with either the buyer or the seller. If you are buying a home, make sure that the agent you choose has prior experience of working with buyers and transactions that involve no money down. This way, you can count on your agent to be there when you need him the most – especially if you don’t have a down payment.
If you are interviewing a real estate agent and he or she isn’t familiar with down payment assistance programs, you shouldn’t hire their services. Agents who aren’t familiar with these types of programs generally aren’t on the level, or they may lack the experience necessary to help you purchase the home of your dreams.
You can also make a list of real estate agents that you can interview based on referrals from friends, lenders, and even family. Lender referrals are normally a great choice as most lenders have worked with their recommendations in the past and both are already familiar with each other. Choosing a lenders referral can also prevent you from encountering any obstacles or surprises.
When you interview a real estate agent, make sure that you have the agent explain his fees. This way, you’ll know exactly how much he will be getting from the purchase. You should also find out how much experience he has in the field, and how long he has been working with real estate. You can also ask about sample contracts as well. If you are buying a home, you should make sure that the agent works with buyers. If you happen to be selling your home, then you’ll want to make sure that the agent works with sellers. Agents that are dedicated to one or the other are the best to choose, as they will have more experience than agents who work with both buyers and sellers.
Find a real estate agent is an easy task – providing you know what to look for. If you take things one step at a time and carefully make a decision, chances are that you’ll end up with an agent who has the experience you want. You should always be careful when you choose, and never rush the process. real estate agents are easy to find, although finding one who fits your needs and has your budget in mind is a little tougher to locate. When you make that final decision, you should always choose an agent who has your best interest in mind – and isn’t just after the money.
Aug
17Real estate investment is about finding good deals…
Posted By: Ramon Rivas on August 17, 2009 at 6:32 pmReal estate investment is about finding good deals
Real estate investments are often treated as one the best ways of investing money. However, what you are looking for is not just any real estate investment, but real estate investment that can give you good returns. By real estate investment we mean investing money into property i.e. buying property at a low price and selling it at a higher price so as to make a profit out of it. So the most important part of good real estate investment is to get hold of such properties which can give you good returns.
Now, how can you get these potential profit-making deals?
Your first avenue for finding good deals is the local newspaper (the property newspaper). Just search for properties that are listed directly by the owners who want to avoid paying commission to the real estate brokers. Since the owner is saving on the commission that they would otherwise have to pay to the broker, they would probably be able to offer a lower price to you and be more open to negotiations. You could also place your own ‘wanted’ ad in the local newspapers. On the same lines, you could use internet to search for the real estate investment avenues. In fact, you would be astonished by the number of real estate investment opportunities you are able to locate on the internet. Not only that, searching for real estate investment opportunities (i.e. property for sale) is much easier on internet than anywhere else.
Another good way to hunt for real estate investment opportunities is by using the services of real estate brokers. Some people use real estate agents as their first (and maybe the only) touch point for getting real estate investment opportunities. The real estate agents act as information hub for people looking to buy property. In fact, a lot of sellers find it much more convenient to sell their properties by listing it with real estate agents.
Multiple listings service is another good way to find real estate investment opportunities. Since the multiple listing book is provided only to the real estate agents and not to the general public (unless you are very lucky), all the cream (good real estate investment opportunities) would have already been taken before you get to see the book. The key here is to look for expired listings that didn’t get converted to a deal.
Another good way to get a property, that is a good real estate investment, is to look for foreclosures by banks/ VA/ FHA or to visit public auctions. You can generally get a good deal here. Divorce settlements are another good real estate investment opportunity.
The Best way by far I know to find teh Best Deals is by using the infromation available about properties in distress that have enough equity built in so that you can really profit from them. Click here to find out more information about the tool that gives you this information without having to leave your home.
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