Monthly Archives: July 2013

Exit Strategies in Commercial Real Estate|Buying with the End in Mind

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One of the most important things that you can do when you purchase a property is to think about your exit strategy. You should have more than one exit strategy when you purchase an asset and you should think about the worst case scenario which will involve “how do I exit this under-performing investment?”.

Originally most people think that they will own the property forever and you may very well do that. However, I suggest that you review each of your properties on an annual basis to make sure that they are meeting your current investment and personal goals. Priorities in life will change over time and your investments should adjust with those priorities.

I believe that one of the best investment strategies that you can have is “buy low and sell high”. This would mean that when you are at the height of the market you would sell your property or properties, hold the cash in a low risk investment, keeping your money liquid and then get back in when the real estate market is down. You will probably be into your new properties for less than you were into your previous properties. Remember that you make your most money when you have bought the property at its lowest point.

Following are some exit strategies for you to think about when you purchase that special investment.

STANDARD SALE BY HIRING A REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL

The first exit strategy is the one that most people go through which is to hire a real estate broker and sell the property. You will want to calculate your breakeven point taking into consideration not only the amount of money you have invested in the property, but also the liens, commissions and closing costs. Plan and discuss the sales strategy thoroughly with your broker, and have him run the comparable sales in the market so that you can price your property accordingly.

Remember the 80/20 rule when it comes to brokers. The rule is that 20% of the brokers do 80% of the sales. Look for that broker in the 20% arena.

To help your broker get the most offers and to maximize the sales price, it‘s a good idea to spruce up the property and/or stage it. Aim to look better than your competition.

FSBO – FOR SALE BY OWNER – SELL IT YOURSELF

Your next exit strategy might be to sell the property yourself. You can save some commission money; however, in commercial real estate I always suggest that you add the commission money into the sales price and let a broker handle things. Doing it yourself will take some time and work from you as you will need to come up with a marketing strategy. If you do belong to an investment club or are well connected in the commercial real estate community, then you may do well to put a marketing strategy together and do it yourself.

The marketing strategy should include these four essential components: defining the investor or buyer, understanding your competition, clearly presenting the benefits that you are offering and structuring your pricing and terms.

PROVIDING SELLER FINANCING

The third exit strategy that you might want to consider is Seller Financing. The benefits of seller financing include:

  • receiving monthly payments without having to worry about all of the ownership issues such as procuring tenants, maintenance issues, etc.
  • deferring taxes as you will only have to pay taxes on your yearly gain (check the current tax laws with your accountant on this)
  • makes the property easier to sell as the new buyer won’t have to go out and get a new loan
  • draws more potential buyers as some buyers won’t qualify for a traditional loan due to income documentation, self-employment or minor credit blemishes
  • provides a greater likelihood of getting full market value for your property
  • gives you a liquid asset as you can sell the note at a later date also giving you an opportunity to strategize or plan for the gain
  • allows you to receive a higher interest rate on your money than if you put it into other things such as bonds, savings accounts, etc
  • provides the peace of mind that your security is the real estate that you have owned and thus know quite a bit about
  • saves you money on the closing costs

The major negative of seller financing is that you may have to go through the foreclosure process if the buyer defaults, and the house may need repairs once you have foreclosed. If you are going to do seller financing I suggest that you get at least 10% down, run a credit check on the buyer so that you understand your risks and have the loan secured by the property.

UTILIZING A LEASE OPTION

Another exit strategy is to utilize a Lease Option. In this scenario, you put the tenant in a lease with the option to purchase the property at a set price at a future date. At a minimum, the monthly rent should cover your monthly costs and you should require a non-refundable deposit that is applicable to the purchase price for the option right. The pluses to this strategy are:

  • it’s a great strategy in a slow market where you would have to take a loss if you sold the property today
  • this type of tenant will typically take better care of the property
  • you may not have to pay a real estate commission if the tenant buys the building

The negatives are (1) if the market goes up and you have to sell it at less than market as you cannot sell it to anyone else during the option period;  (2) your current mortgage may have a “due on sale clause” and this event may trigger that clause.

DO A 1031 EXCHANGE

If you have done a great job with your investment and you are looking at substantial capital gains if you sell the asset, you might want to consider a 1031 exchange. This is the Unites States government’s way of allowing you to exchange all or a portion of your capital gains through the purchase/exchange into another property. There are many guidelines and rules to follow in this process, but they can be well worth looking into as you can “move up” in your investments through time without paying taxes until you fully divest yourself of the investments.  You may also be able to pass them along to your heirs “tax free”.

DECLINING GROWTH

If your strategy is to get into properties, fix them up or re-tenant them and resell it, your financial model will tell you when to sell. A property’s internal rate of return is a metric that tracks the total return of the investment over its holding period. As you stabilize the property, its income goes up and the rate of return goes up with it. Once you’ve gotten the property optimized, it earns a good return, but the rate stops going up. At that point, you’re no longer creating value, and it’s probably time to sell.

BALLOON PAYMENTS

Most owners hope to pay down their loan every year while growing their income and the property’s value. The longer you own it, though, the less of an effect these changes have on your overall position. For example, if you have a 20 percent equity position and it goes to 22 percent, it’s a 10 percent increase while going from 50 to 52 percent is a 4 percent increase. Many commercial real estate mortgages call for balloon payments between seven and 10 years into the loan. Given that the loans are inconvenient and expensive to refinance, the balloon payment due date is an excellent time to take your money out, reinvest it by trading up into another property and start again.

CONCLUSION

As you can see, there are many exit strategies. The key is to have a few in mind when you purchase the property and to review your goals each year to make sure that your portfolio is performing as your current goals require. I’ll leave you with the thought “Always buy with the end in mind” and you will always sell with a clear profit.

As I say throughout my blogs… if I may be of assistance with your real estate questions, please contact me.  I truly want to help. My way of giving back is to give away my knowledge. Thank you for reviewing this blog.

Why Invest In Commercial Real Estate?

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“It’s tangible, it’s solid, it’s beautiful. It’s artistic, from my standpoint, and I just love real estate.”

Let me ask you a very simple, yet profound question: Why would you invest in real estate? Understanding the answer or answers to this question will help you along your investment career.

The following are a few common answers I have picked up on when I see this question asked:

Top 5 Financial Reasons to Invest in Commercial Real Estate

Let’s first look at the top 5 reasons to invest in real estate from strictly an investment standpoint:

1. Cash Flow – whether you buy with all cash or use today’s favorable financing with a low mortgage payment, positive monthly cash flow will occur when the monthly rent is greater than the monthly expenses. This gives you a monthly income from your real estate investment.

2. Appreciation – Appreciation is the increase in the property’s value, which generally occurs over time and can also be increased by an investor who adds value to the property through repairs and/or enhancements. This is also a great way to create equity in the property.

3. Depreciation – Even with an increase in the property’s value, the government allows owners a tax deduction on their property after they’ve owned the property for at least a year. This annual deduction is called depreciation which when added to the equation, protects the cash flow so that you receive some or all of it tax free. If you are an investor with an income from other sources such as a regular job, it can protect all or some of that income from state and/or federal income taxes. If you really want to understand how great this is, talk to an accountant.

4. Tax Benefits – In addition to depreciation, an investor can usually claim the interest portion of his monthly mortgage payment as a tax deduction.

5. Leverage – Leverage is a very powerful reason for investing in real estate. If an investor used 100% cash to acquire a house worth $100,000, and the house increased in value by $5,000 in one year, then the investor made a return of 5% (assuming no other costs in this case). However, if the investor obtained 80% financing, only $20,000 cash would be required at the closing table, and a bank or other lender would loan the remaining $80,000 to acquire the property. Assuming the same $5,000 increase in value, the investor’s cash contribution of $20,000 would yield a 25% return on investment ($5,000 increase in value divided by the $20,000 investment) in the same one year period of time.

With the above example, if the investor is able to bring in even a conservative amount of cash flow per month of $200, this will result in an additional $2,400 per year added to the increased appreciation. Your return for the year would now be $7,400 ($5,000 appreciation plus $2,400 cash flow) and your return on investment would now be 37% ($7,400 divided by $20,000). Even if the property value stayed stable with no appreciation, you would still see a positive return on your investment of the $2,400 in cash flow with a return on investment of 12%.

Adding to these benefits the low interest rates for financing and you can see how easy it is to accumulate wealth and become a successful investor.

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Major Personal Reasons People Invest in Commercial Real Estate

Freedom:
Frankly, this is why most people start investing in real estate. They get star struck with the idea of riches that would give them the freedom to stop working for someone else. They may have a great job that they absolutely love that pays the bills but they still want to achieve long-term freedom. Or they may want extra money to eventually travel and do the things they want to do. And, if you buy and hold cash flow properties over time, sacrificing and delaying gratification, in five, ten or twenty years, you should have a pile of monthly cash flow and be able to attain that desired freedom.

Control:
Some investors I speak with want real estate to give them some level of control over their financial lives because, let’s face it, we have zero control in financial investments outside of real estate investing. If you invest in the stock market or money market funds, you don’t have any control over the return you may make on them. With real estate, there are things that you can do to control your return on investment as shown above.

Alternatives:
For some investors, real estate is nothing more than a portion of their overall investment portfolio. Perhaps you have divided your portfolio to include mutual funds, stocks, and real estate investment, etc. Or maybe you’re looking to achieve higher returns out of your cash through active management.

Career, Job, or Escape:
A few investors look at real estate investing as a career or a chance to own their own company. Others look at real estate as a means to eventually replace the job or career they may currently hate. And I’ve also seen many dive in head first, as if they’re running away from something versus running towards something.

Creating Value or Thrill of Hunt:
Many investors love the thrill of the deal and love telling you about the thrill of chasing a deal down or their last remodel. They pursue that addictive feeling and are always looking for the next rush or opportunity to turn another ugly duckling into a beautiful swan.

Options:
After many years of real estate investing, I have come to realize that in the end people love investing in real estate because it has given them so many more options. They have the options of continuing to work their current job, buying real estate as a full time career, and/or traveling, etc. The more they invest the more option doors open.

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The Real Reason to Invest in Commercial Real Estate

People fall hard for the sexy pitch of earning freedom. Frankly, freedom is good but I think what people are really after is options. I believe that is why they keep working so hard to find the next deal, to find the next investor, and to keep building their growing portfolio.

Some might think freedom and options are the same things. But to me, freedom really means that they can stop doing something while options mean they can do other things. Having lived through this realization, I can tell you firsthand that having options is even better than having freedom. I would say you get freedom first, and then you build or acquire options.

As you read this, I hope you will be honest and figure out what Real Estate Investing means to you. I suspect that no matter why you think you are investing, if you peel back the onion, you are really looking to create options for you and your family.

Good luck in your investing, no matter your reasons!

As I say throughout my blogs, if I may be of assistance with your real estate questions, please contact me…I truly want to help. My way of giving back is to give away my knowledge. Thank you for visiting my blog.

No Money Down Commercial Real Estate Deals

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I am frequently asked if you can buy commercial real estate with no money down. My answer is yes, you can buy commercial real estate with no money down, however you need to be careful and conservative in your approach. The other big thing that you need is your creativity.  There are several no money down concepts including seller financing, using other people’s money, taking on a partner, utilizing home equity loans or lines of credit, wrap around financing, lease with option to buy, using private or hard money, assume some of the sellers debt, wholesaling properties and financing to 100 to 110 percent of the cost of the property through private lenders or USDA or VA loans. In the commercial real estate market, the two most common are seller financing and using other people’s money.

Seller financing is where the seller carries back a portion of or the entire purchase price. This is common in a market or economy where the banking industry has strict lending requirements making it very hard to get a loan.  When you approach a seller about carrying back financing you will want to point out to them the advantages of seller financing which are: they don’t have to take all of the gain immediately, they can delay some of the gain as you make your payments, saving them some taxes on the gain, the note you negotiate can be sold at any time if they want to get out of it for any reason, you can pay them a higher interest rate than if they put the money in the bank or invested it in bonds, they will have the real estate as security for their note and they can potentially save money on closing costs.

Using other people’s money is where you find an investor or investors who will front you all of the required money. The investors can be a family member, a friend or a business acquaintance. The investor is usually looking for a certain percentage return or ownership or both.  As you can see, the investor can be a lender and/or a partner, based on their wants and needs.  Using this method, in the beginning you will be pledging a lot of your profit, however as you get experience and a solid track record, you will find that you will keep more of the profits for yourself.  This method also requires that you put together a buying strategy and an exit strategy as your investors will want to know how long you will need their money and the return that they can expect.

One of the keys to no money down deals is that you need to bring something to the table.  Some of the things that you can bring are your time, your experience, your creativity, your intelligence, your connections, your education and/or your confidence.  As you do deals, all of these areas will grow, along with your bank account.

In my opinion, the best properties to do a no money deal with are those that have upside potential such as properties with 30% or more vacancy, properties with rents 40% or more below market, properties that you can expand because there is excess land or you can expand upward by adding levels and/or properties that have poor management where you can substantially cut expenses. These types of properties typically assure you that you can create immediate equity and/or cash flow through fixing a problem.  In other words, this is where you utilize your creativity to solve a problem that a particular asset has.  You need to learn how to see problems as opportunities.

I do not suggest that you buy a property for no money down that has a small initial return or breaks even or loses money on a monthly basis even if the property gives you tax advantages and cash flows after the tax advantages. If for some reason something goes wrong with the property and you have to put money into the property you will not appreciate this investment.

One of my favorite quotes when talking about no money down deals is “If you don’t think that you can do a no money down deal, then you can’t”.

As I say throughout my blogs, if I may be of assistance with your real estate questions please contact me.  My way of giving back is to give away my knowledge.  Thank you for reviewing this blog.