Take Ten - Salon Building in MS - Sell My Commercial Property Review

Here is our quick "take ten" (minute) review of a “sell my commercial property” request on a salon building in MS this week. (One of about 150-300 we receive each month.) Unfortunately, we have to pass on this opportunity.

However, there is opportunity for someone and here is where it lies: - buy the business and real estate as it has been a salon for 24 years. - area is projected to have 27% future job growth - local person could convert to a nice house. See house on corner nearby (image below) - could turn into a small income property. 95,000 ask price with a $791 per month net rent could be a 10% cap rate for someone.

If you have interest in this MS commercial property for sale, please contact us at 1-866-539-1777 and we can get you in touch with the owner/broker.

We are passing because: - tucked in physical location blocked by neighboring building (see image below) - location off of main drag - 31.0% of the population are below the poverty line, including 43.7% of those under the age of 18 and 21.3% of those 65 and older. - home prices are 45k to 75k nearby; owner is asking $95k on this deal. No noticeable upside for the extra price. - Population in 2014: 12,703 (96% urban, 4% rural). Population change since 2000: -4.8% more - crime index 409; US average 297

We are happy to review your property for free, call us or go here.

front

side-view

Understanding Real Estate Due Diligence

real-estate-contract-deal.jpg

There are many aspects associated with commercial real estate that can be confusing to new buyers or even escape those investors who should be savvy shoppers. When it comes to real estate due diligence, the subject is broad and often complex. Because of this, it makes sense to use a real estate due diligence expert when making a purchase.

What is Real Estate Due Diligence?

When an offer is made on a piece of property by a potential buyer and accepted by the seller, a contract is created. The contract allows the buyer to control the property while getting a “free look” to make sure the property is what they want.

In basic terms, due diligence is the process that a buyer and his advisors can use to obtain more information about the property. If the real estate due diligence uncovers concerns that were undisclosed or unknown, a buyer can legally terminate the contract and choose to not purchase the property without repercussions or penalties.

Use an Expert

While it is always best for a seller to disclose as much information about a property as possible, the buyer is ultimately responsible for completing the real estate due diligence and bears the risk of any problems that come along with a property.

Because there are so many aspects to consider, most buyers are unable to complete the due diligence process adequately without the help of a professional. A real estate due diligence expert knows what problems to look for in various types of properties and can save the buyer time, money and trouble when examining a property for potential problems.

Tools Your Due Diligence Expert Offers

Because there are so many aspects to consider, your real estate due diligence expert will probably use a real estate due diligence checklist. For residential properties, this real estate due diligence checklist can include tasks such as checking for lead, asbestos and mold. A good due diligence expert will also check property lines and access, water rights and the structural integrity of the building in addition to zoning, use and construction quality.

Do your homework! It is easier to get into a problem property than out!

Image of business contract on background of two employees handsh

What is the smartest real estate investment strategy?

Great question posed on National Real Estate Investor online as a poll. My answer: Value-Add

Looks like I scored an "A" on this test.

real-estate-investment-strategy

What strategy are you pursuing?

Here is a quick summary of real estate investment strategies via Wikipedia:

Private equity real estate funds generally follow core-plus, value added, or opportunistic strategies when making investments.

Core Plus: This is a moderate risk/moderate return strategy. The fund will generally invest in core properties however some of these properties will require some form of enhancement or value-added element.

Value Added: This is a medium-to-high risk/medium-to-high return strategy. It will involve buying a property, improving it in some way, and selling it at an opportune time for a gain. Properties are considered value added when they exhibit management or operational problems, require physical improvement, and/or suffer from capital constraints.

Opportunistic: This is a high risk/high return strategy. The properties will require a high degree of enhancement. This strategy may also involve investments in development, raw land, and niche property sectors. Investments are tactical.

The six best books for Commercial Real Estate Brokers

whispersmall.jpg

I get emails all the time from people looking to get into the commercial real estate brokerage business. They ask:

  • How do I go from residential to commercial real estate?
  • How do I get commercial real estate clients?
  • How do I market and sell commercial property?
  • How much money can I make in commercial real estate?

  • I give them as many tips as I can after 10+ years in the business and almost $200M in volume but experience and time are the best teachers. There are also several good books on the commercial real estate business.

    Here are my top six commercial real estate broker books:

    If that is not good enough, here are some recommendations on:

    Real Estate Investment Books and Real Estate Development Books

    Also check out: How to succeed in Commercial Real Estate

Quora for Real Estate

quora-logo.jpeg

Quora for Real EstateDo you use Quora?  Maybe you like learning or teaching or are just plain curious or are trying to get an answer to that question that Wikipedia or Google could not answer. Quora is like Yahoo Answers on steriods.  The answers come from real people (real names shown as opposed to screen names) and those real people are usually experts in their fields.

When time permits, I like to jump on Quora to learn about interesting stuff and sometimes even give my two cents.  Here are some of my answers on Quora as related to real estate:

Real Estate Investment Question

Read Quote of Thomas Morgan's answer to Is buying an empty lot in downtown west Jefferson, north Carolina a good investment? on Quora

Real Estate Redevelopment Question

Read Quote of Thomas Morgan's answer to Urban Planning: How can dying downtowns be revitalized? on Quora

Commercial Real Estate Lease v. Own Question

Read Quote of Thomas Morgan's answer to Why is Google leasing and not purchasing its newest development? on Quora

Commercial Real Estate Vacancy Question

Read Quote of Thomas Morgan's answer to Commercial Real Estate: It seems that lots of commercial real estate will become vacant in the near future as more bricks and mortar retailers go bankrupt (more e-commerce). What could this excess real estate inventory be used for in the future? on Quora

Who pays Closing Costs? State by State Guide

closingcoststitleinsurance.jpg

Closing costs differ around the United States.

closing costs title insurance

Closing costs including title insurance are usually based on local custom where the property is located.  Yes, this is negotiable but in most cases, even if the Buyer and Seller are in different states, the parties pay closing costs based on the customs and traditions in the county where the property is located.

Here is a great State by State guide to real estate closing costs and who pays title insurance.  Again, this differs in every transaction and is usually negotiated by the Buyer and Seller in the deal unless it is mandated by state law.  The following list is via Closing costs around the United States www.miadomo.com.  Photo credit Doug Francis Virgina Realtor.

Closing costs around the United States

This is a general reference guide. Contact a local title company, real estate attorney, lenders or private escrow companies who handle closing in your state for specific information.

Alabama

Buyers and sellers negotiate who's going to pay the closing costs and usually equally split them.

Alaska

Buyers and sellers negotiate who's going to pay the closing costs and usually equally split them.

Arizona

The seller customarily pays for the owner's policy, and the buyer pays for the lender's policy. They split escrow costs otherwise.

Arkansas

The seller customarily pays for the owner's policy, and the buyer pays for the lender's policy. They split escrow costs otherwise.

California

Not only do escrow procedures differ between Northern and Southern California, they also vary from county to county. Contact local title company for a specific information.

Colorado

Closing costs are generally paid by real estate agent. Sellers pay the title insurance premium and the documentary transfer tax.

Connecticut

Buyers pay for examination and title insurance, while sellers pay the documentary and conveyance taxes.

Delaware

Buyers pay closing costs and the owner's title insurance premiums. Buyers and sellers share the state transfer tax.

District of Columbia

Buyers pay closing costs, title insurance premiums, and recording taxes. Sellers pay the transfer tax.

Florida

Buyers pay the escrow and closing costs, while county custom determines who pays for the title insurance. Sellers pay the documentary tax.

Georgia

Buyers pay title insurance premiums and also closing costs usually. Sellers pay transfer taxes.

Hawaii

Buyers and sellers split escrow fees. Sellers pay the title search costs and the conveyance tax. Buyers pay title insurance premiums for the owner's and lender's policies.

Idaho

Buyers and sellers split escrow costs in general and negotiate who's going to pay the title insurance premiums.

Illinois

Buyers usually pay the closing costs and the lender's title insurance premiums and the state and county transfer taxes.

Indiana

Buyers pay closing costs and the lender's title insurance costs, while sellers pay for the owner's policy.

Iowa

Buyers and sellers share the closing costs; sellers pay the documentary taxes.

Kansas

Buyers pay the lender's policy costs and the state mortgage taxes, sellers pay for the owner's policy.

Kentucky

Sellers pay closing costs; buyers pay recording fees, responsibility for payment of title insurance premiums varies from county to county.

Louisiana

Buyers pay the title insurance and closing costs.

Maine

Buyers pay the title insurance and closing costs, buyers and sellers share the documentary transfer fees.

Maryland

Buyers pay the title insurance, closing costs and transfer taxes.

Massachusetts

Buyers pay the title insurance, closing costs, except in Worcester where sellers pay.

Michigan

Buyers pay the lenders title insurance premiums and, closing costs, and sellers pay the state transfer tax and the owner's title insurance premiums.

Minnesota

Buyers pay the lender's and owner's title insurance premiums and the mortgage tax/ Sellers pay the closing fees and the transfer taxes.

Mississippi

Buyers and sellers negotiate the payment of title insurance premiums and closing costs. There are no documentary, mortgage or transfer taxes.

Missouri

Buyers and sellers generally split the closing costs. Sellers in western Missouri usually pay for the title insurance policies, while elsewhere the buyers pay.

Montana

Buyers and sellers split the escrow and closing costs, sellers usually pay for the title insurance policies.

Nebraska

Buyers and sellers split escrow and closing costs, sellers pay the state's documentary taxes.

Nevada

Buyers pay the lender's title insurance premiums, sellers pay the owner's and the state's transfer tax.

New Hampshire

Buyers pay all closing costs and title fees except for the documentary tax, that's shared with the sellers.

New Jersey

Both buyer and seller pay the escrow and closing costs. The buyer pays the title insurance fees, and the seller pays the transfer tax.

New Mexico

Both buyer and seller pay the escrow and closing costs, sellers pay for the insurance premium.

New York

Buyers generally pay most closing costs, including all title insurance fees and mortgage taxes. Sellers pay the state and city transfer taxes.

North Carolina

Buyers and sellers negotiate the closing costs, except that buyers pay the recording costs and sellers pay the document preparation and transfer tax costs.

North Dakota

Buyers pay for the closing, the attorney's opinion, and the title insurance, sellers pay for the abstract.

Ohio

Buyers and sellers negotiate closing costs, but sellers pay the transfer taxes.

Oklahoma

Buyers and sellers share the closing costs, except that the buyer pays the lender's policy premium, the seller pays the documentary transfer tax, and the lender pays the mortgage tax.

Oregon

Buyers and sellers split escrow costs and transfer taxes, the buyer pays for the lender's title insurance policy and the seller pays for the owner's policy.

Pennsylvania

Buyers pay closing costs and title insurance fees, buyers and sellers split the transfer taxes.

Rhode Island

Buyers pay title insurance premiums and closing costs, sellers pay documentary taxes.

South Carolina

Buyers pay closing costs, title insurance premiums, and state mortgage taxes, sellers pay the transfer taxes.

South Dakota

Sellers pay the transfer taxes and split the other closing costs, fees and premiums with the buyers.

Tennessee

The payment of title insurance premiums, closing costs, mortgage taxes, and transfer taxes varies according to local practice.

Texas

Buyers and sellers negotiate closing costs.

Utah

Buyers and sellers split escrow fees, and sellers pay the title insurance premiums.

Vermont

Buyers pay recording fees, title insurance premiums, and transfer taxes.

Virginia

Buyers pay the title insurance premiums and the various taxes.

Washington

Sellers pay the title insurance premiums and the "revenue" tax, buyers and sellers split everything else.

West Virginia

Buyers pay the title insurance premiums and sellers pay the documentary taxes and the divide the other closing costs.

Wisconsin

Buyers pay closing costs and the lender's policy fees, sellers pay the owner's policy fees and the transfer taxes.

Wyoming

Buyers and sellers negotiate who's going to pay the various closing costs and title insurance fees.

To buy real estate forms, please look at MiaDomo's legal forms section or our real estate forms links.

Triple Net Lease Calculator

FeaturedVideoOverlay.gif

Here is a tutorial video showing how to use the features of the advanced triple net lease calculator. TMO can help you calculate your triple net lease as a real estate consultant or you can ask a free real estate question (which takes longer).

TMO can help you calculate your triple net lease as a real estate consultant.

The triple net lease calculator can be found at www.morecalculators.com

How to know if landlord is the real landlord?

qanda.jpg

Real Estate Q&A QUESTION:

Dear TMO-

I'm planning on getting an apartment in the Near West side of Chicago. I know there have been a lot of scams going on as of late, so I was wondering if there was a way to check if the landlord is the actual person who owns the land and/or apartment. Is there anyway of finding this out? How do I go about finding out if the person I'm signing an agreement with and giving the deposit to is the real landlord?

TMO's Answer:

The best bet is to check the county property records and get the owner name of record.  Most counties have websites where you can search property records by property address.  The results will show you the legal name of owner:  person or entity.  If the person is one and the same then your question is answered.  If it is a corporation then you most likely would need to check with the state's Secretary of State website and look up the business or entity name and verify the registered agent or contact person for entity. If the owner or Landlord has property manager then the previous suggestions will not answer the question but will help you verify ownership.  Then ask the property manager to get you a signed letter from the landlord or show you the signed property management agreement.  In any case if you are unsure of who you are dealing with, do your homework and get things in writing that are signed directly by the landlord that matches owner of record. Hope this helps-  TMO

TMO reader's  are welcome to chime in and provide more answers below in the comments section.

TMO Real Estate Q&A is governed by our Website Terms and Conditions