The Quick Start System is our answer to one of the
most common questions we get every week … this one …

“How do I get started in Commercial Real Estate”

Not by cruising LoopNet, that’s for sure!

Our Quick Start System combines 8 trainings in one
to build your Business foundation and Personal Knowledge
Base wide enough to support a portfolio of any size.

Full Details at our Invitation-Only Webpage giving
you an exclusive one hundred fifty dollar savings.

http://tinyurl.com/3xunfw9

Ingredients: One bag of fresh cranberries, sugar, Port Wine and a couple oranges

• Zest the peel of the oranges with a grater or zesting tool and set aside, then juice the oranges to make half a cup. Add Port to the OJ to make it a full cup of liquid.
• Place the one 1 cup fresh squeezed Orange Juice/Port mix in a saucepan.
• Add 3/4 cup of sugar and bring to a simmer.
• Rinse the cranberries and pick out the brown or soft ones.
• Add the cranberries to the hot OJ & Port and simmer for about 10 minutes. They will gently pop as they cook.
• At the end of ten minutes, remove from the heat, smash lightly with a potato masher so all the berries are at least cracked. Stir in the orange zest and cool.

Serve cool with dinner and goes well on crackers and lots of other things. This recipe can be easily doubled.

Happy Thanksgiving … may we all live in peace and be free from danger.

At the same time, Parking Garages are also a business with their own unique methods of driving profits. Here is one unique insight from Michael Tepper and CJ Follini at the Black Swan Blog …

Treat your parking garage as if it were a Hotel and focus on Presentation, Brand and Service.

Here are the rest of their 7 top tips:

1. Always perform a structural engineer’s report prior to purchase; at approximately $30,000 – $50,000 its money well-spent that could save you hundreds of thousands of dollars.
2. Prepare a market survey mapping competitive garages and their pricing.
3. Target facilities with at least 50% of revenue derived from monthly contracts.
4. Strongly consider switch to automation especially if the facility is or will be 24/7.
5. Analyze hourly usage reports to identify potential revenue gains from customized pricing such as reducing hourly increment from 15 – 20 to 5 – 10.
6. Treat your ownership as if it were a hotel. Presentation. Brand. Service
7. ALWAYS HIRE A PROFESSIONAL FACILITY OPERATOR such as Standard Parking.

Here is the full post at the Black Swan Blog

This is a very basic screening for potential warm multifamily markets … ones with lower levels of both rates. AND remember, just because state level statistics are negative does not mean there are no local markets in the same state that show promise … all real estate is very, very local.

Here is the map … enjoy…

When you purchase a commercial property and leave the Closing Table, you will take with you several different piles of cash you don’t see in a Residential Real Estate Purchase.

They come in the form of

• - Tenant Security Deposits
• - Pro-rations
• - Credits

And in a larger property, these can easily total hundreds of thousands of dollars.

=======

WARNING:

We know of other commercial property Educators who advise you take this money at the close and use it to purchase additional property. They crow about “Cash Back at the Close” as a major reason to move up to commercial property.

We strongly disagree – and absolutely discourage you from taking cash out of ANY commercial property at the Close!

That is because all of this Money has a dedicated purpose.

If you use this money for anything other than its intended purpose in this property – you are literally Stealing it from the property and your Investors. Taking this money can and will sabotage the success of your investment.

=======

Always use this cash wisely and Only for its intended purposes.  

 Tenant Security Deposits -

Are to be returned to the Tenants when they move out. Set up an interest bearing account for them and transfer the appropriate amount of money directly from the closing table. This cash is spoken for.

Pro-rations and Credits -

Are money already set aside for operational expenses and need to be kept off to the side until these expenses are actually due.

EXAMPLE #1:

If you buy the property on July 1st you will receive a credit from the Seller for 1/2 the year’s property Taxes. This money is dedicated to paying the taxes when they are due – and if you spend it instead – or use it for ANY other purpose, you have just stolen from the property.

EXAMPLE #2:

If you buy the property in the middle of the month and the Seller has already collected the rent you will get a prorated share of the rent collected. In this case, 1/2 of it. This money has been generated this month to pay next month’s bills, leave it set aside in your operational account for use when the bills come due.

If you siphon off any of these funds for yourself or other investments, you are setting yourself up to run short of operational cash very quickly.

When this occurs your only recourse will be to ask your investors for more money, this is called a Capital Call. AND there is nothing worse for your reputation as a Project Sponsor than a quick Capital Call.

We recommend you open three bank accounts when you take over ownership

1) Operations Account – For the monthly in and out of income and expenses

2) Security Deposit Account – Best if it is interest bearing. Transfer all Security Deposits directly into this account.

3) Reserves Account – Always keep your reserve account topped up (we recommend at least one month of operating expenses). This is your rainy day fund and can be an interest bearing account as well.

We recommend you raise enough money from investors to fill the Reserve Account at the Close of your Purchase. This way you will not need to make a Capital Call if the furnace goes out in the first 6 months of your ownership.

With these accounts set up, simply transfer all Closing Table funds into the appropriate account.

AND whatever you do, don’t steal from your own property!

There are some bright spots in Retail as reported in a Globe Street article this week. And these could be the only bright spots in Retail Real Estate this year …  it is worth taking a peek at this list.

Overview:  “Though the International Council of Shopping Centers predicts that 150,000 stores will shutter this year, the association also noted that between 105,000 and 110,000 stores will open in 2009″

Here are some of the companies opening new stores this year – they fall in to several categories … Discount, Foreign Companies with their first US stores, services and food. Check it out … this is a very interesting list.

• Foreign:
  • British designer Karen Millen
  • Swedish chain Filippa K
  • Canadian store Aritzia
  • South Korea’s Who A.U.
  • Japanese Uniqlo
• Discount:
  • American Apparel
  • The Buckle
  • Cato 
  • TJX which includes TJMaxx, Marshalls, Winners, HomeGoods, TKMaxx, AJWright, and HomeSense
• Food:
  • Panera Bread 
  • Tesco’s Fresh & Easy concept 
  • Wal-Mart also is joining the fray, opening smaller stores 
  • Harris Teeter 
  • Wegmans 
• Services – daycare:
  • Crème de la Crème 
  • Children of America
• And Others:
  • Flip-Flop Shops
  • Gateway Newsstands
  • lululemon athletica
  • Cabela’s
  •  Monkey Joe’s

Hope your next project includes one of these anchors. Here’s to your investing success.