- Before the Build-Out
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In today’s competitive leasing market, build outs or other capital improvements are good ways for property owners to retain current tenants or attract new ones. Creating more open floor plans or providing additional capacity for new technologies can adapt older
- Cost-Segregation Solutions
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Cost segregation is an accepted Internal Revenue Service method of allocating the purchase price paid for real estate property. Generally, cost segregation enables owners to increase the depreciation deductions from their properties, providing substantial present value benefits by reducing income
- Cool Down Costs
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While occupancy, maintenance, and zoning matters consume a great deal of property owners and managers’ time, these professionals also must consider other important business components, such as energy costs, to remain competitive. When left unmonitored, energy costs can become a
- Cost-Segregation Advantage
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On Feb. 13, President Bush signed the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 into law. The legislation is intended to encourage spending by providing advance refund rebates to individual taxpayers along with business tax breaks in the form of accelerated depreciation
- Companies Can Improve Cash Flow With These Strategies
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Corporate real estate professionals always look for creative ways to help their companies manage costs while growing their core businesses. In today's cooler economic climate, finding them is not a luxury — it's a necessity. Myriad corporate financing strategies are
- Creative Currency
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In today’s real estate climate, making your property more marketable requires creativity and an open mind. Owners need to expand the benefits their properties offer. Along with physical aspects and pricing, the structure of the transaction, and your capabilities and
- Consider the Future When Negotiating Loan Document Details
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After the basic business terms have been agreed on, proper negotiation and execution of loan documents can make or break a commercial real estate deal. Whether acquiring an existing income producing property, developing a new property, or refinancing the debt
- Redefining Debt
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Downsized operations and scarcity of tenants have temporarily left many business owners and developers with too much real estate and too much debt. Refinancing often is the solution of choice, but doing so isn&rsquo t always viable. Owners or developers
- Private Mortgage Loans Provide a Short-Term Financing Alternative
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Private mortgage loans are made by private lenders instead of traditional financing sources such as banks, lending institutions, or government agencies. They usually are short term (6 months to 3 years) hard money or asset based loans, and the decision
- New Funding for Affordable Housing Encourages Public/Private Partnerships
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Affordable housing is a critical socioeconomic issue in many regions, and demand is rising nationwide. Yet financing and developing affordable housing can be challenging. Many affordable housing projects involve more planning and entail greater risks than similar market rate projects
- Mind the GAAP
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GAAP is widely used. It is required for public companies such as publicly traded real estate investment trusts, and often it is demanded of private real estate companies by institutional investor partners. But GAAP is not the only choice for
- Multifamily Property Owners Benefit From Competitive Financing
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The current low interest rates present a double edged sword for many property owners The rates offer increased cash flow opportunities, but they also allow tenants to qualify for higher loan amounts and motivate them to move out of apartments
- Pre-Underwriting Helps to Sell Properties
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Residential homebuyers often get pre qualified to facilitate their negotiating and purchasing process. Commercial property brokers can use a less common but similar process for their income property listings — although it's the property that gets pre qualified, or pre
- Rising Rates
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Recent commercial real estate capital market demand has caused capitalization rates to decline significantly, which has inflated real estate values despite poor fundamentals. Yet most experts believe that cap rates soon will climb. Investors should assess their properties to ensure
- Separation Anxiety
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In February the White House published a report to Congress mandated by the Dodd Frank Financial Reform Bill. The white paper indicated a significantly reduced role for the government sponsored entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, winding down their conventional
- Repayment Options
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When defeasance became standard call protection for average commercial mortgage backed securities loans in 1998, the timing could not have been worse for borrowers. Yields on government securities declined steadily in 2001 and 2002 making defeasance increasingly more expensive as
- Sale-Leasebacks Provide Capital for Core Business Investment
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The market for sale leasebacks — transactions in which companies sell and then lease back real estate assets — is growing at an estimated $10 billion to $15 billion annually. Continued increases are expected due to today's difficult real estate
- Struggling Properties Can Exercise Workout Options to Improve Financial Health
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This year is shaping up to be the most active period for real estate workouts since the early 1990s, primarily due to the declining value and performance of commercial properties during the economic slowdown. Tightening capital markets have compounded the
- Understanding Today's Underwriting Criteria Makes Refinancing Easier
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With historically low interest rates still available, many property owners are seeking to refinance their loans. However, they should be aware that today's lenders underwrite real estate values far differently than in the past by using a relatively new set
- Understand Lender Criteria to Finance Manufactured-Housing Communities
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Manufactured housing is a niche that offers potentially strong returns for some investors. Once thought of as simply mobile home parks, today's manufactured home communities are split into two primary categories landlease communities where residents own their homes and lease
- Consider the Options
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When fully understood, properly prepared, and used correctly, real estate options are an excellent way for knowledgeable investors to conserve capital, create leverage, and reduce risks. Investors and clients who may be short on capital may find options a good
- Construction Plans
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Sponsors and owners considering financing the construction of commercial real estate projects need to know how lenders evaluate a project's overall risk. Such understanding increases the likelihood that a developer's application for financing will be approved. Lenders view construction loans
- It's A Wrap
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While condominium demand outpaces supply in many markets, some lenders are starting to tighten their financing parameters in anticipation of a possible market slowdown. To maximize their opportunities in this changing environment, commercial real estate developers must carefully manage potential
- Loan Liaison
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Appraisers and underwriters are involved in the commercial real estate financing process as objective sources to ensure that buyers and lenders do not let optimism for projects result in unfavorable transactions. However, sometimes these professionals base their assessments on data
- IRA Investments
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Purchasing residential property using retirement funds has received a lot of press, but what's still new to many investors is the fact that commercial real estate also can be bought this way. In fact, the Internal Revenue Service allows individual