Archive for the ‘Real Estate’ Category

Selecting a Commercial Property Location

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Contrary to public opinion, rent is not one of the top 5 considerations when evaluating a property or a space for your retail business. True, it is an important factor but without consideration given to the 5 items below, even a rent-free location could be a losing proposition.
-Location: The old adage, Location, Location, Location is still true but retailers today must take this one step further. A great location means different things to different retailers. For instance, a great location for a restaurant that serves only lunch and dinner may be a poor location for a coffee/espresso retailer. A great location for a high-end jewelry store may be a poor location for a check cashing / payday loan retailer. In order to determine the best location for a particular retail business one must look beyond the general notion that a strong site is universal and consider what makes it such.
-Demographics:A strong retail location will encompass a trade area that has a dense population of your core customer base. This can be daytime population (businesses & employees), residential population (commonly known as rooftops) or both. A strong location is one that is visible (regularly) to the types of customer that you want to attract. For example, a location that is close to a residential population that has many young working families may be a good location in which to consider opening a day care business. A daytime population that has a lot of white collar employment in a ½ mile radius may be a good location in which to open a casual restaurant that specializes in lunch and dinner. The “right” demographics are different for every retailer.
-Ingress & Egress: A strong retail location MUST have easy access from the major streets servicing the property. In the retail world you don’t want to have what is known in the industry as a “Statue of Liberty” location, meaning one that is extremely visible but next to impossible to access. We all know that consumers are lazy. If given the choice a customer will favor one retailer over another (goods & service being relatively equal) simply because it is easier to drive in and out of the property’s parking lot. This is a fact and you can see its effect on retailers all over your city if you look hard enough. Make certain that the location you choose has good access.
-Signage: A visible sign is very important to all retailers. If your customer can’t see your business how can they shop there? A well located, visible sign that identifies your business is critical to your success. On the flip side, many retailers think that monument or pylon signs are a necessity. This is only partly true. If you are an “anchor-tenant” and are able to erect a sign that is large enough to see from at least 1-2 blocks away, a monument or pylon sign will be helpful. Otherwise, traffic moves at such speed and there are so many visual displays competing for the motorist’s attention that a minor position on a multi-tenant sign will do little to draw traffic into your business. You are better off taking the time to evaluate the type, size and visibility afforded your storefront sign and base your signage decision from this perspective.

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Price of Your Home

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

The present real estate market is truly an immense and extremely competitive sector with tremendous trends and components. For example, selling a home is more of a challenge and a game of strategy than just a venture into a property investment. This is because of the massive number of houses put up in the market for sale, thus making it an ultimately steep competition. Whenever you find it difficult to sell your house, you might want to consider several options like lowering the price of your home. However, lowering your price is not your only choice if your house remains unsold for quite some time. Real estate agents stated that there are main factors to consider when deciding to cut on an amount of a property such as the condition of the home, location and the price. Another thing you can do is to ramp up your marketing efforts, either by putting on more ads or increasing the number of open houses. It would be helpful to seek the advice of a real estate agent if your house remains unsold for quite a time. Real estate agents have more experience at marketing homes and they can help you determine whether your asking price is reasonable enough by comparing it to similar homes in your area. Real estate agents can also inform you how much inventory is on the market, and how long it takes a home to sell on average. This is a valuable information if you are deciding on how long to hold out for your asking price. It is indeed a difficult decision in lowering your asking price than the original amount you intended it to sell. Every seller wants to have a more profitable result for his or her property sale. In real estate, versatility is the name of the game especially when dealing with the property value and worth. You should be able to do something in order to have an edge among the rest of the properties for sale in the market.

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Mortgage Help

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

When you are looking to purchase your first home, the mortgage and house purchase processes can be daunting. How do you go about finding the right deal from all the first time buyer mortgages on the market and what things are the lenders going to want to know about you? To start with you need to find out how much your can borrow and what it is going to cost. Speaking to a mortgage broker who has access to the whole market would give you the opportunity to find out which first time buyer mortgages will be the best for your circumstances. You will need to provide details of your employment and income, your address/residential history, savings for your deposit and any credit commitments you may have such as personal loans or credit card balances. Lenders use this information to assess whether you may or may not be able to afford mortgage amount you are requesting. After performing a credit search, to check your payment track record on any other credit agreements, the lender will issue you with a mortgage promise confirming if they will lend the mortgage amount you are applying for. If they do not feel you are suitable they may decline your application.

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Buying Your First Home

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

There are convenient things that one should know when they are going to buy their first home. Unfortunately, most of the first-time home owners or home buyers are basically not aware of the facts that they can actually save a big amount of money when it comes to purchasing their first large investment – a home. So how would you be able to know how much you are able to afford when it comes to the boring monthly payments for your first home? It is really vital to realize that the experts are recommending no more than 28-30% of the income is spent on your home each month, or through the annual earnings. When buying the first home, you can use the budget to determine the total price of the home once you have determined how much you are able to afford. With this account, you should begin to measure the pre-approved for a certain amount when it comes to mortgage.

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Decision Between Buying and Renting

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Every year, millions of people graduate from college and move to new areas around the country. When moving around the country people face the need to find a place to live. As such, the question arises, do you buy a house or rent a place? What are the benefits of each? Buying a house offers the great advantage that every dollar spent is going towards a long term savings. Even though you no longer have the money, you are building equity by paying off the amount you owe on the house. In the end, you can freely sell the house and make back the money you paid. Or, you can simply continue to live in the house without the cost of a monthly payment. Financially, it is impossible to argue with the benefits of buying a house. On the other side of the equation, buying a house is a big commitment. What if you don’t plan on living in the area for an extended period? Whereas when renting, you don’t have anything holding you back, when you’ve purchased a home, you now have responsibility and an investment in the area. It suddenly is difficult to leave.

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Buying Or Renting Property

Monday, February 15th, 2010

-Advantages of Buying
Investing in yourself. You won’t be paying the mortgage for anyone except yourself. And if the bank is willing to lend you the money, you can be sure they think you can afford it. That’s their business…to lend you money. They won’t give money to a poor risk. Equity increase. You can improve your asset. New paint and flooring can increase the value of your house significantly, depending on the condition it was in when you bought it. And if the bank agrees that the value of your house has gone up, you may be able to withdraw some of that equity to purchase something else that is important to you, generally through a line of credit. That money can come in very handy! Choices. When prices drop, as they have lately in many cities in North America, it’s a great time to buy. Statistics show that real estate will always increase in value. Do you know of any houses that are worth less than they were twenty or thirty years ago? What goes down will always come up. Real estate prices always go up and down, but they almost always go up higher than the time before. You don’t have to buy when prices are high, but you can buy what you can afford if you don’t want to wait for another slow down in real estate. Freedom. You can do whatever you want. The only people that can stop you are the police, the building inspector, and the health department! Well, maybe some others too. But you can have as many pets, parties and friends over as you like. Pride of Ownership. This is very important to some people. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of living in something that you own! Cutting the grass or shoveling the driveway at a rental house isn’t nearly as satisfying as cutting your own grass and shoveling your very own driveway. Stability. You can’t get a notice saying that your unit is being sold, or you will have to move out because the landlord wants to do major renovations. Long term benefits. When your retirement days start to loom over the horizon and your house is paid off, life can be very good. If you are still making those monthly rent payments, chances are that you will have to pay them for the rest of your life. And rents seem to increase faster than pensions do!
-Disadvantages of Renting
You have no control over your own living space. You can’t renovate or decorate as you’d like, and always have to ask permission to make changes. If you don’t get the okay from the landlord, you will either have to return your unit to its original condition, or pay to have the landlord do the work. Most rental units have many, many regulations regarding smoking, pets, parties, noise, and so on. If you were to buy a condo, you would likely have the same regulations, but if you bought your own house, you would have more freedom to live your own life. Have as many pets as you want. Throw a party every night if you want. You get the idea. If you rent, breaking those rules can get you evicted, which can be very inconvenient. You are helping to pay off someone else’s mortgage, when you could be paying down your own. If you live in an apartment, you have to put up with other people’s noises and smells. If you’re used to it, no problem, but it can be unpleasant at times.

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Pricing Commercial Property

Monday, February 15th, 2010

We will be placing an industrial building on the market shortly. What is the best way to establish the right selling price?

Setting an asking price is more art than science, but certainly the first step is to establish the market value of the property. The real estate appraisal process considers three means of establishing value: the cost approach, the income approach and the market approach. The cost approach establishes the cost of constructing the building in today’s dollars, and then subtracts accumulated depreciation. The income approach uses an existing or predicted income flow to establish value by means of a capitalization rate. The market approach analyzes market sales for similar properties, making the necessary adjustments for features, condition and date of sale. The most persuasive approach in your case, and for most industrial properties on Long Island, is the market approach. This method will give you the best indicator of the worth of your own property. For the more sophisticated or expensive properties, I recommend a full demonstration appraisal. Yes, I know real estate brokers can provide you with comparable sales. However, a licensed appraiser familiar with industrial properties will not only document those comparables, but will also help you assemble all the information that will be necessary in marketing the property. The appraisal may also catch some items that need addressing before the marketing commences. Once you have established a market value, which is the price that you should be able to achieve in the open marketplace, you can give some thought to an asking price. This is an area where an experienced and active broker can best assist you. The theory is to establish a price that is high enough to allow for negotiation, but not so high that potential buyers refuse to view the property. There is no magic formula.

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Home Buying

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Like when you construct a building, you need to go through a step by step process. That also goes the same in home buying or property investing. Pre-qualification process is the first step that you need to consider when you plan to buy your dream house. This builds the foundation for buying real estate properties that provides approval to the buyers. Such approval influences your decision whether you are capable to pursue your plans or not. The approval is a strong factor in determining the success of this venture. This will be given by the lender and you need to show this to the seller and your broker to prove that you are capable of paying your mortgage. Once you hold such proof, this will strengthen your standing in any lending institution and to other people involved in real estate investment. If you are approved in the pre-qualification process, you are a step higher than other buyers who have not gone through the procedure. Aside from that, another advantage that you can enjoy when you are pre-qualified is you can easily manipulate the negotiation process since you are confident enough. The haggling of prices will be a lot easier since the seller and broker are also secured that you have the ability to buy the house. You are given the certification saying that your loan is approved and you are eligible to acquire a property under certain terms and conditions. Your credit standing is also improved if you take hold of the certification letter. And the nice thing about this is your interest rates are fixed in a locked-in rate while you are still searching for the right property.

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Selling Your Home

Monday, February 15th, 2010

-Being able to see and touch what to most is the biggest investment they will ever make, Even as technology progresses and more and more people rely on the internet, there is still a lot to be said for being able to physically touch something. Especially something of significant value such as a home! It is true that a very large amount of home buyers are starting their search online months in advance of actually getting out and looking at houses. Keeping the big picture in mind, buyers will at some point HAVE to actually get in their cars, drive to homes of interest, and tour the home to get REAL feel for the home and whether or not it would fit the needs and lifestyle of their family. At this point in the search process, buyers are looking for homes of interest that are having Open Houses in the immediate future. It is in a way like buying a new car. I recently purchased a new car and I spent 2 weeks looking at photos online, Car Fax reports, etc. before making a decision. But, when I narrowed it down to a few cars, I got in my car, went the car lots and test drove the vehicles. In comparison, people want to test drive houses too!
-Personal interaction with potential buyers & real life feedback, There is no replacement for being able to read potential buyers body language and reactions to homes as they are actually touring them. This is important to be able to give accurate feedback to my clients whose homes I have listed for sale. Open Houses are a great way to accomplish this. Open Houses are a very relaxed and passive environment for buyers to tour homes and if paying close attention, one can get a good feel for the negatives and positives of the home from the perspective of actual buyers. Whether it be the price is too high, the kitchen is too small or the house is dirty, this feedback is vital!

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Commercial Property Lease

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Renting office space is an important decision in the life of every business. It is a decision most businesses do not relish and make only a few times, if indeed they do so more than once. There are a myriad of reasons why businesses are faced with the consideration of what to do prior to committing to a commercial property lease. What began as a home business may have expanded beyond home and require office space for lease. It may just be an issue of space or an issue of staffing, equipment and space. It may be a business outgrowing its current premises or maybe even downsizing in the current economic times. Whatever the reason commercial property leases are an important decision that should be carefully considered. Most businesses don’t want to move once let alone think about doing it all again because their first choice was a poor one long term. Over time there have been so many changes within offices. Consider the changes to equipment size. Gone are the days of monstrous, bulky equipment. Beyond the equipment there have been changes to the ergonomic and functional design of office furniture. Offices now have many options to consider and combine for functionality. Even the humble desktop computer now requires significantly less space than even five years ago. It is important to take stock and think through a few issues involved in commercial office space decisions before setting your sights on a property. The first for most businesses is cost. Don’t be fooled by straight dollar savings however. For example property becomes more expensive the closer it is to the centre of town. Choosing an office on the outskirts of town may save your rent savings but may be costing your business significantly more than you are saving. Think about your customers and staff. Is it easy and accessible? Is it in a location conducive to happy and productive staff or located somewhere that ensures they all leave by 5, no matter what, because they don’t want to be left there after dark. Likewise for customers it is too far to travel to, or too difficult to get to, or located where customers are not comfortable going. Losing or changing staff and losing customers due to changes in location can create enormous costs for your business that most likely outweigh any cheaper rental saving.

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