Cushman & Wakefield | Commercial Property Southwest Florida donates to Pace Center for Girls

By Gary Tasman For investors, the opportunity to earn “passive income” is one of the most appealing parts of commercial property ownership. A well-managed property will generate rental revenue above and beyond the expenses of mortgage payments, interest, and regular upkeep. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean owning property is necessarily easy. Bookkeeping, rent collection, emergency maintenance, and tenant issues can be time consuming, stressful, and potentially damaging to your bottom line. Many commercial property owners invest in a professional property management service to handle these responsibilities. Ready to make a move?  Get started by contacting us. How do you know if you need a professional property manager? There are seven major signals that indicate you may benefit from employing a property manager. Signs You Need a Property Manager You aren’t able to fill your vacant units While some tenant turnover is natural and can give you an opportunity to perform maintenance or upgrades, vacant units don’t produce cash flow and can quickly turn your financial investment into a financial drain. A professional property manager can market your property to potential tenants, show the units, and process applications and credit checks to ensure your units are generating a return on your investment. You’ve been burned by delinquent tenants Most property owners don’t relish the idea of being a landlord, performing collections, managing tenant conflicts, or worse, evicting delinquent tenants. Professional property managers are prepared to deal with these unpleasant activities and provide a buffer between you and your tenants. More important, they have an understanding of the legal issues regarding tenant-landlord relationships to ensure you remain compliant while negotiating these issues. You own more properties than you could visit in one day As your commercial property portfolio grows, your ability to respond to on-site issues will shrink. If you live more than 90 minutes from some of your properties, or simply have more properties than you could visit in the course of an eight-hour day, you may not be able to effectively handle your responsibilities in a timely manner. A property management company has the resources to deploy staff quickly and efficiently to manage issues. You have another full-time job Even property owners with a small portfolio of real estate investments can struggle to find time to manage their properties when they’re also part of the working world. While investors love the phrase “passive income,” managing a property takes time—and time is money. When property management obligations start interfering with your full-time job responsibilities, it’s time to consider employing a management company. You’re not sure what to charge your tenants Knowing how to set the appropriate rent for your property takes a specialized skill. It requires knowledge in accounting, economics, and real estate values in your market. An experienced professional property manager has access to professionals with knowledge and proficiency in each of these areas to ensure your rental rates are appropriate for your facility. You’ve been accused of discrimination or negligence As a property owner, there are a host of legal requirements and considerations that affect your business. Commercial real estate activity is dictated by federal, state, and local laws to ensure fair treatment, safe facilities, and liability. A commercial property manager has the legal and regulatory knowledge to avoid these complex issues. Additionally, when tax season rolls around, your property manager’s expertise with legal and financial issues will come in handy. You struggle to find good vendors/contractors/maintenance workers Even if you consider yourself to be handy with a plunger or a set of power tools, the maintenance needs of your commercial property will likely extend beyond your abilities. Rather than hunt for an appropriate vendor every time a maintenance issue arises, your commercial property manager likely has a list of vetted professionals ready to assist. Some property management agencies, like Cushman & Wakefield | Commercial Property Southwest Florida, have a facilities management team on staff to handle these issues even more efficiently. If any of the issues above are becoming a challenge for you, reach out to the professionals at Cushman & Wakefield | Commercial Property Southwest Florida. Our full-service property management team has the knowledge and experience to keep your commercial property running efficiently and profitably. To learn more, call us at 239-489-3600 or contact-us.

By Gary Tasman Fledgling investors are typically given the same advice: Set your goals, know your risk tolerance, and start with broad investments like mutual funds in a tax-deferred Individual Retirement Account. Many people stick to this advice right up until their retirement, investing primarily in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. These types of assets can be purchased quickly, often with the click of a mouse, and don’t require tens of thousands of dollars at a time to invest. For investors with limited time or capital, these investments are a sound long-term strategy. Real estate, however, should not be overlooked as an investment opportunity. Although there are some significant barriers to entry which we’ll discuss later, there are also numerous advantages to including commercial property in your investment strategy. Benefits of Investing in Commercial Property: You can invest with debt Anyone who’s purchased a home knows that you don’t need to pay the entire amount in cash. Instead, buyers place a down payment then finance their home. Commercial property investment can also be purchased with leveraged funds. On a $2.property, you might invest $50,000 as an initial down payment, but you’ll still reap the benefits of owning $250,000 worth of real estate. You can earn passive income One of the largest benefits to investing in real estate is the cash flow that your property can produce. The monthly rents you receive from your tenants should offset your expenses and produce passive income. You’ll receive healthy tax benefits There are numerous tax advantages to real estate investing. Property owners are able to write off their interest payments, depreciation, renovations, maintenance, and other operational costs. Additionally, the passive income earned by investors is taxed at a significantly lower rate than ordinary income. You can hedge against inflation While no investment is truly recession-proof, the value of real estate reacts in proportion to inflation. When inflation rises, so does the value of your property, and rents will often increase. Nearly every other type of investment, including stocks, react to inflation in the opposite direction. You’ll experience less volatility Anyone who follows the stock market can tell you that stock prices can change quickly, as dozens of variables can impact stock prices. As an example, just this year, Tesla stock has ranged from a high of $880 per share to a low of $563, dropping in value 36 percent between January 8 and March 8. Property is substantially less volatile. While you may not experience the exhilarating highs of a bull market as a property owner, you also won’t endure the nauseating lows of a bear market. Challenges to Investing in Commercial Property: While there are many benefits to investing in real estate, there are also challenges. Although buyers are able to mortgage their properties, cash can still create a high barrier to entry. Investors need large down payments to enter the market, and transaction fees can total as much as 10% of closing costs. Additionally, purchasing real estate takes substantially more time and research than purchasing stocks and bonds. Between due diligence, financing, and paperwork, it can take up to three months to purchase commercial property. After completing a purchase, real estate investors must still pay taxes and operational costs like maintenance, utilities, and insurance, even if the property is sitting empty and not generating income. And because real estate is an illiquid asset that can’t be sold with a simple click of a mouse, investors can be saddled with their property for much longer than they initially expected. Even with these drawbacks, real estate can be a valuable asset in your investment portfolio, and your commercial property broker is an instrumental partner as you consider your future investments. The professionals at Cushman & Wakefield | Commercial Property Southwest Florida are ready to help you determine your investment goals and strategy, locate properties that meet your needs, secure appropriate financing, and even assist you with the management and maintenance of your commercial property after your purchase. To learn more about how experts at Cushman & Wakefield | Commercial Property Southwest Florida can assist you in your property investment strategy, call us at 239-489-3600 or contact-us.

By Gary Tasman With the Southwest Florida business landscape changing at the speed of light, many business owners are faced with a dilemma: Should they sell their building to invest in a larger facility, or add on to their existing structure? You may be facing this very decision right now. The decision whether to buy or expand is a complex choice involving many variables, including cash flow, interest rates, existing debt service, the needs of the business and its employees, and countless others.  Fortunately, business owners don’t need to make this decision alone. A well-chosen commercial property brokerage is armed with the experience, data, and knowledge you need to choose the right option for your business. Property brokers like the Go-To Team at Cushman & Wakefield | Commercial Property SWFL are experts at guiding businesses to the optimal solution for their workplace needs. For those who determine that it’s time to sell, the professionals on our team are prepared to help sellers net the highest dollar in the shortest amount of time. The process starts with our brokerage’s dedicated research team, who tirelessly study the individual property itself, using public records and other available data to become experts in that property.  Based on this information, the Go-To Team then thoroughly investigates recent sales of comparable properties to develop a starting point at valuation. Finally, the researchers take a deep dive into other properties currently on the market to determine a property’s competitive advantages, proper positioning and pricing. Thorough, accurate research is only the first phase in the 15-day process to get a property to market and start generating demand. Because our team has experience in all asset classes, they understand the dynamics of the commercial real estate market and are able to cast a wide net to ensure that properties receive optimum attention.  Because our brokerage is part of Cushman & Wakefield’s global real estate network, properties are marketed to potential buyers locally, regionally, nationally, and around the world to generate maximum interest and maintain awareness. Once there are offers on the table, our brokers thoroughly examine each proposal and their benefits. While the offer price is always a consideration, it certainly is not the only factor in determining the best buyer for a property. The offer’s terms, a buyer’s credit, and other dynamics are at play. In an active market, brokers are often able to generate multiple offers on a property, at which time our team implements a controlled auction process to secure the most competitive offers for sellers. Using knowledge of the local market, our team encourages bidders to compete against one another to produce the best possible offer available under current market conditions. Whether a client is selling a 3,000 square foot single-unit office or a portfolio of multiple million-dollar properties, the process remains essentially the same, as does the care and attention our team provides. Our goal at Cushman & Wakefield | Commercial Property SWFL is to secure our clients the highest selling price in the shortest amount of time.  From your initial decision to sell all the way through closing, our Go-To Team will be there every step of the way. Are you facing a tough decision about the location of your business? The experts at Cushman & Wakefield | Commercial Property Southwest Florida have access to best-in-class data, analytics, and proven processes to help you make the right decisions for your property needs. Contact us at 239-489-3600 or contact-us.