BiggerPockets

Net Lease Economic Report

Tuesday, March 20

How does employment growth impact net lease activity? Or is that question even relevant to the space at all? If you were to substitute “office” for “net lease” in that sentence, the answers would be clear and immediate: “significantly” and “definitely yes”, for starters. Then would follow any number of calculations designed to show the relationship between this particular macroeconomic metric—employment—and office leasing activity.

There is no comparable body of research for the net lease space, however. Now two companies—locally-based Calkain Cos., and New York-based Chandan Economics—are partnering to produce research in the net lease space. The companies, headed by Jonathan Hipp and Sam Chandan, respectively, plan to launch a quarterly publication starting in the next 30 to 60 days. Initially, the publication, called Net Lease Economic Report, will be available for free to its clients. The goal will be to analyze the impact and relationship between tenant, developer and investor demand for net lease assets—as well as establish relationships with broader economic trends.

“This subset of commercial real estate has been growing for the past two years and attracting new investor interest,” Chandan tells GlobeSt.com. “There is a need for much more rigor behind the research and understanding of the investment.”

The last two years have indeed attracted new levels and types of investors, Hipp tells GlobeSt.com, primarily a combination of institutional and private market investor. “The net lease investment profile can be very appealing especially when there is a lack of predictability and enhanced risk around commercial real estate in general.” Net lease’s stability is one reason why it has been attracting growing levels of investment, Hipp adds.

“That flight to safety that happened after 2008 and 2009 and has continued to make the net lease an asset class highly sought after and highly attractive to investors.”

About Calkain: Calkain Companies where triple net lease properties are the focus of our business. Working through the net lease investment process with our clients is the basis and foundation of our firm. We are America’s Net Lease Company!

www.calkain.com

Single Tenant Office/Industrial Market is Highly Competitive

Tuesday, January 31

The single tenant Office/Industrial market is highly competitive today, however, this competitiveness varies due to the nature of the tenant and the relevant market. High credit tenants in primary – especially urban – markets are among the highest in demand.   According to CoStar the market for single tenant NNN investments is averaging 10,000 transactions a quarter. A majority of those were Retail spaces, Corporate and Regional HQ’s in Primary and Secondary Markets.  Of these primary markets, none is more interesting than Washington DC. Many Investors and Corporations have excess cash holdings and seek less volatile investments than the open stock and bond markets. This trend has been realized through the increased activity of  Institutional  Investors, Private Equity Groups, and both publicly and privately traded REIT’s D.C. is particularly fascinating with the inclusion of Government and Government Contracting Tenants such as SAIC, Booz Allen, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, etc. Generally considered some of the most desirable tenants in terms of longevity and credit, Contractors are  frequently subject to shorter leases (5-7yr periods depending on the time frame of their contract), but they also tend to renew due to the nature of the space amenities they often require. Government (Federal or State) tenants are typically a highly favored tenant as well. Investors however must be comfortable with a “non appropriation of funds” clause which the government entity may exercise because of budgetary constraints. The DC metro, particularly Northern Virginia, has many prospects for advancement, such as: » Several New Developments in the Ballston/Rosslyn corridor through Arlington (attracting tenants into new facilities who seek proximity to DC). » Phase I Dulles Metro Rail expansion scheduled to be in operation in 2013 should help the Dulles/Tech Corridor and Tyson’s Corner. » BRAC’s (Base Realignment and Closure) southward shift along the I-395/I-95 corridor south to Stafford and Fredericksburg. It is anticipated that these shifts will draw strong investment grade tenants into these areas in the form of regional headquarters, manufacturing facilities, single tenant satellite operations and those who need proximity to either the tech or DOD (Department of Defense) base. Each of these developments should be considered as having quality single tenant investment opportunities in the coming 12-18 months.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p> www.calkain.com</o:p>

Seeking ?Stable? Investments: The Net Lease Demand

Friday, January 07

The Net Lease Demand. It looks like another banner year for the triple net leasing market, with demand far exceeding supply in most areas of the country. Thanks largely to the baby boomer population seeking out new types of retirement investments, demand continues to be high, and the demand, for the most part, comes from people who are in the midst of 1031 tax deferred exchanges. And even in light of interest rates trending upwards, cap rates tend to remain low with prices holding steady. Shopping Center Business recently spoke with several companies that are active in the triple net market to find out more about these trends and what we can expect for 2006.
Demographic Shift
The main reason for the current state of the triple net market is the significant demographic shift of baby boomers moving into their retirement years. According to Bruce McDonald, president of Net Lease Capital Advisors, there are about 75 million baby boomers, the oldest of which are just hitting the age of 60, so there are a lot of older Americans who have built up substantial wealth in real estate portfolios. Their ability to go into the net lease market allows them to avoid paying capital gains tax and move from management-intensive real estate to passive real estate that provides a stable income. “There are a lot of people who have built their portfolios out of single-family, duplexes or triplexes, and they are getting too old to bother with that and now have a yin for a management-free investment that produces a regular cash flow,” says Ralph Bunje, president of Reverse Exchange Services, Inc. “The traditional triple net model for these investors was a single-tenant property, such as a Burger King or post office because it fit their criteria. Now, as a result of this demographic shift, there has been the creation of the TIC [tenant in common] industry.”
In addition to a management-free investment, a lot of these retirees are looking for “safer” investments as opposed to the traditional stock market approach.
“There are a lot of people who had perhaps previously invested in the stock market or other investment opportunities and feel more comfortable getting into the triple net market now,” says Leith Swanson, president of Prime Net Realty Advisors, Inc. “There are a lot of very wealthy investors — individuals and entities — that are in the market and, at the same time, there has been a shortage of quality investment-grade net lease properties available for that pool of investors to buy. So what you’ve ended up with in the last couple of years is a huge pool of investors that are investing because of 1031 requirements or simply because they’re in the market and they are doing a dozen deals a year.”
Though most agree that triple net investing is becoming more and more popular, one person we talked to thinks the stock market still has some appeal. “I think the media has been successful in helping create the perception of the real estate bubble out there,” says Keith Sturm, principal with Upland Real Estate Group. “I don’t think there is a bubble, but certainly clients have been a bit more hesitant about real estate just based upon what they hear on TV. With that, I’m noticing that the stock market has become sexy again. People have very short term memories and have forgotten how their 401Ks turned into 101Ks over the last stock market ‘crash.’ Those memories have been fading, and people are thinking about jumping back in.”
Gaining Interest
Interest rates on triple net investments may be rising, but cap rates so far have not necessarily followed, according to several people we talked to, and pricing still remains steady. “The demand continues to be strong because folks are simply looking for non-management properties and net lease seems to fit the bill,” says Jay Bastian, senior vice president of acquisitions for Commercial Net Lease Realty.
“If treasuries stay where they are or trend lower, I think cap rates will probably maintain their current levels, but obviously treasuries are a driver of cap rates in some respects. Everyone talks about increasing interest rates, but I don’t see the demand sliding because of it; it’s just going to change pricing on deals.”
“It’s still an incredible seller’s marketplace,” notes James Dwoskin, president of ICA Realty. “Sellers are still holding tight to prices that were originally put in place at a lower interest rate environment, but there doesn’t seem to have been any movement in the cap rates on the highest credit deals. On the lesser credit deals, there’s always been more flexibility and play in the pricing.”
According to William H. Winn, president of Passco Companies, LLC, supply is still constrained and there is more demand by buyers. “However,” he says, “the movement of the interest rate has changed the market somewhat. Rising interest rates have, and will continue, to put downward pressure on yields, and as the trend continues, demand will be reduced on the buyer’s side.”
Winn continues: “If sellers do not lower their price expectations, the result will be less transaction volume because buyers and sellers will not be able to agree on purchase price.”
McDonald says he has yet to see a change in pricing.
“Everyone would think that the cap rates will track interest rates,” he notes. “If interest rates continue to go up, there may be a change in pricing at some point, but so far it’s early. There’s usually a delay anyway, but I think in this market, there’s likely to be a longer delay between the interest rates and the cap rates.”
Jonathan Hipp, president of Calkain Companies, takes a similar view.
“There’s a lot of activity with tax-motivated buyers and plenty of fresh equity that’s not tied to an exchange,” says Hipp. “Although interest rates have gone up, cap rates have not correspondingly seemed to move in conjunction with the interest rates, so there are some pretty aggressive cap rates compared to what the debt is.”
According to Sturm, the lower-priced, quality properties are holding their cap rates, and in the category of non-investment-grade properties that are in the .5 to million range, there’s real pressure to increase cap rates.
“The trend I’m seeing now is there’s incredible pressure on cap rates, based upon interest rates rising, that is causing a little bit of a slow down in the market until cap rates can adjust to interest rates,” says Sturm.
2006 Market
So what effect will the demographic shift and rising interest rates have long term?
The great risk is that people are buying at a market high, according to Bunje, but how long that will last is the burning question.
“The demographic shift will probably continue to push for this type of investment for the next 10 years, at least,” he says. “But the question is, will these investments be popular and will the demand be there if the housing market should fall apart? If housing values go down, the whole focus is going to have to be on long term interest rates. So you just watch the 10-year Treasury rate and that will tell you what happens in that marketplace.”
There are several forces that are going to cause cap rates to ease in 2006, says Barry Silver, senior partner with Silver Willis Investment Real Estate.
“For the first time in my experience, investors are not willing to accept such small returns and they’ve turned to the TIC market,” he notes. “And they are being sold a higher current return without giving a tremendous amount of thought to the ramifications of what’s going to happen when the debt adjusts up to the interest rates that they’ll be seeing in 5 or 10 years.”
Swanson says cap rates for net lease properties are going to be higher in 2006.
“We may not see a fourth quarter that will look as good as the third quarter results are looking. But cap rates historically have lagged behind movements in interest rates, and though cap rates have continued to drift lower in September, October and November, interest rates have been fairly stable overall. But there are some inflationary pressures, and we’ll see an increase in cap rates possibly late next year.”
“An average cap rate for a long term triple net property is between 8 and 10 percent,” adds Bunje. “Many of them are selling at 5 and 6 percent today, and that’s largely because of low interest rates. If interest rates go up, then cap rates go up, and as cap rates go up, investors who invested will lose their money because the cap rates will change.”
While competition remains fierce, it may be a tougher market in 2006, according to Paul Domb, asset manager for United Trust Fund.
“As interest rates increase, the primary players — the large REITs and the CNLs — will continue to do business, and I think a lot of the Johnny-come-lately’s will not be able to compete and will find a very tough market.”
Hot Property
What, where and how 1031 investments are being made. With the success of triple net leasing and 1031 exchanges, what types of investments make the most sense these days? Shopping Center Business recently talked to James Dwoskin, president of ICA Realty; Paul Domb, asset manager for United Trust Fund; Ben Simon, partner with The Simon Companies; Leith Swanson, president of Prime Net Realty Advisors, Inc.; Bruce McDonald, president of Net Lease Capital Advisors; Jonathan Hipp, president ofSusan H. Fishman ; Keith Sturm, principal with Upland Real Estate Group, Inc.; Michael Shephardson, executive vice president of Trustreet Properties; and Dan McCabe, president of Investment Exchange Group to find out more about the types of properties and investments that are at the top of the list for today’s investor.
SCB: What types of properties are hot for 1031s right now?
Domb: From our perspective, one type of property is no better than the other, and we do everything — office, retail, industrial, bank branches, pawn shops, 7-11s, you name it — all single tenant.
Simon: On the seller side, it’s the Eckerd’s and CVS’s that are popping out of the ground. If you can get with a builder that’s doing those, then you might be able to get your arms around a newer product.
McDonald: All properties are sought after for 1031. I think that what typically separates it is the size of the 1031 buyer in terms of how much money they have to reinvest. On a typical bell curve, there are just a lot more 1031 people who have smaller dollars — million to million — to invest. You have a large volume of smaller retail properties, such as drugstores and fast food restaurants. If you put it in a larger perspective, retail has the most transactions, but it’s not as high because industrial and office tend to be larger deals.
Hipp: It used to be mainly retail, but now there is a lot more office and industrial. But I’d still say retail because it’s the most produced product out there — like a 7,000 square-foot Advance Auto or a 3,000 square-foot video store. The most sought-after property is any pure triple net property with reasonable or good credit behind it and rental increases. More than ever, I’m seeing buyers who have to buy something other than what they had hoped for and at yields lower than they had expected.
Sturm: The single-tenant net lease, good-credit, well located properties are what’s really selling most today. We do a lot of retail, and it’s what we classify as the minimal management properties. The best-selling ones we see currently are passive real estate investments, where the owner just gets a check on a daily basis.
McCabe: There are a wide variety of sought-after properties for 1031s. I’ve seen everything from large industrial complexes that are broken down and the typical semi-regional shopping center to gas and oil interests and multi-tenant office buildings. It almost depends on what the originator can find. I’m seeing a significant number of multi-tenant product, i.e. office buildings, medical facilities. There are too many inexperienced dollars chasing too few good deals.
SCB: How hard is it to find properties?
Dwoskin: The better properties are very hard to find. There are a lot of lesser credit, specialty type buildings, things like net-leased franchisee restaurant properties — those are always readily available. The harder things to come by are leased properties that are significant assets, such as warehouse distribution facilities, office buildings or well located retail facilities that are leased to investment-grade credit tenants. Over the last several years, most of the high-credit big-box users, like Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, Home Depot and Lowe’s, have decided that they no longer want to be tenants if they can avoid it and want to own all of their properties. So those deals are evaporating; there are very few, if any, in the marketplace. So what’s left of the investment-grade credit deals is coveted, and people will pay more for them.
Hipp: Properties are not hard to find; it’s hard to find something that makes sense. It still continues to be a market where, if you see something you like, you’ve got to go after it.
Shephardson: We’re very niche-focused and work in two primary sectors – 90 percent of our business is in the restaurant arena and the other 10 percent is just general retail that includes drugstores, banks and convenience and gas stations. We’ve found that because we’ve been in the business for so long and know so many restaurant operators, and because we have a very strong acquisition business in our origination efforts, we don’t have any challenge finding product.
SCB: Where are people looking for property?
Domb: To the 1031 investor, private ownership is a big factor, so local properties would be key. Credit and the type of real estate are secondary or tertiary considerations. The 1031 investor is hard-pressed to find quality investments.
Swanson: We typically deal with clients in the million to million range and above, and the area doesn’t seem to matter, although obviously they’re not buying a lot of property in Louisiana and Mississippi. The driving catalyst behind the growth in the net lease market is the fact that the investor can move across state lines and not be relegated to his own backyard.
McDonald: The product is spread across the country; there are certain areas for different product types. Florida and the whole Southeast are big growth areas and so are the western states. Office and industrial headquarter building deals are being done all over — they tend to be in the distribution hubs, such as Memphis or New Jersey.
SCB: Are TIC structures still on the rise?
Swanson: TIC structures offer the individual investor who doesn’t have million to million an opportunity to jump in, so that’s really propelled the market growth that we’re seeing.
McDonald: They are certainly on the rise. In 2001, they did about 0 million in equity and in this year, they’re expecting to do billion of equity — and that’s just on the securities side. So there is obviously a huge demand, and that ties into the fact that the majority of 1031 buyers have less equity and TICs allow them to have somewhat of a passive investment. So it’s clearly a product that there is substantial demand for.
Hipp: They are becoming a very popular vehicle and much more publicized and well known. There are a lot of people out there with 0,000 to 0,000, and it’s hard to buy something without taking on a lot of leverage. They would much prefer to partner with a group of others to buy a more quality asset and let somebody else worry about the management.
Hipp: The TIC market is certainly becoming more popular, and I think they serve a purpose. But when people start buying properties with interest-only loans so they can cash flow, I think it’s a double-edged sword because when that loan comes due in 5 years, they’re going to be out to the market looking for debt in a different interest-rate environment. I’m not sure they realize exactly what they’re buying.
Sturm: We think the TIC structure is really the future for passive real estate investments. The baby boomer generation as a demographic group just turned 59 and a half, and it’s not long until their 401K plans are going to be available to them to start pulling down money on a tax-deferred basis. But what we’re finding is that the quality TIC properties that are investment-grade are able to attract very good financing right now. We’re able to get long term fixed financing in the 5 to 6 percent range, while the 1031 or net lease properties we’re talking about have been financed in the 6 to 7 percent range.
Shephardson: TICs have wonderful application in the larger 1031 arena where you are selling a pool of assets or you’re going to sell one large asset at million to million and you want to syndicate it amongst many buyers. So the only thing that’s holding the TIC market back is the potential ruling on whether it’s a real estate product or a securities product. We expect that we’ll be doing TICs sometime in the not too distant future because it expands the buyer’s universe. www.calkain.com

 

by Susan H. Fishman

James Brennan on 1031 Exchanges

Thursday, January 06

 

James Brennan on 1031 Exchanges

WHAT ARE CLIENT’S CONSIDERATIONS WHEN SELECTING AN ENTITY TYPE TO HOLD TITLE TO REAL ESTATE?

 

 

 

BRENNAN:

Clients unfortunately default to an LLC for entity choice simply because of asset protection. However, when co-investing a Joint Member LLC creates exit strategy concerns as it can hamper one investor’s ability to properly structure a like-kind exchange. Clients need to carefully examine the structure that will house their real estate investment and contemplate the next investment assuming this investment is profitable.

 

WHAT TYPE OF STRUCTURING DO YOU SEE AT THE ACQUISITION AND DISPOSITION STAGES?

 

BRENNAN:

Often as a function of how real estate syndications are marketed, most General Partners or Developers use a GP/ LP approach to structuring the laddered returns both for limited partners and general partners. This structure is fine for economics and often yields the intended result with a properly drafted operating agreement. However, partnership interests are not eligible for exchange, so limited partners need to focus on real estate interests that are "deed-able" to make the interest conducive to like-kind exchange treatment.

Clients do not need to seek out a commercially packaged Tenant-in-Common deal to achieve these results, clients simply have to select a well-versed Sponsor and a CPA/tax attorney that can craft a win-win structure for both the limited partners and the general partner.

 

WHAT TYPE OF ESTATE PLANNING TECHNIQUES DO YOU SEE UTILIZED?

 

BRENNAN:

The $5 million and up net worth set gravitates mostly to a living trust at first as "Family Stewards" are looking to make managing assets easy for heirs, so a Revocable Living Trust gives the comfort that properties will funnel to the right place via contract and the Grantors (current property owners) do not have to sacrifice control of the assets currently.

In my opinion, clients do not pay adequate attention to estate taxes and how assets are titled. Real estate investors particularly tend to have a desire to control their investments; however, certain investments, such as triple net leases, lend themselves to estate planning and passivity.

Clients should really try to plan for both capital gains events and estate events. Unfortunately too much attention is put on deductions, current income, and economics of deals; however, clients face 25-50% in capital gains taxes upon disposition and upwards of 45-55% in estate taxes. This level of taxation will erode a substantial amount of the cash you will net from an investment when attempting to build real wealth.

 

WHAT PROPERTY TYPES ARE BEING SWAPPED?

 

BRENNAN:

Right now institutional investors and traditional buy-and-hold investors believe the market is improving- thus, why "sell in a soft market?". However, clients with low-basis property that have certain events (death, retirement, financial distress) are opting to conduct like-kind exchanges.

An example would be an apartment building investor retiring to Florida and swapping out of an Arlington Apartment building and buying a Walgreens NNN lease as replacement property. The client gets cashflow without the "toilets, tenants, and trash".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

clik here for more information  http://www.calkain.com/reports/research/calkain_research5.pdf or www.1031esgroup.com

www.calkain.com

Triple Net Lease Properties Returns are More Favorable

Friday, December 17

Triple-net-lease properties' returns are more favorable and more secure than some traditional investment vehicles

By: David Sobelman, Executive Vice President, Calkain Cos.

As published in Scotsman Guide's Commercial Edition.

Despite the economic downturn and the fact that many aspects of the commercial real estate industry still need time to season before true recovery takes place, some niche segments of the market are actually performing extremely well. In fact, some are at the same level they reached at the height of the market.

Triple-net-lease investment properties, in particular, may be a true bright spot on the commercial investment horizon. Here's why.



Triple net lease properties are probably some of the most commonly noticed commercial real estate in the market. Most of the assets are drugstores, bank branches, restaurants, home-improvement centers and the like. These are core assets that have daily users and requirements. Typically, they are single-tenant buildings where, through the lease structure, the tenant is responsible for the taxes, insurance, and maintenance and management of the building - the three "nets."

Investors have a strong appetite for passive income in today's market, as there are few alternatives for them to receive a return that is equal to or better than what net lease assets provide. Additionally, it seems that lenders are becoming more comfortable with the asset type - many transactions in today's market are using some sort of lender-provided leverage.

Mortgage brokers are an integral part of the lending process for net lease investments, especially because one lender won't provide the best rate and terms for a particular investor every time. Brokers who want to increase their business in this asset class should understand what goes into funding triple net lease properties and be aware of the market's emerging trends.

Underwriting the tenant

Like in any underwriting process, lenders consider the real estate's value first. With net lease investments, however, the current tenant's credit also is weighed heavily.

Because tenants occupying single-tenant buildings typically sign long leases - sometimes for as many as 25 years or more - lenders want to know who is actually paying the rent to support the property for that long. Therefore, the underwriting of the tenant's credit becomes a key factor for lenders considering net leased assets.

There is some standardization for rating tenants, which comes primarily from credit-rating agencies such as Standard & Poor's (S&P), Moody's Investor Service, Fitch Ratings, etc. These agencies each have their own alphanumeric system to report how a particular company is performing from a credit perspective. S&P, for instance, has ratings that begin at AAA as the best-possible credit and incrementally go down to D.

In today's lending environment, net lease tenants with an S&P credit rating of BBB or greater have a better chance of getting a lender's attention because they are seen to be less risky. Tenants with credit ratings less than BBB are perceived to be more likely to default over the term of the lease.

In fact, a Moody's study quantified this phenomenon, stating that companies with a BBB- credit rating have a 4-percent chance of defaulting on their lease within any five-year period. Conversely, a company that has rating of B- has a 43-percent chance of defaulting on its lease within the same period. As a matter of comparison, companies with AAA ratings have a 0.15-percent chance of defaulting. It is pretty clear why lenders focus their underwriting on the potential tenant's credit.

Funding net leases

Although mortgage brokers unfamiliar with this asset class may think this type of debt comes from sophisticated sources housed in a class-A skyscraper on Wall Street, the vast majority of loans for net lease investments come from banks.

Real Capital Analytics, a market-research company, recently reported that 51 percent of single-tenant acquisition transactions completed to-date in 2010 came from a traditional bank. It also reported, however, that 40 percent came from a national bank and 11 percent was from a regional or local bank.

It seems that when a recession hits, the lending environment changes to a point that sophisticated financing instruments are no longer needed to drive the market. Instead, individual relationships between borrowers, lenders and their conduits (i.e., mortgage brokers) are the primary source of transaction volume.

In addition, Real Capital Analytics reported that 30 percent of the transactions completed this past year used existing financing that was assumed by a new buyer. Anecdotally, investors active in the market at the beginning of this year did not have as many sources of capital. Those who made purchases that required financing were given financing quotes that were outrageous and did not allow the transaction to make sense to the investor. Therefore, they assumed the debt from the previous owner because the terms and interest rates were more favorable than the market at that time. Sourcing debt for net lease investments is becoming easier, however.

Gaining market share

Single-tenant properties have become so popular this past year that they comprised roughly 35 percent of all commercial real estate transactions completed in the first two quarters of the year, according to data from Real Capital Analytics. By comparison, when the market was at its peak in 2007, only 20 percent of all transactions included the asset class.

With more than $425 billion in total commercial sales in 2007 - which included $85 billion in single-tenant sales - compared to $35 billion in total sales for these past first two quarters - which included $12.25 billion in single-tenant sales - it is apparent that with fewer transactions, more people are steering toward stabilized and lower-risk properties.

Capitalization rates - or cap rates - are a quick snapshot of an investor's return. In today's market, cap rates are roughly 6 percent to 8 percent for creditworthy properties. When a basic comparison is made using other passive investments, it is fairly clear why investors are seeking to put their capital to work in the property type.

Most investors who have cash available to make passive, nonspeculative investments are using basic money-market or savings accounts to hold the cash. When returns for those investment vehicles hover around 1 percent, the investor is motivated to find alternative investments for that capital while also maintaining a steady and safe cash flow over a period of time. Net lease properties are filling that void.

Tracking trends

There are different periods where lenders will have a strong appetite for a particular tenant and less so for other tenants, and this changes over time. Brokers who stay on top of these kinds of trends in their markets and leverage their relationships with lenders can help clients find the best rates and terms at any particular moment.

As an example, Walgreen Co. drugstores - a common triple net lease tenant - have an S&P credit rating of A+. As such, lenders are comfortable with these stores' credit and viability as a longstanding tenant. At the beginning of this year, however, there were more than 450 Walgreens stores available for purchase as net lease investments.

Because most investors need financing to purchase a single store and the average sale price for a Walgreens store is about $5 million, mortgage brokers were engaged to find the best debt. Lenders, however, found that they had too many Walgreens loans on their balance sheets and started to slow down the distribution of debt for that tenant. Brokers show their value in these scenarios by finding other lending sources that aren't as saturated with one particular tenant.

Supply and demand dictates the rate and terms of a particular tenanted-occupied building. Because of their popularity, Walgreens investments typically garner a higher interest rate. Other companies that have S&P credit ratings of A+ and similar lease terms, but higher price tags and therefore fewer buyers may have substantially lower interest rates.

Lenders, therefore, dictate rates and terms based not only on the tenant's credit, but also on subjective factors that move markets in different directions at different times. Mortgage brokers should be cognizant of these trends and have their arsenal of lending sources available for their clients as market indicators change.


Net lease properties have proven to be a strong asset class in this recovery -driven market. Lenders are seeking assets for their portfolios to maintain strong balance sheets. It's always better to have a stabilized net lease investment earning income for the lender and the investor on the books as opposed to vacant, speculative land that likely has an undetermined value for future development.

Mortgage brokers who focus on this asset class can take advantage of the new demand for these properties, as they are some of the only properties getting funded with rates and terms last seen at the height of the market. www.calkain.com

Understanding Net Lease Investors

Wednesday, December 15

Understanding Net Lease Investors