1. Loopnet.com – Loopnet is probably the largest and most well-known commercial real estate listing site. They claim to have over 630,000 active commercial real estate listings on their website. It costs $24.95 a month for visitors to have access to all of the property listings. The free membership for visitors allows full search capability, however, only a limited number of results are shown.
2. Realup.com – Realup is brand new to the market and officially launched on May 17, 2009. It appears that all of the memberships for both buyers and sellers are free. The website says that “our property listings are charged based on a pay-per-results pricing model, setting us apart from our competitors and providing the greatest value to our partners and clients.” So, they are basically charging for the traffic or leads that your listing generates. This sounds good in principle but from my experience the technology for these “pay for the lead” type of systems is usually too weak to determine what a valuable lead is.
3. Costar.com – Costar offers the ability to search for all commercial property types. Basic listings are free for real estate professionals and property owners. It costs $24.95 a month for visitors to have access to all of the property listings. The free membership for visitors allows full search capability, however, only a limited number of results are shown. They offer information on “space available for lease, comparable sales information, tenant information, properties for sale, property information for clients’ web sites, industry professional directory, analytic information, data integration, property advertising and industry news–throughout the United States as well as in the United Kingdom and France.”
4. Lead-Trac.com – Lead Trac is designed to give investors and commercial real estate professionals access to following data about commercial real estate: property data, owner data, phone numbers. They also offer direct mailing and marketing tools within the website. Pricing starts at $69/user/county/month.  In addition to the monthly plans, they have an unlimited access plan that they sell on a per county basis.  This plan ranges from $1500 to $3000 per county per year.
5. CIMLS.com – What makes CIMLS different than many other similar sites is the fact that visitors can search listings for free while realtors and property owners can also post their listings for free. Realtors and property owners have the option to upgrade to a Gold account for added exposure. The Gold account costs $14.00 a month for the first month and $20.00 a month for every month thereafter.

Photo Credit: quinet

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Where to Search for Commercial Real Estate Online

With the US Dollar falling and rising inflation many individual investors are looking for alternative methods to preserve and grow their capital. Apartment buildings are starting to receive a lot of interest from many investors who have little or no experience in the world of commercial real estate. Investors are now attracted to apartment building investments because of their relative security, positive cash flow and growth potential. These new investors are hungry to learn how to buy an apartment building. However, the first time buyer should do his necessary homework before actually investing his hard earned money in a multifamily property.

The last thing a new investor should do is to buy the first apartment building deal that comes across his table. In fact, in my role as a commercial property finance consultant, as soon as I hear that the investor I am speaking with has never bought or managed a multifamily building previously AND that this is the first deal that he or she has ever looked it, then I know immediately that it is a deal that will never get done. I don’t even have to look at the rent rolls or the income and expense statements. To many readers this may sound cynical or brash but it is simply the truth. And it has nothing to do with the intelligence of the investor it just simply has to do with the fact that banks will not lend money on an apartment building that is not or will not soon become profitable.

Many beginner commercial real estate buyers are under the assumption that they will somehow be able to convince their commercial mortgage broker and the commercial mortgage bank underwriters the property is such a great deal at the purchase price because there is a new mall scheduled to be opened down the street or that the neighborhood is undergoing revitalization or because a big employer is moving into the city. All of this may be true but a bank will not generally lend money on an apartment building unless it is already profitable and the bank will usually want to see at least a 20% down payment. And I don’t blame beginning investors for believing what they do. Many real estate agents and property owners will say just about anything to get a building sold. The job of the real estate agent and the property owner is to get the property sold for the most amount of money that the market will bear.

The first time apartment building buyer needs to be aware of the fact that the real estate agent selling the multifamily building represents the seller’s best interest and not his or hers. For this reason it is imperative for the first time investor to have as much education and knowledge going into the deal as possible. The first skill the buyer must have to separate the junk deals from the deals that will be profitable, cash flowing apartment buildings. He or she should begin by taking all or some of the steps below:

• Get a book education first. Learn about the industry and terminology by reading many commercial real estate investment books Stay away from the books that over promise and under deliver. It if seems to easy to be true then you know that it is.
• Develop your analytical skills. You need to be concentrating on Debt Service Coverage Ratios, CAP rates and Internal Rates of Return. You don’t want to be thinking emotionally about the investment. This does not mean that you should eschew creative financing and acquisition strategies. It just means that these strategies and methods should be firmly based and tested in the real world.

• Network and forge relationships with commercial real estate professionals and investors. Every major metropolitan area has at least one very active real estate investment club.

• Build a “master mind” team of advisers that will help you evaluate your investment decisions. This team could include attorneys, accountants, appraisers, realtors, mortgage brokers, business men and other entrepreneurs.

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

How to Buy an Apartment Building

Buy an Apartment Building Today?

In today’s turbulent financial markets many investors are looking for ways to grow their money that will offer a steady flow of predictable income and limited market risk. More and more people are buying apartment buildings to help diffuse the effects of inflation on their portfolios. Apartment buildings offer many exceptional advantages over traditional investments such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds. This is especially true in a recessionary market environment. In fact there are many attractive attributes of an apartment building investment that many investors who are new to commercial real estate may not even know about. There are some interesting facts about buy multi-family property investing that could radically change your perception about this fascinating and lucrative part of the investment world and inspire you to go out and buy an apartment building of your own.

Warren Buffet once said that “wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing.” This quote seems especially true about the average investor in the United States who is listening to the advice of a financial adviser who in reality knows little more about the markets then himself. Usually financial advisers will recommend that a client be well diversified in investments ranging from stocks, bonds, mutual funds or maybe even a real estate investment trust. The adviser is putting his or her client into a group of “diversified” investments that were recommended by the firm’s top adviser and the research department. Unfortunately, however, for the individual investor is the fact that these investments are basically designed to preserve the firm’s capital under management and they don’t take into great regard the individual investor’s need to grow his capital.

The most successful investors and those that see the greatest returns are those that specialize in a particular sector. And the timing has never been better to begin specializing in apartment building investing for the average investor. The stock market is under intense earnings and inflation pressure. Investors need to look at a direct investment in an income producing apartment building to establish a profitable stream of cash flow that could last for decades to come. Many thousands of individual investors have been able to secure their financial futures by specializing in this unique niche and leaving behind the mediocrity of financial advisers and stock pickers.

If there has ever truly been a recession proof business it has to be apartment building investing. Even with the US economy is turmoil and business cutbacks people will always need a place to live. The actual demand for rental units in the US has never been higher then today. A total of 36 million of all households in the US are renter occupied. In total, a full 83% of all households under age 25 in the US are occupied by renters. Furthermore, a full 55% of all households between 25 and 35 are renters. The growing senior segment of society will be living longer and looking for rental properties as well. These are a few impressive statistics that demonstrate the strong current and projected demand for rental housing.

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Buy an Apartment Building Today?

This week I’d like to be both practical and a little futuristic. On Bloodhound Blog, my blog, Bonzai, and several other blogs, such as, A Life That POPS, lately, there has been talk about changes in the real estate field, and one of those changes, the team approach, is a topic I’d like to relate to investing — not just “team” as in professionals you use for guidance or as vendors to make individual deals, but a partnership “team”, a small, local investment company. I was going to write about Economic Conversion, but I’ll save that. Investment groups are nothing new, just as real estate teams are nothing new, but how these teams/groups function in a biz 2.0 world will, no doubt, be changing quickly.

It’s difficult for one person with a notebook to keep up with all the information inundating us in the information age. The concept of a local diverse, super investment team using some of the practices of Business 2.0 is an appealing idea. How such a team could be arranged is open to many possibilities, but allow me to build one possibility. Let’s say you’ve decided to become an investor, or you are an experienced investor, and you’ve realized it would be much more effective and efficient if you formed a partnership team. You’ve been a leader all your life and you’re skilled at bringing people together to achieve a common purpose, so you thought you’d use these skills to create an investment team. Your idea is to build the team on four strengths: Internet/information mangagement, financial expertise, real estate expertise and local government expertise.

Internet/information management:
With constant innovations taking place in online information search all the time, the investor who’s being fed the most focused, contextual information has an advantage. Having that expertise on an investment team, someone skilled in web 2.0 concepts, allows the players to consider a steady stream of useful information that can be analyzed on a daily basis. Many local governments are putting up websites with updated changes you can feed into by email alerts. Although small cities may not be on the edge of information yet, all this is rapidly changing. Also, by hooking up the investment team with web 2.0 tools, you’ll be able to make information management efficient: blogging to encourage interaction in the communtity; online meetings for the team, quick information display and contact management through something like Open Office, Web Officeor Zoho (check them out carefully — each has strengths and weaknesses) to be accessed anywhere; mapping technology for visual inspiration — being connected will be light years ahead of those investors who aren’t and will bring the following categories together in powerful, useful ways.

Financial Expertise:
Having someone knowledgable about financial management and loan products with their finger on the industry’s pulse will be a powerful addition to the team. New products are coming out all the time — being quick to take advantage of the innovatons, knowing the trends of loan products and having connections to lenders will place the team in a good financial position to maximize profits and design each investment with the most efficient and profitable financing.

Real Estate Expertise:
This could be a commercial agent or a real estate attorney, anyone with real estate expertise that has comprehensive knowledge of the local RE market, access to market information and connections to all the local RE players. People who spend all their time in the RE business hear things and know things that the general public would not be aware of, plus they have a feel for the trends and red flags to consider. Someone experienced and connected to the local RE community will be a valuable addition. You might also want to consider someone who has experience with building and knows about the product itself — building and buildings — at least enough to be helpful in identifying maintenance, repair and renovation costs.

Local Government Expertise:
It would probably be helpful to have someone on the team who knows local government, who has experience dealing with zoning and planning, knows all the players and how to navigate the system. Insider knowledge would be helpful in effectively analyzing information by understanding the mindset of the local players for future development in different areas of town – what concerns for development are a top priority? Are there plans to promote growth on the east side? Are there plans underway to provide incentives for downtown investment and re-building?

Building a strong local investment team like this has pros and cons. The pros are a co-ordinated team approach that if managed correctly could be synergistically more powerful and efficient than an individual effort. If pulled off, it could be attractive to private lenders who want to put up money but not get bogged down in nuts and bolts. It would be attractive to banks, giving them confidence that the well rounded approach would be effective in producing results. It would be effective in making good investment decisions, and being the first to recognize opportunities for investment. It would be good for the gathering, managing and analyzing of information and helping with the due diligence process, having four areas of expertise investigating the viability of a project. It would give each team member more confidence, drawing from the strength of each other, bouncing ideas around, communicating and receiving feedback. It would add financial strength so that larger, more profitable projects could be handled.

The cons, or possible problems, are settling disagreements among team players over strategies and investment choices, creating equitable partnership arrangements, deciding where responsibilities lie with each team member, ending partnerships if it’s not working for a member — there can be many problems with any team or partnership arrangement, so it would pay to take the necessary time to work all these out and to choose carefully. However, I believe all the problems can be worked out if there is an easy exit plan for dissatisfied members. I believe the pros outweigh the cons, but not if it’s poorly planned — four minds can be worse that one if teamwork is not executed to its full potential.

If teamwork IS executed to its full potential, I think an investment team could achieve extraordinary results, especially if all the modern tools of information management are used to provide speed, co-operation, comprehensive knowledge and efficiency.

Note from the editor: Read more about assembling your real estate investing team and be sure to look at some of the great suggestions in the comments.

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Investment Team – A Real Investment Team

As discussed before, information gathering, processing and analyzing is the investing foundation. Knowing as much as possible about land use changes, zoning, transportation and such will put the investor in a position of making an informed decision. Becoming an expert in the area you’ve chosen will allow you to take advantage, quickly, of all new opportunities, whereas others less prepared will be slow to pull the trigger.

Use of the property may be the most important determinant of value. Understanding zoning and studying the area of concern can reveal possibilities no one considered before. But you must know how to interpret all the information. It’s a boring task but if you take the time to read ALL the information you might find surprises that can lead to creative use.

You might be in a city where there are lots of old homes that are in disrepair on the periphery of a vibrant downtown area that’s projected to continue growing. There might be a growing demand for condominiums. The zoning might allow for these older homes to be used as condos. If an investor can buy the older homes before others realize the potential, it could turn out to be a good investment.

However, the zoning might not be clear, so a special stipulation would need to be written in the contract that if after research it turns out the fine print was interpreted wrongly, the deal is off. The point, though, is to get involved with city planning, learn the zoning ordinances, meet the players, know who is coming in and going out, be involved – get the zoning maps, find out the web addresses, if they have a website, stay informed.

In order to do this effectively you’ll need a system. Just about any information system is good if you use it. Keep up with all the important information and organize it so that it’s easily retrieved. There are plenty of software programs now that make it easy to manage information – I won’t recommend any one specifically, although lately I’ve been looking at AskSam.com. It seems like a good way to organize all the bits and pieces of information collected during the information gathering process. If you aren’t computer literate, become so, or rely on someone who is. The more organized and professional your approach the better the results – scattered notes written on cocktail napkins is not what I’d recommend.

It takes time and effort to become proficient at gathering, processing and analyzing information but those that do it well are ahead of the game.

What information management will do is improve your vision. To be able to look at information like zoning and transportation and land use changes, then look at a map, allows you to envision what could be. Studying all the information creates Aha! moments when all the information gels into a vision of an investment that is creative and profitable. I found it helpful to buy a huge wall map and create a “war room” environment where I can visualize the area of concentration with color codes and such. But the Aha! only comes after the structure has been built and the learning process has been established.

Take the time to set up the system that works for you, then diligently USE it. It will create efficiency and it will make you an expert, and it will put you in a position to recognize an opportunity that others can’t see.

I used to think wealthy investors had a special knack, some sort of magical gift, for finding the right properties at the right time, until I got to know successful investors. What they all had in common was discipline, organization and persistence. One in particular is a man I’ve known for years, and I’m always impressed with how methodical he is, how he pays attention to details and how he never takes short cuts – he is comprehensive and exacting, so that when he makes a decision he has looked at all the angles, has given thoughtful consideration, and has crunched all the numbers in his ever-present calculator. And he has taught me.

One of the great things about BiggerPockets and the internet in general, and also personal connections offline, is that information is now prevalent and is transformed into something greater – knowledge sharing – I’ll close with this:

Sharing knowledge is not about giving people something, or getting something from them. That is only valid for information sharing. Sharing knowledge occurs when people are genuinely interested in helping one another develop new capacities for action; it is about creating learning processes. Peter M. Senge MIT-based author, researcher & educator

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Real Estate Investment: Knowledge Sharing

CashflowandEquity.com is the website of Cornerstone Investment Group, a company that has gained recognition for its specialty–offering turn-key properties to real estate investors. Simply put, this investment company promises to ease the “headaches of being a landlord.” No simple task, but the company says it can do this by providing properties that are “renovated,rented and with available property management.”

Vertically Integrated Lending Arm

To make turn-key type investments virtual no-brainers, Cornerstone offers a financing arm for properties bought through its website. The “Preferred Lender Program” -the company promises, will take any potential sting out of qualifying, which anyone who has ever purchased any property can tell you can be a consumer nightmare. But, Cornerstone says it offers fast closings and low down payments. This doesn’t mean, of course, that just anyone can benefit from the lending program:

**The potential buyer MUST have a minimum credit score of 620
**Must be 18+ years of age
**And, have a buyer debt-to-income ration not exceeding 50%

Focus on Foreign, In addition to Domestic Investors

So far, so good. These folks seem to have given much thought and have apparently covered all possible angles. For example, this is the first company I have seen that also caters to the foreign investor looking to buy property in the U.S….it does this through it website http://www.usacashflowproperties.com

Strategically Locates Properties in Affordable Western New York State

Of course, Cornerstone has a strategy: to locate properties in Western New York State. I personally believe this is a good plan since properties in this part of the country are extremely affordable at this time. But, even white clouds can have a darker lining. There is plenty of evidence that the area is not exactly on the upspring. The City of Rochester’s own estimate is that nearly 66% of the structures in the city are rental properties. And, over in ever snow-bound Buffalo, nearly 59% of the city’s structures are rental. The obvious down side to this is there is also plenty of evidence that areas with a greater concentration of home ownership,for example,tend to have residents sharing a far more attractive socio-economic profile. And, while The Economist just published a story concluding that Rustbelt cities such as Buffalo have a real chance to stage a dramatic comeback, it cautions at the same time that this is not likely to occur overnight. In part, this is due to the economies of Buffalo and Rochester which are not ,what one might call,booming. And, there has been talk and unfulfilled promises before by civic leaders that both cities would have a major turnaround. So, only time will tell.

But, one doesn’t need time to tell that all this translates into cheap properties, yes, but also properties not likely to see much appreciation in the short term.While the properties offered by Cornerstone all come complete with built in equity, investors should be made aware that it is of vital importance to closely examine and consider cash-flow.

Established Property Management

As for its much advertised property management, Cornerstone has established relationships with various companies making it possible to offer management services at 10% of collected rents. Just some of these services from management include:

• Rent Collection
• Dealing with various Rental Public Assistance Agencies (i.e., Section8 )
• Tenant Issues
• Repairs and Maintenance
• Inspections
• Tenant Placement
• Lawn and snow removal services (when needed)
• Monthly statements with Expense records

You should be as comfortable with your property manager as you are with the management company you have hired. With that in mind, we’ve assembled a few important points to consider and have gathered them here

Large Availability of Properties for Rehabbers and Landlords

This company works not only with landlords but also with other types of investors. And, since it can secure properties at wholesale prices, it can sell these properties directly to rehabbers–and, still turn a small profit. So, if you happen to be a rehabber with a yen for Western New York State, all you need to do is fill out a form and you are now in the loop to learn about upcoming deals.

Finally, the properties themselves. As of today, Cornerstone has 177 properties listed on its site. After browsing for just a minute or so, you can see there are many potential opportunities for investors large and not so large.

So, if you are in the market to pick up some affordable, cash-flow properties, I’d certainly take a serious look at Cornerstone Investment Group via its website, cashflowandequity.com. It is a company that seems to have its act together, offering deals that should make it easier for newbie and hand’s off investors alike.

NOTE: This was a paid review. If you are interested in having your site reviewed, please visit our advertising page

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

CashflowandEquity.com Simplifies Investing in Turn-Key Real Estate

Hi everyone and welcome to Volume 8 of the Carnival of Real Estate Investing. While there are many good submissions this week, only 2 are of any help to real estate investors (I’ve marked them with **). I hope upcoming editions of the carnival have more useful information to help the everyday investor out . . . that’s what this carnival is all about, right?

• Advice to Equity Office Bidders by Market Poetry
  While I can’t stand that people blog anonymously (no personal info can be found on their blog), I really did enjoy the creativity of this post. I’m not sure that I’ve read other poems about the business of investing. This is a great little piece to kick off the Carnival!
• ** One of My Favorite Landlord Tools by Anesia Springborn
  The winner of this weeks carnival (I just felt like announcing a winner), Anesia’s article tells us about an AMAZING tool that can really make life a little easier for landlords.

• ** Buyers lesson part 1 by Eric Medemar
  This is a detailed look at how to find buyers for wholesale deals – a well written article for anyone interested in wholesaling.
• The Big Picture About Cash Flow From Foreclosures by Steve Burns
  A nice article that explains how to get paid by helping people avoid foreclosure, and by saving their home.

• What Increases Your Home’s Value and By How Much by Steve Faber
  This article examines how different improvements can affect the value of your home.

• Real Estate Indicators – Nothing Decisive Yet by Nigel Swaby
  Using current economic news and data, this piece examines how the housing market will trend in the near term.
• Is Real Estate Calling You? by Katie
  While it concentrates on real estate investing, this article is a very broad piece that doesn’t really tell you much. I think it is intended to be a motivational piece, but never really does the job.

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Carnival of Real Estate Investing: Volume 8