All Forum Posts by: Ash Patel

Become friends with a good agent.  I believe commercial real estate is all about building relationships.  I make one call to my ins guy when I sign a contract than another one when I know the closing date.  He knows my lender and they work their magic behind the scenes.  A good agent will also learn your business and get a proper umbrella policy in place.

I love @Ned Carey's advice about working for free prior to close.  

Sharing that this is your first deal and ticket out of your 9-5 would raise questions about whether you will be able to get financing or not?  Speaking of which, have you spoken to a few lenders prior to making this offer?  You do know that car washes are not very passive, especially in climates like yours where you have to prepare for sub freezing temps.

Good luck and I admire your willingness to learn and solicit feedback.  I believe you will be quite successful!

@Will F. do a search for used dental chairs on Craigslist or ebay.  Show the tenants how cheap they can purchase used chairs.  Hopefully that will deflate their perceived value of those chairs.  I would type a letter with pictures/ad's and let them know if they choose to remove the existing fixtures, they would have to pay way more in remediating the space.

@CJ Lee - you don't have to be a licensed professional to get a Loopnet membership.  You can even get short term access.  You are correct in wanting to do the searches yourself and learn the market.  Commercial brokers are offered higher incentive's on certain properties so they may end up showing you what gives them the highest commission.  I have a property right now where I am giving a $6k vacation + a full 6% commission to the broker who gets me the tenant.  I would imagine, incentives often sway decisions.  Do your homework then you can get a broker if you choose.

Talk to the listing broker, and setup a time to go see it with them.  When you meet him/her they will take you more seriously.  Tell the broker snippets to inspire confidence of a quick and seamless close.  Name drop, talk about your recent purchases/offers, tell them what you typically buy.  Something I do often is make cash offers, even if I don't have all the cash.  This can backfire if you are careless.

Some broker's don't reply to non-brokers in which case, get your own rep and have them do the legwork.

Look in your lease for things regarding the deposit or making the space rental ready.  You are right, the chairs need to stay put for showing purposes.  The space is very valuable to a new dentist that can capitalize on residual business from the dentist that is leaving.  I've seen vacated dentists offices and they look horrible when gutted.  All of the electric, plumbing and chair mounts destroy the space.  It makes it difficult for new tenants to envision the space.  Do your best to keep the place intact.  

@Will F.60 days sounds like a lot but you are in LA.  In smaller cities, you talk to the zoning director and building dept within 10 days.  Approvals can take a max of 30 days.  What I would do is sign the lease and allow them a timed clause to back out if the city denies their permit.  Stand your ground on this one.

@Will F. The $40k seems justified if the place is less than white boxed.  5 year with just one renewal also sounds good.  If you are making a decent amount off of these numbers, I say go for it.  If I get a qualified tenant in front of me for a vacant space, I do whatever I can to close the deal.  I don't believe it pays to be greedy.  Make sure you have some guarantees, personal or credit worthy and established companies that sign as a guarantor.  I would be pretty stoked if someone was putting $250k into one of my properties.  

I would also make sure you define what stays behind after they leave.  HVAC, hood, fire suppression, sound system, cctv etc.  Good luck!

I wouldn't use the warranty even if you paid me!  In a couple of cases, I had a seller purchased warranty.  They send the worst tradespeople imaginable.  I had an HVAC tech put an indoor motor on an outdoor condenser.  It worked great until the first rain.  A simple shower valve replacement was 2 no shows, 2 different techs, hours on the phone and no solution.  Google the warranty company and the word reviews and you read one nightmare after another.  Alleviating headaches can be accomplished by hiring a licensed and reputable trade.

I believe the overnight guest clause is there just in case.  If a girlfriend/boyfriend spends the night all the time but does not live there, do you really care?  However, when you walk into the apt and there are like 5 dudes chillin there and no one knows where the renters are, thats when you resort to the clause.  If no one is causing problems, no need to bust balls.