All Forum Posts by: Henri Meli

I'm in town and will be leaving on Thursday. Therefore, i'll be there. 

Thanks for your answers @Caleb Heimsoth , @Jeff Kehl and @Account Closed . 

Great suggestions to all. 

I'm curious if anyone who owns a commercial office building has strategies to get additional income via building signage.  

I own an office building that is really well situated (high traffic area) and currently have a signage from a Local Bank, who is one of my tenants. Their lease is coming up next year and I want to start discussion on an extension. The signage is on top of the building facade facing the main traffic area and is the only one on the building. The tenant paid for the signage at move in on the initial lease, but I'm responsible for electricity and maintenance, as the signage is well lit at night. 

How would one get extra income from this?

Look up the website of the real estate guys. You will see ways to invest in central America. (Belize, Panama, ...)

However different people have different levels of comfort/risk depending on where they invest. Everyone's investment goals are different. Always make sure you are comfortable before pouring money into a particular location/geography.

@Michael Nguyen . I would agree with @Jon Mauro .

Banks are begging to take on MF loans, but are very tough when it comes to office buildings loans. 

Loan terms, amortization, Interest are a lot more favorable when it comes to MF. Office building are a lot more difficult to understand as there are many variants. In addition, if you own an office building, you will be negotiating against lots of very experienced people sitting on the other side of the table from you. You would need a very experienced Leasing agent to explain you all the tricks. The learning curve for office buildings is bigger.

Office buildings can be very profitable, however. If you find a good and solid long term tenant that signs a 5-10 year lease with typical 3% escalation ... That is what I like the most about office buildings. Turnover is not very high. Furthermore, businesses have an interest in keeping the space well maintained and professional at all time.

Therefore, businesses will not trash your office building like people trash your apartments. 

If you are the new owner(completed the purchase), then you should be able to use Rules and Regulations at the property to determine what can and can't be done and by whom. You can alter them as you see fit, as long as it doesn't go against signed leases. I doubt a typical lease would allow a tenant to add vending machines. But you should check.

But, don't just stop at the vending machine. Review everything and modify it to meet your vision of the property and match your management and financial goals/targets. Circulate the new rules and regulations with all tenants within a month of taking over and make sure you apply them early to clarify any ambiguities. They are very important.

Good luck.

@Mercedez H. . I'm curious what you found out about the billboard aspect.

@Shepard Ager . I'm curious how you handled the billboard negotiations. 

I'm curious about the process to get started. Anyone has info on this?

Thanks.

@George Leeman Which type of properties? SFRs? Can you speak to the same banks that hold the note? If commercial there are many platforms where you can just post the information and tell them your situation .