Is Water Damage Covered or not? If you have a claim, it is important to know if you have coverage, or not. On Joe Fairless Best Ever Show Podcast #746 I was the guest and we discussed damage caused by water. The standard property policy EXCLUDES Water: Flood Mudslide Water that backs up from a sewer, drain  Unless through one of these the result is a fire, explosion or sprinkler leakage. Backup of Sewer or Drain. There are many companies that will give back coverage for: Backup of Sewer or Drain for limits from $5,000 to $100,000 Flood is its own policy.   If you are in a Flood zone, you have a couple of options: Purchase Flood Insurance Get a letter of Map Amendment Checkout CREPN  #35 with Steve Gill, owner of Flood Risk America             Save 20% https://qc115.infusionsoft.com/app/page/save20flood For more information about Commercial Real Estate Insurance like this, get your  Commercial Real Estate Insurance Buyers Guide  

Are you good at making sure you get found online? Do you have a brand?  Do you rely on your employer’s site?  Are you creating opportunities for you sales staff?   What are you doing to get found? The worldwide web creates opportunities for the savvy marketer and competition for those who are not. David Klein with RevLocal is an online marketing expert who is passionate about helping businesses stand out online so customers can find them.   Rules for marketing online that will help you get found. Know your audience.  This is fairly obvious, but worth mentioning.  Who are your clients, let’s find more.Brand - When you know you are, by name, logo, tagline, punctuation, etc. don’t mess with it.  Make certain that every time you post, the information is the same.  Ie; if in one post you list your business as “123 CRE” and another time you list it as “123 CRE LLC”, you are diluting your efforts.  Be the brand.Content - Create useful content for your audience.  If you have industrial space for lease, create or find and repost information useful to tenants of industrial space.  Get specific.  The deeper the better.   Pictures & Videos get higher rankingConsistency - At a minimum, you have to post something once a month and more often is better.  Your goal is to make sure machines can find you. If you don’t have the understanding, knowhow or want to do this, get some help.   Contact David Klein at RevLocal for a consultation to see what you can do. dklein@revlocal.com m (503)592-0627

New IRS Repair Regulations require property owners to account many repairs that were previously an expense must now be capitalized. What does this mean for a property owner?  How can you easily determine what qualifies for an expense versus a capital improvement? I talked with Jonathan McGuire of AKT CPA’s for an in depth look at what changed and how can property owners easily account for the new repair regulations. Download the flowchart to follow along: https://qc115.infusionsoft.com/app/form/repairregulationsflowchart We discuss: History of the IRS Repair Regulations The ruling stems from a 2003 Federal Court case FEDEX vs IRS in which FEDEX argued the engines were not a Unit of Property, UOP.  The repairs were incidental and necessary expense. How much can be expensed for routine maintenance? The current safe harbor limit is $2,500 for routine maintenance What is a Unit of Property? What are Capitalization Standards? The give back: Partial Asset Disposals The new regulations allow for expensing of a system asset that has not been fully depreciated in the year of replacement and recapitalization.   Jonathan’s article in The Tax Advisor magazine:  http://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2015/dec/long-term-tax-benefits-of-partial-disposition-election.html . For more go to: https://www.aktadvisors.com/ jmcguire@aktcpa.com

Michael Blank makes the case for Multifamily Investing over Single Family Investing and provides the steps needed to get your first multifamily deal. SUBSCRIBE   iTunes       Stitcher In 2009 Michael recognized that he could purchase a  single family property at a significant discount and resell for a handsome profit.  He introduced his plan to get into real estate to some acquaintances, and was blown away by how easy it was to get financial commitment.  His first commitment was $25,000 from an acquaintance. This was a mind shift. After successfully handling more that 30 flipps, he recognized that the revenue stream only happens when a deal is completed.  This helped him turn to move multifamily. Why do multifamily investing instead of single family? Michael teaches and coaches investors looking to get into multifamily investing.   When comparing Multifamily versus Single Family, the following are six points for consideration for an investor looking to grow to  25 doors showing which is better for each: Multifamily  Property Management +Control over value +Ability to sell (25 doors) +Ability to scale + Single family Affordability +Finding Deals + The most important thing is to get the FIRST DEAL. For more information go to: http://www.themichaelblank.com/  

Where do you invest and why?  For Worcester Investments, Kansas City Multifamily Investing is it.   In 2007 Paul, Joel & Jesse Worcester followed their mentor from Oregon to Kansas City for the opportunity they saw.  Kansas City real estate was a bargain compared to their native Oregon.   Prior to moving to Kansas City, the brothers tried their hand in real estate investing through building spec homes in Eugene, OR.  For three straight years, they were able to build and sell a  spec home to help pay for college.  Then in 2006 the market turned, and they were lucky to get out of their last home. Today, they have over 3000 units, 120 employees and are looking at properties and projects in excess of $5M each including ground up construction and a downtown redevelopment project on the new Kansas City Streetcar line. So what is the strategy? Worcester Investments are Focused to be the Best at Multifamily in Kansas City and stay purposefully ignorant to all other real estate opportunities. As they have grown, their team has and focus has evolved.  Today, they look at over 100 multifamily opportunities a year in the Kansas City.  Their team can analyze a deal to determine if it is an opportunity they want to pursue in just 45 minutes.   They look for intrinsic value.  What can they improve on and increase the performance of  the property.    Today, Worcester is a major multifamily investing company in Kansas City.  Instead of duplexes, their appetite is for opportunities with intrinsic value priced at and above $5 million. To learn more, go to: http://www.worcesterinvestments.com/  

Property Managers and Tenants save money & time using NoAppFee.com.  It takes money and time to rent housing.  Now there is a new application that works between property managers and tenants that will change the rental application and screening fees forever.  Meet NoAppFee.com. SUBSCRIBE   iTunes        Stitcher Until now. Tyrone Poole is owner of NoAppFee.com.  The application is an interface between renters and property managers that eliminates the multiple showings for each party and matches only qualified renters with properties they are eligible for. The program is beautifully simple: Enrolled property managers define the minimum parameters of acceptability for tenants.  Tenants enroll paying a one time $35 application fee.  The tenant information is fed into the NoAppFee.com algorithm and instantly provides to tenants a list of units they qualify for. When the tenant contacts the property manager regarding the unit with their pre screened information the number of times required to show the unit is reduced considerably.   NoAppFee.com checks the property managments site each morning to update the available units. To learn more to to: https://www.noappfee.com

Commercial Real Estate performance can be greatly improved using a Cost Segregation Study.  A better performing property carries a greater tax burden.  To off set the taxes due, commercial property owners looking for more deductions are turning to cost segregation study's.    To get a better understanding of how cost segregation works, I spoke with Bill Smith with ELB Consulting LLC.   SUBSCRIBE   iTunes        Stitcher Companies have been accelerating the depreciation of components for years.  Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) brought a lawsuit in 1997, and the IRS acquiesced. This set the stage for IRS guidelines formally established in 2004.  Cost Segmentation is not a tax loop-hole, but a recommended practice by the IRS. Bill compares cost segregation specialist to treasure hunters, “in that we find significant cash in your walls, floors, ceiling, etc. in the form of tax deductions. By breaking a building into it component parts, we reclassify certain components from 39 or 27.5-year property to 5, 7 or 15-year property, increasing deductions and therefore improving cash flow.” For a Cost Segregation Study Benefits Summary click: https://qc115.infusionsoft.com/app/form/cost-segregation-study For more information go to:www.elb360.com contact Bill Smith @bill@elbcostseg.com

What’s your type is a popular tease on the grocery store tabloids, but have you ever thought about grading your commercial real estate investor? Doug Marshall with Marshall Commercial Funding  and I discuss some very distinct commercial real estate client types and the different opportunities each brings whether it is a teaching moment or a learning opportunity. Commercial Real Estate Investor Types: WISE CLIENT This is the one we hope to always have as a client.  He has excellent commercial real estate experience.  She knows the ropes but also respect what you bring to the table. They realize you are an important cog in the wheel and they don’t grumble about the fee you earn. WICKED CLIENT The Wicked Client knowingly withholds adverse information from you about the property or about himself in order to get the best possible outcome for himself.  She has no problem cutting ethical corners if that is what it takes. He hopes that whatever he is hiding will stay hidden just long enough to get the deal done. SIMPLE CLIENT The Simple Client thinks he knows more about commercial real estate than he actually does. He generally has an over inflated ego and as a rule does not trust anyone’s judgment but his own. If left to his own ways, the outcome of the transaction will get done but it will likely be a more painful process and have a less favorable outcome than if he would have taken your experienced counsel. CLIENT WHO DOESN’T KNOW WHAT QUESTIONS TO ASK This client is the most vulnerable and the easiest to take advantage of. He really shouldn’t own commercial real estate.  She doesn’t even know what questions to ask.  For more go to MarshallCF.com/blog

Accumulating appreciating assets is the goal of all investors.  When your time comes, an Estate Plan, can make the settlement of your affairs a simple matter.  Without a well executed plan, the end can be really messy. SUBSCRIBE:     iTunes                  Stitcher Most people don’t invest time to think about the world without them in it.  It is  a morbid thought that reminds us that there is an end to life. I had the pleasure of speaking with Bill Sefton, CPA.  His practice focuses on working with high networth individuals to for estate planning. Steps to establishing your Estate Plan WHO: Determining who you want to handle your affairs when you are no longer able is the place to start.  This is the first step. WHAT: Once you know who is going to handle your estate, you need to identify the assets in your estate, bank accounts, IRA’s, property, etc.   HOW: How do you want your assets distributed? For more information go to: https://williamleesefton.com/ William Lee Sefton, CPA (925) 735-6529 bill@williamleesefton.com

Professional property managers rely on property management software to screen tenants, collect rents, generate financial reports for owners, manage the property, schedule repairs and more. SUBSCRIBE:     iTunes                  Stitcher Timmi Ryerson with Smart Property Systems talked with me about property management software systems, users and how a good software system can simplify things for the property manager.     Why use property management software system? The main reason for using property management software system is for organization.  Organization makes your life easier and gives all who interact with you that your organization is professional.  What are your pain points? Smart Property Systems Smart Property Systems can scale from one unit to thousands.  For CREPN Listeners interested in pursuing Smart Property Systems property management software, listen through the interview to learn how to get a 30% off discount. For more go to: Smart Property Systems