Restaurants & Single Tenant Leases = Investment Opportunity From coffee to crab cakes, people love to eat out.  The World Wide Web’s technology limitations prevent us from the experience of eating, drinking out and interacting with others in a neutral place that you don’t have to clean when you are done.  That adds up to why restaurants & single tenant leases are an opportunity to look at.. What's the place that's not home, and not work, but people got to gather at daily? Restaurants! Restaurant owners like the large ticket sale generated by baby boomer guests.  While the millennials spend less, they are regulars, spending money multiple times each week, and create significant sales volume.  Starbucks is a perfect example; the “3rd place,” as it was described to me by a “partner” employee at my local Starbucks.  They recognize their fit in your world; that place between home & work; the 3rd place. Considering the Commercial Real Estate investment opportunities in Restaurants, I sought out an expert in Single Tenant Leases & Restaurant Development, from Dallas, Tx, Pam Goodwin of Goodwin Commercial to learn more. For listeners of CREPN interview with Pam Goodwin, click here to receive your FREE:      26 Lessons Learned From 26 Years in Commercial Real Estate Business

From Gulf wars to under the Christmas tree in 2015, retailers have declared “2016, The Year of the Drone!” The first time I recall hearing about drones on a regular basis was during the Gulf Wars  where drones were used for military surveillance over war zone. Now they are found under the Christmas tree. To learn more about Drones and their use in commercial applications, I contacted Paul Tice with ToPa3d, who uses drones in his 3d mapping business.   Drones have exploded onto the scene due to three noticeable improvements: Stability Able to remain steady in the windiest conditions.Capacity to lift is growingUp to 50 lbs = higher image resolution cameras.Cost Savings?High quality output in hours compared to weeks using traditional methods. Laws: FAA rules require there must be a licensed pilot on site with knowledge of air space.  Basic responsibility: DO NOT FLY OVER PEOPLE; give way to manned aircraft, and are supposed to stay under 400 ft and not to fly within 5 miles of an airport. Future: LIDAR used to create intelligent models: 3D City ModelingBIM: Building Information ModelsGIS: Geographic Information SystemsMaterials & Energy performance of buildings for a cityUtilitiesUrban planning Fully immersed to understand planning, usage, people Virtual Reality For more information: www.ToPa3D.com    

When a complicated sale can be facilitated by a machine that can interact with the Prospect from the first communication through offer, across multiple channels in real time, that is something BIG.  That is Skyler 360.   Communication in the sales process has changed. The first sale involved a buyer & seller communicating face to face. Communication has changed.  Snail mail, Telegram, Overnight delivery, Voice messages, Faxes, Emails, Texts, Drip campaigns, Video Chat; the noise is loud and the competition for the Prospect’s attention is fierce. You spend money on advertising to make the phone ring.  The phone rings.  Is it answered? Q: How do you sift through all of the noise to find the BUYERS? Ron Sasson developed Skyler 360 to overcome this problem. Ron had an apartment complex with multiple vacancies.  He needed to fill them, and was spending money on advertisements, but his property manager was too busy tending to other issues at the property, and was unable to handle the calls.   Assessing the situation, Ron recognized that his property manager needed help.   Skyler 360 engages the prospect right away with an appropriate reply to the Prospect’s request for information.  A few brief back and forth messages between Skyler 360 and the Prospect, and the Prospect’s needs are easily determined and qualified against available units.    Recently, Skyler 360 was reviewed by Inman.com, and the Houston Business Journal. Skyler 360 can work as a standalone or can be fully integrated with MLS, your website, social media, calendar, accounting system; Yardi, MRI, etc. For a Demo: call: 713-322-4146 goto: skyler360

The Residential Landlord & Tenant Rental Agreement is significantly limited in comparison to the wide open language, structure and requirements written in a Commercial Lease. Recently I sat down with Marcel Gesmundo, Attorney at Bittner-Hahs PC to discuss the basic elements, requirements, responsibilities and limitations of the Residential lease. The basics elements of the Residential Lease: The Residential Lease, per Oregon Statute ORS 90.222, (which follows URLTA - the Universal Residential Landlord & Tenant Act) sets the limitations for the contractual relationship between the Landlord and Tenant, especially in a Multifamily property.   Duties of Landlord & Tenant: Landlord Tenant Renters Insurance: Q: Can Landlord require Tenant to have Renters Insurance? A: Yes, when the requirement from the Landlord is: (Per SECTION 5. ORS 90.222 is amended to read: 90.222) IMPORTANT SMALL PRINT: The information contained in this interview was for discussion purposes only and is not intended as legal advice.  For legal guidance or answers to legal questions ALWAYS consult with your attorney. DO you own more than 100 units?Want to require Tenants to Have Renters Insurance? If YES, click here for more information on how easy it is to do so.

Low Income Housing Tax Credits are the funding mechanism for Affordable Housing.    Since the 2008 housing crash, the demand for rental housing has exploded.  The demand has pushed rents to multiple year over year double digit increases in many markets.  Investors and market analyst remain optimistic that for the near future, these trends will continue, as new units are absorbed as soon as they are made available.     Increased rents and stagnant wage growth has lead to a problem of affordability for many renters - Affordable Housing. In my effort to better understand what Affordable Housing, I reached out to experts in Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), Nicolo Pinoli & Warren Sebra of Novogradac & Company. There are multiple roads to take when discussing Affordable Housing and Low Income Housing Tax Credits.  We touch on: Funding the development through the LIHTC program Operation of Affordable Housing Who is eligible to rent? ?Only those earning a maximum percentage of the Area Median Income. How the rents are determined? A calculation of 30%, of the tenant’s income? The numbers associated with a sample development of a 50 unit project including: Benefit and Obligation of LIHTC What happens at year 15 Appearance of Affordable Housing: Most newly developed Low Income Housing is impossible to differentiate from market rates properties. Three key ways LIHTC are lost: RENT; Charging more than the allowable maximum rent for a unitTENANT INCOME LIMITS: Documenting tenants income when first rentedHABITABILITY: Failure to maintain the units for residents to live For more go to: www.novoco.com

Senior Housing Investment Opportunities - Have you considered these?   Investing in Real Estate requires knowledge of the marketplace; potential renters, who they are, what they want and their economic abilities. When considering the Commercial Real Estate investment options, you may have looked past the opportunities included in Senior Housing.   The investment opportunity eluded me, until I had the opportunity to interview Rick Lynn with Marcus & Millichap National Senior Housing Group. Senior Housing is an intersection of three markets; Housing, Hospitality & Healthcare. The marketplace is full of investment opportunity.  You can invest directly as a Landlord and lease out the operations to an operator, act as an Owner Operator providing the care to your tenants, or invest through a REIT focused on Senior Housing. There are four recognized levels of operation from least to most care required: Independent Living (IL)Assisted Living (AL)Memory Care Continuing Care Retirement Care (CCRC)This option allows movement from (IL) to (NH)Nursing Home (NH) There is a surge in demand in the Independent Living marketplace to meet the aging Baby Boomers next stage in life. FREE Senior Housing Market Research Report click: http://bit.ly/CREPN-SeniorHousingMarketReport For more information on Senior Housing investment opportunities, contact Rick Lynn with Marcus & Millichap: Rick Lynn 630.570.2228 rlynn@marcusmillichap.com

To lower your risk in Real Estate Investing, You Need Data. Since 1995, Axiometrics has been providing investors the needed information to make investments based on the most current month end reported data.  Each month, Axiometrics gathers data from over 40,000 professionally managed apartment properties of 50 plus units plus across the USA. Rents for every floor plan offeredOccupancy ratesConcessions Ryan Kimura provides insight on how big data provides the answers investors need to make informed investment decisions in order to maximize the return on investment.   Ryan is the Regional Director for the East Coast and specifically the Mid-Atlantic Region for Axiometrics Inc., headquartered in Dallas, TX. Currently, he assists companies operating in the Apartment and Student Housing space understand how to make the best decisions when buying, selling and managing assets by providing access to better, more accurate data. Prior to his tenure at Axiometrics, Ryan helped a Dallas based private equity hard money lending firm grow from $18MM to over $40MM in less than 18 months by originating transactions and raising capital from equity investors. During his time with the PE firm, he supported numerous aspects of the business including being an integral part of a JV partnership with a large hedge fund to buy, rehab and rent over 1000 foreclosed single family properties in Texas. Prior professional experience included growth and branding of a $500MM self-directed IRA and 401k administrator, from a local firm to a national firm. Ryan also has extensive background in real estate debt from residential to commercial to hard money.  For a FREE sample Market Narrative Summary, contact Ryan rkimura@axiometrics.com (469)621-9635.    

If you are doing house flips; purchasing fixer upper properties,fixing & selling for a quick profit, your short term profit options can be significant.  Insurance for this is not so easy.   The following are some good first steps: Contract: A good first question to answer: will you be doing the work yourself, or hiring a contractor.  If you are hiring a contractor, the best practice is to have:? contract in place with the contractor specifying Insurance requirements Insurance covering: Property: The proper form of Property Insurance for a renovation project is a Builders Risk Policy.  This provides coverage from the acquisition value of the structure through the completed project value.  It satisfies the requirement from lenders when required to provide proof of insurance.   Liability: Depending on the work that will be done and who will be doing, and the controls you have in place to minimize your risk, you will need to have some Liability Insurance. Premises Liability is the basic trip and fall coverage should anyone get hurt at the premises described on the policy.  This is a must, and very reasonably priced.  Completed Operations is the best option for coverage, especially if you are performing major renovations including the envelope of the building that could result in future damage to the structure. If you have any questions regarding your Quick Flip operations insurance needs, give me a call. For a sample contract and certificate example, click here.