Instead of locking your hard earned money away in the bank or betting on gaining enough funds with a long term CD, why not look into commercial real estate investments? Many people strive to be an entrepreneur, investor, or influencer these days but few rarely put in the hard work or take the time to educate themselves on how to truly get there. While the upfront cost may be a bit more, if you make the right decisions while purchasing and developing a property a single investment can promise years of consistently strong financial wealth. Investors have positive days and negative days as well while developing properties so growing a thicker skin is essential for survival.

Anything can go wrong in the world of real estate, especially if someone is renting out a property to business or private tenants. Yet, if managed right and safely insured, the right property can become a significant long term asset that can provide financial prosperity. Keep in mind, you can view rent reports like this one to understand local markets before making any investment.

Before you consider purchasing a piece of commercial land, you must consider what your goal is in the process. Are you trying to develop the land first, and then sell it off to a renter? Will you buy it and immediately flip the property after you check its features? Depending on what you intend to do, owning commercial real estate is a drawn out process that needs careful attention to details. Every investor might have a slightly different approach to acquiring and developing their property to make a property. Let’s walk through the different ways investors typically gain, renovate, and sell their land so you can decide which the best for your goals is!

Commercial real estate takes time and strategy.

What Is Property Development?

It’s very important to be aware of the different ways to buy your dream property if you’re looking to become a key figure in the commercial real estate space. The best thing to do is the immediately build up your list of contacts. This will help you know who to call for potential investment opportunities, make helpful friends in the industry, and gain potential discounts on renovation fees or maintenance issues. Wise real estate investors will also want to know all that they can about the area and property since investment will take a lot of legal hurdles, financial payments and sometimes pesky owners. Some key strategies to keep in mind when buying a commercial real estate property are:

• Buying and holding: A commercial real estate investor buys the land and will hold it for a certain period of time. If they strongly believe that the land will consistently appreciate in value this will be end strong. However, the investor will still have to manage the property’s marketing, current tenant (if there is one), pay any additional taxes tied to it, and fund operational costs to keep it up. Any investor using this method will be hoping that they can hand the property over to a developer to profit from as the area’s overall value rises
• Buying and selling: The process entails purchasing a commercial real estate property below the market value, driving its value up with enhanced marketing, and locating a proper buyer to pay above the alleged value form the market. In theory, this seems like a no brainer way to get the profit you want. Commercial real estate investors are always eager for a quick sale and quick returns on their investment. Remember that finding a great buyer who is impressed by your property is never guaranteed unless its location has high traffic, is constantly being sold out, or has low turnover. Failed flipping usually leads to vacancy and thousands of dollars of loans.
• Buying, developing, and renting: If an investor wants to develop their land after buying so they can dramatically increase its market value, they abstain from putting it back on the market. They will take time to adding custom features like nice flooring, new windows, better roofing, or even a more spacious lot overall. This would be deemed more valuable by a business that is looking to buy a commercial real estate space. Then, being attracted to your property, a business owner may ask you to rent a portion or even the entirety of the property every month.

Plan Properly For Property Development 

If you want to lifestyle of a successful commercial real estate investor you need to start taking an honest look at your daily tasks and what your time is going towards. A smart investor always manages his or her own time well to thoroughly invest opportunities, to create a solid list of significant people to work with, to visit properties in person, and to learn about the climate of every area. Once an investor gets into the process of looking at a potential property, they could also run into annoying government restrictions or renovation related challenges that may make the process much longer than anticipated. Make sure that you can mentally and financially prepare for such instances, since doing house inspections and paying off HOA fees can be very expensive. Someone could also possibly deal with natural disasters like mud slides, floods, or tornados (if you’re in the midwest), so look up the area’s geological history as well. A smart investor may even run into sky high tax rates that exceed the property’s value or high crime rates that debilitate its marketable value. All these factors combined should be checked on early in the process since they can make or break your profit potential.

Take the time to educate yourself on all the traits that a good property investment has like reasonable tax rates, a healthy market value, potential for renovations, and minimal restrictions for zoning from the government. Sometimes we have to bite the bullet and stay humble while learning new things about investing, even if we made the mistakes that trusted resources warn us not to do. This is completely okay and is only a warning sign for you to not repeat the same mistake twice. As a result, knowing the best strategies to buy your real estate investment will help you maximize your buying power and become the top commercial investor in your area if you wish.

Commercial real estate is highly profitable.

Navigating the commercial real estate market by yourself can be a headache if you don’t know where to access the right resources. Commercial real estate exists almost everywhere in our daily lives as it refers to warehouses, work offices, and even large retail spaces we see often. If you are interested in getting into the market with your saved up funds, it’s absolutely critical to plan your strategy and real estate investments carefully.

Not doing so can run the risk of decreasing your income potential and maintenance problems that are often overlooked. As a result, it’s a good idea to think about hiring a property manager who can overlook all the necessary details if you’re looking to rent especially. Let’s dive into the benefits of having a second opinion and a helping hand for your real estate investments.

Using A Commercial Property Manager

Managing a real estate property can definitely be financially rewarding if done the right way. However, all the responsibilities with managing a property can take a lot of time and cause unneeded headache. Even if you consider yourself a frugal person who likes to take matters into their own hands, it’s much more practical to invest in a commercial property manager for the following reasons:

• The commercial property manager will help you set an appropriate rental rate. Instead of sifting through hundreds of rental pages and rental Facebook groups, a manager will be able to conduct a thorough and accurate market analysis to ensure your rate is competitive yet satisfactory. Work with the manager on what your fears and needs are before conducting the market study. Open communication is key to maintain an efficient relationship with them. This way you can prevent any vacancy issues while still maximizing your income potential.
• The manager will help you get your rent paid on time. Any landlord will tell you that they have had tenants who don’t pay their fair share of rent on time. Property management systems, on the other hand, have reputable and reliable systems in place so rent is collected at all times on time. If you have a limited number of real estate investments, having this benefit is crucial to maintain a healthy cash flow and gain peace of mind.
• Marketing and advertising will benefit as well. Instead of figuring out what methods or graphics will work best to make your property look as alluring as possible, hiring a commercial property manager can help since they know what to do. They can form an informative and compelling ad for your property on the right platforms so people are reached. It’s no longer the right time to use classified or Craigslist anymore and the majority of young and even old renters are active on social media or renting specific platforms.
• Once you’ve secured an interested tenant, you want to make sure that they are free of any problematic history and have the financial means to keep fees paid on time. A manager can easily do this work for you and run secure criminal background checks as well as running credit reports. In short, they can access all the important documents you need to make the right decision for the future of your real estate investment property.
• Maintaining your real estate investment property can take a lot of upkeep. Hiring work from several different construction workers, plumbers, or engineers can be costly and complicated for your accounting records. The majority of property management companies will be able to find close contacts to vendors they’ve already worked with before to get you the best price possible. Since they have a good relationship with these businesses already established, the customer service you’ll experience will likely always be urgent and pleasant to deal with.
• If you want to expand the amount of locations you have properties in, hiring a commercial property manager will also help to manage different areas. Normally, people are tied down to a single community or neighborhood since they don’t want to travel too far if a problem with the property or tenant arises. With a manager, they can provide the means to explore opportunities at other ends of town and possibly different cities. Don’t be afraid to explore places that you’ve never heard of before, you might be surprised with what hidden gems you find!
• You’ll have more money and time in the long run. While hiring a manager might seem like too much of a luxury, they will take care of the day to day responsibilities of running a property successfully. With your free time, you can explore other investment options and keep better track of your expenses for the future. Preventing any risk of vacancy or late payments is also well worth the upfront cost, so no reason to wait!

Better Safe Than Sorry

As an upcoming real estate investor, it’s wise to do everything in your power to carefully plan and manage your hard earned investments. If you work alone, you could be spending a lot of time and money to correctly screen tenants for rent, market and manage your property, collect payment on a timely manner, or exploring further opportunities at different locations. If you aren’t sure how to go about hiring a trustworthy commercial property manager, look up reviews for ones around you who have a proven track record. Make sure that their investment properties are being properly taken care of and customer testimonials are genuinely written. After doing your homework, schedule a discovery appointment with the manager that you are most interested in. You’ll gain a better perspective on what their management style is and how well you communicate with one another. Don’t be hesitant to ask all the questions you need!