-                      How to “Stack Your Financing” so that it Gets Funded

-                      4 Stages of a Listing Life Cycle that you must understand

-                      Me and My Mortgage(s)…..What the heck is happening out there?  

-                      The Right Attorney can make all the difference in the world

-                      What the books don’t tell you about Property Management

-                      Understanding the Buy/Sell Cycle of Commercial Real Estate

-                      How to Master Leases and how Leases effect Values

-                      And much more

If you have been skirting around the idea of investing in commercial real estate, you may be wondering how you can know when it's the right time to invest in these properties. The right time for you will be synchronistic; your borrowing and repayment capacity will meet market opportunities to buy low in an area that offers high potential growth. There is certainly some luck involved in this, however, for the most part good preparation meets opportunity to result in long term profitability.

Investing in commercial real estate can be very profitable if you carefully evaluate the market and are cognizant of both the risks and the benefits. Commercial real estate can offer the canny investor the benefits of cash flow, depreciation, appreciation and capital growth. It can provide tax benefits, help you diversify your portfolio and increase your personal wealth.

Profiting from commercial real estate is basically a matter of buying low and selling high. Properties that are under-priced or under-performing in areas with a solid and sustained rate of growth are considered to offer the best profit potential. All these factors are essential aspects to successful commercial real estate investing. However, taking the time to gain needed expertise and experience cannot be underestimated.

Before committing to purchase a commercial real estate property, it is important to understand what you want to achieve from the investment. For example, are you planning to hold onto the property for a long term to benefit from capital gain and are therefore less concerned with annual rental returns, or do you need the cash flow generated by higher returns? In fact, to be successful at investing in commercial real estate you need to acquire the right mindset before you even begin to look at properties. You can rarely make money quickly in commercial real estate, rather the most successful investors are willing to hold onto their properties for the long term. The very nature of commercial real estate investment requires you to take an unemotional approach involving thoughtful analysis, research and extensive due diligence. You need to become a long range thinker, planner and implementer.

It is always a good idea to get expert advice, but remember real estate agents and property management companies are selling their services and will not necessarily tell you the whole truth. Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware) holds very true for commercial real estate investing. You need to do your research in order to avoid serious pitfalls.

Before purchasing a commercial property, check into the demographic information relating to the area within an easy distance (for example, a five mile radius). Knowing the average age, average household composition, average household income, and ethnicities can be very revealing. If the commercial property you are considering is retail, you will also need to consider the quantity of passing traffic and ease of parking.

An obvious consideration when evaluating commercial real estate as an investment is the vacancy rate as well as the absorption rate over the previous few years. You also need to consider the length of current leases still to run. This is important for two reasons. First, the current rents may be lower than the market value. Alternatively, they may be providing a good return and the longer the lease the better the value of the property because you will not have to fill vacancies.

The aim when purchasing commercial real estate is to get the best return on investment at the lowest possible risk. For example, there is far less risk in purchasing an office building with ten well paying tenants in it who still have a substantial period of their lease to run than it would be to buy one with leases about to expire or only one or two tenants.

Commercial properties are commonly much more expensive than other forms of real estate and significantly more complicated in terms of market considerations. You will need to sort through a lot of information designed to put the property in the best possible light so you will need to have excellent analytical skills to sort through relevant data from the false impressions. Commercial investment needs to be taken slowly. Take whatever time you need to evaluate the suitability of a property for your investment purposes.

Have you gone to a shopping complex? There, you will see different novelty shops, grocery stores, and other small businesses. If you will decide on whether you want to enter such business, it is important that you will understand the basics of commercial real estate investment and how you can gain profit from real estated investing.

Understanding Commercial Real Estate.

Real Estate is defined as a certain property that can possibly generate revenue for its owner. It generally includes office buildings, shopping malls, service stations, restaurants, apartment units, and raw land.

You must understand that only properties, which have a potential to produce income for its owner, is categorized as commercial real estate.

Therefore, it will not include real estate of habitable characteristics such as houses and apartment buildings.

So how is it leased to the potential clients? Usually, the owner of the property leases it through a licensed broker. Then the broker will make the necessary arrangements with regards in advertising that property.

In addition, the broker can make some agreement with the owner or seller of the property about its improvements such as renovating or clearing the perimeter of the ground where it is erected.

How to Get Started in Commercial Real Estate Business

If you want to start with this type of investment and yet, you do not have a concrete property to sell, maybe the first thing to do is to have some guidelines that you can start with. Here are the things that you should consider in building your commercial property:

* Determine what are the hot business are around. Decide if you will cater to the needs of individual or partnership that wants to rent spaces for their food or novelty shops.

* Choose the best location of your property. Go for the finest piece of land that you can utilize efficiently. You can consider erecting commercial property nearby high traffic areas can be easily accessed for full-service restaurants, hotels, and other shopping centers.

* In aid of choosing your property's location, you consult the planners of the local government where it will be built. They have a zoning system, which separates industrial, residential, and commercial properties. It will help you to obtain the necessary clearance and permits from them.

* You can opt to hire some financial advisors. They can help you to plan for the revenue aspects of your investment. Always keep in mind that the right investment is the best chance to earn more profits.

* In case that the property is funded under a mortgage, it will be wise on your part to repay it religiously. Do not let it be your liability; remember that your goal is to earn money, not to lose money.

* If the property is now ready for leased, always have the necessary arrangements with your real estate agents with regards in advertising your property.

* Check the rates, terms and conditions, and other related aspects concerning the lease of your commercial property. You must also serve the interest of your potential clients that will avail it.

Earning money through commercial real estate property requires enough planning. This is an investment; either you lose or gain money.

In my book, nothing beats commercial real estate investing.
Why?
Well, let me ask you: Where else can you make one… five… twenty-five million dollars a crack using NONE of your own money?
In other words, one of the most appealing aspects of commercial real estate is abundance… abundance of properties, of creativity, of choice- and, especially, money.
It's all readily available.
Commercial real estate is a very dynamic industry and investment. Commercial markets are always shifting; land uses are being re-assigned by city planners, and new, big name stores and developments establish themselves in communities causing land values to rise all around them.
In commercial real estate there are many market segments that can hold the interest of many different people.
Let's look at some of the actions you can take in commercial real estate:

We are excited to inform you the launch of EquityWork.com 2.0. The enhanced Equitywork.com website gives the brokers and agents the latest Web 2.0 tools to reach buyers. It is very easy to use the website and we have added many tools that will improve and enhance your experiences.

EquityWork has leveraged the power of the Internet to create an efficient information portal for buyers, agents and brokers. EquityWork's corporate vision strives to become the premier tool for commercial real estate brokers and agents in America. We developed the website specifically tailor for commercial real estate agents and brokers. We are here to empower commercial real estate brokers and agents.

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Unfortunately, commercial real estate is not for everyone. Before taking the plunge into this vastly competitive field, you may want to ask yourself the following questions, all of which relates to how you work and your personality.

-Do I Have an Entrepreneurial Mindset?

Successful professionals in commercial real estate tend to have an entrepreneurial spirit. The have a motivated drive or desire to succeed. Having an entrepreneurial mindset could mean that you possess the following qualities:

-hardworking
-innovative
-goal oriented
-passionate
-organized
-creative
-a leader
-a risk taker

Some people describe having an entrepreneurial mindset as having a "fire in the belly." In short, you have burning desire for success in commercial real estate and you have the creative and innovative spirit to translate that fire into concrete action.

-Do I Have a Passion to Help Others Succeed?

If you want to be successful in commercial real estate, particularly as a commercial real estate mortgage broker, property broker, agent or lender, you must have a passion to help other people succeed. In the end, your success in any one of these specialties within the realm of commercial real estate depends on your own ability to assist other people achieve their own goals. Do you thrive on seeing others succeed and knowing that you were able to contribute to that endeavor?

-Do I Have an Internal Personal Belief System That Supports My Success?

Finally, when it comes to achieving success in commercial real estate, it is absolutely fundamental that you develop and maintain a personal belief system that permits you to fully understand that you are capable of achieving any goal. Although some people may conclude that it is a trite saying - you have to BELIEVE in yourself. If you do not believe in yourself, how can you expect your clients to trust and believe the advice that you give them? By believing in yourself, you will have the ability to develop an appropriate plan of action that will ensure that your important dreams become realities. By setting goals and by believing that through your own best efforts you can achieve those goals, you will enjoy significant and lasting success in the commercial real estate profession.

If your answer was "yes" to each of the questions above, you are well on your way to finding a great career in commercial real estate. The industry is not made for everyone, but for those who can appreciate what it takes to succeed, they are in for one exciting ride! Best of luck to you!

DIVERSE BEGINNINGS

Carl and Karen Moose are two very busy and successful commercial real estate professionals with an active young family — "three under three," as they say — and an impressive list of colleagues, clients, and investors who have nothing but praise for the deals they put together for their business, Investment Realty Services, Inc., which expertly manages investor's real estate assets by providing brokerage, investment services and property management services for equity partners.

Karen is president of Investment Realty Services, and Carl works as Managing Director, officially speaking. As they explain, this means that Carl focuses his efforts on finding great commercial properties, analyzing them, and putting deals together for his company and investors, while Karen trains her energy on managing the properties they own, raising capital, and forging and maintaining strong relationships with colleagues, clients, and investors.

More on Carl And Karen Moose: Successful Real Estate Visionaries

Make sure the condition of the property you want to buy will survive market conditions before seeking a commercial real estate mortgage. When you go to purchase a new residence, a good lender does a thorough financial background check on the individual seeking to borrow money. On the other hand, when you go to apply for a commercial real estate mortgage, the lender's greatest concern is the property. Some of the most important issues include your credit score. But that's not enough. The lender wants to make sure the property is in pristine condition and will survive tumultuous market conditions.

Research the commercial market

Before deciding to seek a commercial real estate mortgage, scout the city or town and get a sense of the market conditions. Are there many "for rent" or "for sale" signs for multi-family units such as offices or apartments? Is the commercial property in a part of town that receives enough traffic flow or is it difficult to locate? Talk to professionals in the area to find out where you can find the best deals before obtaining a commercial real estate mortgage.

Prepare to put money down

Just as you would put money down on the purchase your dream house, you will need to come up with money for a commercial mortgage. Most lenders want between 15 and 20 percent down. Next, you are ready to see if you can pre-qualify for a property. A loan officer will put together a loan package before giving you a letter of interest. Then, the lender will review the file and create a loan document.

Gathering documents for mortgage

You can begin getting together the documents you need in order to move along the commercial mortgage process. Put together your employment history for the past two years as well as with salary, employment dates, pay stubs and the contact information of your employers. You should also figure out your net worth and list all other assets.
Make sure you have all of your tax records organized. Bring along your social security card, the last three statements from savings and checking accounts, stocks and certificate of deposits. You should make a copy of your 401K or IRA plans, the title of your automobiles or loan information. Finally, write down the names, addresses and account numbers for all credit cards, loans and mortgages so those facts and figures will be handy for your loan officer.

Commercial real estate is a highly profitable industry where many people dedicate their lives. Like the many divisions of a Fortune 500 company, the commercial real estate industry has many opportunities for those with professional educations and interests. Some professional interests may include legal counsel, accounting, finance, development, building and investing. When it comes to the commercial real estate industry, these professionals are highly specialized in their knowledge and perform amazingly well within their boundaries.

These highly specialized professionals are often grouped together in teams by commercial real estate investors. A savvy investor surrounds him or herself with competent professionals to make sure that every deal that is made yields the highest most profitable results, with little to no problematic factors.

If you look at the residential investor, however, he or she usually does not have a huge team surrounding him or her and can usually invest in a few homes at a time with ease.

Why is it that the residential investor does not need a full time team to look watch over and consult every deal prior to purchase? Beyond the obvious reason that residential real estate does not involve nearly the millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions and even billions of dollar price tags and profits that commercial real estate is known for, there is another very important attribute of commercial real estate that separates it from residential real estate.

This attribute is characterized by a term known as "buyer beware."

We all know that with most residential real estate, the buyer must be disclosed of every aspect of the property- good or bad. For example, if the roof was leaking in a home, but it was summer so the purchaser may not necessarily find out until rainy season, then the owner or agent must disclose this fact to the purchaser. It is illegal for the owner or agent to withhold any information from the purchaser. This law greatly decreases the risk on the purchaser's behalf and if a problem arises that was not fully disclosed at the time of purchase, then the purchaser could receive his or her deposit back and the owner and agent could suffer penalties.

In residential real estate, the buyer does not need to beware (in this sense) because every detail must be disclosed so he or she has the absolute facts on a property before deciding to part with a down payment or take out a mortgage to purchase the property.

The opposite is true in the commercial real estate industry. The owner or agent does not need to disclose any information about the property to the purchaser. In fact, if the new owner discovers that the land he or she purchased is toxic, and the previous owner or agent said nothing, it is the new owner's responsibility to have the land cleaned. The new owner must pay all legal and cleaning bills that come along with toxic property.

This may seem rather unfair. Why should the residential real estate industry have full disclosures while the commercial real estate industry does not? In commercial real estate, you have a certain amount of time prior to purchase to perform due diligence, or a complete analysis of the property. This may include building inspections, soil tests, infrastructure analysis, financial analysis etc. The buyer is completely responsible for retrieving the facts on a property.

It is considered an open and free market so, "buyer beware." There is a lack of need to protect the buyer or seller by the law. Therefore, it is increasingly important to have commercial real estate professionals looking out for the commercial real estate investor at every turn.

Because the law does not protect the buyer, the buyer must protect his or herself. Legal counsel should be brought in to oversee every single deal. This includes conditional statements on a contract and performing the most in-depth due diligence one can possibly do. Commercial real estate is not something you can look at for a few weeks and then decide you want to purchase like a home. It can take 45, 60, 90 days and more to perform due diligence, depending on the purpose of the property and how complicated the property is.

Let's look at an example. Purchaser A wants to purchase a property from Seller B. The property is raw land and is currently zoned R-1, or residential lots one lot per acre. According to the agent, there is a good possibility that the city needs additional commercial land to balance out the additional homes and apartments that were recently built near the subject property. For this reason, the city may be interested in rezoning the land from R-1 to commercial.

Purchaser A can see the profit potential of this rezone and wants to purchase the property. Purchaser A lets the owner know that he wants to purchase the currently zoned R-1 property. Purchaser A is acting in good faith that the property will be rezoned to commercial. But just in case, Purchaser A includes a conditional clause that states that if the property cannot be rezoned to commercial, then the contract is null and void. Purchaser A will no longer have a liability toward the property and owner.

This was an intelligent move Purchaser A made because in this case, the property could not be rezoned to commercial. Instead of sitting there with a much less valuable R-1 zoned property, Purchaser A was left with no property at all, but no financial or legal problems either. And that is far better than a worthless property and a legal battle to contend with.

Every commercial real estate deal is extremely different. Buyer and seller personalities, the quality of due diligence, the integrity of the buyer and purchaser, the financial needs, and skills of professionals such as the escrow company and commercial real estate owners all play a huge role in how each deal results. The best and most sound advice I can give you is never take what you hear for face value. Verify every fact and have your commercial real estate professionals available at every turn. The information they can conjure can save you a lot of money and legal headaches by simply getting the facts verified and inserting conditional clauses in the contract.

If you are new to the commercial real estate industry, realize the rules are a little different and a lot more is at risk than in the residential real estate industry. Keep the "buyer beware" mentality alive at all times and allow professionals to do their jobs. That is what they are there for. Surround yourself with the best and you will quickly become the best.

Now that you have had a chance to look at "buyer beware" and how it plays a specific role in both the commercial and residential real estate industries, you can greatly appreciate the additional risk in doing commercial real estate deals as well as the importance of solid commercial real estate professionals working in your best interest. Without them, there would be far more problematic deals- and that is exactly what you want to avoid.

Florida has a lot of things to offer. It actually plays as a run away paradise for tourists and visitors because of its beauty.

Florida has many beaches get away ideas. And there are heaps of recreation to take advantage with such boating, skiing, dock to yacht, and the like. Having all this makes tourists to be attracted to take advantage its privileges.

Commercial real estate in Florida for shopping malls is considering an alteration for the adapting the needs of the present day shopper. Florida commercial real estate re-sales are rising. Those you are raring to buy real estate come from minority groups such as Latin Americans and Asians.

A new concept in Florida real estate is the Open-air commercial real estate, which is taking charge lately. Enclosed malls are gradually surrendering their control to open air centers. Since open air centers has a lot more features and space to offer than traditional walled mall.

Adaptation and redevelopment are actually the key ways to increase in commercial real estate business in Florida. Since people are usually looking for convenience and ambience, and Florida have these factors to offer.

Now, if you are searching for commercial real estate property in Florida, it is better for you to distinguish what kind of business you wanted to be into, and your preferred location. There is varying of array of commercial properties that you can consider, from office space to retail establishments.

Whatever commercial property you are looking and interested to, there are lot of categories of real estate properties to consider so limit down your search. Retail properties, is one category to consider, which covers shopping centers and malls, franchise locations, chain store sites, showrooms, retail sites and shops.

Office buildings, business parks, commercial rental properties, residential developments and net leased properties are investment properties. Industrial parks, resort properties, waterfront property and land tracts fall under land brokerages category. And there are also high-tech property areas which particularly for research and development parks, medical laboratories, and call centers.

Hotel and resort properties category covers hotels, convention centers, stadiums, motels and theme park sites. Distribution and industrial properties category covers warehouses, factory sites, airports, distribution facilities and mills.

Amidst of high prices, Florida is usually an attractive and popular place to start business. Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas Counties in Tampa Bay; Fort Myers and Cape Coral area in Southwest Florida; Martin, Miami-Dade, Broward, St.Lucie and Palm Beach Counties in South Florida; Sarasota and Manatee Counties in Sarasota; Duval, Clay, Putnam and Nassau Counties in Jacksonville/Northeast Florida; Orange, Seminole, Lake, Polk, Osceola and West Volusia Counties in Orlando / Central Florida and Leon, Franklin, Jefferson %26 Wakulla Counties in the Tallahassee area are all the place to you can look up to choose which interest you the most.

Whatever places in Florida you can choose from to make an investment, you will definitely not regret it. Since Florida has the best commercial real estate to offer, all you have to do is choose which property you are interested to invest with. Florida is certainly known to be a good location for business.