Saturday, February 9, 2008

Office Condo rentals

Throughout the United States there is a growing demand for what are called “office condos.” Office condos are similar to condominium units in that each person owns a unit in an attached development. Office condominium developments give business owners a chance to own their property instead of leasing.

Not all business owners, however, want to own an office condominium. Consider an attorney or doctor who is just starting out. They may want the desirable location of the new office complex, but not have the money to pay for the purchase of the property. They may prefer to rent.

Purchasing office condo rentals is one way to invest in commercial real estate with little risk and work. You can use the rent to pay off the loan on the commercial property. As the area continues to grow, the office condo rentals will increase in value. Eventually, when you sell the commercial real estate investment, you will have earned a profit.

Office condos have maintenance fees just as residential condominium developments. If you purchase one of the office condo rentals, you will be responsible for the maintenance fees. This is known as common area maintenance and is usually split between all of the occupants of the development according to their square footage. The fees for the common area maintenance are generally passed on to the renter.

One of the nice things about investing in office condo rentals is that you will be renting the property to a business instead of an individual. Most office condominium developments are either purchased or leased to professionals such as those in the medical field or legal field. These people work hard to get to the point that they do and rarely default on their rental payments. It does not look too good for a doctor to get evicted for not paying his or her rent. While residential rental units can sometimes be a battle when it comes to getting good, qualified renters, office condo rentals usually bring you quality renters.

In addition to purchasing an office condominium to rent to a professional, you can also opt to build an office condominium development. This does not have to be a large development, but can offer some professionals a chance to purchase their office space instead of leasing. You can even rehab an older building and turn it into office condos as long as you get proper authority from the municipal zoning board. There are hundreds of opportunities to construct office condos for commercial real estate investing. You can continue to own the condominiums and collect the rental to pay towards the loan, waiting for the property to rise in value before you sell, or rehab or construct office condos and sell them outright.

If you decide to work with office condo rentals, or perhaps build an office condo development, you will need to set up a condominium association that will handle the maintenance of the area surrounding the building such as the grass, snow removal, trash removal and any repairs on the common area.

Office condo rentals can be a wonderful way to invest in commercial real estate on both a large and small scale.

Mark Moebius
CEO
MILJONAIR Development
MiljonairDev.com
636.300.9000

3451 St. Albans Rd. Suite 5B
St. Albans MO 63073

Setting up your investment team

Investing in real estate is not a one man show. There are many people who work behind the scenes to get a deal to go through. You can ensure a better track record and greater success by setting up your investment team. It does not take much to put one together.

The first person you should choose for your investment team is a licensed real estate agent. You will want someone who is familiar with the neighborhood as well as the types of properties in which you are investing. A good real estate agent can let you know how the market is moving. He or she will be able to tell you when a new property is on the market. This same person can also bring potential buyers to your open houses or introduce you to others who may want to view your properties. The professional real estate agent works for the seller. However, there are times when you can offer to pay commissions and have the agent work for you, the buyer. The choice is yours. Either way, to have a real estate agent as part of your investment team only makes sense.

Another member of your investment team should be a licensed contractor or inspector. This is the person who is going to be able to determine what repairs need to be done to the property to get it ready for sale. You can also have the properties inspected prior to buying by this team member. You do not always know what you are getting into when the property is vacant. The contractor or inspector has been trained, or has the experience to spot potential problems. They can tell you if there has been significant water damage. They can spot termite or other infestations. This team member can save you a great deal of money in the long run.

When setting up your investment team, you should always consider adding another investor to the group. This is someone who may be more familiar with certain properties than you are. He or she may know commercial properties when you have only been dealing with single family homes. This person may also be able to help back a potentially large investment when you have no other resources available. Joint ventures are made all the time in real estate. Having another investor on the team means you can take advantage of deals you may otherwise have to say no to.

The last person you should have on your investment team is a lender. The lender can offer you new ways to finance a property. He or she can also keep you informed of what the market is doing when it comes to interest rates. Many times the personal relationship you have with your lender can help get a loan approved which might otherwise not go through. You can also be privy to certain properties which have been foreclosed upon by the lender's organization.

Never think of real estate as a one man show. There are too many other people who are working behind the scenes to put the deals together. These are the people you want to have on your side when setting up your investment team.

Mark Moebius
CEO
MILJONAIR Development
MiljonairDev.com
636.300.9000

3451 St. Albans Rd. Suite 5B
St. Albans MO 63073

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