Specializes in providing actionable insights into the commercial real estate space for investors, brokers, lessors, and lessees. He covers quarterly market data reports, investment strategies, how-to guides, and top-down perspectives on market movements.
In the world of commercial real estate, a mixed portfolio is like a good soup: why settle for one flavor when you can have so much more? Indeed, your property portfolio may start out specialized since you tend to buy what you know best.
Yet with free commercial property listings, you can see what else is out there, what else might make sense and any bargains that might make it easier to step out of your comfort zone.
If you’re looking up deals for clients, you’ll find that free commercial property listings let you give a wider variety of options to choose from. Clients that are on the fence about property acquisition this year might become motivated to make a deal or two if they know that they’re getting a new challenge.
Let’s be clear about one thing: there is no perfect type of commercial property. Every single one has the potential for issues. Land? Great purchase, but you have to double-check boundaries, title issues, where the easements are, etc.
Storage facilities? Plenty of people default on their storage fees, and then you have to liquidate the locker at auction, which takes time and resources. And what does not get purchased has to still go to the dump.
Yet focusing too much on one type of commercial property puts you in a risky position. It’s all risk and no reward if the worst happens. The pandemic taught investors, brokers, agents, and syndicate leaders one big thing: never take anything for granted.
We had gotten very used to people shopping at Christmastime, only to find that people could not go shopping because they didn’t have a job, and they didn’t have a job because their industry as a whole went belly up.
We love to take a look at companies that are taking the commercial property industry by storm. In that vein, we have to highlight Brookfield.
They are one of the largest real estate firms in the world, with over $237 billion in assets under management.
Their portfolio includes triple net lease, office space, multifamily, hospitality, and student housing. It’s about the location, the sector, and using the same system to expand consistently.
Brookfield goes after all sorts of exciting acquisitions. In December of last year, they purchased the DreamWorks Animation Campus in Glendale, CA, for $326.5 million.
Now that’s what we call thinking outside the box! Don’t hesitate to make a few “quirky” acquisitions of your own, as long as the numbers make sense.
We decided that we would go through some of the more overlooked commercial property types and explain how to use free commercial listings to your advantage. This opportunity isn’t just about investors, of course: other enthusiasts in the commercial sphere can take these points for their own research purposes.
If you haven’t thought about owning a self-storage facility, it should be at the top of your list. It’s the perfect business property when you think about it. Storage facilities don’t need a lot of human interaction. People sign up, get keys, and then move their stuff into storage.
Some people put their items in storage and only come back once a year. Some use the facility for just a month or two, while others can spend years with their things in storage. Set them up on automatic payments every month, and you don’t have to get very involved.
Lab space is part of the growing life sciences movement. Big players are grabbing labs all over the country, but with the right joint venture, you can get in on the action. Finding the funding to buy and hold lab space for leasing can be tricky, but it’s absolutely worth it.
Like lab space, data centers are also in high demand. Every single thing that you read online has to be stored somewhere. As a global society, we’re consuming more data than ever before. Even if you had a small data center that focused on local business owners, you could still have the foundation for something useful.
The old joke is that you should buy land because they aren’t making any more of it, but this joke has a definite ring of truth. If you see land listed on free commercial property listings, consider its future value. Developers come in to make offers on land all the time.
Even if you want to keep the land for your own business purposes, you can still generate revenue through cell towers. Phone companies have to focus on expanding their networks, and rural access has long been a challenge. Connection quality, failure to complete problems, and other issues plague rural spaces where phone towers are often few and far between.
According to the US Administration for Community Living, 80.8 million people will be age 65 or older by 2040. That’s an absolutely massive number that comes with several considerations, including the need for quality senior living.
Taking older buildings and converting them into quality senior living facilities can go a long way to not only increase community impact but very consistent revenue.
Time and time again, students have decided that they want to have a place of their own outside of the actual campus where they attend school. This doesn’t take care of the need for dorms on campus, of course. While some students prefer to stay on campus, others are hunting for a better deal that fits their lifestyle.
Student housing is basically just multifamily customized around a very specific audience. You can use free commercial property listings to examine if a building would be better converted to commune-style student housing, where bathrooms are shared but bedrooms are private. Multiple configurations exist and you can adjust for your local area.
There is something to be said about using free tools to your advantage. It’s up to you to make sure that you’re thinking about the bigger picture. For most people, learning about more options in their local area is very important.
What type of impact do you want to make on your community this year? If you’re thinking about building up to something wonderful, it’s time to turn to free commercial listings and let your mind imagine the full range of possibilities!
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