Real Estate Information

Commercial Income Property Financing: Part 1 of 3


Welcome to this first portion of a three-part series about income property. In this first segment we will be discussing financing options for commercial income properties as well as the upside (and downside) of owning this type of property.

If you're interested in getting into the income property business, chances are you'll need financial assistance from your local bank or private lending institution. You'll soon discover that making sense of the many different options available can be confusing if not down right frustrating. If you're new to the income property market you may be unfamiliar with some of the terminology you'll hear. The purpose of this article is to assist the novice in getting a good start in this potentially lucrative industry.

There are many different options available to you depending on the type of income property you're interested in investing in. Most lenders will recognize three separate and distinct types of property, each with it's own financing requirements. These properties include commercial, residential, and industrial income property.

Commercial Income Property

If you plan to invest in a commercial income property, you're probably planning to rent the building to retail businesses for use as office or warehouse space. As a commercial income property owner you can benefit from a perk not usually available to residential or industrial income property owners; you have the option to charge a percentage of your tenants monthly income in addition to a set monthly rent.

This percentage is usually based on the gross monthly sales revenue of your tenant. For example, the rental contract may include a $5000 per month base rent amount plus 5% of the tenant's gross sales for the month. If you're tenant brought in $20,000 of revenue last month, you get an additional $1000 on top of the $5000 base. You may be unfamiliar with this type of arrangement, but it is actually quite common.

If you purchase retail income property with good location in a growing neighborhood, this can be a good way to capitalize on your tenant's growing business without raising rent. Most income property owners charge from 5% to 10% of their tenants' gross monthly sales revenue.

When it comes time to finance the purchase of your commercial income property, a private lender can usually provide better options and interest rates than your bank or credit union. A private lender is in a position to provide the best option for two main reasons; 1) unlike your local bank, private lenders specialize in income properties (as opposed to home loans), and 2) private lenders are more selective in their loan requirements allowing them to provide better terms for those borrowers they accept.

Loan terms (the time the lender gives you fully repay the loan) for commercial income property typically ranges from five to twenty years. Many private lenders will also have a minimum and maximum loan amount which usually goes from $500,000 to $2 million.

Interest rates can run from 5.60% to 7.20%; substantially lower than the most competitive bank. It's also important to know your lender's LTV (loan-to-value) ratio. The LTV is simply the ratio of money borrowed on a property to the property's market value. In other words, you will have to come up with a certain amount money yourself before you will be considered for a loan. Currently, most private lenders offer LTV's of 70% to 75%. If you plan on financing the purchase a $1.5 million office building with a lender offering a 75% LTV, you will need to come up with at least $375,000.

In the next segment, Residential Income Property Financing: Part 2 of 3, we will be discussing how to finance and effectively manage an apartment complex.

Cameron Brown is an internet marketer specializing in investment property. For more information on income property, please visit Security National Capital


MORE RESOURCES:

A Bullish Buy in Commercial Real Estate
Barron's - 6 hours ago
By TERESA RIVAS SOME INVESTORS MAY THINK that commercial real estate is a bubble waiting to pop, but a longtime director at Grubb & Ellis (ticker: GBE) has ...
Kojaian Accumulates 2 Million Shares of Grubb & Ellis (GBE) So Far ... StreetInsider.com (subscription)
all 2 news articles


Robert Shiller on the Real Estate Crisis
U.S. News & World Report, DC - 8 hours ago
Henry Blodget has an interesting interview with Yale Professor Robert Shiller on the housing crisis. Watch the video here. Highlights are below: Home price ...


Longtime Real Estate Industry Executive Bob Bill Joins HouseValues ...
MarketWatch - 17 hours ago
today announced that longtime real estate industry executive Bob Bill has joined the company as vice president and general manager of broker services. ...
Longtime Real Estate Industry Executive Bob Bill Joins HouseValues ... CNNMoney.com
Longtime Real Estate Industry Executive Bob Bill Joins HouseValues ... Trading Markets (press release)
Thomas Properties Group Adds Paul Rutter as Executive Vice ... MarketWatch
all 15 news articles


AXcess News: Taking a Byte Out of Canada's Real Estate Market
MarketWatch - 6 hours ago
RENO, NV, Sep 05, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- While the US real estate market sits in the doldrums, home sales in Canada are expected to rise 5.3 ...


Arizona Republic

Vehicle found in slaying of real-estate broker
Arizona Republic, AZ - 23 hours ago
5, 2008 12:00 AM Authorities in California on Thursday located the vehicle of a slain Phoenix real-estate broker and detained people found inside for ...
Vehicle of slain Phoenix real-estate broker found in California KSWT-TV
A prominent Jewish activist in Phoenix, Irving Shuman, 84, was ... Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Slain Phoenix broker's car found United Press International
Arizona Republic
all 21 news articles


Report: San Diego Real Estate Undervalued
NBC Sandiego.com, CA - 4 hours ago
SAN DIEGO -- San Diego's real estate market is now undervalued, according to a report from economic and financial analysis company Global Insight. ...
A housing flip-flop San Diego Union Tribune
all 2 news articles


Washington Post Real Estate editor and columnist
Washington Post, United States - 12 hours ago
Welcome to Real Estate Live, an online discussion of the Washington area housing market with Post Real Estate editor Maryann Haggerty and columnist ...
Sales slip in August, but real estate market holds firm overall Canada.com
I got this email from a reader: Boston Globe
all 4 news articles


IDX Broker Customizes and Simplifies the MLS Search on Real Estate ...
PR-CANADA.net (press release), Montenegro - 14 hours ago
IDX, Inc. announces the addition of Mille Fine with Century 21 Advantage Gold to the rapidly growing database of real estate brokers and agents who are ...
Sprucing up your home’s MLS report a good idea Naples Daily News
Custom IDX Search Tools Enrich the Search Experience for Realtor ... PR.com (press release)
all 3 news articles


Report: Real Estate Prices Down by 1.5% in August
PR Web (press release), WA - 17 hours ago
Real-time real estate statistics by Altos Research show the Las Vegas real estate market continues to be the hardest hit in the country. ...
Where Homes Are Selling Fastest BusinessWeek
Asking Prices Resume Downward Trend; Summer’s Glow Gone? Housing Wire
REALTOR® Reports First Dip in Austin Home Prices in 2008 PR Web (press release)
all 6 news articles


Real estate shake-up strengthens consumer's arm
New Zealand Herald, New Zealand - 12 hours ago
Photo / Herald on Sunday In a little over a year, house buyers and sellers ripped off by real estate agents will be able to get up to $100000 compensation. ...
New laws to hold agents accountable Waikato Times
all 2 news articles

Real-Estate - Google News

home | site map
Realty Web Services © 2007 MesaSky Services