Are you diversifying your portfolio? Today, we’re talking about building your commercial real estate investment portfolio - why you should be investing in commercial real estate, strategies for approaching the investments, and how to properly scale your business. Commercial real estate is an incredible wealth-builder. These properties can provide you with cash flow, appreciation, tax advantages, and other benefits unlike any other investment vehicle. If you’re looking for the ultimate retirement plan, commercial real estate investments might just be the path for you and are a terrific way to diversify, if nothing else. Here’s how to add commercial property to your portfolio and why you should.

The tenant representation process is often new for most business owners, and the questions you ask your commercial real estate broker can define whether or not your search is successful. Finding the right commercial broker for you and your business is absolutely crucial to your finding and negotiating the best deal possible. After all - you want your new venture to be successful, correct? Unfortunately, many business owners end up taking the wrong approach and try to find and negotiate for space on their own - a big no no in this industry due to the massive learning curve of information. So, if you’re taking the right approach and hiring representation, what questions should you ask when interviewing potential tenant rep brokers?

Most business owners struggle to find commercial space for rent. Finding and leasing commercial space isn’t the easiest task and the world of commercial real estate seems shrouded in mystery. Unlike the residential, commercial real estate doesn’t have a “one stop shop” resource like the MLS or Zillow. While you can certainly utilize tools like Loopnet or Craigslist, they often don’t have up to date information and can still be difficult to use. But how do you find your next commercial space? Even though there’s no apparent database of commercial property listings, you still have a few options. Here are three ways for a business owner to find commercial space for rent.

Amenity packages can make or break your real estate investment, so we’re covering Why the Top Commercial Real Estate Investors Focus on Amenities. The exponential growth of online ordering has caused a massive shift in the way we experience retail today. Retailers that refused to adapt to the new age have, unfortunately, fallen by the wayside. Commercial real estate investors and developers are all too aware of how these changes will impact their bottom line, too, and, they’re making moves to keep up. Amenities are one way that a project can stand apart in a sea of commercial real estate options. They catch the tenant’s eye, bring benefit to their employees and customers, and help curate a memorable experience which is crucial in today’s marketplace. Focusing on the best amenities possible will be one of the most important real estate investment strategies for 2020 and 2021.

Everyone’s heard of cash on cash returns, but there are other ways to determine how successful a real estate investment is. Today, I’m going to show you How To Calculate Commercial Real Estate Investment Returns using my three go-to calculations: Cash on Cash, Internal Rate of Return, and Return on Equity, which is where many investors miss out. If you’re investing in commercial real estate, you’re probably looking for a return on your capital. And one of the most attractive aspects of having commercial real estate investments is that you can receive monthly dividends through cash flow while hopefully gaining appreciation on the property. But you need to have a concrete method to be able to determine which investment you should take on next or how your current portfolio has performed after acquisition.

Today, we’re going to be talking about tenant improvement allowances when leasing commercial real estate: what are they and how do they work? If you have ever started a search for commercial real estate, you likely know that your new space will require some form of build-out. It’s almost guaranteed. Whether you are searching for retail, office, or industrial property, it is important to plan for construction and the costs that are associated with retrofitting a space. Although looming construction costs can be intimidating, tenants have the option to push for a tenant improvement allowance in order to help mitigate the costs associated with a build-out.

Retail real estate is considered to be any brick-and-mortar storefront used by businesses to sell their goods and/or services to individual consumers for their own personal use. This category encapsulates every business from a small boutique clothier to a large high-end restaurant and everything in between. When beginning your search for retail space, rent is not the only cost you should be considering. While certainly an important number, there are several other expenses you will need to factor into your budget to ensure the long-term success of your retail business. At the forefront of your search, understanding what kind of retail space your budget allows for is just as important as understanding different kinds of lease structures or what kind of areas you should be targeting. Here are the expenses involved in leasing retail space.

As a commercial real estate broker, investor, and developer, I get asked by new investors all the time: "How do you find so many investment opportunities? There aren’t any deals out there!" And, for most investors, that statement is true. Investing in commercial real estate can be a lot of fun and it’s certainly rewarding, but coming across a good deal is often the most frustrating part of this process. From what I’ve seen, however, most investors simply don’t take the right approach. Here’s my beginner’s guide to finding commercial real estate deals.