Commercial Real Estate Investing For Dummies. Peter Harris

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Chapter 1

      Just Imagine … Commercial Real Estate and You!

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      Can you imagine yourself in the world of commercial real estate investing? Imagine yourself walking through the lobby of your 100-unit apartment complex. What would it look like and feel like to be pulling into the parking lot of a neighborhood shopping center that’s all yours? Maybe you can imagine that you’re watching video footage from your home computer as your customers enter the security gates of your five-acre self-storage facility. What if this project leads to a life of true prosperity and balance? You’d be able to do things such as drive your kids or grandkids to school every day, maybe even in your pajamas, with a big smile on your face because you’ve invested wisely. Okay, here’s one more scenario that may get you excited: Imagine yourself impacting the lives of hundreds or thousands of kids here and around the world who benefit from your charities, all funded by wealth-building skills and invaluable relationships developed from your commercial real estate investing. Investing in commercial real estate can be the key that allows you to turn these fantasies into your reality.

Creating the wealth that allows you to follow your real passion is what’s waiting for you whether you’re an investor, real estate agent, or lender. Commercial real estate will accelerate your financial freedom. The best part is once you get to where you're not worrying about money anymore, you'll get to expand and explore other parts of your life besides making money. We call this other part of your life your “burning why.” What do you want to do, be, or create? Who do you want to help? How are you going to make a difference? That alone makes this book worth diving into.

      In this chapter we'll jump right in and provide an overview that gives you a better understanding of what commercial real estate investing is. We'll show you the different types of investors so that you know what your options are. If part of you is wondering if you can really do this, you'll find the answer to that question right here in this first chapter. (We think you probably can!) Dealing with numbers, types of properties you can invest in, and an overview of how financing works is all coming up in just a few pages. Finally, we'll provide a summary of the risks involved with commercial real estate. Is it all worth it? We obviously think so, but also know that you'll make up your own mind as you read through this chapter (and perhaps the rest of the book).

Defining Commercial Real Estate

      Commercial real estate is many things. It’s office buildings, apartment complexes, shopping centers, warehouses, industrial parks, hotels, motels, resorts, and the list goes on and on. It’s where businesses are conducted and where many people live together. Commercial real estate is everywhere. (Jump to Chapter 2 for a journey through all the different types of commercial real estate that are available.)

      Commercial real estate is also a means of building long-lasting wealth for the investor. To us, long-lasting wealth is an investment that pays you every month. It’s also one in which the value increases every year. Compare this to other types of investments such as stocks where if you draw a monthly payment, you have to be careful the balance doesn't go down year by year until the pot’s empty. That’s not true wealth at all. In this book, we show you how commercial real estate has the ability to generate sizable cash flow every month as well as increase in value every year (and to be tax free!). We challenge anyone to find a better way out of the rat race than to invest in commercial real estate.

      Commercial real estate can afford you a wonderful and fulfilling professional career that’s second to none. And besides being enjoyable, commercial real estate investors are among the highest paid professionals in the nation. In fact, it isn’t uncommon for a commercial investor’s check from just one closing to equal an engineer’s annual salary. Many of our mentoring clients have joined “The Quitters Club” by saying goodbye to their 9 to 5 jobs.

Every ultra-successful investor or high-income-generating professional we know in this business knows the secret — it’s relationships. Commercial real estate is at its core a relationship business. For instance, big deals, huge fees, and long-lasting and fulfilling careers can all be created through the relationships you make. We talk more about relationships in Chapter 10.

      As you’re out and about, start looking around at all the commercial real estate that you see. When you go to the shopping center, notice what space is leased out. What buildings aren’t fully leased? Why might that property be having trouble? After you realize that an investor owns every building, it’s difficult to not think about owning your own commercial properties someday.

Getting Started

      When choosing to make an investment in anything, you have to take several things into consideration. You consider your reasoning or motivation for investing, the cost, and the timing. Well, the same applies for commercial real estate. In fact, you may find that you have too many choices simply because there are so many different ways to profit in this field. The following sections go over some of the most common questions you may have when deciding which part of commercial real estate is right for you.

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