By Tony Seruga, Yolanda Seruga And Yolanda Bishop
Commercial Real Estate: Becoming a Market Expert – Part #2: Pick a Category of Real Estate You Want to Own
Becoming a commercial real estate market expert is all about focus. An important part of being successful in this business is focusing on a type of income producing property you want to acquire.
This strategy sounds simple until you start looking at the available properties, and your mind starts to think about all the possibilities.
Stop--this is a strategic mistake. It will cost you big time if follow through with it.
Why? Because the commercial real estate investors that do well focus on a specific type of income producing property.
Successful commercial real estate investors aren't distracted by the money burning a hole in their pocket. They are discriminating. They want to fully understand whatever type of property they focus on that it is a good deal, perhaps a great deal.
And the only want to do that is to do your homework. To do your research and due diligence.
Admittedly, this is hard to do especially when the pool of available deals is overwhelming large that your eyes get really big, OR when there are slim pickings at the time and you start to wonder where the good properties are.
It is vitally important to stick to the strategy. Pick a type of property and learn all you can about this type of property.
Types of Commercial Real Estate
Now, if you are new to the commercial real estate game, you may be thinking all commercial real estate is the same. They are not. Let's start with the 10 types that are available:
1. Retail Space – Shopping Malls, Strip Plazas, Free Standing Retail Stores.
2. Office Space
3. Hotels and Motels
4. Multi-Family Dwellings such as Apartments and Condos
5. RV Parks
6. Mobile Home Parks
7. Industrial and Manufacturing
8. Warehouse
9. Mixed Use Property
10. Raw or Agricultural Land Which Can be Developed
Pick one, or at most two of these categories of commercial property and focus on them exclusively. Learn as much as you can about them within your market. Dig, really dig.
Remember what I said in my previous article—become an expert, an authority… a specialist.
Make this type of property your passion. Join a group, club or association and start mingling with people who are just as passionate about this type of income producing property as you. You'll find no matter which one you focus on, there are people who have made a successful career of investing in that type of property.
Now, one question I am asked of people who are new to commercial real estate investing is this: What's the best type of property to focus on?
My answer is raw land or agricultural land that can be rezoned. Why? Because while the challenges are many, the profit upside is huge.
So in closing, while there's opportunity everywhere, it will pay to remember the words of the Zen monks:
"He who tries to catch two rabbits, don't catch any." Focus on specific type of property and give it all your attention.
About the Author: Tony Seruga, Yolanda Seruga and Yolanda Bishop of http://www.maverickrei.com specialize in commercial and investment real estate. As of May, 2006, they and their partners are managing over $600 million dollars worth of new projects.
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