How Much is Trust Worth? - 01/31/11 08:26 PM
I had an interesting meeting this weekend with a commercial real estate investor in Reading, PA.  This investor has several projects in different stages of development throughout the city.  He asked me to sit down and discuss his overall portfolio and help him figure out if and how I can help him.  Although this was only the second time I've met with this individual, he was very open about his situation and was willing to discuss several different options for each of his properties.  After our meeting I walked away thinking that we had covered a lot of ground, and I wondered what it was that made … (4 comments)

Invest in Real Estate with your IRA - 01/28/11 12:24 AM
I recently wrote a post where I mentioned investing in real estate using a self directed IRA, and since then I have received a ton of questions about how this works.  While I am very capable of helping you find, purchase, and manage commercial real estate investments for your IRA, I'm not an IRA custodian and I cannot set up a self directed IRA for you.  I would like to share some resources that I have used to learn more about investing in commercial real estate with an IRA.
Websites:
http://www.trustetc.com/new/real-estate-ira/
http://www.theentrustgroup.com/investment_options/real_estate/
http://www.penscotrust.com/investing/realEstate.aspx
Books:
IRA Wealth: Revolutionary IRA Strategies for Real Estate … (2 comments)

Real Estate is Worthless! - 01/27/11 08:04 PM
No really, real estate is actually worthless.  I'm sure that this might sound strange coming from someone who sells commercial real estate for a living.  Does this mean that I've been tricking investors for years now? Nope.  It just means that today I'm going to use that minor in philosophy that I earned in college.  This is going to sound a lot like the old "if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it..." paradox.  For example, what would you pay for a 1,000,000 SF class A office tower on Mars?  My guess is not … (6 comments)

Listing Commercial Real Estate on the MLS - Does it Work? - 01/26/11 01:15 PM
I'm often asked the question whether or not commercial real estate should be listed on the local multiple listing service (MLS).  Apparently there are some commercial real estate agents out there who tell their clients that they don't need to put their commercial property on the MLS, and there are even some agents who claim that putting commercial real estate on the MLS will somehow hurt the seller.  My guess is that this advice comes from commercial agents who don't like to pay the yearly fees to participate in the MLS.
It is true that the MLS is not as effective … (1 comments)

So What Is The Best Type of Commercial Lease? - 01/25/11 08:46 PM
I realized that my blog post yesterday was titled NNN or Gross... What's The Best Type of Commercial Lease, but it never really said which type of lease was the best.  I explained the difference between the two types of leases and left it at that.  Well, as someone who hates false advertising, I offer my humble apologies.  Unfortunately, the answer is that it depends.  I know, you're wondering why you had to wait an extra day just to hear that 'it depends', but that's just how things work sometimes.
For the most part, landlords benefit from NNN leases and tenants … (0 comments)

NNN or Gross... What's The Best Type of Commercial Lease - 01/24/11 07:56 PM
NNN (Read as Triple Net) leasing is one concept in commercial real estate that is often misunderstood.  I was in a meeting on Friday with a number of commercial real estate professionals and the topic of NNN versus Gross leasing came up.  Many of the participants in the meeting have been in the business for years, anywhere from 5 to 30.  What was surprising was that a large percent of them were not completely clear about the difference between Gross and NNN leases.  One of my colleagues put me on the spot and asked that I explain this concept so that … (3 comments)

The Secret to Pricing Commercial Real Estate - 01/22/11 08:59 PM
Pricing is often a touchy subject for sellers of commercial real estate.  Often a seller will want to price their property based on what they owe, what they paid, or what they'd like to get.  Unfortunately, these three numbers don't usually have much to do with what the market will bear.  Pricing a property in line with the market is the best way to attract several potential buyers.  More buyers means more chances to get the best possible price for a property.  So how do we figure out what the market price should be?
There are 3 typical ways to value a property … (0 comments)

Selling Commercial Real Estate? Don't Give It Away! - 01/20/11 08:55 PM
I spend a lot of time talking about investing in commercial real estate in Reading, PA.  I've mentioned all the great deals and explained why I think that this is such a great opportunity to buy.  I realized today that some sellers might read this and assume that I think they need to 'give away' their properties.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  I do believe that the Reading, PA commercial real estate market is undervalued.  This is why the deals are great for investors, but I do not advocate selling properties for less than their current market values.  I … (0 comments)

Feeding The Beast - 5 Ways to Find Great Real Estate Deals - 01/19/11 07:27 PM
I've been told time and again that the biggest challenge faced by commercial real estate investors is finding enough high quality investments to keep them gainfully employed.  A good friend of mine used to refer to finding new deals as "Feeding the Beast".  Without a steady deal-flow investors are faced with two choices.  They can either let their investment business starve, or they can choke their business by buying a less then stellar deal.  Neither of these are good options, so if you are planning on being a successful real estate investor you need to figure out how to keep the … (0 comments)

Leverage Your Time - Invest in Commercial Real Estate - 01/18/11 08:42 PM
Most of the commercial real estate investors that I know started off in the real estate business as residential investors.  As you can imagine, most people don't start off by buying a mall or a hotel.  So why is it that many successful investors make the switch from residential investing to commercial?  Obviously it's possible to do very well investing in houses and small multifamily properties.  I know several investors that are very well off that continue to purchase and rent these types of investments.  They are comfortable investing in a product type that they understand, and they are content with … (0 comments)

7 Ways to Increase Your Commercial Real Estate's Cash Flow - 01/17/11 01:58 PM
I met with an investor in downtown Reading, PA this weekend that was selling a mixed-use property.  The property was well located and in great condition.  What was most interesting though was that the property had several streams of income.  This was a very sophisticated investor who was able to create income well beyond what would have been expected for the property's size.  This got me thinking about some of the creative ways I've seen investors increase their NOI, and I've listed some of these below:
Parking: Investors with excess parking will often rent the additional spaces to neighboring property owners.
Renting Roof Space: It's very common for investors … (1 comments)

Selling Investment Properties - What's the Bare Minimum? - 01/15/11 06:23 PM
What is the bare minimum that your agent or broker should be doing to sell your investment real estate?  I was showing small investment properties all day today in Reading, PA.  I was with an investor that I have worked with quite a bit, and we started discussing the range of information that we were provided by the different agents.  For some of the properties we were given income and expenses and end dates for existing leases, at others we were given just the rental rates, and at some we weren't given any figures at all.  Keep in mind that when buying investment properties, most … (2 comments)

Nobody Invests in Industrial Properties! - 01/13/11 09:15 PM
Really? Nobody invests in industrial property?  That's what I heard.  I was speaking with another investor today.  He is someone I consider quite knowledgeable about commercial real estate in general, but as we were discussing a potential investment he made the comment that, "Nobody invests in industrial property".  He went on to say that only owner users invest in industrial properties.  Well clearly my friend has been misinformed, but I'm guessing that if this experienced investor believed this, that many other people believe this too.  Of course many industrial properties are bought by owner-users, but several are also owned by investors.  I … (0 comments)

No Money Down! Does Your Agent or Broker Understand Creative Financing? - 01/12/11 07:28 PM
I read a blog post on activerain.com today that really bothered me.  I'm not going to link to the post, because it is one of several that I have seen.  The author was an agent that was bashing the use of creative financing.  He stated that these techniques don't work and that the people using them are tire-kickers and dreamers.  What was more surprising was that there were pages of comments from other agents and brokers that agreed and said that they don' twork with 'those types' of clients.  I will admit that there are a lot of people out there that have … (3 comments)

Read Your Loan Docs!!! 7 Mortgage Terms You Must Consider! - 01/11/11 08:03 PM
I typically try to avoid anything close to a rant, but I had an extremely frustrating day that was due entirely to one of my clients not reading their loan documents.  They had purchased this property and signed these loan docs quite a few years before I met them.  It seems that they didn't read them when the signed them, and they definitely hadn't read them anytime since.  When you are searching for a loan, especially a commercial mortgage, it is imperative to read your loan docs!  I know that many investors are only interested in the interest rate, but there … (0 comments)

Core, Core Plus, Value Add, and Opportunistic - 4 Commercial Real Estate Strategies - 01/10/11 10:01 PM
As I mentioned in an earlier post, there are lots of terms used by commercial real estate investors that often confuse or intimidate novice investors.  I promised to define some of these terms in occasional blog posts.  Well today is your lucky day, because I decided to define four related terms: Core, Core Plus, Value Add, and Opportunistic.  These are the four investment strategies, and most commercial real estate investors will focus one or two of these strategies when investing. 
Core:These are fully stabilized properties with credit quality tenants on long term leases.  These investments are well located in primary and secondary markets.  … (0 comments)

My 5 Favorite Real Estate Investment Books - 01/09/11 06:22 PM
Most of the successful commercial real estate investors that I know understand that knowledge is power.  The more you know about real estate investing, the easier it is to make money.  Because of this, many of the successful investors I know read everything they can about real estate investing.  I read my first book on investing in 2002, and have been a voracious reader ever since.  Most of the books say the same things, but every once in a while I find a really great book that gives me new ideas, new perspectives, and new techniques for making money investing in … (1 comments)

7 Services A Professional Commercial Real Estate Agent Must Provide - 01/08/11 10:44 AM
I'm often asked the question, "Don't all commercial real estate agents do the same thing?"  This question usually comes from someone who is thinking about hiring their brother in law, cousin, family friend, or random acquaintance to sell their commercial real estate.  Many sellers assume that all you have to do is put the property online, put a sign up, and put some adds in the paper, and their property will sell.  Clearly if this was the case, any old commercial real estate agent would do.  Unfortunately it is not the case, and therefore, sellers shouldn't just use the first commercial … (0 comments)

Evaluating Commercial Real Estate Investments - Making Projections (Part 1) - 01/07/11 08:37 PM
In my post about calculating IRR, I promised to come back to the subject of making projections.  Like many other aspects of buying commercial real estate, making projections is more of an art than a science.  A friend of mine who works at a private equity firm likes to say, "All financial projections have one thing in common; they are all wrong!"  His point is that despite the complex math involved, all acquisition models involve some, and often several, guesses or assumptions about the future.  Some of these guesses are conscious, and some are not.  For instance, in my example of the small … (0 comments)

Commercial Real Estate Leasing in Reading, PA - 8 Things you Must Know! - 01/06/11 08:37 PM
I spend a lot of time blogging about commercial real estate investing, but a friend of mine mentioned to me today that I don't spend enough time talking about leasing commercial space.  So I've decided to write at least one post about leasing each week.  Today, I'm simply going to introduce 8 basic clauses that are necessary to understand if you're interested in leasing commercial property in Reading, PA.  I'll try to go into more detail on each in future blog posts.
Base Rent- This is the most heavily negotiated points.  Those of you who have studied negotiating probably understand the importance of a … (5 comments)

Commercial Real Estate - The Four Major Food Groups - 01/05/11 08:20 PM
I was speaking with a group of real estate investors in Reading, PA yesterday.  Most of them are involved in commercial real estate, but one of them was just starting of in residential investing.  I guess this doesn't happen too often, because our discussion made me realize that there is really a whole separate language used in commercial real estate.  I'm not talking about technical terms like NOI, Cap Rate, DSCR, and IRR.  Those terms are obvious, but some of the slang that is thrown around is what I've never really noticed.  The one that stuck out to me yesterday was 'The Four Major Food … (0 comments)

Evaluating Commercial Real Estate Investments - Calculating IRR - 01/04/11 05:02 PM
You may have noticed that it's been a few days since my post on Cash on Cash Returns, and I haven't yet posted regarding Internal Rate of Return (IRR) as I had promised.  To be honest, thinking about addressing IRR in a single post is a bit daunting.  It is the most complex of the topics that I've addressed so far, and there is a lot of disagreement about the use of IRR.  There are many investors who prefer to use Net Present Value (NPV) calculations in lieu of IRR, some investors who use both, and many who don't use either.  … (0 comments)

 
Cacciapaglia_008aweb

Joseph Cacciapaglia

Houston, TX

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BMC Capital

Cell Phone: (979) 218-2286

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Commercial Real Estate blog discussing investing, selling, and leasing retail, office, industrial, residential, mixed-use, hospitality, self storage, and other commercial real estate in the greater Reading, PA market.


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