This thought was posted by my friend, Armando Narji, on his website for the Lee County Chamber Networking event.  Armando is also the owner of Mafia Printing - a full service printing company.  

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. 

The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. 
The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. 

She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune.
He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. 
But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. 

"I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious.
Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone." 

Thanks, Armando!  Some times we just need to be reminded of what is important!

Enjoy your Weekend!

Last week both my Broker, Randy Krise, CCIM and myself wrote our opinions of what we felt Commercial property trends were going to be in 2012.  Since then, I have heard from other Commercial Agents and read other articles with their predictions.  One thing that was pretty common on all lists was Land, good old-fashioned Dirt!

In the past year, I have been working with financial groups and banks liquidating land.  I have seen the increase in not only interest but in actual transactions.  I have a researcher on my team that spends hours every day at the courthouse researching lis pendens filings, transfers of title, auction postings and auction results.    Between us we noticed the following:

• Increase in lis pendens on large tracts of acreage compared to same time last year.
• Since our office already has relationships with Bank Asset Managers, land transactions move quicker when we walk in with a realistic offer in hand.
• Developers starting residential construction again in some of the "hot" spots due to the reduction in house inventory.
• Savvy Investors are taking advantage of the high inventory and low prices.

If you are an Investor or an agent with an Investor who wants to be a leader not a follower in "playing in the dirt."  Give us a call  or email us for more information.  It's fun (and profitable!) to get into the dirt again! 

Fort Myers, Florida has many sculptures around the city.  My daughter and I took a walk in Downtown Fort Myers and here are a few of the hundreds of sculptures in the area.  Enjoy or better yet, come visit our friendly city of Fort Myers on the Gulf of Mexico!

Yesterday, I posted my Broker's opinion of Commercial Real Estate trends for 2012.  Today, I am posting my opinions of trends my research sees developing for the coming year.

• I have mentioned in earlier blogs, land investment is bringing great returns on investment, especially agricultural land.  Purchasing at auction and leasing to experienced farmers is a marked trend that is producing millionaires in these lean times.
• Last year, the best performer was multifamily units and that trend will continue.  Diminishing vacancy rates are allowing rental rates to increase.  With these two factors in place, we may see some new construction of multifamily units in large metropolitan areas at the end of 2012 or the beginning of 2103.  There is also a trend of young professionals moving back into the large cities.
• There will be a very slight decrease in vacancy rates in commercial office space.  One of the trends leading this movement is the increase of small business start-ups.  Many unemployed workers are taking advantage of the low rental rates to put their entrepreneurial dreams into place.
• Consumer spending is increasing which will drive the commercial retail sector.  A large change will be in the Big Box retailers who are opening smaller "mini" specialty stores or small "pop-up" seasonal stores rather than the 50,000+ square feet stores we are used to seeing. 

Randy Krise, CCIM, is the broker/owner of Krise Commercial Group in Ft Myers, Florida. Randy is the Florida CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member) Chapter Vice-President of Administration for 2012. 

Recently Randy was asked to write an article on the Commercial Real Estate outlook for 2012 for CCIM members.  This is Randy's article:

OUTLOOK 2012: GREAT

"A year goes by so fast, yet time seems to drag on and on. It is time for the 12^th annual CCIM Outlook Conference and as a participant for most of those years, it seems like last year’s conference was last month. After gloomy projections for the last 4 plus years, I believe that some positive signs are beginning to emerge.

It is quite frustrating as an expert commercial real estate professional to see deals that are so fantastic that whoever gets their name on the title is going to make a bundle of money; Just to see investor after investor turn their nose up because they have been in such a funk that they can’t really believe a turnaround is here. Can you believe that I was involved in four deals in 2011 where the investors who did jump have already sold with the least deal making a 70% increase in five months! I had to take that deal to 10 people, all of whom could pay cash, and each had an excuse why they couldn’t buy or wouldn’t pay the price. I say that a property bought for $167,500.00 and sold 5 months later for $385,000.00 was a rather good return. Yes, there were costs that amounted to about $50,000.00 of acquisition-hold and disposition. But, the bulk of the cost was the commission out and that was paid at the closing.

Land is what is going to be the big story in 2012. No one has been willing to buy it because of the 3-5 year hold everyone was projecting. That time frame will shorten very quickly. Those people who have purchased the larger parcels from stalled developments will reap the greatest rewards. Cash is king and the deals are there!

Obviously, most of the economic problems we have encountered were created by government policy. Most of the so called “fixes” have just exacerbated the situation. I like most Americans believe that the 2012 elections will bring the country back to even keel and let business get back to “normal”. When the banks start loaning money on land again, the prices will certainly go up (Supply and Demand). That is why there is a window in the first half of the year to make an investment in land. There are available plots everywhere. It would be my guess that land on US 41 would be the safest place to put your money because of the business patterns of this county. You should expect higher per square foot prices on US 41 but it is all relative. If you buy at good locations such as Pine Island, Summerlin, Treeline and Daniels, ect. Your money will be safe and grow.

Speaking of growth, many do not realize that Lee County had 5,700+ new residents in 2010. Those people are living in housing that was vacant and spending money at businesses that have seen improvement over the last couple of years. Have you gone up and down US 41 and noticed that most of the vacancies no longer exist? The national media is saying Florida is the #1 business opportunity for 2012. What we as CCIM’s have said for the last two years is now beginning to emerge. It is just a matter of months before we start seeing construction projects springing up across the region.

Don’t be stupid! If you do not study real estate full time, get with an expert who really knows the market. A fellow like me, knows just about every building and piece of land in this county. We can negotiate and generally pay the cost for ourselves by getting the buyer a better deal. Remember the adage of successful real estate investors, “You make your money when you buy the property!”. That will always be true. " 

In my research, I have been finding many articles and statistics that have drawn my attention to Agricultural Land as an Investment Property.  I must admit I have been lax in watching these properties.  A recent conversation with an owner of a very large farm changed my mind.  Last year he netted $1,000,000 in profit!  He opened my eyes and sent me researching Investing in Agricultural Property.

There are several different ways to make a profit with agricultural land.  The most obvious is to be an owner/operator.  The down side, this is a very hard way to make a living.  Your life depends in a large measure on the weather and how it affects crops and growing times.  This is not a career for people who give up easy!  There is a trend presently of Baby Boomers and young professionals wanting a more "natural" way of life so they are purchasing small farms.  Their best bet is to find farms where the owner is retiring and the "system" is in place.

Another way to produce income from Agricultural land is to lease the land to an experienced farmer.  There are many farming families that have experienced family members ready to step up to a large farm.  Universities are also turning out experienced people with Agricultural degrees that grew up in farming.  They also gain knowledge of the most up-to-date techniques of modern farming.  This new breed of farmer would make for excellent partners to owners with no experience but the money to purchase these lands.

Modern Agricultural Properties are also making profit from their land using modern trends.  With the renewed interest in "green" energy, some farmers are leasing their land to counties for windmills to produce electricity for county residents.  The county allows the farmer to use the power for his farm and pays him for the land where the windmills are built at no cost to the farmer.  The farmer can also plant crops up to the base of the windmills so the land is still useable for agriculture.  Modern income producing for the modern farmer.

Some of the larger farms also receive government subsidies for cash crops such as wheat and corn.  These are given on a first come, first serve basis and smaller farmers rarely are eligible.  This is not a way to produce income in most cases but I felt it was necessary to mention.

Lastly, like any rare commodity, Agricultural Property is becoming more scarce.  Scarcity adds value to any investment.  Large, spreading metropolises are eating up raw land for development.  We will always need farms for food production.  Like any rare commodity, Agricultural Land will "grow" in value.  The modern farmers being produced by our universities will be the income producing agents for these properties.  Take advantage of today's prices to buy and hold as developments grow closer and closer to the Agricultural fields.

Good Investing!