Rick M. Bean

The last couple of years have taken a huge toll on investment properties. With vacancy rates climbing and weakening Cap Rates, some properties have lost 30% or more of their value. Regrettably, property taxes on commercial properties have not been adjusted to reflect this new value. As such, already strapped owners are paying an even higher percentage of the revenues to property taxes.

The rule I have always given my teams is don't present me with a problem...unless you also have a solution. Having identified a problem...here's a great solution: Prime Property Tax Negotiation, LLC. Prime PTN was formed to be an advocate for property owners that have been over-taxed. They will evaluate your taxes at no charge to you and fight for a lower assessment on you part. There are no up-front fees.. Here's the very best part: There's no cost to you unless they are successful.

Contesting assessments that overstate a property's value is an extremely important component of wealth management. I worked on a multifamily project in Phoenix, AZ that had an assessment that inflated the assessed value well over what it was really worth. By contesting the assessed value we reduced taxes and created over $150,000 in additional profits in one year.

How much will you save? To find out call 503.336.6382 and ask for information about Prime Property Tax Negotiation, LLC.

Rose City Commercial Real Estate has a buyer who is looking to purchase a multifamily investment in Vancouver, WA. The ideal size would be from 30 to 60 units. While he will not be using 1031 Exchange funds...he's happy to cooperate with a seller who does. A+ to C- quality.

We are fully prepared to assist you in identifying a property to exchange into.

Financing is already handled...we can support a quick close before the end of the year. Stop reading and start dialing 503.336.6382 now!

By Robert H. Poe-

I have to admit that the current economic environment is producing some strange behavior by property owners. I talked to this gentleman the other day who had some substantial financial issues with his property, and his response to my thoughts was well, "bring me a buyer and I will take care of you". Uh-huh. So I am supposed to run myself and my team around like idiots, with no clear compensation package, and hope that by his grace he pays me for my time. Whoa!

Now I hope that my real estate sisters and brother agents are not desperate or dumb enough to fall for this line. Any distressed property agent who is worth their keep is too highly trained and frankly too busy is to spend one minute with a long shot like this. You would have better odds in Las Vegas to get paid. Without a formal listing contract in place, no reputable agent is going to deal with the stress and liability that comes with distressed property situations. The really sad part is this delusional seller is playing with danger, and no closer to getting his problem resolved.

I will admit that I had no idea what the hidden agenda was with this situation, if there was one at all, but I suspect that some owners in bad situations think that they can try to shave every dime off a sale of their property and what a better place to start than with the real estate agents. Bad news, distressed sellers, the market has turned and you need competent counsel. But a lot of you are still in denial and hoping the market will come back before the day or reckoning.

My team and I have no objections to working in a difficult selling situation, but we have to get paid for our efforts and that's what it is. We are not at fault because your property is in trouble, and we are willing to go to the mat for you. That said, we need that listing contract in place so we can LEGALLY market your property effectively and relieve you of your distressed property issues.

"Bring me a buyer" is dead...Time to move on and face reality!

Robert Poe is a co-founder and co-author of The Distressed Propety Insider Report. Contact him at: 503.351.5025 or rpoe@rpoe.com

One of the things that distinguishes FATCO is the quality of it's training...that's certainly exemplified here.

Hats off to Mike Sampson and Pam Edwards, First American Title's crack marketing group from the Portland Eastside Team. They (and their counterparts from FATCO's other area branches) are hosting a Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) Mastermind Workshop Thursday, October 22nd. In addition to examining the view from the Escrow Officer's Desk, they have arranged for Roy Rogers, CPA to discuss the Seller's Tax implications. They are also providing introductions to Umpqua Bank's Loss Mitigators who will be in attendance. This is hard to beat: a high quality event you would gladly pay for...offered free by the good folks at First American.

Date: Thursday, October 22, 2009 from 9:30 - 11:30 am.

Location: FATCO; 222 SW Columbia, 4th Floor, Portland, OR 97201

Seating: Limited To 80.

RSVP: Linda@lindaeaton.com

To attend a great training, The Distressed Property Insider Report suggest you contact your FATCO marketing representative for prerequisites and details imediately! For a great deal on a distressed property use that same urgency and contact us at rick@rosecitycre.com, or rpoe@rpoe.com.

If you use a standard broker there's not much benefit to calling very far ahead of making a move. Of course, I suggest employing a full service wealth development specialist (WDS). I suggest that the initial conversations start 1-2 years prior to disposition and 6 months ahead of acquisition. I provide these consultations without charge...so do many other client centric investment brokers. Perhaps you should stop reading this and call.

Planning Improves Profits!

Dispositions

The primary reason for starting early is to prepare your Due Diligence Package formatting. A, well organized complete package will separate your property from others with similar revenues in similar condition. Buyers and Banks factor for risk. Key components of risk are items that are unclear or unknown. By starting your Due Diligence Disposition package early you can instruct your Professional Management company how you want expenses reported.

We want costs shown as Operational Expenses only if they are indeed directly related to operations. The same is true of revenues. Instruct your manager to keep all extraordinary and capital expenses accounted for separately. It's simple: building a new parking lot is cap-ex; stripping the old parking lot is operations. The reason that's important? Take the case of a 53 unit apartment that spent $68,000 switching out their single paned aluminum windows and sliders for Argon filled vinyl. The individual heat bills dropped by $15/month, the appearance was upgraded, and the units are less drafty...clearly improvements. But poor reporting of expenses would reduce the value when evaluated by Cap Rate because the expenses were overstated by $68,000:

Imagine improvements to your property reducing its value! A good broker would likely have figured this out during due diligence once the property was under contract...but it would not have become obvious until then. Prospective buyers wouldn't have stopped to give your (apparently) under-performing property a second look.

A free meeting saves a million bucks. Now that's what I call a high yield investment!

Want to increase your yields? Contact Rick Bean or Robert Poe at 503.577.1034 or rick@rosecitycre.com