Investment Property Tip: Function always beats form

Regardless of your appetite for investments, be it industrial, commercial or retail, function will always trump form.  If you pay attention to commercial property in your area, you will probably notice the same properties are the last to be leased and the first to come vacant.  This is almost certainly due to function issues.

So how do you know the investment property you are looking at won’t be the next one gathering cob webs?  The truth is, unless you have experience running the type of business that is in that property, you probably won’t know.

There is a simple solution to this problem though and it comes in the form of your leasing agent.  Our leasing agents average over 300 inspections a year, the majority of which are “drive arounds” with tenants to look at options and determine which property functions best.  The truly valuable knowledge for you does not come from the 234 lease deals our team completed last year, it comes from the hundreds of inspections that yielded nothing other than highlighting a property’s shortcomings in the eyes of a potential tenant.

So the moral of this story is talk to the most active leasing agents in the area you are looking to buy before you commit.