Commercial Real Estate Projects are largely similar to residential real estate except that they can be many times larger in terms of scale and may require large amounts of financing. This article covers three areas that one should be aware off when contemplating purchasing commercial real estate.

Zoning Problems

Real estate investment has a lot to do with zoning of the land and if the zoning changes while you are rebuilding the property, you might have to incur a larger than expected cost to convert the use of the property. There was this large scale residential project that was re-zoned to commercial use. As a result of the re-zoning, the developer had to spend a lot of time renovating the inside of the property so as to convert its use from a residential property to a commercial office type of setup. Thus, its best to do your due diligence and hire a proper real estate attorney to do a check on the property for you to find out if there is impending re-zoning as it can affect your real estate investment.

Fundamental Utility Problems

The worst problem a real estate investor can face is learning about the piping and electrical problems of the property he jut bought. Thus, spending some time learning about the age of the building and when the electrical and plumbing system was last repaired is critical when looking at a potential building to acquire. The reason is that electrical and plumbing problems mean that you might have to hack through the walls and ceilings so as to replace old metal pipes that are corroding and faulty electrical circuits. This means in effect that you have to do massive renovation on the property and unless you are tearing the building down from scratch and rebuilding it, such repairs may not be worth your while at all.

Choice of tenants

Most real estate investors purchase real estate to establish cash flow and leverage their investments. Spending some time looking at the tenant mix of a commercial building can determine whether you are buying a profitable property or not. Some bankers will lend you money in proportion to the credit of your largest tenant so you would want to find a property with credit worthy tenants or source for credit worthy tenants to take over the lease. So if you have a choice of choosing and replacing some tenants when their lease is up take some trouble to analyze the tenant mix and see if there is anything you can do to improve it.

In conclusion, we have highlighted three areas that a real estate investor should take note off when purchasing a commercial property. Spending some time to scout around the building and looking at the business directory of the building can help you figure out the tenant mix and learning if there are potential piping and electrical problems. But remember to hire an attorney to help you with the zoning issues.