Every client who has a property to sell or lease starts out asking for our opinion of what the property is worth on today’s market. What a weighty question to have to answer honestly and professionally! In this market, we swallow hard and hope they don’t shoot the messenger. A guy who makes a living […]

Use your IRA, 401(k) To Buy Real Estate By Bruce Kaplan Many of our clients have planned for retirement by investing in traditional individual retirement accounts, 401(k)s or simplified employee pension IRAs. Most of these vehicles are composed of mutual funds, stocks or bonds that are recommended by your custodian (stockbroker or financial adviser.) Some […]

SUPPLY VERSUS DEMAND…we seem to always struggle with an imbalance of one or the other. For years we had way more supply of industrial spaces and buildings than demand. In the last few years, it’s just the opposite. When this happens, we usually see rents and selling prices increase. Market statistics show that is happening […]

At the risk of giving away trade secrets or otherwise proprietary information, I want to devote this month’s column to Marketing Plans for getting commercial properties leased or sold. Some brokers promise you the world and tell you what you want to hear in order to secure an exclusive listing for your property. Most professional brokers […]

There are not too many government programs that actually impress me. Often described as vastly underutilized, the U.S. Small Business Administration was established in 1953 as an independent agency of the Federal government. Its purpose was a noble one…to help Americans start, build and grow businesses. During the economic downturn in the past few years, […]

Local food pantries are always in need of donations to keep the shelves stocked to serve the continuous demand from hungry families. Twelve years ago, two of our brokers developed a simple plan to raise money for food pantries in our home towns. We asked businesses that provided services related to our commercial real estate […]

Being in the commercial real estate business for as long as I have, and being involved in the development process both as a broker and as a principal, I have had to deal with numerous municipalities on the matter of their impact fees. A lay person probably wouldn’t relate to the term (impact fees) so […]

Several years ago, the State of Illinois mandated that real estate brokers require prospective buyers, sellers, tenants and landlords to acknowledge in writing that the broker is or is not functioning as a DUAL AGENT. In this age of consumerism and protecting the parties from being taken advantage of, government has stuck its hands into […]

In virtually every case, a prospective client with a commercial property to sell or lease seeks my advice on value. Valuation of a commercial/industrial property is not an exact science. It is better described as an ART. I never went to ART school, but I did  go to the School of Hard Knocks with 38 […]