10 Key Inspection Tips for Real Estate Agents Selling or Leasing Commercial Property

When taking a commercial property to the market to either sell or lease, it is essential for the real estate agent to understand all the property details. Questioning the property owner is part of the process but should not be the only method of gathering the correct detail. Property owners will not always remember or disclose key elements of the property to the real estate agent. Local authorities and other instrumentalities are part of the property investigation.Here are some concepts and questions that can be put to the property owner and investigated prior to listing the property for sale or for lease.
How is the property currently used and is that supported and correctly detailed in the lease documentation? Review the lease document accordingly. Check out the permitted use and its relevance to the zoning of the property.
What is the current detail of the income for the property including rental, outgoings, rent reviews, and option periods? Check the tenancy schedule and the leases as part of that process.
What is the established expenditure history for the property and is it operating to budget today? This detail should also be cross referenced to the outgoings for the property. How do those outgoings compare to other property in the local area of a similar type?
What is the history of the site and the previous occupants? Has the property been involved in any orders or notices that had to be rectified, and was the remedy correctly and fully completed? As part of this process, it is wise to approach the local council and the building authority independently to see if current orders or notices are outstanding.
Are any hazardous chemicals or equipment used in the property at this time and are they controlled under particular rules, legislation, and regulations?
What are the relationships between the existing property and the neighboring properties? Ask about matters of adjoining boundary, rights of way, encumbrances, and easements. See if they are correctly displayed on the property title.
Understand how the current building complies with the existing building codes and the occupancy certificate that relates to the property. Any notices or orders should be satisfied prior to the marketing of the property for sale or for lease.
Check the matters of access to the property from all roadways. In the case of major highways, the access to the property can be limited due to regulations of entry and access at different times of day. The local council or the transport authority should have details to help you here.
Energy performance and supply of energy to the commercial property is becoming ever more environmentally critical. High inefficiencies can frustrate sale or lease of the property or premises. Energy efficiencies are questioned and required by tenants and purchasers of property. Local building authorities may have also imposed rules and regulations relating to the consumption and supply of energy; seek more detail and review the energy outgoings.
Interview the neighbours surrounding the commercial property to understand if any associated issues of conflicting property boundary, access, or usage exist.When inspecting commercial property, do so with a questioning mind and attention to detail. The findings of your inspection should be well documented for future reference and investigation.The owners of property may think that they know everything about the local precinct and the operation of their premises; this is not always the case and the astute real estate agent understands the necessity to fully and independently investigate the property prior to marketing. Mistakes can derail your marketing or future deal negotiation.

Entertainment In India: Food for The Thinking Mind

In India, the most primitive versions of entertainment were music, dance, drama, painting, hunting, impersonation, puppetry, and literature. However, times changed and slowly things took a sharp turn as modern day men started to treat cinema, television, and theatre as the major sources of entertainment. The age old entertainment forms came to be termed as fine arts and these became rare and occasional. With films, television serials and book reading gaining popularity as a major section of Indian entertainment, people’s tastes also changed. Today India is filled with cinema halls, multiplexes, glorified book stores, and cable TV connections. Be it a holiday or just another day people flock to these places to get entertained and that is what has given so much popularity to film stars, television actors and authors.Film fraternity people like Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Subhash Ghai, Rituporno Ghosh, Rekha, Kareena Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Amir Khan and Vishal Bhardwaj have lifted the Indian film industry to a whole new level. The audience is welcoming intelligent films and that is one reason why films like The Last Lear, Black, Maqbool, Black Friday and Shabd have received such a good reception. Entertainment is also moving out of the barriers of cinema halls and entering the living room areas of people as the television serials and soaps are becoming quite a rage. While some are extremely family oriented, there are the reality shows, the competitions, the short series and the game shows that have seen a steady rise in popularity. Television stars are becoming so famous that they are maintaining a careful conduct lest they get mobbed in public. On the whole, the Indian scene of films and TV shows has evolved and the entertainment level has gone up greatly. Film stars are also venturing in television owing to the wide audience range. However, these are not the only sources of entertainment as book stores are also providing the necessary relief that people are looking for.Writers like Khushwant Singh, Amitava Ghosh, Chetan Bhagat, Arundhati Ray and Jhumpa Lahiri are weaving such interesting reads, that entertainment in India is getting a whole new dimension. Some books are being so much appreciated by the readers that film makers are considering making films based on those books. A recent film, 3 Idiots, is quite influenced by Chetan Bhagat’s book Five Point Someone. Several TV serials have also taken queue from best sellers. Indian entertainment has reached a point where all these entertainment forms are finding peace and pleasure in co-existence. This way the entertainment industry is growing, developing and producing quality work. The mind does not appreciate slapstick comedy and mindless jokes all the time. For such serious times, the entertainment industry of India is ready.

How to Find the Best Investment

There is ONE best way to find your best investment in 2013, 2014 or well beyond. If you couldn’t find your best investment option if it was on a short list staring you in the face, investing money is about to be simplified for you.Your best approach to investing money is to have a goal in mind and then compare your investment options, based on YOUR priorities, in terms of: liquidity, safety, growth, income, and tax advantages. The option that ranks highest and best suits your priorities or needs is your best investment option. This simple process has made investing money simple for investors in the past and will work in 2013, 2014 and beyond. Plus, it will help you avoid major mistakes if you invest with a goal in mind — by eliminating choices that don’t fit your needs.LIQUIDITY and SAFETY: If you might need ready access to your money after you’ve invested AND can not afford to take a loss: forget about growth investments like stocks or stock funds, long-term bond funds, real estate, and tax-favored accounts like IRAs and retirement annuities. Your best investment option is to give up the prospect for higher returns, higher income, and tax breaks… until your financial position changes. For now investing money means keeping it safe and liquid in the bank or in a money market fund in case you need it for a financial emergency. Better safe than sorry.Once you are ready to invest with a long-term horizon (like for retirement) investing money for GROWTH should always include stocks and perhaps real estate as well. For most folks the best investment option for stocks is diversified stock mutual funds. The easiest way to invest money in real estate is with specialty real estate equity funds. Either way, the average investor accepts risk to earn higher returns; and mutual funds offer good liquidity if you want some money back. To get a TAX ADVANTAGE invest in funds through your 401k at work or in a traditional or Roth IRA account with a mutual fund company.Over the past 30 years investing money in bond funds was the simplest and perhaps the best investment option for average folks who wanted HIGHER INCOME. These funds earn higher interest (paid to investors as dividends) than truly safe options like bank savings accounts and CDs. For 2013, 2014, and beyond: do not consider bond funds if SAFETY is high on your list of priorities. Interest rates are near record lows; and bond funds will lose money when rates go back up.When investing money always have a goal in mind and rank your options in terms of liquidity, safety, growth, income, and tax advantages. That’s the only way to avoid major mistakes and find your best investment option.

Planning the Perfect Vacation Without the Stress

No matter how exciting a vacation may be, the planning and preparation part is enough to drive you up the wall. However, taking the planning phase one step at a time can help you plan an awesome family vacation, all while retaining your sanity. Before you even start looking for a destination, make sure you and your family has their passports. Don’t panic if you can’t find them or if the dog ate them. Passport replacement services are always getting easier, so you can replace yours without having to jump through too many hoops. If you are looking to go on a vacation, there is no such thing as planning to early. Getting your flights and everything else a head of time can end up saving you a lot of money.Start with the exciting part: picking a destination. When considering where you want to go, be sure to keep in mind exactly when you’re traveling and with whom. You don’t want to take the kids to Tijuana. So look online and do a little research to see what sort of attractions are available that are fun for the entire family. Keep the weather and the season in mind when you’re planning your trip. Traveling to the Caribbean during hurricane season could be disastrous.The paperwork involved in your travel plans end up being some of the most important tools when planning a trip. If you can’t find your passport or if you have a damaged passport, be sure to renew as soon as possible, because sometimes it can take up to six weeks to process a passport request. Call the embassy in whichever country you will be traveling to and see what kind of vaccines you will need, as it varies by country. Also inquire about if you will need a visa or if you will have to pay entrance fees.Making a budget is a sure-fire way to reduce stress associated with planning a vacation. Talk with whomever you’re going to be traveling and establish just how much money you’re going to spend. An inexpensive vacation can be just as memorable as an expensive one without leaving you in the hole. Search for cheap flights and ask friends and family members where they’ve gotten the best deals in the past. There are tons of websites that offer cheap hotel, flight, and rental car packages that offer a one-stop solution to travel planning.Leave important phone numbers and a copy of your itinerary with a family member or friend if you’re going to be gone for a long period of time. Also leave this information with babysitters, pet sitters, and house sitters so they can always reach you. Refill any prescriptions and have enough medication for those who need it for the trip.