American Property Group of Sarasota

COME ON DOWN! Sarasota ranked #1 retirement spot NATIONWIDE!

2012-03-01T15:09:00.001-05:00

Staff Report
Published: Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 11:09 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 11:09 a.m.

Sarasota came out on top of a list of best places to retire that was produced by a national website, with Venice not too far behind at No. 9.
Facts
WE'RE NO. 1

The top cities in the nation for retirement, according to TopRetirements.com and MarketWatch:

1. Sarasota
2. San Antonio, Texas
3. Naples
4. Tucson, Ariz.
5. Asheville, N.C.
6. Beaufort, S.C.
7. St. Augustine
8. Fort Myers
9. Venice
10. Prescott, Ariz.

The list by TopRetirements.com — a website managed by John Brady, a retired executive vice president of a business information publisher — was cited in a recent national report by MarketWatch, part of Dow Jones & Co.

In Sarasota's favor at the No. 1 position, Brady cited the city's cultural distinctions, reasonable home prices (especially at this snapshot in time), its general living costs and its warm winters.

On the other side of the ledger, Brady cited a crime rate that is higher than the national average, lots of tourists and traffic in winter, hot summers and an unemployment rate that continues to run above the nation's.

In making his choices, according to MarketWatch, Brady looks at good weather, health care, property taxes and "a certain 'wow' factor." He also considers "adult education, cultural activities, job opportunities for older Americans, low housing costs and income-tax rates, low crime rate, and good walkability and livability."

Venice got props for a nice downtown, plenty of active adult communities with golf courses, reasonable housing prices, low taxes and low crime.

On the downside, Brady and MarketWatch, dinged the community for a lack of "walkability" for those who don't live downtown, an extremely old retiree population and a lack diversity.

Other Florida communities dominated the list of cities, including Naples at No. 3, St. Augustine at No. 7 and Fort Myers at No. 8.

Looking for a way to help your community and not break the bank? LOOK NO FURTHER!

2012-02-28T10:52:00.003-05:00

Available NOW!

The Warren Backpack Program

By MARTIN HURWITZ Correspondent

Napoleon said: "An army marches on its stomach."

Robert Warren, founder of the Warren BackPack Program, believes that on today's long march to be educated, children learn on their stomach.

"The key to success in life is education, and you can't learn when you are hungry," he said.

Through the Warren BackPack Program, nutritionally balanced nonperishable food items are packed and distributed to local schools in a child-friendly backpack every Friday during the school year and at critical drop sites during the summer.

The program serves 500 students in eight Sarasota County schools each week.

The packing is done by students at such schools as Riverview High, Saint Stephen's and Out-of-Door Academy. He has structured his program to have children helping children.

The program works with the Sarasota public school system, which chooses the participants; Title I elementary schools are targeted.

Those schools have been designated by the federal government as being among schools with the highest percentage of low-income families in the country -- as high as 93 percent in one Sarasota elementary school.

Close to 8,000 students in Sarasota elementary schools receive free or reduced lunches, and 1,000 children in kindergarten through third grade experience real hunger.

Warren hails from a modest New York City background. He may not have grown up with a lot, but "I never went hungry and got a great education."

A year and a half ago, Warren said he and his wife wanted to do something for the children in Sarasota, "because this is where we live. A survey indicated that one of the biggest needs was kids with no food evenings and weekends."

The need was a perfect match with Warren's desire to help at-risk children, those children who fall between the cracks.

The program monitors attendance, test scores and behavioral information of its recipients. But it is not just the quantifiable measures that make the Warren BackPack Program so important.

"It is a great safety net," said Dawn Clayton, principal of Emma Booker Elementary School. "It's a great program. There is a sense of anxiety that is drastically reduced because they know there will be food at home, the kids and their family know it."

Warren's success in business has created the capacity, and his passion for children has created his desire to be of service.

"If you are fortunate enough to have the means, you should use it to help the people who are not as fortunate -- the people who have no one helping to take care of them," Warren said.

For more information about the program or to make a donation, visit its page on Facebook or see details at www.gulfcoastcf.org.

Help us keep hunger out of our school system! Contact Brian or Adam today for more information on how to get involved! (941)923-0535.

WELCOME TRADER JOE'S!

2012-02-17T08:39:00.002-05:00

COMING SOON!

By: Gregg Burrage

SARASOTA, Fla. - Trader Joe's, an offbeat grocery store with a cult-like following, will soon open a store in Sarasota.

After opening a store in Naples -- the first TJ's in Florida -- just last Friday, the company said it plans to open one at 4101 S. Tamiami Trail, in a former Rooms To Go location.

Similar to the Whole Foods chain, Trader Joe's stores tend to be smaller than a typical grocery store. They also carry hundreds of items under their own brand.

The chain started out in Southern California as a small chain of convenience stores called Pronto Markets in 1958. A decade later, the name changed to Trader Joe's, the stores got a little bigger, and began decorating with a South Pacific theme.

They now have more than 350 stores across the USA.

Read more: http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_sarasota_manatee/sarasota/trader-joes-to-open-in-sarasota#ixzz1me8EUqL6

Hair Salon @ US 41/301 intersection NOW AVAILABLE!

2012-02-03T12:56:00.002-05:00

Available NOW!

1400SF FULLY OPERATIONAL SALON

$16/PSF NNN gets you the space, +20 parking spaces and all the FF&E! Call or email for a complete list! (941)923-0535

Prime Retail Space on US 41!

2012-01-25T09:04:00.001-05:00

Available NOW!

3600SF
Wood floors
Conference room
Offices
Bathrooms
Signage on the roadway sees up to 55,000 cars daily!

Address is 7222 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Call today! (941)923-0535

2012-01-20T09:05:00.002-05:00

Available NOW!

Just moments from the number #1 beach in the nation, SIESTA KEY! We have up to 2500SF of office, retail or restaurant space available at 6583 Midnight Pass Rd. Call the sales team at American Property Group (941)923-0535 for more information!

U.S. Office Market Ends 2011 With Strong Quarter!!!

2012-01-17T11:36:00.000-05:00

U.S. Office Market Ends 2011 With Strong Quarter
Posted January 12th 2012 on CCIM.com

The U.S. office market ended 2011 with a strong showing. In 4Q11, vacancy was down and net absorption and rental rates were up, according to The CoStar Office Report, a year-end report that covers U.S. markets. The office pipeline contained 54.5 million square feet at year-end and 196 buildings were delivered in 4Q11.

Absorption Uptick in 2011

The office market experienced significant net absorption gains in 2011 overall, and a total of 21.7 million sf were absorbed in 4Q11, up from 7.4 million sf in 1Q11. After a slow start the year, class B net absorption jumped in 3Q11 and outpaced net absorption of class A space in 4Q11, indicating investors’ interest in riskier properties. Suburban markets ended the year on a strong note as well, with a net absorption of 15.0 million sf, up from 6.9 million sf in 1Q11. Net absorption in central business districts, which posted negative figures in 2Q11, fished strong with 6.7 million sf absorbed.

Vacancy, Rental Rates, and New Construction

Office vacancy totaled 12.3 percent at year-end, down slightly from 12.7 percent in 1Q11. At 8.8 percent, class C office vacancy was lower than class A (14.2 percent) and class B (12.8 percent). Rental rates for all classes averaged a 1.5 percent increase to $21.59 psf in 4Q11, up from $21.28 psf in 3Q11. Two notable completions last year include the 972,474-sf BG Group Place and the 844,763-sf Hess Tower. Both buildings are located in Houston.

1500SF on Fruitville Rd in VERY POPULAR PLAZA!

2012-01-12T09:08:00.003-05:00

Available NOW!

Fruitville Rd Square

1500SF
$2300/mo plus tax

Open floor plan with bathrooms
Join Papa Nicks II
Doggin' It
and MORE!

Call Brian Seidel, CCIM at (941)923-0535 for more information! This one won't last long!

WOW! Stunning cliff side property in Dominica! Situated on 2 AC with all the ameneties!

2012-01-10T08:41:00.003-05:00

Available NOW!

Unbelievable views from this cliff side resort. Comprehensive package on property and Dominica now available. Call or email Brian Seidel, CCIM at (941)923-0535 or seidel.brian@gmail.com for more information.

You have to see this place to believe it. IDEAL for church getaway, fishing retreat or private hotel! Call today!

2012 Economic predictions courtesy of BIZ941.com

2012-01-06T11:05:00.002-05:00

Economic Outlook 2012 via BIZ941.com

What will 2012 bring? We asked three noted economists to weigh in on the issues and forces likely to shape the business climate this year and give us their best predictions. We found surprising agreement on most issues, including the painful steps necessary to reduce the U.S. deficit. For now, the European crisis, a presidential election year and underwater homeowners will dictate much of the economic activity, they say, making 2012 a year of growth between 1 percent and 3 percent. As economist Don Grimes told us, "This modest growth is about the best we can count on."

Meet Our Experts

Dr. Frank Alcock

Dr. Frank Alcock is an economist and political scientist at New College of Florida, where he teaches world politics, international law and sustainable development. He was formerly an international policy analyst and economist at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Don Grimes

Don Grimes is an economist at the University of Michigan. He lives in Sarasota and specializes in labor and employment. Grimes conducted a 2009-10 economic outlook study for Sarasota County.

Dr. Sean Smith

Dr. Sean Snaith is director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness, specializing in business and economic forecasting. He is the keynote speaker at the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota’s Economic Outlook 2012 luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota on Jan. 26.

Let the Q/A begin:

Q:Given that growth will be modest, when do you think the economy will pick up?

Alcock: Possibly in three to five years, but it might take longer. I don’t see dramatic changes until the foreclosure crisis is resolved.

Snaith: 2013 will be the starting point of accelerating growth, since the outcome of the 2012 elections will resolve much of the policy uncertainty hovering over the economy.

Q: Is this is the beginning of a Japan-like period of slow or no growth for the next 20 years?

Alcock: Slow growth for five to 10 years is possible. Twenty years is a long time. Our economic growth trajectory will improve over that time frame.

Snaith: Japan was much less aggressive in attacking the recession that followed its financial crisis than the United States has been. The Fed dropped the federal funds rate to zero in six months; the Bank of Japan took six years to do the equivalent. History has shown that the more rapid and dramatic the response to financial crisis the shorter the recovery period that follows.

Q: Any bright spots in the economy nationally, statewide and locally?

Snaith: Leisure and hospitality will see benefits from pent-up demand and international visitation from emerging economies with a stronger recovery than ours. Health services will also continue to grow because of demographic drivers.

Q: Will consumer spending pick up this year?

Alcock: I don’t expect much change in 2012. Information technology changes so fast that people will continue to spend money on computers and smart phones. Healthcare, education and food/energy expenses will likely account for a larger share of shrinking budgets. Fortunately, we benefit from the discretionary spending of people from outside our region, but the severity of the housing crisis and negative home equity will continue to constrain the discretionary spending of those who live here.

Q: What about employment?

Snaith: Employment will continue to grow slowly in 2012. Professional and business services, retail, leisure and health sectors will be the strongest, while construction and state and local government employment will still be contracting.

Q: What’s your forecast for Europe and its financial crisis?

Snaith: Unless Europe can find a fiscal equivalent of the European Central Bank, the fate of the euro will be dire.

Alcock: Progress has been made in agreeing to a more robust rescue package, and new agreements on austerity measures and spending guidelines will be reached [with Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain]. Whether these countries can abide by the agreements remains in doubt. The euro’s days might be numbered.

Q: How will Europe’s financial crisis affect Southwest Florida?

Alcock: One or more defaults will likely lead to tightening credit and potentially higher interest rates. Should Europe lapse into another recession, this would lead to the weakening of an important export market and fewer European tourists. It would be a troublesome drag on our fragile economy.

Q: How will the politics of a presidential election year affect the nation’s ability and willingness to reduce the deficit?

Alcock: The chances of striking a meaningful deficit reduction deal before the election are all but dead. A few leaders in both parties [including President Obama and Speaker Boehner] flirted with such a deal earlier this summer; both sides have now returned to retrenched positions. The GOP has been more rigid, and they’ve made a strategic calculation to put off any grand bargain until after the election in the hopes that they’ll win the White House, take control of the Senate and avoid the need for concessions.

Snaith: The saddest part of all this bad political theater is that automatic budget cuts will not make a dent in the deficit and debt problems we face. The next big shock to the economy will not likely take place until November.

Q: Your position on the "We must raise revenues" vs. "We must cut spending" debate?

Grimes: We must raise revenues and cut spending, especially entitlement spending. The fundamental problem is that entitlement spending is growing much faster than the economy overall, and has been for 80 years. We must cut entitlement spending, about three quarters of which is Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, for current beneficiaries; it’s not enough to affect future beneficiaries by, for example, increasing the eligibility age. Raising taxes is like the little boy sticking his finger in the dike to stop the leak. The country is still going to drown if we don’t curtail the rapidly rising waters of entitlement spending, which are about to spill over the dike.

Alcock: The math of trying to balance the budget solely through spending cuts doesn’t work, and if we try to do it that way the implications for economic growth and the distribution of economic pain are very troubling. We will ultimately find ourselves adopting many of the Simpson-Bowles recommendations with some modifications. I don’t think this will happen in 2012, but there’s an outside chance that a lame duck Congress could strike a deal in November/December after the election but before the automatic sequestrations go into effect in 2013.

Snaith: We need both. The President missed a huge chance by mothballing the recommendation of his deficit committee contained in the Simpson-Bowles report. Tax and entitlement reform must be part of the solution.

Q: How will the housing industry fare?

Grimes: Housing sales will increase in 2012, and prices will bottom out before increasing a bit in 2013. The housing sector, which is exceptionally critical to our area’s economic health, has been very difficult to forecast. We have never had this sort of housing price bust and foreclosure crisis affecting so many people, and thus we have no similar historical experiences to draw from. Housing prices over the long term go up at about the same rate as disposable income per capita. That means that nobody should ever expect price gains of more than 3 percent to 5 percent a year. When price increases exceed those sorts of values for any period of time we are in a bubble, which is going to burst eventually.

Alcock: We will witness a continued struggle in 2012, especially in our region. High unemployment, negative home equity and a backlog of foreclosures continue to reinforce one another. Sales could improve if progress is made in processing foreclosures and/or mediating alternative resolutions to delinquent cases. Prices won’t improve for another couple of years, however. The bright spots include greater affordability in the rental market and sweet deals for homebuyers with sufficient cash and/or sparkling credit.

Snaith: Without a more robust labor market turnaround, the housing sector will continue to languish. Transactions will continue to improve, but prices will still drift lower.

Q: Will we see any impact from Gov. Scott’s actions to streamline bureaucracy and lower corporate taxes in Florida?

Alcock: I would be surprised if deregulation initiatives and corporate tax rate reductions yielded substantial impacts on economic activity in Florida. My sense is that these are secondary factors for current investment and hiring decisions in most sectors of Florida’s economy. But I would be happy to be wrong about this.

Snaith: Unlikely. Florida doesn’t have a high tax problem, so cutting taxes isn’t the solution. Will it send a message that Florida is more business friendly? Yes, but it is not Florida’s unfriendliness toward business that has hamstrung our economy.

Q: Will Occupy Wall Street force politicians to confront the growing inequality in this country? How important is inequality?

Alcock: I’m less bothered by the [gap between rich and poor] than the [inequality] of opportunities, risks and responsibilities. A small segment of American society has reaped the vast bulk of economic rewards over the last couple of decades while real wages have remained stagnant for the middle class. Middle and lower income groups are now bearing the brunt of the recession. We should target middle and lower income groups for assistance, investments and opportunities as we reform our fiscal situation and work our way through the recession.

Grimes: The effort by OWS to blame high finance and the rich for our current economic problems is completely off base. The 100 percent is to blame for our problems, and the 100 percent, or at least the 85 percent living above the poverty line, are going to have to sacrifice to solve the problem, with the affluent bearing a little more of the burden. It might be politically easy to claim the 99 percent as victims, but that is neither accurate nor helpful to solving our problems.

Snaith: Our system does not guarantee equality of outcomes, nor should it. What is important is that we maintain equality of opportunity. There are few countries in the world where you can transcend the socioeconomic strata you are born into and work your way up the ladder the way that millions have done in the United States.

Q: Will municipal bonds tank this year? Stocks?

Alcock: I wouldn’t be surprised if money flocked to safer assets during the coming year, but I don’t think that all municipal bonds will be avoided, and it’s unclear whether the stock market as a whole will suffer.

Snaith: There will not be a muni bond mass default, but many states have problematic budget and pension crises that will require painful choices to be made. The stock market should climb slowly with the possibility of a fourth quarter rally in 2012.

Q: As an economist, what worries you most right now?

Grimes: In the near term, the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. In the longer term, a potential sovereign debt crisis in the United States. Like the European countries, we must bring our budget deficit and government debt under control. We don’t know when the crisis will hit the United States, but the grace period is measured in months or years, not decades.

Snaith: The European crisis and what may come in the wake of the "Arab spring."

Alcock: Rigid adherence to ideology and the failure to make commonsense compromises on economic policy.

Q: Is there anything that encourages you?

Grimes: The United States remains the center for all technological innovation in the world, and we are a magnet for the most talented international migrants. Nobody, either legally or illegally, is moving to China. We will all need to endure a small reduction in our standard of living over the next few years through less spending, higher taxes for everyone, and, most critically, lower government entitlement benefits, to rebuild our personal and governmental balance sheets. After that we will return to a sustainable growth path.

Alcock: Our American spirit, ingenuity and resilience. It will take a while to work our way through these tough economic times, but I’m confident we’ll do it and emerge stronger and wiser.

Snaith: My unrelenting belief in American exceptionalism.

1400SF 40 Seat (Almost TURN KEY!!!) Restaurant on US 41!

2011-12-29T12:21:00.002-05:00

Available NOW!

7254 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota

1400SF
Appx 40 seats

Includes:
Walk-in cooler
6 burner stove
Hood with Ansel system
Dish-washing equipment and more!

Asking $3000/mo NNN
Call Barry Seidel for details (941)923-0535

JOIN FAMOUS SHOES ON US 41! ONLY 2000SF LEFT for $2000/month!

2011-12-28T09:59:00.003-05:00

Available NOW!

7668 South Tamiami Trail

JOIN FAMOUS SHOES and POOCHIES PAMPERED PETS!

Open floor plan with a kitchen, office and two bathrooms in the rear. Signage sees 55,000 cars daily!

As we move into 2012, here are some enviromental concerns and myths to be aware of...via Tom R. Mounteer and CCIM.com

2011-12-27T09:51:00.002-05:00

Environmental Risk: 10 Myths
Do you really know what your liability is?
by Tom R. Mounteer

Buyers, sellers, borrowers, and lenders frequently misperceive environmental liability risk in acquisitions and financings. These misperceptions make it difficult to identify, quantify, and apportion environmental risk appropriately between parties to a transaction. This article identifies — and debunks — 10 common myths about environmental liability that frequently arise in business transactions.
MYTH #1: A new purchaser is always liable for cleaning up contaminated property.

Purchasers buying contaminated property avoid liability under the federal Superfund statute if they satisfy the bona fide prospective purchaser defense. This defense requires asset purchasers to conduct “all appropriate inquiry” into the property’s environmental condition prior to acquiring property and exercise “appropriate care” with respect to the property’s environmental condition. To qualify for the defense, the purchaser must not be affiliated with any other party that is potentially liable for cleanup costs.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, “all appropriate inquiry” means requiring an environmental professional to investigate the property (and its immediate vicinity) and prepare a report assessing the environmental conditions. The report — commonly referred to as a Phase I environmental site assessment — must include the environmental professional’s opinion as to whether the investigation indicates the possibility of a release or threatened release of hazardous substances.

To satisfy the “appropriate care” component of the defense, the purchaser must “take reasonable steps” to stop any continuing releases; prevent any threatened future release; and prevent or limit human, environmental, or natural resource exposure to any previously released hazardous substance. (The EPA’s view of “reasonable steps” does not include the same types of contaminated soil or groundwater cleanup that a liable party would have to perform.)

Many states have comparable defenses under their state Superfund statutes, but the requirements can vary. For example, Michigan requires that purchasers collect, analyze, and report the results of the analysis of subsurface samples in order to take advantage of the defense. Georgia has a program that does not exonerate purchasers from liability but instead limits their liability to implementing an agreed-upon cleanup plan. Once the purchaser completes the cleanup plan, it is shielded from further cleanup obligations with some qualifications.
MYTH #2: Leasing, rather than buying, contaminated property is a sure way to avoid liability.

Lessees can become statutorily liable for contamination that predates their tenancy in two ways. First, under the federal Superfund statute “current operators” of facilities are liable for contamination that predates their occupancy. Second, lessees with sufficient control over the leasehold can be deemed “current owners” of the facility, and “current owners” are also generally liable.

The Superfund statute is unforgiving with respect to the liability of current owner/operators. Courts have rejected arguments that there has to be a nexus between a party’s “operation” on a site and the conduct that caused the release of hazardous substances. Liability exists regardless of when the disposal occurred.

Lessees that exercise a degree of control over the property can be held liable as owners. Courts look at the duration of the lease term; whether the landlord has control over the use of the site; lease termination rights; the lessee’s right to sublet without consent of the landlord; and whether the lessee is responsible for taxes, repairs, and assessments.
MYTH #3: Lenders who take contaminated property as collateral for a loan inevitably risk being liable for the property’s cleanup.

In the early 1990s, the concern that lenders would become liable for contaminated property in which they held security interests crippled commercial lending in some business sectors. Congress has since created a safe harbor from federal cleanup liability for secured lenders. The secured creditor exemption has two parts.

Lenders administering security interests avoid environmental liability by not “participating in the management” of the facility. Undertaking responsibility for, and exercising decision-making control over, the facility’s environmental compliance, assuming day-to-day management of the facility’s environmental function, or taking control over substantially all of the non-environmental facility operations all constitute “participating in the management” and defeat the liability exemption.

But lenders can take a number of financial oversight measures and remain within the safe harbor from liability. Among other things, lenders can provide financial advice in an effort to mitigate, prevent, or cure a default or a diminution in the value of the collateral; restructure or renegotiate terms and conditions of the credit agreement or security interest; and monitor or enforce the terms and conditions of the credit agreement or security interest.

To maintain the liability exemption after foreclosing, a lender must not have “participated in the management” before foreclosing, and must seek to divest itself of the facility “at the earliest practicable, commercially reasonable time.” This does not mean that the foreclosing lender must sell or divest itself of the property at the earliest possible time. Market conditions and legal and regulatory requirements affect whether the lender’s conduct was commercially reasonable.
MYTH #4: If the target site has been cleaned up under the supervision of a state agency, then there is no need for further concern.

A state environmental agency determination that “no further remedial action” is required at a property may not rule out all potential risk. First, such determinations are typically qualified to allow the issuing agency to “re-open” the matter. Standard reasons for re-opening a past determination include the discovery of new information or changed circumstances that suggest the completed remedial activities do not sufficiently protect human health or the environment.

Second, state agency determinations that a cleanup is complete are often conditioned on site use; commercial or industrial site purposes can have a higher level of residual contamination than residential sites. State agencies often impose institutional controls to prevent human exposure to the residue: either proprietary controls such as restrictive covenants, easements, or other forms of deed restrictions, or governmental controls such as zoning, variances, and well-drilling prohibitions. Such controls obviously impede future use or development of a target site.

A common situation that affects acquisitions or financing is the risk of vapor intrusion into buildings on the target site. The potential for vapors from subsurface contamination to intrude into buildings atop the site is a newly identified health risk. This health risk was frequently not evaluated when environmental regulators issued older, no-further-cleanup determinations. Now that they are aware of it, regulators may “re-open” their determinations with respect to properties previously deemed “clean.”
MYTH #5: In every deal, the principal environmental liability risk arises from the release of hazardous substances to the ground.

Substantial environmental liability can arise from facility compliance issues, such as obtaining air emission and wastewater discharge permits, operating within the permit limits, and installing needed pollution control equipment. Depending on the nature of the business, the scope of facility compliance obligations can be substantial. A facility that burns fossil fuels to generate power may confront substantial future capital expenditures to control air emissions. Even non-industrial, non-chemical-intensive operations confront compliance obligations. For example, office buildings may have backup generators with fuel storage and air emission control obligations. Future development of a shopping center may be affected by storm water management and wetlands protection rules.
MYTH #6: Environmental liability disregards the limited liability protections afforded by the corporate, LLC, or LLP form.

Generally speaking, environmental law respects the limited liability of the corporate, LLC, or LLP form. Accordingly, shareholders, parent corporations (as 100 percent shareholders), LLC member interest holders, and partners in LLPs are protected from environmental liability, unless specific, unusual circumstances justify disregarding the treatment of the business as a separate entity.

As it does with other types of liability, limited liability protection for environmental conditions evaporates when it is appropriate to impose “direct” or “derivative” liability. In the environmental context, “direct” liability — affixed because a parent, share, or other interest holder is directly involved in the liability-creating conduct — is generally termed “operator” liability. For example, a parent company involved in the operation of a subsidiary’s facility would be liable for environmental conditions at the facility. Similarly, a shareholder involved in a business manner considered “eccentric” for typical shareholders — for example directing the company to change a production process — can be deemed a liable “operator” of the business.

Derivative liability is commonly referred to as “veil piercing” liability. State law principles that allow piercing the veil to impose liability on a parent, share, or other interest holder apply to environmental liability as well. The precautionary steps to prevent derivative or environmental liability are observing corporate formalities, maintaining a separate board and accounts, and ensuring a subsidiary is adequately capitalized.
MYTH #7: When it comes to federal environmental liability, the asset purchaser defense to successor liability does not hold up.

The traditional rule that the purchaser of assets (as opposed to equity) does not succeed to the predecessor’s liability applies in the environmental context as well. Of course, the exceptions to the asset purchaser defense to successor liability also exist for environmental liability, and are generally a matter of state corporate common law. They include explicit assumption in the asset purchase agreement; the “de facto merger” doctrine; and the “mere continuation” exception, which generally requires some degree of common equity ownership before and after the purchase.

Some courts construing liability under federal environmental statutes have adopted a federal rule of decision that morphed the state “mere continuation” exception into a “substantial continuity” exception. By eliminating the common equity ownership component of the state “mere continuation” exception, the “substantial continuity” exception allows the imposition of liability under federal environmental statutes more leniently.

While the law remains unsettled, the emerging trend seems to be that there is no need for the federal “substantial continuity” exception. That is, the “mere continuation” exception under state corporate common law is the proper test. Continuing to operate by the same name, to hold out the acquired business as the continuation of the prior business, and to retain the same personnel are factors that make a purchaser vulnerable under the “mere continuation” exception.
MYTH #8: Buying an older building with asbestos-containing materials will mean incurring substantial costs to remove those materials.

There is no absolute obligation to remove building materials that contain asbestos. It is frequently possible to maintain asbestos-containing material that is in good shape so as to avoid its fibers becoming airborne and causing health hazards.

Asbestos was used abundantly in buildings until the 1970s, when certain asbestos-containing building materials were banned by the EPA. In non-friable form, asbestos does not pose much threat to humans. When asbestos is friable, the fibers are easily inhaled and can cause serious human health risk. Renovation and demolition activities may cause asbestos to become friable.

Worker protection rules require employers and building owners to notify those who might be exposed to asbestos of the risk. If renovations and demolition are undertaken, specific rules apply to the removal and disposal of the material.
MYTH #9: If there is mold in a building, the best practice is to have the indoor air quality analyzed.

The presence of mold indicates a moisture problem. The best practice is to diagnose and eliminate the source of the moisture.

Mold typically grows in closed environments and will grow where moisture and oxygen are present. Excessive moisture is generally traceable to building defects: a leaking roof, a faulty heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system, or leaking or sweating pipes. IAQ sampling and analysis does nothing to help locate or correct these defects.

Treatment can range from sanitizing and/or decontaminating building components to complete removal of severely affected building materials. Nonporous building materials such as steel and glass can be cleaned and left in place. Porous material such as drywall or insulation should be removed. The extent of the contamination will determine the level of isolation required and the type of personal protective equipment required during abatement activities.
MYTH #10: Any business lawyer familiar with drafting robust indemnity provisions can write an effective environmental indemnity.

As with any specialty discipline, environmental law has its unique vocabulary, and an understanding of the nuances of various terms is needed for drafting indemnities. Adoption of a statutory definition of the term disposal, for example, may inadvertently omit less active forms of release. Borrowing one statute’s definition of hazardous substance will exclude petroleum from the agreement’s scope.

Other traps for the unwary go beyond vocabulary. Just ask the lawyers who let their client agree solely to bear environmental costs. They intended for the term sole to be construed only as between the buyer and seller. What they learned was that use of the term extinguished their clients’ statutory contribution rights against third parties.

Other traps for the unwary include:

• the ineffectiveness of “as is” clauses against statutory contribution claims;

• the interpretation of assumption and retention of liability clauses with respect to specific categories of environmental liability and on statutory contribution rights;

• setting an appropriate endpoint for a cleanup indemnity and allowing for the use of institutional controls to reach that endpoint; and

• the meaning of “survival” clauses that purport to endure for the length of the corresponding statute of limitations for the indemnified environmental liability.

Tom R. Mounteer is a partner in the real estate department in the Washington, D.C., office of Paul Hastings. Contact him at tommounteer@paulhastings.com.

ISLAND GETAWAY!

2011-12-21T11:14:00.004-05:00

Available NOW!

On the Island of Dominica we have a SPECTACULAR property for sale:

2 ACRES featuring:

THE BIG HOUSE - is a private residence with three bedrooms- three bathrooms- a kitchen- dining room - living room - TV/ study area - and a huge balcony with a panoramic view of the Caribbean sea and western coastline of the island.

THE MAIN BUILDING - is a two story structure on the first floor there is a large room designed to be classrooms but could easily be converted to four large hotel rooms. There is a pantry, two bathrooms, a linen room two small storage rooms and a breeze-way which accommodates the electrical service for the structure. On the second floor you will find the lounge the dining room - a commercial kitchen - a wash house - the managers office and two bathrooms.

THE POOL BAR - the bar area overlooks the pool and consists of a seating area for sixty people.

THE POOL - is a 20 X 40 irregular shaped pool situated at the foot of the pool bar over looking the sea. (steps descending to the water's edge were removed but could easily be reinstalled and a dock built to accommodate several good sized boats).

THE CHAPEL - is a four thousand square foot building with a large office, a washroom and a large hall free of interior walls.

THE COTTAGES - the site has eight cottages, six of which are one bedroom structures and two with two rooms with connecting doors. All cottages have large balconies with breath taking views of the sea. This site is fully furnished and fully equipped to handle groups of forty or more individuals

Call Barry Seidel at (941)923-0535 or email him at bseidel347@aol.com for more information!

2760SF Restaurant location 1 BLOCK from Brandenton Beach!!!

2011-12-21T11:09:00.002-05:00

Available NOW!

Address is 101 Bridge Street, Bradenton Beach FL. 2760SF. Free standing. 1 block from the beach! Parking in rear. Asking $1,795,000.00. Call Barry Seidel at (941)923-0535 or email him at bseidel347@aol.com for comprehensive package.

72AC on Knight's Trail COMMERCIAL OR RESIDENTIAL! Bank OWNED and they're dealing!

2011-12-21T11:05:00.002-05:00

Available NOW!

The properties Comprehensive Plan Land Use designation provides flexibility to rezone the property for industrial-commercial or multi-family development. The previous property owner obtained the necessary approvals to permit the excavation of a 1.4 million cubic yard commercial borrow pit. They expired, but could be re-applied for to engage in this activity.

The 72.5 acre property is located approximately two (2) miles north of the Laurel/Knights Trail Road Intersection, just due east of the I-75 and Laurel Road Interchange. This interchange provides excellent access to Sarasota Counties and the Regions urban centers, services, cultural amenities and recreational attractions. The property is ideally located within the City of Venice' s Laurel Road Corridor, an area noted for significant growth potential.

Call Brian Seidel, CCIM at (941)923-0535 for a comprehensive package!

Commerical Real Estate ranks HIGHEST amoungst investment alternatives!

2011-12-02T11:38:00.001-05:00

Commercial Real Estate Ranks Highest Among Investment Alternatives
Posted November 30th 2011

In 3Q11, commercial real estate ranked highest among investment alternatives, followed by cash, in CCIM Institute and Real Estate Research Corp.’s 4Q11 RERC/CCIM Investment Trends Quarterly. “Despite the investment losses taken with commercial real estate during the past few years, it is still a relatively stable investment compared to the volatility of the stock market, and the potential is there for reasonable returns,” said Ken Riggs, CCIM, CRE, MAI, chief real estate economist of the CCIM Institute and chairman and president of Real Estate Research Corp.

Multifamily continued to lead the industry in 3Q11 with CCIM members increasing their investment conditions rating for apartments from 2Q11. “The apartment sector is still strong. The positive returns on this property type compared to the risk are likely to continue for the near term,” Riggs added. “However, we are seeing increasing pressure on some of the other property types. As demonstrated by CCIM members’ ratings, the returns compared to the risk for office, industrial, retail, and hotels were declining or flat.”

On a 12-month trailing basis, total transaction volume for all commercial real estate sectors increased 3Q11. In addition, volume increased for each property type in each of the transaction volume categories.

The 12-month trailing overall size-weighted average price per square foot increased for the office and retail sectors and the overall size-weighted average price per square foot/unit for the office, apartment, and retail sectors also rose. “Commercial real estate’s saving grace is that it was not overbuilt when the recession began,” Riggs explained. “As a result, property fundamentals continue to improve —- vacancy rates are declining and rents are increasing slightly. This is what needs to continue for property prices to inch up.”

Even with tons of technology at our fingertips we're still all about Customer Service!

2011-11-28T10:40:00.002-05:00

Here at APG our knowledgeable sales staff is all about Customer Service. Click the title above for an article from the CCIM Institute which explains why all the technology in the world cannot replace great Customer Service! Call today for all your Commercial real estate needs. (941)923-0535.

2500SF on Venice Ave!

2011-11-21T11:47:00.001-05:00

Available NOW!

205 West Venice Ave, ON THE ISLAND! OPEN TO OFFERS!

2500SF FULLY BUILT OUT OFFICES
2 Bathrooms
2 Kitchenettes
Conference Room
Reception Area
Elevator Access in Rear

Located right above KILWINS!

Call or email for more information today! (941)923-0535

2250 office/warehouse combo NOW AVAILABLE OFF CLARK

2011-11-18T15:56:00.002-05:00

Available NOW!

5646 Jason Lee Place

2250SF
$1250/mo plus tax

12' overhead door
Newly refinished office
Signage available

Call today! (941)923-0535

We're in the Top 10 again! At #6, Sarasota-Bradenton is making moves in the right direction.

2011-11-16T14:31:00.002-05:00

According to REALTOR.com,

Sarasota-Bradenton, FL: A total of 11 percent of all foreign buyers in Florida are in Sarasota-Bradenton specifically. Number six on the turnaround report, the market has seen a list prices increase of more than 17 percent year-0ver-year and a decrease of inventory of 32 percent according to the Realtor.com October data. The market still has a long way to go, after losing more than 55 percent of home values from 2006 to the second quarter of 2011 due to foreclosures.

4000SF Office/Medical space ZONED OPI on US 41

2011-11-14T11:07:00.002-05:00

4000SF. 4 offices, multiple exam rooms, nurses station, 5 bathrooms, signage on US 41 available, reception area, waiting room, kitchen, laundry station in rear. Great location. Asking $10/PSF NNN. Call today! (941)923-0535.

SOLD! 7029B South Tamiami Trail HAS BEEN SOLD! We have others, call today!

2011-11-14T11:00:00.002-05:00

Sold = High Five!!! Call today! (941)923-0535 We have many more listings available. Call today.

1600SF Zoned CI on US 41 (7004 STT)

2011-11-07T16:48:00.001-05:00

Available NOW!

7004 South Tamiami Trail

1600SF of CI Zoned space on US 41 with signage. Offices in place. Parking available for CAR DEALERS out front and in the rear. Asking $2500/mo plus tax GROSS. Call Brian Seidel, CCIM or Marcia Cuttler for details. (941)923-0535.

2500SF Space on Midnight Pass with Courtyard

2011-11-04T09:08:00.004-04:00

We now have 2500SF available on Midnight Pass Rd near Anna's Deli and 7-11. Currently set up as an office but would be a wonderful location for a smaller restaurant!

Click the link above, call or email for a floor plan, additional pictures, or a personal tour. (941)923-0535.

Former YOGA studio NOW AVAILABLE in Gulf Gate!

2011-11-01T09:36:00.004-04:00

Available NOW!
(2nd Floor location is shown first, 1st Floor location is shown second)

1000SF former YOGA studio at 6539 Gateway Ave. Asking $1000/mo plus tax. 2nd Floor location. First floor has 1000SF retail space with a BAR already built out available as well. Asking $1000/mo plus tax for that as well!!!

DESOTO SUPERSPEEDWAY NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

2011-10-31T12:53:00.002-04:00

Available NOW!

Every wanted to own your own racetrack? NOW YOU CAN!

Visit our website at www.AMERICANPROPERTYGROUP.com for more information or call Barry, Brian or Adam at (941)923-0535.

What a unique opportunity to own something truly amazing at a price you can afford!

900SF Hair Salon in Nokomis NOW AVAILABLE! $675/mo plus tax

2011-10-31T12:48:00.002-04:00

Already has some FF&E in place. Plaza is currently being remodeled. Over 55 parking spaces on site. Great signage on US 41. Right next to Anita's Restaurant in Nokomis.

900SF on US 41 for $675/mo plus tax

Beware of falling inventory! These prices won't last forever! Make your move today!

2011-10-24T12:45:00.003-04:00

Summary: A total of 6,532 condos and houses are for sale, a 4.6 percent drop in inventory from July and a 26.4 percent reduction from August 2010, according to the figures compiled from the Sarasota MLS.

Okay, we're making progress!

Click the headline for the full article from the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

Looking for an operational business in Sarasota? We've got em!

2011-10-20T15:01:00.003-04:00

Available NOW!

Check out our website at www.AmericanPropertyGroup.com for more information on our available businesses for sale! Or...CLICK THE TITLE OF THIS ARTICLE FOR A DIRECT LINK

Great Lakewood Ranch Restaurant Location AVAILABLE NOW!

2011-10-20T11:07:00.003-04:00

Available NOW!
6260 Lake Osprey Drive
6201SF
177+ Seats
HUGE BAR!
Right off I-75
This is a MUST SEE restaurant!
Click the title for more information or call Barry Seidel at (941)923-0535

Retail Tenanting Techniques by Jennifer Norbut via CCIM.com

2011-10-19T12:25:00.000-04:00

Retail Tenanting Techniques
These fundamental strategies can help to revitalize neighborhood centers.
by Jennifer Norbut

Upticks in consumer spending and hints at economic improvement are fueling some long-awaited positive momentum in the retail sector. Despite the mild industry buzz, the latest data reports offer the view many property owners see when they look around their markets: Vacancy for strip centers rose to 11.0 percent nationwide in 2Q11 — just 10 basis points below the two-decade high of 11.1 percent vacancy in 1990, according to Reis.

Nowhere is the impact of vacancy felt more than in small retail centers, which rely on the health of not only their tenants, but the surrounding community. However, CCIMs say there is some good news: “All is not lost for neighborhood shopping centers,” according to James J. Dunphy, CCIM, of Dunphy Properties in Tampa, Fla. “There are plenty of service-oriented users and restaurants out there requiring space. If you can provide convenience and service with the traditional attributes of a good location, you will be successful long term.”

To make the best of the current market, owners and landlords of small retail centers must be flexible, focused, and creative. But the one thing landlords don’t have to be is rocket scientists. In fact, CCIM retail experts around the country say that the formula for remaining viable under these conditions is rooted in fundamental marketing and tenanting techniques.
Negotiate, Negotiate, Negotiate

Similar to the sluggish and uneven nature of the commercial real estate market’s recovery, leasing strategies for small retail centers vary depending on a variety of localized factors. While tenants in one center may be motivated by free rent, another may want tenant improvement dollars, while another may seek early occupancy. Regardless of the location or center, the key to securing new leases in this environment is flexibility.

In some markets, time is on the tenant’s side. “We have offered early occupancy in lieu of free rent, allowing the tenant to take possession 30 to 90 days prior to lease commencement,” says William W. Hyatt, CCIM, of LanDel Realty in Fairhope, Ala. “In some cases that allows the tenant to rehab the existing space or build out new space.”

Common incentives in strong markets, TI allowances can help tenants ink the lease. In the current market, Hyatt says he’s offering TI allowances in the $10 per square foot to $30 psf range, depending on whether the property is being rehabbed or if it’s a new build-out.

With economic uncertainties weighing heavily, cash-strapped property owners may not have the luxury of offering TI allowances. “I’ve found lately that landlords do not have the capacity to provide TI allowances due to market constraints or lack of financing,” says Jorge A. Rodriguez, CCIM, director of retail at Colliers International in Orlando, Fla. To help move deals forward in these situations, Rodriguez has opted to secure rent abatement periods that are equal to “market” TI amounts.

For instance, in a recent transaction, “I represented a national retail chain on an 86-month lease where the landlord provided a rent abatement period of 26 months in lieu of providing the typical TI allowance.” This arrangement resulted in five years of rental income to the landlord, and the tenant was pleased with the concession. The abatement period only applied to base rent, requiring the tenant to pay operational expenses at occupancy, he adds.

Offering shorter lease terms, free rent, and graduated rent structures also may help to secure tenants in small centers. In fact, “many landlords prefer to offer free rent over tenant improvement money these days,” says Alaina H. McGlothlin, CCIM, sales associate at CB Richard Ellis in Oklahoma City. “Offering a period of six to 12 months of 50 percent rent is another way to meet the needs of both landlords and tenants.”

Specifying and spreading out the rent-free months provides landlords with another negotiating tactic. “Offer additional free rent if tenants will take it in months 12, 24, 36, and 48 instead of during 60 days on the front end of the lease,” says A. David Zoller of The Weitzman Group in Dallas.

Ultimately, before going to extreme lengths to lease up vacant spaces, landlords must conduct thorough due diligence. “The most important thing to evaluate in this market — and what the deal you offer is dependent on — is the credit and financial stability of the tenant,” says Gary W. Lyons, CCIM, SIOR, vice president of Investment Sales and Corporate Services at Lincoln Harris in Raleigh, N.C. “It’s important to understand the operating history and experience of who you are getting into your center.”
Target Service Tenants

“Service tenants are ideal for smaller centers,” Lyons says. Financial and insurance companies, dry cleaners, hair and nail salons, restaurants, convenience stores, and special medical service providers, such as dentists and chiropractors, all benefit from the easy access, parking ratios, and complementary tenant mix of neighborhood centers. And, these localized service businesses generally are looking for the same things when choosing a location: “Good visibility, strong traffic counts, and high foot traffic areas,” Lyons adds.

In centers that can support larger, national tenants, “it is helpful to have an anchor that has some name or brand recognition,” says Christopher Baj, CCIM, a commercial specialist with Michael Baxter & Associates Commercial Real Estate and Property Management in Stroudsburg, Pa. “The tenant can be national, regional, or even local as long as there is some name recognition,” which makes the center attractive to both customers and other tenants.

However, for many smaller neighborhood retail centers, high-profile anchors are not a standard component of the tenant mix. A range of franchisees as well as local mom-and-pop businesses generally fill the storefronts of these properties. As a result, these centers present a prime opportunity for CCIMs to lend their expertise. “As CCIMs, we need to help the owners of these centers understand what tenants can afford to pay each month,” says Charles A. “Mac” McClure, CCIM, chairman of McClure Partners in Dallas. “In this age of $24 to $30 triple-net rents, it can be impossible for a hair or nail salon to create sufficient income to pay the rent.” In some cases, landlords must “reduce the rent to where a tenant can make a living” while making sure the pro forma for the income of the business moving into the space makes sense, McClure adds.

Landlords may not have to look too far to find prospective tenants. “Target in-market prospects and find out what it will take for them to move,” Zoller says. Landlords who have a competitive edge should “consider buying out [a prospective tenant’s] lease for a long-term deal at an above-market rate.” While it may seem like a hard sell to lure a tenant across town at an above-market rate in the current climate, Zoller sees it as an opportunity. “Our goal as brokers is to show them what they can accomplish in sales by asking them, ‘If you could do 14 percent more in sales, wouldn’t it be worth paying 4 percent more in rent?’”

Where competition is tight, attracting in-market tenants requires landlords to pay extra attention to details, such as the signage, landscaping, parking lot upkeep, and other aesthetic aspects of the property. To sway prospects, “we have to be cleaner, brighter, cheaper, and more in touch with tenants’ needs,” Hyatt says. As part of the deal, some relocating tenants may be looking for extra incentives, such as rent reductions and early occupancy. If a center can offer these things, “it gives you a competitive edge against other centers.”

However, tenant relocations may require an extra step in the due diligence process to ensure landlords are seeing the whole picture. “I usually contact the corporate office if they are franchised tenants to find out if they are relocating due to declining sales, problems at their current location, or corporate relocation mandates,” advises Samuel S. Fung, CCIM, principal with Oregon Commercial in Medford, Ore.
Market on a Micro Budget

Marketing a challenged center — one that is in a poor location or has low traffic counts — requires tremendous creativity, Lyons says. “Most landlords of smaller centers are not capitalized well enough to spend large sums of money. The goal is to keep the capital outlay to a minimum but provide enough incentives to motivate the retailer to make a commitment.”

Creating co-tenancy arrangements can infuse new energy into centers as well as improve the overall tenant mix, CCIMs advise. “A doughnut shop has heavy morning traffic, sub shops are heavy at lunch, fitness centers are busy after normal work hours, yogurt shops are busy between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. and after dinner hours,” Hyatt says. The revolving traffic restaurant tenants create benefits other service businesses such as medical-related services, convenience stores, and hair and nail salons.

With so much of the interest in small enters coming from local drive-by traffic, it’s critical to “effectively utilize any of the property’s on-site monument signage to promote awareness and availabilities,” Rodriguez says. Though contrary to the high-tech online marketing capabilities available today, old-fashioned techniques still have value: Posting banners, affixing marketing brochure boxes to the property’s exterior, and hanging window posters are effective ways to gain attention at very small centers, according to CCIM experts.

Tried-and-true, low-cost improvement projects, such as enhancing signage, updating landscaping, cleaning windows, and keeping the property litter-free can make an impression as well, Baj says. “And don’t forget to upgrade your image with existing tenants,” he adds. “Prospective new tenants frequently talk to existing tenants to see how happy they are in their location and space. Word of mouth still goes a long way today.”

Jennifer Norbut is senior editor of Commercial Investment Real Estate.

Finding Friends and Followers

Social media outreach has become an integral part of the marketing strategy for mega retailers such as Walmart and Target, which have amassed more than 7.7 million and 5.2 million fans on Facebook alone. Landlords and owners of small retail centers can quickly and affordably adapt a similar strategy on a smaller scale to create awareness for their property as well as for their tenants.

For instance, Samuel S. Fung, CCIM, principal of Oregon Commercial in Medford, Ore., recently helped a client create a Facebook presence that includes each tenant’s business. Instead of only relying on print advertising or snail mail, “if a tenant has a special promotion or discount sale, they can post it on Facebook in real time,” he says. Fung also helped a restaurant tenant maximize its presence on Facebook by uploading pictures of specialty dishes as well as a video about the restaurant.

“Internet marketing tools like Facebook and LinkedIn are free,” Fung notes. “Every retail center — large or small — should take advantage of these tools.”

Need a small office? How does 750SF for $750/mo plus tax sound?

2011-10-19T12:16:00.002-04:00

750SF in Coral Cove Plaza Available NOW!

Address is 7222 South Tamiami Trail Suite 102
750SF
2 offices
Conference area
Kitchenette
2 bathrooms
Signage is available

Asking $750/mo plus tax GROSS

Fully equipped 1400SF restaurant on US 41 NOW Available!

2011-10-19T11:51:00.003-04:00

Quaint, equipped, 1400SF/40 seat restaurant on US 41 with ample parking and LOTS of signage. Located right near Outback, AMF Lanes, Cafe Amalfi, and many more! Appx 55,000 cars daily will see your sign! Interior was just revamped. Worth taking a look at for sure! Asking $3000/mo plus tax. Call Barry at (941)923-0535.

President Obama includes real estate in his recovery/jobs initiative package

2011-09-15T10:02:00.001-04:00

Obama Jobs Plan Includes Real Estate Effort
September 9, 2011 by Robert Freedman
Filed under: Breaking News, Politics & Government

By Robert Freedman, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

The $447 billion jobs initiative President Obama introduced last night, called “The American Jobs Act,” contains some pieces that aim to boost home mortgage refinancing, rehab homes, cut taxes for small businesses, boost road, bridges, and other public-works spending, in part through an infrastructure bank, and otherwise inject momentum into the stalled economic recovery. Many of the specifics are still to come. Here’s a thumbnail summary of the key provisions provided by the White House:
President Obama

President Obama

1. Cut in half the taxes paid by businesses on their first $5 million in payroll, targeting the benefit to the 98 percent of firms that have payroll below this threshold.
2. Give a payroll tax holiday for adding workers or increasing wages. The benefit is capped at the first $50 million in payroll increases.
3. Extend 100-percent expensing into 2012.
4. Institute regulatory reforms to help entrepreneurs and small businesses access capital.
5. Offer tax credits from $5,600 to $9,600 to encourage the hiring of unemployed veterans.
6. Institute reforms to prevent up to 280,000 teacher layoffs and “to keep police and firefighters on the job.”
7. Modernize at least 35,000 public schools and supporting new science labs and Internet-ready classrooms.
8. Invest in infrastructure, in part through a National Infrastructure Bank.
9. Launch “Project Rebuild” for rehabilitating homes, in part by leveraging private capital, “scaling land banks,” and encouraging other public-private collaborations.
10. Expand access to high-speed wireless.
11. Institute reforms to prevent layoffs and give states greater flexibility to use unemployment insurance funds for work-sharing and other programs, including programs in which displaced workers take temporary, voluntary work or pursue on-the-job training.
12. Offer a $4,000 tax credit to employers for hiring long-term unemployed workers; prohibit employers from discriminating against unemployed workers in hiring and training programs.
13. Cut payroll taxes by 50 percent, for an average tax cut of $1,500 per worker.
14. Increase home mortgage refinancing.

Looking for affordable solutions in unique properties...By Emily Maltby (WSJ)

2011-08-29T10:29:00.002-04:00

Prime Real Estate: Abandoned Factories By Emily Maltby

A critical mass of entrepreneurs can help to revitalize an economically strained city. The story “Where the Action Is” looks at up-and-coming industry hubs across the U.S., and includes places that experienced a rebirth thanks to a new wave of innovation.

In Iowa, a burgeoning wind-power industry attracted entrepreneurs, farmers and turbine manufacturers, who worked together to create a strong supply chain. Some wind companies came to the state and set up shop in old manufacturing facilities that had been abandoned for years.

For example, a turbine maker and a wind-tower maker moved into a vacant Maytag facility in Newton, Iowa, in 2008, and put some former Maytag employees back to work.

Likewise, in New York’s capital region, a new nanotechnology industry is coming to life and moving into areas of the city that were previously abandoned. Research facilities like laboratories and clean rooms, as well as new office spaces, are popping up in unlikely places such as the Watervliet Arsenal, a 200-year-old cannon factory. Some 300,000-square-feet of the arsenal, located just outside of Albany, have been repurposed for entrepreneurs.

Vistec Lithography Inc., a mid-sized designer and manufacturer of electron-beam systems for the semiconductor and disk-drive industry, is a tenant. Vistec moved to the arsenal from Cambridge, England, in 2007. About 40 employees are now working for the company in Albany.

Papken Der Torossian, the company’s chairman, likes being in “an old, beautiful building” but his true reason for being in the arsenal is to use its manufacturing facilities and the research labs at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the University at Albany, just down the road. “There’s nothing like it in terms of the scale and breadth of technology,” he says. “Now business is booming.”

Matt Hudgins, CCIM discusses where the opportunistic investors in today's market are placing their bets...LAND HO!

2011-08-12T08:54:00.004-04:00

Land
Dirt, Cheap
Opportunistic investors place their bets on land.
by Matt Hudgins

Even at bargain-basement prices, most land investments today are a gamble. A land buyer is placing a bet that demand for commercial real estate projects will return before property taxes and other holding costs eat up the potential return to be made from the site’s eventual sale or development. And since the onset of the recession, few investors have been willing to take that risk.

“The land market is dead,” says Dan Fasulo, managing director of Real Capital Analytics. “That said, activity is perking up in a few select markets around the country.” The New York-based research company tracks commercial real estate transactions, but with few land sales occurring, it hasn’t published a land investment report for years.

Though the market for commercial land is weak, U.S. transaction volume in the sector topped $1 billion in both the fourth quarter of 2010 and the first quarter this year, RCA found. That’s up from roughly $500,000 per quarter throughout 2009. During the peak year of 2007, quarterly volume averaged $8.6 billion.

In Manhattan and a few other markets, well-heeled investors are buying and holding land until the demand for new construction returns. And they may not have long to wait. Construction nearly ground to a halt after the collapse of Lehman Bros. in 2008, Fasulo notes, and vacancy rates across commercial property types are declining despite slow economic growth. He predicts that development will come roaring back in primary markets this year as investors and developers race to deliver the first new projects.

“This kind of window with little to no development in the U.S. is almost unheard of in the post-World War II era,” Fasulo says. “I’d be a land buyer right now. As they say, they’re not making any more of it, and prices look reasonable versus a few years ago.”

Commercial Investment Real Estate queried CCIMs across the country to find out where land sales are hottest, which markets offer the best bargains, and what CCIMs are doing to close deals. Our review begins with a surprising success story for one of the markets hardest hit by the housing bust.
Florida Comes Around

Demand is heating up for well-located tracts suitable for apartments or seniors housing in Florida, according to T. Sean Lance, CCIM, managing director and president of Troubled Asset Optimization in Tampa, Fla.

Early this year, Lance brokered an acquisition of a downtown Tampa tract by The Related Group. The Miami-based developer plans to construct a 360-unit luxury apartment complex on the site of a failed condominium project, which had reverted to Regions Bank as real estate owned.

“Half the land deals I’ve done lately have been bank-owned deals,” says Lance, who has land transactions set to close in Orlando and Southeast Florida.

Commercial construction has largely evaporated since 2008, and in Florida, the supply of apartments already had dwindled due to conversions of rental properties into condominiums. As the ranks of renter households have increased, multifamily vacancy rates have been falling across the state, bringing opportunities to boost rents.

“The demand for apartments is never going to be higher than it will be for the next two or three years, particularly in Florida,” Lance says. And with land prices down approximately 50 percent since the peak, by Lance’s estimation, apartment construction is becoming feasible again for urban infill locations and is fueling transactions.

Demand for other types of commercial real estate hasn’t yet recovered. Florida experienced anemic job growth in the past year and the state’s unemployment rate of 10.6 percent in March was well above the national average of 9.2 percent. There is little demand for new office, industrial, or retail space, and Florida’s single-family market remains flooded since the housing bust.

“We are so over-retailed that we are not going to start to see recovery [in retail occupancy] until 2016,” says Bill Eshenbaugh, CCIM, president of Eshenbaugh Land Co. in Tampa.

Yet Eshenbaugh’s company has closed approximately 70 land transactions since the beginning of 2010, all of them cash sales. In addition to apartment developers, buyers have included land bankers — investors who are taking advantage of low pricing to buy tracts for development a few years down the road. Residential land that was priced between $40,000 and $50,000 an acre in 2006 is selling for as little as $10,000 an acre today, Eshenbaugh says.

But don’t expect lenders to finance such risky acquisitions, he warns. “You better be prepared to buy today for cash, and you better be prepared to show your cash when you make your offer.”
Texas Fast Track

While fundamentals in the Lone Star State have suffered since the beginning of the recession, the state avoided a housing bubble and enjoys the nation’s strongest job growth. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area gained 69,000 jobs from March 2010 to March 2011 to lead employment growth among the nation’s major metropolitan areas, followed by Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown in the No. 2 spot with the addition of 51,800 jobs year-over-year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Vast reserves of oil and natural gas, as well as diverse regional economies in Houston, Dallas, and the Central Texas cities of Austin and San Antonio, have sustained commercial real estate performance in the Lone Star State. While demand is insufficient for more than a select few speculative developments, there is steady activity among companies buying land to construct space for their own use, according to Keith P. Grothaus, CCIM, vice president in the commercial land services division of Caldwell Cos. in Houston.

Most buyers today in Houston are restaurateurs, industrial companies, medical service providers, banks, or other users seeking tracts to build their own space, Grothaus says. And financing is available for many of those deals. “Because our economy is better than most of those around the country, our buyers have the ability to get financed to build some buildings.”

A much smaller group of buyers is picking up land at attractively low prices to hold for resale or development in a few years when demand improves. With the exception of well-located apartment developments, those land-bank plays can’t qualify for financing in today’s risk-averse banking environment. That has resulted in the frequent use of seller financing.

By offering to help the buyer with either a direct loan or assumable mortgage, sellers often are able to garner a higher price than they would get from a cash sale. “There just isn’t any conventional financing for investments,” Grothaus says.

At the top of the cash-buying food chain, real estate investment trusts have been buying land with good access to the expanding Port of Houston, which is expected to experience an increase in consumer goods traffic in 2014. That’s when the widening of the Panama Canal will give larger cargo ships access to the Gulf and East Coast ports.

In Central Texas, a recently completed toll road has touched off a frenzy of land transactions on Austin’s largely undeveloped east side. Texas Highway 130 provides an alternative to a traffic bottleneck in downtown Austin, allowing drivers on Interstate 35 to skirt the metro area between Georgetown, north of Austin, and Buda, a small city south of Austin and north of San Antonio.

Joyce Weedman, senior vice president at NAI REOC Austin, estimates that about 30,000 multifamily and single-family housing units are in various planning stages for development on vacant tracts along a 10-mile stretch of Texas 130, from the municipal airport northward to Samsung’s massive semiconductor manufacturing plant. Other developments planned for the area include an automotive race track where proponents hope to one day host the first U.S. Formula 1 racing event since 2007.

“There are definitely some opportunities in commercial land available for investors in Austin,” Weedman says. “But because of all the considerations having to do with types of soil, environmental issues, and politics, you really have to work with somebody who knows what they’re doing. Any land investor coming to Austin needs to get a good engineer, a good real estate attorney, and a very experienced real estate broker.”
High-Risk Markets

Across U.S. apartment, office, retail, and industrial properties, average asset values were down 42.8 percent in January from the peak of October 2007, according to the Moody’s/REAL National All Property Price Index. With the price of existing space available at such a discount, new construction doesn’t pencil out for most investors or occupiers outside of core locations in primary gateway markets like New York City or Washington, D.C.

Without demand, land values have plummeted, particularly in Las Vegas, California’s Central Valley, and other markets that rode high on the housing bubble. But that very lack of demand has created opportunities for investors with a long-term view.

“The Sacramento area and Northern California have taken a real hit as a result of the economy slowing down,” says Guy Spitzer, CCIM, vice president at the Sacramento-area office of Cornish & Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank. “In Sacramento, land that sold for $2,000 an acre [at the market peak] might be $25 an acre now.”

California’s housing bubble inflated fastest in the Central Valley around Sacramento because the market has space for large-scale residential development, which is lacking in the state’s more landlocked cities, Spitzer says. By the same token, California’s population growth will be largely driven by the Central Valley once the state’s economy regains its footing, bringing strong demand for development sites.

That logic applies to the decimated Las Vegas area as well, according to Charlie Mack, CCIM. The owner of Las Vegas-based Mack Realty, Mack relates the example of a well-situated retail parcel with highway frontage that sold before the market crash for nearly $30 per square foot. Today the same site is listed for sale by a bank at a little more than $5 psf, “and my gut tells me it will probably sell close to $4 psf.”

Mack points out that deflated land values in his market have lowered property tax burdens — and land holding costs — significantly. “It’s a perfect time for land investors to purchase in Las Vegas because land costs are at historical lows, and holding cost is very low.”
Looking Ahead

Demand for infill sites already is returning in the primary markets, where asset values for stabilized apartments, retail, industrial, and even office properties are approaching pre-recession levels. The question is, when will that recovery occur for the rest of the nation?

Fasulo of RCA advises investors to keep an eye on the spread between current asset values and replacement costs for completed commercial buildings. The wider the spread, the more investors will want to move out on the risk spectrum and build rather than buy. That will put a premium on usable sites.

REITs — especially apartment REITs — will begin a flurry of site acquisitions this year in a race to be the first developers to introduce new projects in primary markets, Fasulo predicts. Other investor types will follow that lead in the ensuing years and in other property types as demand recovers.

With research and a finger on the pulse of demographic trends, CCIMs can help their clients make the right choices for land investments while taking advantage of prices near historic lows. “Some of the land investors that really went out on a limb in 2009 and early 2010 have been vastly rewarded for those purchases already,” Fasulo observes. “The smart money is in land right now.”

Matt Hudgins is a real estate writer based in Austin, Texas.

From Seeds to Solar

There may not be much call for tracts on which to build commercial real estate in 2011, but agricultural land is a different story. From real estate investment trusts to alternative energy providers, buyers are acquiring expansive land parcels that can generate revenue from crops or solar power.

“Wall Street is investing heavily in agricultural land, and there are a multitude of reasons why,” says William Hugron, CCIM, senior vice president of Newport Beach, Calif.-based Ashwill Associates.

In the Midwest, REITs, pension funds, and other institutional investors are buying farmland as a diversification play and an alternative to more volatile property types. Once acquired, these commercial real estate entities bring in professional farm management companies to operate the holdings.

As a result, the wide-open spaces are growing more valuable. In Hugron’s experience, the average price has climbed to between $9,000 and $10,000 per acre from $6,000 a year ago. Productive farms in the Midwest are a hot commodity because a scarcity of water for irrigation has compromised the value of many tracts and raised the value of those with good access to water, Hugron says. And with the weak dollar, exports of soy and wheat are contributing to the demand for productive farmland.

Even timberland is enjoying increasing demand, Hugron says. Indeed, the NCREIF Timberland Index showed total annualized returns for the property type averaged 0.75 percent in the first quarter of 2011, significantly higher than the average return from the same period a year ago, and ending several years of declining returns.

As with farms, the trend in timber is toward professional management companies that can maximize productivity and enjoy economies of scale.

While demand for wood products is down while construction is stalled, the value of timberland should improve once the economy gains traction and construction accelerates, he says.

Hugron has performed land assemblage for residential development and urban-infill land sales in the past. But since the recession, he has applied those skills to assembling tracts in the southwestern and western U.S. for a new type of development — solar farms.

To operate profitably, a solar installation must be near either an electrical transmission line or a power substation with excess capacity to handle the electricity generated by the solar farm, Hugron says. The tract itself must have more than an expanse of sky, too. “What’s important is radiation levels,” he says. “You could be in a hot area that may not have high radiation levels. A dry desert area is going to have higher radiation levels.”

Far to the north, the Canadian city of Toronto is emerging as a global hotspot for solar farming. At the center of that activity is Neil Warshafsky, CCIM, broker of record at Re/Max Commercial Advisors in Toronto, Ontario. Warshafsky represents Quotidia, an Italian company that is seeking large tracts for solar power generation in Canada and the U.S.

“They have completed about 50 projects throughout Europe,” he says. “We are now ramping up a program for them to acquire lands in Ontario.”

Under Canadian law, a tract must be designated for industrial use before it can host a solar installation. And with natural and legal barriers to development in and around Toronto, land is in short supply. In fact another of Warshafsky’s clients, a Singapore-based investor, expects land values in the city to skyrocket over time.

“They’re recognizing there’s going to be a huge shortage of land in Ontario, and my client has bought about $65 million (Canadian) of land over the past year and a half,” Warshafsky says. “Their goal is to invest about $21 million this year.”

How to make your investment portfolio more stable by adding Commercial Real Estate

2011-07-29T09:18:00.003-04:00

Tired of playing "Jenga" with your investment portfolio? Worried the tower could crumble at anytime due to unstable investments? Click the title above for an article written by Kenneth P. Riggs Jr., CCIM, CRE, MAI discussing how to add longevity and stability to your investment portfolio through Commercial Real Estate. Check out CCIM.com for more related articles concerning Real Estate related investment or simply visit our website at AmericanPropertyGroup.com to browse of HUGE selection of available properties.

Of all the cities in the USA, Sarasota ranks #39 in real estate related searches!

2011-07-11T16:36:00.002-04:00

Just handed to me at the National Association of Real Estate Editors’ conference here: a spreadsheet of data from Realtor.com. And check this: Sarasota is No. 39 on the list of most-searched markets on the website.

Ranked ahead of Sarasota-Bradenton are markets that are much bigger, such as Chicago (No. 1), Tampa-St. Pete-Clearwater (No. 6), Miami (No. 18) and Denver (No. 19). Right ahead of us is Charlotte, N.C., at No. 38. Fort Myers-Cape Coral is No. 33.

What does this mean? I will be interviewing an NAR expert next week for details, but it tells me right now that among markets of its same size, Sarasota-Bradenton is, at worst, No. 2 in Realtor.com searches, which indicates a healthy interest in the market.

-Harold Bubil

Ever wanted to own a racetrack? NOW YOU CAN!

2011-07-06T12:42:00.004-04:00

Available NOW! Ride along below with a short preview of the excitement that can be had at DeSoto!!! Listen to those engines rumble...

The Desoto Super Speedway is available for purchase. Call or email today for a comprehensive package and a personal tour of the "Fastest Short Track in the South"!!!

Just a few of our recent transactions! Check out our website or the Real Estate section of the Gulf Coast Business Review for a comprehensive list!

2011-07-06T12:38:00.004-04:00

and there are more where these came from...

The American Cancer Society has leased 8000SF at 2970 University Parkway, Sarasota from Manasota Medical Arts. Barry Seidel of American Property Group of Sarasota, Inc handled the transaction.

Mattress Xpress has leased 4000SF at 3904 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota from Bersam Development. Barry Seidel of American Property Group of Sarasota, Inc handled the transaction.

Best Buy Mobile has leased 2000SF at 3908 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota from Bersam Development. Barry Seidel of American Property Group of Sarasota, Inc handled the transaction.

Famous Shoes has leased 8200SF at 7668 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota from 7330 South Tamiami Trail, Inc. Barry Seidel of American Property Group of Sarasota, Inc handled the transaction.

O'Conners Irish Pub has leased 4200SF at 1359 Main Street, Sarasota from The Briad Trust. Barry Seidel of American Property Group of Sarasota, Inc handled the transaction.

Fast Lane Performance Automotive, Inc has leased 2250SF at 5652 Jason Lee Place, Sarasota from Jason Lee Place, Inc. Brian Seidel, P.A. of American Property Group of Sarasota, Inc handled the transaction.

Homewatch CareGivers has leased 1500SF at 98 Sarasota Center Blvd Suite C, Sarasota from Howard Greber. Brian Seidel, P.A. of American Property Group of Sarasota, Inc handled the transaction.

DHID has leased 1500SF at 4904 Fruitville Rd, Sarasota from Macalian Properties, Inc. Brian Seidel, P.A. of American Property Group of Sarasota, Inc handled the transaction.

RDCL Enterprises, Inc has purchased 3100SF at 8215 Natures Way, Lakewood Ranch Units 117, 121 and 125 from Landmark Bank for $500,000. Marcia Cuttler, P.A. of American Property Group of Sarasota, Inc represented the buyer. Way to go Marcia!!!

Pelican Cottage New and Used Furniture has leased 13,950SF at 820 South Tamiami Trail, Osprey from Douglas C Smith. Barry Seidel of American Property Group of Sarasota, Inc handled the transaction.

...we're dealing! Call us today! (941)923-0535

All the Suncoast locals already knew this but, now the whole nation agrees! SIESTA KEY BEACH IS NUMBER #1

2011-06-01T10:13:00.004-04:00

Siesta Beach was ranked No. 1 in the nation today in the annual survey by Dr. Stephen Leatherman, director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University.

“The sand is like sugar,” Leatherman said. “Some people can't believe it. It's super soft, super fine. They claim to have the finest, whitest sand in the world, and I can't argue with that.”

For the past two years, Siesta was ranked No. 2 in the survey. Now local tourism officials can boast of the top spot.

“This is absolutely the best thing we could ever hear,” said Virginia Haley, president of the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We know we'll be on national TV in the morning. Live shots across the country.”

On Thursday afternoon, visitors to Siesta weren't surprised by early news of the No. 1 ranking.

How APG is helping local business people realize their dreams!

2011-06-01T10:03:00.002-04:00

Sarasota veterinarian Dr. Wendy Ellis has conquered fears of big expenses in a recession plenty of times.

Just a few years ago, for instance, Ellis spent $110,000 on a digital imaging machine for her practice, Sarasota Veterinary Emergency Hospital.

The machine gives her an edge over competitors because most animal hospitals in the area don’t have one. It also simplifies diagnosis and treatment procedures.

“The images you get are awesome,” says Ellis. “It’s a huge difference between the old films.”

Ellis recently committed to an even bigger expense. This time, she bought a building for the hospital. For the purchase and the build-out costs, it’s at least a $1.4 million investment. “It wasn’t something we sought out,” says Ellis. “It just kind of fell into our laps.”

Modesty aside, Ellis’ purchase is a small step in what could be a long-term project on the Gulf Coast: creative reuse of commercial real estate properties that might otherwise fall into decay, given the high ratios of defaults and foreclosures.

There are several other notable reuse projects on the Gulf Coast that are either in the planning or execution stages. In the Sarasota-Bradenton market, those include a Sonic fast-food restaurant in east Manatee County that will be transformed into a JPMorgan Chase Bank branch; a 9,500-square-foot office building in Sarasota that will be turned into a Buddhist temple; and a Lone Star Steakhouse restaurant bought by discount grocery store chain Aldi USA for a supermarket location. (See related stories on the following pages for other examples.)

Ellis, admittedly, isn’t a real estate mogul, and she has no aspirations to change careers. A graduate of the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, Ellis has been a veterinarian for nine years.

Ellis bought the Sarasota Veterinary Emergency Hospital in November 2006. The practice is in a small strip mall off of U.S. 41 in an area of Sarasota that’s surrounded by car dealerships and furniture stores. It’s about halfway between the two biggest malls in Sarasota.

But the location, which is leased, was a sore point for Ellis. Signage was poor and many people passed by it before they realized it. Given that many clients are harried due to pet emergencies, that made the location even worse.

Still, Ellis says buying a building didn’t seem like something she could afford. She also had spent a considerable amount of money on the current space, from new cabinets to installing TVs in exam rooms.

Ellis moved ahead nonetheless. Several factors were key. One, the building, a 16,249-square-foot retail center, was under foreclosure, which took down the price considerably. The building is across the street from the current location.

Second, Ellis obtained an SBA loan through Venice-based Florida Shores Bank at less than 6% interest, which was a nice nudge. Ellis paid $975,000 for the building and expects to pay at least $400,000 on a renovation project.

Finally, a chance for Ellis to improve the visibility for clients and potential future clients was too good to pass up. The new building faces U.S. 41, instead of being just off of it. “What you see on the outside,” says Ellis, “sometimes sets the tone for what’s inside.”

The building was built in 1978. It previously housed a PatioAmerica store and Murphy Bed Sarasota.

A yarn store has since replaced Murphy Bed Sarasota and the veterinary hospital will take over the two-story PatioAmerica space. Innovative Design Solutions will continue to occupy space in the center.

The Sarasota Veterinary Emergency Hospital will grow from 3,000 square feet to 8,000 square feet when the build-out project is completed. Ellis hired Lakewood Ranch-based Tom Wessel Construction Corp. for the project, which includes inside and outside work. The roof will also be replaced.

The building purchase gives Ellis one final opportunity. Now she can provide even more specialty procedures, including optomology, dermatology and veterinary dentistry. “We didn’t expect to move,” says Ellis, “but now we can add a lot of services.”

Thinking BIG: How agents and brokers in smaller markets are beating the challenges faced in 2011

2011-05-20T11:04:00.002-04:00

Thinking Big

How are CCIMs in small markets and firms beating this challenging market? You’d be surprised…
by Sara Drummond

How do they do it? Those brokers and sales agents who operate in small markets or who work solo or with just a partner or two? How do they survive in a market as tough as today’s?

Common thought might be that, in small markets or at small firms, you need to be a jack of all trades — and all property sectors. Not so, say many CCIMs. As counterintuitive as it may seem, knowing a lot — a whole lot — about one property type or niche can set you apart, make you the go-to CCIM for your market area. It becomes your brand, your identity.

In addition, CCIMs in small markets and at small companies are redefining themselves to not just survive, but thrive. “And the only way to thrive in a small town with limited deals is to become the best,” says Beau Beery, CCIM, CPM, vice president of commercial real estate for AMJ in Gainesville, Fla.

Being the best is what being a CCIM is all about, but the challenges of the last few years have tested even the most stalwart, successful commercial real estate professionals. “By God’s grace and my little red pin,” says Thomas F. Campenni, CCIM, CPM, a consultant in Stuart, Fla. “Because of those two factors, I am still active in the industry I love.”

Here’s a look at how other small market/small firm CCIMs have marshaled their resources to thrive in this new economy. Even the big guys might pick up a few tips.
Specialize

“To be successful in commercial brokerage you still need to be known for something,” says Beery, who is a retail and office leasing specialist. “You need to be the best at some specific niche and be known for that for your region, not just your small town.”

But a niche doesn’t have to be a property sector — it can mean focusing on a certain clientele.

“I exclusively represent families that have real estate in their investment portfolio and want to maximize those opportunities over the long haul,” Campenni says. “They often live overseas and I have cultivated that niche market. Nowhere can my clients receive the level of service that I can provide.”

“I have a reputation in my market as the go-to guy for the sale of larger apartment properties, especially when the deal requires some extra strategy or thought,” says Tim B. Thompson, CCIM, of Deerfield Commercial Real Estate in Holyoke, Mass. “The fact that I operate in a smaller marketplace works to my advantage: I am familiar with virtually every apartment property in my market and I maintain regular contact with the owners.”

Thompson’s creativity is his “value-add.” For example, on a recent sale, he agreed to accept four residential condominiums as his fee. “The condos simply were not a fit with the rest of the portfolio, but the seller insisted that everything had to go as one package,” he says. “By agreeing to accept the condos as my fee, I was able to find a solution that accomplished my goals as well as the goals of my client.”

With the market collapse a few years ago, many CCIMs lost their areas of expertise. “The days of just doing land sales or leasing are gone,” says Russell Webb, CCIM, vice president of Stream Realty Partners in Flower Mound, Texas. “But I have found a new niche that has helped set me apart. Lenders will loan money to owner-occupants on office and industrial purchases if their credit is strong. I know bankers I can connect with potential buyers and show them the advantages of owning vs. leasing. This has helped me get through the rough times since mid-2008.”
Be the Change

As Webb’s experience illustrates, adaptation is a key to survival, so a willingness to change business models is essential in a challenging market. About three years ago, Kevin P. Clay, CCIM, owner of Reign Real Estate Services in San Carlos, Calif., started transitioning out of privately financing deals to focus on commercial real estate brokerage and leasing. Still, change remains his constant companion.

“I revise and update my business model every January,” Clay says. “This year I will be running with fewer small tenants as a tenant’s rep and spending more time on working with buyers as the return is larger. I have ceased originating any private financing deals due to the incredible triage that has been required as a result of the recent financial mess.”

Wood Hughes, CCIM, ALC, a broker in Stockbridge, Ga., also changed directions, switching from land sales and commercial development to operating a franchise of Equitax, a national property tax reduction business. “I’ve been able to go back to the property owners I’ve dealt with in order to lower their costs of holding their property through this critical time.

“The Equitax franchise is a countercyclical business that allows me to keep my land and commercial investment staff busy and hire a full-time certified appraiser who can also help me with my other business. Most importantly, it gets me in front of commercial buyers and sellers in this slow market as a trusted authority. As the market returns, I should have earned the right to get their business when they start buying and selling again.”
Make Time Work for You

Hughes’ strategy of offering a new service to past clients is one method of qualifying prospects in advance, a timesaver for solo practitioners who pride themselves on superior customer service but must be very careful not to spread themselves too thin.

“Picking clients with whom I can be the most effective and narrowing my focus by listening fully has really paid off for both my clients and me,” says Paula C. Smith, CCIM, a broker associate with Osprey Real Estate Services in Clearwater, Fla. “By defining my client’s wish list and comparing it to all their options, I try to eliminate time-wasting exercises.”

While grabbing at any opportunity might seem the way to go in a difficult market, many CCIMs are researching clients and properties and choosing to work with only those that hold the most potential.

“I am more specific on what listings I pursue and take,” says Casey Weiss, CCIM, principal of Access Commercial Real Estate in St. Paul, Minn. “There are a lot of properties in today’s smaller markets that simply will not be sold or leased. Knowing when to avoid these properties as listings can save you valuable time that can be spent on more likely transactions, research, and business promotion.”

Another timesaver is devoting your time to deal making and passing on other business duties. Smith hired a local public relations firm to provide marketing services. Beery hired an additional assistant to “put together cold call lists, redo property fliers, tighten marketing packages, add elements to our Web site, and increase our presence on other listing Web sites. Those items consume too much time,” he says.
Increase Your Technology Bang

Using technology to qualify prospects also saves time.

“When I get a call from a potential buyer/lessee who is interested in a property, I direct them to my Web site as we speak,” says Skip Weber, CCIM, of NAI/Latter & Blum in New Orleans. “If the zoning is wrong, parking is insufficient, ceilings too low, they can spot this from the video and pictures and save me an hour by not showing that property to them.”

In many ways, nothing gives solo and small firms more bang for the buck than technology — as long as they keep up with it.

While social media is not new, some practitioners may not be aware of its business networking capabilities. “I use social media to reach out to CCIM designees I studied with during core courses, investigating opportunities to share referrals,” says Nancy M. Fish, CCIM, owner of Park Place Real Estate in Kalamazoo, Mich. In addition, she tracks her Web site’s searches and fine-tunes her marketing to match “what is currently on the minds of investors, buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants.”

“I have begun doing video tours of all our vacancies and then editing them with text and music,” Beery says. “Prospects absolutely love it. Out-of-towners love it. Those I’ve already shown the space to can play the video to see certain parts of the floor plan they may have forgotten.”

“Cloud computing is a technology on which we rely heavily,” Thompson says. “It allows our sales team to collaborate on projects in real time. For example, if I am in the field and I receive an e-mail from a client with edits to a contract, my assistant has the ability to update the file from wherever he might be. I can then e-mail the edited document to my client from my phone, all within a matter of minutes.”
Adjust Your Marketing

Brokers in small markets often have a better opportunity to raise their profile because they are big fish in small ponds. While community service builds a good reputation, other approaches also are effective.

“I’ve seen a lot of positive results making myself available for local economic development councils and partnership committees,” Smith says. “These groups in smaller municipalities are light on staff and resources. Becoming a resource for them has helped me establish a foothold locally.”

Thompson markets regularly with institutional buyers at national meetings. “I attend a minimum of five national meetings a year,” he says. “I maintain regular contact with national multifamily investors and I’m always on the lookout for new buyers entering my marketplace.”

Daren W. Hebold, CCIM, associate broker with Daigle Commercial Group in Portland, Maine, has given up on mass mailings and focuses his marketing efforts on a significantly smaller pool of buyers and sellers. “Target marketing to specifically researched individuals has been most effective,” he says, adding that every six weeks he sends a polished e-newsletter of listings and price reductions to his carefully culled database. “This works well in concert with our traditional, direct phone communications or meetings with these prospects.”

This approach “helped make 2010 a very successful year for our firm,” Hebold says. “Our best deal last year was the sale of a high-quality inn at $3.55 million to a local multi-property hotel operator whom we sought out, citing that this property would make an excellent strategic acquisition.”

But don’t think for one minute that the days of mass mailing are over. Weber in New Orleans sends out his newsletter to 2,000 prospects every month. “Most people delete it. Some read it,” he says. “Every month, I get someone who simply hits ‘reply’ and tells me to contact them because they need my services. Never fails. New business.”

Sara Drummond is executive editor of Commercial Investment Real Estate.

SAR reports that real estate sales are at their highest level since 2005!

2011-05-02T10:11:00.005-04:00

According to the Sarasota Association of Realtors, March sales in Sarasota County are at highest level since 2005! Now that's something to get excited about!!!

Click the title of this post to link to the full article!

We've been busy lately...here are some of our recent transactions from 2011:

2011-05-02T08:50:00.002-04:00

Just a few deals we've done recently, visit our website at www.AMERICANPROPERTYGROUP.com for a comprehensive list of sales and leases from Team APG:

New Endeavors, Inc. has leased 4000SF at 3908 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota from Bersam Development. Barry Seidel of American Property Group of Sarasota, Inc handled the transaction.

Hillview Properties, LLC has leased 5000SF at 1934-1936 Hillview Street, Sarasota to Ocean Blues Entertainment, LLC. Barry Seidel of American Property Group of Sarasota, Inc. handled the transaction.

A Good Yarn, Inc. has leased 3000SF of retail space at 7418 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota from Jackson Kai Enterprises, Inc. Barry Seidel of American Property Group handled the transaction.

Evie's Catering, Inc. has purchased Marie's Italian Kitchen located at 5765-5767 Beneva Road, Sarasota for $300,000.00. Barry Seidel of American Property Group of Sarasota, Inc. handled the transaction.

Amistand Insurance LLC has leased 1104SF at 2886 B Ringling Blvd, Sarasota from S.O.S. Land Trust, Inc. Marcia Cuttler, P.A. of American Property Group of Sarasota handled the transaction.

Gluten Free by Beverly, Inc. has leased 1883SF at 5525 Palmer Crossing Circle, Unit 11, Sarasota from Palmer Crossing I, LLC. Marcia Cuttler, P.A. of American Property Group of Sarasota, Inc. represented the Lessee.

Almost Family PC of SW Florida, Inc has leased 784SF at 1217 East Ave Suite 203, Sarasota from Columbia Midtown Joint Venture LLP. Marcia Cuttler, P.A. of American Property Group of Sarasota represented the Lessee.

Someone's in the office by Jean Gruss (GCBR)

2011-03-29T11:29:00.001-04:00

Someone's in the office by Jean Gruss from GCBR

Industry. Commercial real estate
Trend. Positive office-space absorption
Key. The stage is set for a recovery in the office market.

The commercial real estate office market on the Gulf Coast has been in the doldrums for so long that it’s hard to believe that things will ever improve.

But the first signs of a recovery are showing in data compiled by market trackers and brokerage firms. Office markets along the Gulf Coast are seeing a net increase in the amount of leased space, and landlord concessions are less aggressive than they were a year ago.

Some brokers say the supply of sublease space — empty space that existing tenants are leasing to others — is shrinking. That’s important because tenants who sublease do so at substantially discounted rental rates that undercut competing properties.

What’s more, brokers report more inquiries from firms outside the region interested in moving here. In addition, existing companies that have made it through the recession have been adding staff to handle recent growth, generating leasing activity.

While the market for office space on the Gulf Coast appears to be stabilizing, rents haven’t risen and vacancies haven’t declined materially. Tenants with good credit continue to have the ability to negotiate relatively low rents.

But brokers who represent landlords and tenants both say the market may be starting a cyclical shift in favor of landlords. It’s an echo of the last cycle of the early 1990s, when commercial real estate began recovering from the last bust.

“[The year] 2008 came very fast and very deep, and it scared a lot of people,” says Ray Sandelli, senior managing director of commercial real estate brokerage CB Richard Ellis in Tampa. “In ’09, people realized the world wasn’t coming to an end.” Stabilization of rents and vacancies in 2010 set the stage for the recovery, which eventually will lead to rising rents.

Leasing activity picks up

Few places were hit as hard as the Fort Myers area by the real estate collapse, as vacancies surged and rents fell in office buildings around town.

But therein lie the seeds of a recovery.

For example, call-center operator Alorica recently signed a lease for 38,300 square feet at Eastlinks Business Park in Fort Myers. Matt Price, leasing specialist with landlord McGarvey Development Co. who arranged the deal, says an abundance of labor, lower housing costs and available office space at reasonable rents are attracting companies like Alorica. “We’re seeing more deals like that coming in,” Price says.

In Tampa, law firms, financial-service companies and the government have been leasing additional space downtown. For example, recently law firm Adams and Reece leased 20,000 square feet and J.P. Morgan leased 12,000 square feet, says Claire Calzon, managing director of office services for Colliers International in Tampa.

Calzon says she’s twice as busy today with inquiries as she was a year ago. The Wachovia Center building she’s leasing is 77% full today, compared with 69% in August 2009. “That’s an indication landlords are ready, willing and able to capture deals,” she says.

In the region’s biggest office market, the Westshore business district of Tampa near Tampa International Airport, there was more space leased at the end of 2010 than at the same time in 2009, according to data from brokerage Cushman & Wakefield. This so-called “positive absorption” amounted to more than two football fields of office space. By contrast, the previous year saw negative absorption of office space amounting to more than 14 football fields.

In the Fort Myers-Naples area, a similar amount of space — measuring more than two football fields — was absorbed last year. “I’m more optimistic than six months ago,” says Gary Tasman, executive director of Fort Myers-based brokerage firm Commercial Property Southwest Florida.

Because of the lack of newly constructed space recently, a few large companies boosting employment in Fort Myers could gobble up existing space. “What’s going to happen here is we’re going to have a spike up in rents in the next 24 to 36 months. The pressure is building,” Tasman says.

Unlike the last commercial real estate bust of the early 1990s, a drop in demand rather than oversupply caused the current imbalance. “The good news is that there’s no new construction, so we’re not competing with that,” says Calzon.

Sarasota is also benefiting. “There is no question that there is a definite increase in activity,” says Ian Black, president of Ian Black Real Estate.

Throughout the region, landlords have been forced to lower rents to be competitive. “We got over our hubris, which is a great thing,” says Black. “We seem to be competitive, whereas before you always had to pay a premium.”

Still a tenant’s market

Despite improvements in the office market, most agree that tenants still have an advantage in negotiations because vacancy rates are still relatively high.

“It’s still a tenant market, but I will say the concession pool is varied depending on the ownership of a particular property,” says Cheri O’Neil, senior vice president and branch manager of Studley, a commercial tenant-representation firm in Tampa.

Companies that cut back during the downturn are starting to add staff to manage their growing business. What’s more, their balance sheets have recovered. “There are a lot of companies that are in a very strong cash position and they have the ability to make some commitments,” says Sandelli.

Barring unforeseen calamities, it’s not likely rents will fall much further if the economic recovery continues. “The good news is that we’re feeling a much greater sense of confidence from the business owners,” says O’Neil.

But office vacancies remain elevated, and it’s not likely rents will rise until significant space is absorbed. “I think the next 12 months is going to be gradual. We’re on the cusp of recovery,” O’Neil says.

“Once we start getting down vacancy rate, the rates will start to move,” says Sandelli. He adds a cautionary note: “The big question is that this is all based in large part on the economy. Where are the jobs going to come from?”

Buy or lease? Which one suites you best?

2011-03-14T12:18:00.001-04:00

Jerry Chautin: Is buying a building better than leasing one?

Published: Monday, March 7, 2011 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, March 4, 2011 at 11:15 p.m.

( page all of 3 )

NATIONWIDE, SMALL commercial buildings, business condominiums and retail stores are selling at deep discounts below their initial price — and Southwest Florida is no exception.

As a result, entrepreneurs starting businesses are asking themselves if it makes more sense to buy a building rather than lease one.

"Many owners tend to underestimate the true costs of maintenance," says Craig Aberle, a volunteer SCORE Manasota business mentor with a commercial real estate background. He cites "roof repairs, HVAC, insurance, property taxes, school taxes, pest control, garbage disposal, water, upkeep, landscaping, parking lot maintenance and more" as examples of maintenance costs.

Additionally, bankers require a 20 percent to 30 percent downpayment to buy commercial buildings, exacting a heavy toll on your cash reserves.

Running out of cash is the No. 1 reason businesses fail. It is why lenders want to finance borrowers who have deep pockets. So, not surprisingly, bankers are concerned when business owners deplete their cash reserves by purchasing a building.

"The business should earn a greater return by investing in operating assets and growth than fixed assets," says Joe Palmer, another SCORE mentor and a mergers and acquisitions expert. In other words, owning a building distracts business owners from concentrating on their core mission — making their company the best it can be.

The business of owning real estate includes continuously researching the market, knowing when to sell and when to hold. What is more, timing the sale of a building should solely depend upon real estate market conditions. Instead, most owners sell based upon the needs of their business. Consequently they often accept less than market value for the real estate.

Selling a business can be more difficult when the seller also owns the real estate. Some buyers are interested in the business only and will discount the price for the real estate. Others may be primarily real estate investors and not be willing to pay what the business is worth.

Of course lease rates also are being discounted.

Notably, landlords are quoting contract lease rates. But, digging deeper, they also are throwing in freebees, such as complementary tenant improvements. So factor that in to get your true cost.

Recently, however, the Financial Accounting Standards Board conjured up draconian leasing rules, effective in 2013. FASB recommends changes to America's accounting rules, and this change requires tenants to book their total lease cost over its full term.

According to a survey by the accounting and consulting firm Deloitte, "68 percent of respondents said it would have a material impact on their debt-to-equity ratio" and, as a result, "more than 40 percent of respondents believe the new standards would make it more difficult to obtain financing."

You can read more about FASB's requirements and Deloitte's survey at tinyurl.com/ 63s2l8x.

If you do decide to buy a building, find a buyers' agent who specializes in your type of real estate, and have an exit plan.

What if you have to sell quickly because of disability? Can your heirs dispose of the building if you die unexpectedly? A good business accountant, lawyer and independent insurance agent can help you create an exit plan to mitigate these unanticipated events.

Jerry Chautin is a local volunteer business counselor with Manasota SCORE, Counselors to America's Small Business. Send business questions and stories to him at jkchautin@aol.com and follow him on Twitter.com/JerryChautin.

Unsure of market conditions in your area? Here are 5 signs that say BUY!

2011-03-09T11:57:00.003-05:00

Five Signs That Say 'Buy'

Jobs. Some parts of the country were less affected by the recession than others. Prospective buyers should review job-growth data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, at www.bls.gov. Unlike many backward-looking economic statistics, jobs data are only about a month old and can "clearly show the direction of the local economy," says Carolyn Beggs, chief operating officer of real-estate data provider Local Market Monitor Inc. The National Association of Home Builders also posts state and local employment data, at NAHB.com.

You also want to see a brightening personal-income picture for the previous six-month period. Those numbers are available via the U.S. Dept. of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis, at www.bea.gov.

Recent sales

activity. Three factors should be taken together: housing inventory, sales volume and prices.

A large inventory of homes with few actual transactions are negative indicators, according to Jeffrey Jackson, chairman of Mitchell, Maxwell & Jackson Inc., an appraisal company in New York. On the other hand, if inventory is falling and transactions are picking up, that is a good sign.

State and local boards of realtors often publish monthly inventory statistics. Inventory breakdown by metro area also can be found at the U.S. Census Bureau's website, in the American Community Survey (www.census.gov/acs/www/). Be sure to compare current inventories with long-term averages.

Also, check out the rental vacancy rates in your area, and judge them against historical rates, which you can find at the Census Bureau's website (www.census.gov) or via local real-estate professionals.

Construction.While not as reliable as jobs or sales-trend data for getting a read on a local housing market, the number of permits recently issued for local builders is useful for gauging builder sentiment and, by extension, future housing activity.

You can get recent permit information from your county or municipal building department, or via the National Association of Home Builders (www.nahb.com).

Mortgage

availability. If you live in an area where most people use mortgages, it is especially important now to gauge local lending patterns. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, most national banks tightened lending standards. But some local banks haven't been hit as hard by the housing crash and are more willing to lend, even for higher-priced homes.

For instance, some smaller lenders in the New York and New Jersey area, such as Lake Success, N.Y.-based Astoria Federal Savings, are actively courting new "jumbo"-mortgage customers. Astoria Federal says it believes jumbo-loan borrowers pose less risk than other borrowers because they can demonstrate ample income and often opt for hefty down-payments.

Anecdotal evidence. It might sound old-fashioned in an era of electronic data, but driving around neighborhoods, checking out open houses and talking to local agents still are good ways to gather local-market intelligence.

The key is to do this kind of research only after you have gathered hard data, so that you don't misread the signs. For example, foreclosed homes can generate multiple bids and quick sales, often in all-cash deals—but that doesn't mean the market is healthy.
—M.P. McQueen

The national housing market still seems shaky, but what

about your area? The following yardsticks can help you gauge whether your neighborhood is poised for a comeback.

Former Wine Warehouse location NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE!

2011-03-07T14:24:00.003-05:00

1919 Southwood Street, Sarasota

This is a free standing building, 2664SF, right near US 41/Constitution Blvd/Philippe Mansion

Asking $499,900

Contact Barry Seidel at (941)923-0535 for more information!

10 tips to make your commercial building operate more efficiently

2011-03-02T11:02:00.004-05:00

Ten Easy Steps to More Energy-Efficient Buildings: Start by changing the culture

By STEPHANIE SIMON

The U.S. is awash in commercial building space—enough to account for 18% of the country's energy consumption, including 36% of electricity usage. And much of that energy is wasted.
Journal Report

Read the full Innovations in Energy report .

Efficiency experts say it's possible to slash energy use in many buildings with relatively simple—and often inexpensive— measures. Here are their top recommendations:
1. Change the Culture

Take inventory of your office space. How many employees have space heaters at their desks? Minifridges? Christmas lights still blinking away? It's time to get ruthless. First, create an inviting area for shared microwaves, coffee makers and combination printer-fax-copiers. Then ban cubicle energy hogs and challenge employees to change their culture. Everyone should make a point of turning off lights, shutting down unused appliances and wearing a sweater in lieu of using a heater. Try efficiency contests among departments (with prizes!) to spark interest.
2. Shut 'Em Down

View Full Image
IVRETRO
IVRETRO
IVRETRO

Consider installing a system on your computer network that will put individual desktops into sleep mode when they're not being used. Or timers that shut down workers' computers 15 minutes after the scheduled end of their shift. (Those working late can override the shutdown with a click of the mouse.) Same thing with appliances and lights: Set them to shut off after everyone has gone home. This can cut utility costs 4% or more.
3. See the Light

Simply swapping out incandescent bulbs for more-efficient compact fluorescents or LEDs can help a great deal. For more impact, look at corridor lighting. In a recent renovation for a Denver law firm, Don Fitzmartin, a project manager focused on energy-efficient retrofits, increased the distance between hallway fixtures to 16 feet from 12 feet and had the walls repainted a lighter color so the space still looked bright. That cut energy use in the 110,000-square-foot renovated space by 5% at a fairly low cost, he says.
4. Go Retro

Commission an audit of the heating, air-conditioning and other building systems to compare their performance with design specifications. That may identify simple fixes—cleaning filters, replacing a leaky valve—that can significantly improve efficiency. It may be possible to shave energy use 4% to 6% through such techniques, known as retrocommissioning.

As part of an effort to convince more New Yorkers to install solar panels on rooftops, the City University of New York has created a color coded digital map of the city that identifies which buildings and roofs get the most sunlight.
5. Let the Sun Shine

Willing to spend a bit more? Consider daylighting. Several companies sell rooftop devices that capture sunlight and distribute it more effectively than a skylight. Daylighting can eliminate the need for overhead lighting, at least on sunny days, cutting energy use by 10% to 15%.
6. Spruce Up the Space Plan

If you're planning a cosmetic renovation, take the opportunity to make some energy-saving changes, too. Try lowering cubicle walls to facilitate the flow of air and sunlight. Eliminate some overhead fixtures, especially those near sunny windows, or at least install daylight sensors that automatically dim the lights when they're not needed. If employees need stronger task lighting, give them LED desk lamps.
7. Loosen Up

It takes loads of energy to maintain a constant temperature. Replace existing thermostats with models that allow "dead bands." Setting a dead band of 69 to 75 degrees means the heating, ventilating and AC system won't kick in unless the building temperature drops below 69 or rises above 75. This step can pare costs 3% or more.
8. Control Your Fans

In many heating and air-conditioning units, the fans have just two settings: off or full speed. Installing variable-speed fans can yield big gains in efficiency. Another tip: If there are multiple units for one floor, make sure they can operate independently, so only the space being used on any given day is heated or cooled. When Mr. Fitzmartin took these steps in the law firm he renovated in Denver, he cut electricity usage by 9%.
9. Upgrade the Envelope

Upgrades to the building envelope are the most expensive. Windows are an obvious place to start. And roofs painted in light, reflective colors don't absorb solar heat, thus keeping buildings cooler during the summer.
10. Head Back to the Future

Many older buildings were designed to be comfortable without central air conditioning, but over time, windows, skylights and door transoms were sealed up and the buildings ceased to breathe. Consider reactivating the power of passive heating and cooling by making those openings operational again.
—Stephanie Simon

These recommendations were compiled with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Energy; Fitzmartin Consulting Co. of Denver; the engineering firm Stantec Inc., of Edmonton, Alberta; the architectural firm RNL in Denver; the city of Reno, Nev.; Denver architect Paul Hutton; and Haselden Construction LLC of Centennial, Colo.

Thinking long term investment? Check out a REIT...

2011-03-02T09:19:00.001-05:00

Real estate investment trusts are good bets for long-term

By Robert Stepleman

FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS I'VE...

annually suggested that investors consider adding Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REITs, to their portfolios. Investors that investigated REITs and then followed my lead have done quite well.

In 2010 I said, "While 2010 won't be a repeat of 2009 for REITs, there's no reason to suspect that they won't be competitive with the S&P500." In actuality, REITs outperformed the S&P 500 by more than 13 percentage points.

The total return from REITs from 2001 through 2010 has been about a compound annual 10 percent. This is far better than the broad market. From 2000 to 2010, REITs had only two years of negative returns. For the last two years, the compound annual return for REITs has been an amazing 29 percent, far outpacing the S&P 500.

Before discussing the 2011 outlook for REITs, let's review what's unique about them.

They are regulated companies akin to mutual funds, but for real estate instead of stocks or bonds. A REIT manages real estate investments and must distribute to its shareholders at least 90 percent of its net earnings annually as dividends. In return for this regulation, unlike other companies, REIT earnings are only taxed once -- when they are paid to the investor as dividends. Additionally, for technical reasons, only part of the dividend is taxed, but the part that is taxed is at the investor's normal tax rate and not the special qualified dividend tax-rate.

Some REITs specialize in owning and leasing a particular kind of property. For example, shopping malls or apartments and are known as equity REITs. Others provide loans to developers and are called mortgage REITs.

REITs provide investors with access to all the benefits of cash flow from real estate leases with the bonus of the liquidity of a stock. Additionally, since in "normal" times REITs' earnings tend to grow with inflation; REITs offer a potential inflation hedge.

What unique risks face investors who own REITs?

Because REITs are required by law to distribute almost all their earnings to stockholders, to finance their capital requirements they must either borrow money or sell new stock. While REITs do both, many favor the former to avoid over-diluting their shareholders' investments.

Thus, many REITs tend to be highly leveraged, with significant interest costs. These can cause problems. During a recession, some REITs will see their income plummet, making it challenging for them to stay current on their debt.

At the same time, if they have maturing debt, they can have difficulty rolling it over into new loans, which will affect both their capacity to pay dividends and their stock price or, even worse, their ability to stay in business.

REITs' tenants tend to make long-term lease commitments. This can be either good news or bad. If the lease renews when times are good, REITs can lock in many years of high rent. If the lease renews when times are bad, as they have been recently, they could be forced to lock in years of low rent.

REITs' prospects for 2011

REITs' problems are mostly over.

For example, credit availability for commercial mortgages is steadily improving. But on the negative side, some REITs are trading at a premium over the net asset value of their properties. This could limit their appreciation potential. Additionally, REIT dividend yields, at an average of about 4 percent, are lower than their historical average.

While 2011 can't be a repeat of 2009 or 2010, there's no reason to suspect that REIT total returns won't be in the high single digits.

In my view, REITs have a permanent place in investors' portfolios. Studies by Ibbotson Associates show that diversified portfolios containing 10 to 20 percent REITs do better in the long term than those that have none, and at the same time they have less risk.

Adding REITs to a portfolio is most easily done with a mutual fund, for example the Vanguard REIT Index Fund, ticker symbol "VGSIX," or an exchange-traded fund like "VNQ."

GCBR: Commercial Real Estate seeing positive trends developing in Multifamily and Leasing

2011-02-03T09:33:00.001-05:00

1000SF Restaurant NOW AVAILABLE FOR LEASE!

2011-01-26T14:05:00.002-05:00

1000SF in GULF GATE SARASOTA FL

Asking $40,000 for FF&E

Open to offers. Equipment does not have to be included in lease. Owner is willing to take whatever equipment new tenant wouldn't need!

Call Brian today (941)923-0535!!!

This one won't last long!

Florida is one of the most PRO BUSINESS states in the union with 5 major cities making the TOP 20! No other state had more than 1 city in the TOP 20!

2011-01-24T15:40:00.001-05:00

5 Fla. city areas tops for doing business

ORLANDO, Fla. – Jan. 24, 2011 – BizCosts.com did an analysis on pro-business cities and counties –based on the cost of doing business – and created the nation’s top 20. In the analysis, Orlando came out on top, and five Florida city areas made the list. No other state had more than one area in the top 20.

Florida city areas by rank and yearly cost to operate
1. Orlando
3. Jacksonville
7. Tampa Bay
16. Palm Beach County
20. Broward County

“Florida is one of the most pro-business states in the nation, and it has been for some time,” said John Boyd Jr. with BizCosts.com.

To create the top 20, BizCosts looked at typical business costs, such as the operation of a corporate headquarters building, labor, taxes and travel. To make the comparison between cities fair, it assumed a 75,000-square foot headquarters and staff of 300. Based on that model company, the yearly cost in Orlando is about $19.9 million per year; Jacksonville is about $20.1 million; and Broward County is about $21.6 million.

In New York City, the most expensive city for business operating expenses, the cost per year is about $28.5 million.

Source: The Orlando Sentinel, Jan. 19, 2011, Jim Stratton

© 2011 Florida Realtors®

Gulf Coast adds 8,264 jobs || Gulf Coast Business Review | Tampa Bay, Bradenton, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Naples

2011-01-21T12:49:00.000-05:00

Gulf Coast adds 8,264 jobs || Gulf Coast Business Review | Tampa Bay, Bradenton, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Naples

One foot after the other, together we shall recover!

We are making progress! Let's focus on that fact that 8200+ jobs were created on the SUNCOAST! Keep up the good work!

8835SF OF PID ZONED SPACE ON CLARK (RIGHT NEAR ALL THE CAR DEALERS!)

2011-01-19T14:45:00.003-05:00

Available NOW!

8835SF of PID Zoned COMMERCIAL (underscore that word) space on Clark Road!

Right next to the following automotive dealerships:

-Mercedes Benz
-Jaguar
-Lexus
-Toyota
-BMW
-Acura
-Land Rover
-Lamborghini

This space would be IDEAL for an AUTO PARTS STORE!!!

Think about it...close proximity to all the major car dealers and easy access to I-75!

Call Barry Seidel TODAY at (941)923-0535 for a personal tour!

Barry Seidel of AMERICAN PROPERTY GROUP handles sale of commercial building to leading innovator BIOLIFE

2011-01-18T16:23:00.003-05:00

Click the link above to see BIOLIFE technology in action! Thanks Barry for helping them find the right building at the right price! (941)923-0535

Flag at half mast today to support our fellow countrymen and women killed or injured this past weekend in Arizona. Our prayers are with you.

2011-01-10T09:46:00.002-05:00

RIP

6 from AZ
20 wounded

1 from Tallahassee
1 wounded

What does thinking ahead really mean in terms of your investments?

2011-01-07T09:38:00.002-05:00

"what does the future hold for us?"

Article written in the Sarasota Herald Tribune discuss long term investing and its many benefits. Click the title (above) for the full article.

APG supports LAB RESCUE OF FLORIDA (CLICK HERE TO VISIT THEIR WEBSITE)

2011-01-07T09:27:00.002-05:00

If you were thinking about purchasing a dog please do yourself a favor and CALL THEM TODAY! ADOPT A LAB AND CHANGE ITS LIFE AND YOURS FOREVER!

WAREHOUSE SPACE AVAILABLE and priced so it's AFFORDABLE!

2011-01-07T09:15:00.003-05:00

Has your business grown beyond your garage? Need to expand but don't want to spend a mint to do so? Never fear! TEAM APG is here!

How about 1500SF of warehouse for $750/mo plus tax?

-OR-

3000SF for $1500/mo?

Need 3 phase? WE'VE GOT IT!
Need office/warehouse combos? WE'VE GOT IT!
12' overhead doors? 10' overhead doors?
Lofts?
More storage space?
A/C in your warehouse? (because it may be cold now but it won't be for long!)

CALL TEAM APG at (941)923-0535 and ask for BRIAN or ADAM!

You want it, we've got it, call us TODAY! (941)923-0535

INVESTMENT PROPERTY W/ AAA TENANT & 7 YEARS LEFT ON NNN LEASE

2011-01-07T09:03:00.003-05:00

Available NOW!

7,020SF with a NATIONAL "AAA" TENANT!!! 7 years left on lease!

CALL BARRY SEIDEL TODAY (941)923-0535 or via email at bseidel347@aol.com

2011: The return of retail to South Tamiami Trail

2011-01-03T08:38:00.001-05:00

Great article from Jan 3, 2011 detailing the re-rise of the retail store in the greater Sarasota area. Click title above for full article.

Commercial RE Sales in 2010 up from 2009! We're moving in the right direction!

2010-12-13T11:08:00.002-05:00

Roaring Back || Gulf Coast Business Review | Tampa Bay, Bradenton, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Naples

2010-12-07T11:10:00.000-05:00

Roaring Back || Gulf Coast Business Review | Tampa Bay, Bradenton, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Naples

Available NOW!

CHEAP WAREHOUSE SPACE IN SARASOTA FLORIDA!

2010-12-06T14:38:00.002-05:00

WAREHOUSE SPACE for under $1000 a month? YES WE HAVE THAT!!!!

6113A 1000SF for $500/mo!!!!
Office space ONLY. Has community bathrooms and an additional 1000SF of warehouse space in the rear (should you need to expand quickly!)

5706 Jason Lee Place 1500SF for $750/mo!!!! (As seen above)
10' overhead door (12' wide)
Small office in front with bathroom
220 available

Sometimes you need to change your perspective in order to see the positive trends which have been occuring on the Suncoast!

2010-12-06T14:35:00.002-05:00

An article about perspective for the real estate market in 2010.

SBA Loans Increasing in Sarasota/Manatee County

2010-11-23T08:43:00.001-05:00

Loans through SBA program increase

By John Hielscher

Published: Monday, November 22, 2010 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, November 20, 2010 at 4:47 p.m.

( page of 3 )

THE REGION'S SMALL BUSINESSES stepped up their borrowing last year through the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Lenders in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties made 137 loans worth $32.4 million under the SBA's popular 7a program in the fiscal year completed Sept. 30, according to data from the SBA's South Florida District.

That was up from 97 loans valued at $27.9 million in the prior year.

In the SBA's 24-county South District, lenders issued 1,281 7a loans worth $337.7 million in the recent year, up from 917 loans for $242.4 million in fiscal 2009.

That's a 39 percent increase in dollar volume.

The 2009 American Recovery & Reinvestment Act has helped spur loan activity by increasing the guarantee on all loans to 90 percent and eliminating fees to small business borrowers.

SBA lending here and nationwide had retreated during the recession. The new numbers may reflect that commercial lenders are easing credit, borrowers are becoming more creditworthy and small businesses are a bit more optimistic about the future.

In Sarasota County, lenders made 75 loans for $13.9 million. That was more than the 52 loans made in the previous year, though the value was down slightly, from $14.4 million.

The top 7a lenders in Sarasota were Florida Shores Bank-Southwest, five loans at $1.3 million; Wells Fargo Bank, seven loans for $1 million; Fifth Third Bank, six loans for $270,000; The Bank of Commerce, six loans for $208,500; and Superior Financial Group LLC, a nonbank lender based in Walnut Creek, Calif., nine loans for $90,000.

In Manatee County, lenders issued 41 loans valued at $10.6 million, up from 30 loans worth $8.9 million the year before.

The leaders were Community Bank of Manatee, seven loans for $1.4 million; SunTrust Bank, five loans for $315,000; Borrego Springs Bank, a Native American-owned bank in La Mesa, Calif., three loans for $75,000; Sabal Palm Bank, two loans for $65,000; and Superior Financial, six loans for $65,000.

In Charlotte County, lenders approved 21 loans for $7.9 million, up from 15 loans worth $4.5 million one year earlier.

SunTrust lent the most, with seven loans for $2.5 million, followed by Regions Bank, two loans for $1.9 million; Wells Fargo, three loans for $218,400; Calusa National Bank, one loan for $60,000; and Superior Financial, two loans for $22,500.

Districtwide, Wells Fargo was the top lender, with 148 loans worth $48.4 million. SunTrust was second, with 135 loans at $23.3 million, followed by JPMorgan Chase, with 120 loans for $9.5 million;, BankAtlantic, with 69 loans for $9.4 million; and Superior Financial, with 145 loans for $1.5 million.

UBS sanctions

Florida regulators ordered UBS Securities LLC and UBS Financial Services to pay $6.58 million for violations over the sale of auction rate securities.

The Florida Office of Financial Regulation found UBS "engaged in dishonest and unethical practices" in the way it marketed and sold ARS to clients.

The case dates back to 2008, when the ARS market collapsed. More than 40,000 UBS customers were left holding those illiquid securities, which UBS had pitched as cash alternatives.

UBS settled charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2008, agreeing to restore $22 billion in liquidity to customers who invested in auction rate securities.

"Many UBS customers were not apprised of the risks of purchasing ARS from UBS, including the risk of failed auctions or a market freeze," the Office of Financial Regulation stated in its settlement with the firm.

UBS consented to the state order, agreeing to "cease and desist" from more violations of state securities laws.

The SEC has settled with a number of major broker-dealers over their sales of ARS, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and RBC Group. All were ordered to repurchase outstanding ARS from their investors.

SOLD!

2010-11-22T08:33:00.004-05:00

SOLD!!!

Barry Seidel of American Property Group handled the sale! CONGRATS BARRY!

IT'S ABOUT TIME TO SEE SOME GROWTH IN SARASOTA COUNTY AND PEOPLE FEEL 2011 MAY BE THE YEAR

2010-11-16T15:08:00.002-05:00

Excerpt from Gulf Coast Business Review article "It's about time!" October 21, 2010:

SARASOTA-MANATEE

CAN ONLY GET BETTER

Growth is back in vogue in Manatee and Sarasota counties.

The welcomed trend spreads through a variety of industries and a wide range of companies. The growth ranges from hiring more people to projecting double-digit sales increases and seeking larger spaces.

Mark Krywko is one of the growth chasers. The CEO of Palmetto-based Sleek Audio, Krywko says 2011 could be the three-year-old company’s best year ever. “Things are looking really good for us,” says Krywko, whose 15-employee company makes high-end headphones and earpieces.

Krywko declines to discuss specific sales figures, but he projects Sleek Audio will hire at least 15 more people next year and grow revenues 80%.

The growth will come from selling new products in new markets and even going overseas for opportunities. The company also plans to launch domestic and international advertising and marketing campaigns.

Krywko says a key to the company’s strategy is to reinvent itself and its products through lower-cost options. Says Krywko: “We will rely on our ability to offer something better and different.”

Reinvention is what Ed Marin, CEO of Sarasota-based art and commercial wall décor firm Soicher-Marin, hopes will be the foundation for a growth-filled 2011. “After doing the same thing for two years and seeing the same results, we looked up and said this is not working,” says Marin, who moved his company from California to Florida last year. “We’ve done a strategic shift of the business model.”

Marin projects sales will grow at least 35% in 2011 for Soicher-Marin, which built a $5 million-plus business from a client list mostly made up of department stores, commercial office buildings and homebuilders.

One key to the shift, says Marin, occurred recently when the company doubled its sales force, from 21 to 43 independent contractors who work for the firm nationwide. The firm now has more people who cover smaller areas. Moreover, Marin has instructed the sales force to be more aggressive when they meet prospective clients.

Marin also hopes Election Day will bring more positive change to the economy, when tax-and-take politicians are thrown out of office. “I think that will send a clear shot across the bow to both parties,” says Marin. “Business as usual will not be tolerated.”

Meanwhile, several other companies in both Manatee and Sarasota counties project a strong 2011, especially in terms of hiring more people. In some of those instances, the economic development offices of both counties have dangled incentives for the expanding companies.

The list of companies expected to hire more people next year through incentive-laden job creation and retention programs includes Manatee County-based Mustang Vacuum Systems, which builds equipment and machines for solar cell manufacturers; Bradenton-based Natural Prosthetic Dental Lab, which makes dental prosthetics and is working on some new digitally produced dental restoration products; and Sarasota Medical Products, a manufacturer of medical devices for advanced wound care and infection control.

Another company looking at a growth-filled 2011 is Sarasota-based Cruise Car. The firm turns golf carts into solar-electric low-speed vehicles that meet new federal government mandates on using recycled materials and reducing energy requirements.

Cruise Car, founded in 2004 by retired pharmaceutical executive Ken Chester, recently sold 30 of its retrofitted vehicles under its All-American line to the U.S Navy. It was a low six-figure deal Cruise Car General Manager Adam Sulimirski projects will be repeated often in 2011. The company, which doesn’t disclose revenues, grew 300% in 2010, Sulimirski says.

“We could blow that out of the water next year,” says Sulimirski. “I don’t see any limits.”

The growth possibilities at Venice-based drinkware firm Tervis Tumbler likewise seem limitless. Indeed, the $48 million company has garnered widespread local attention the past year or so for its expansion, which includes revenue and employee increases in each of the last three years. It’s also expanding its manufacturing plant.

The growth pattern will likely continue in 2011, says President and CEO Laura Spencer. “We are continuing to come up with new products our customers are looking for,” says Spencer.

The company has long been known for its innovative and insulated cups — the ones that keep cold drinks colder and hot drinks hotter. But over the past 18 months, it has also grown through licensing agreements with some powerful partners, including Major League Baseball, the National Football League and the Disney Co.

Cool cups, cars and earpieces, of course, only make up a few isolated examples of projected growth in the region. To be sure, many Sarasota-Bradenton entrepreneurs and executives will likely scratch and crawl their way through 2011, especially some who are connected to real estate and hospitality.

Still, it is reassuring to some degree that even someone like Maurice Opstal, who founded a construction firm in 2007, is using good-times words like “backlog” and “prosper.” Opstal projects his $5 million firm, Lakewood Ranch-based Stellar Development, will grow at least 10% next year.

“My theory three years ago was that this would all end by 2011,” says Opstal. “I hope I’m right.”

How making your building "GO GREEN" can actually save you some BIG GREEN in the end

2010-11-15T14:31:00.004-05:00

Just an article on LEED certification, making buildings run more efficiently, and how to keep tenants and owners satisfied in the ever changing commercial real estate market.

END CAP 3000SF Warehouse (2000SF warehouse/1000SF office)

2010-11-11T08:38:00.002-05:00

(941)923-0535 or brianseidel85@comcast.net
(941)923-0535 or brianseidel85@comcast.net
(941)923-0535 or brianseidel85@comcast.net
(941)923-0535 or brianseidel85@comcast.net
(941)923-0535 or brianseidel85@comcast.net

LOOKING FOR COMMERCIAL SPACE IN THE GREATER SARASOTA AREA? LOOK NO FURTHER!
Contact Brian Seidel, P.A. at (941)923-0535 or brianseidel85@comcast.net
Featured Craigslist Listing:

Address: 6111A Clark Center Ave
Approximate Sq Ft: 3000
Rental rate: $2000/mo plus tax
Interior/Exterior features: 2 offices (1000SF) and a warehouse in the rear (2000SF)
Bathrooms: YES (Community)
Signage (Y/N): Y
Extra: MOVE IN READY 200AMP Service available

(941)923-0535 or brianseidel85@comcast.net
(941)923-0535 or brianseidel85@comcast.net
(941)923-0535 or brianseidel85@comcast.net
(941)923-0535 or brianseidel85@comcast.net
(941)923-0535 or brianseidel85@comcast.net

This one not EXACTLY what you’re in the market for? CALL TODAY. WE HAVE OTHERS! (941)923-0535.

Why RENT when you can OWN for less!

2010-11-08T09:20:00.000-05:00

Looking to buy a foreclosed home in the greater Sarasota area? LOOK NO FURTHER!!! Call the Foreclosure Team at APG today! Fannie/Freddie/US Gov't/BOA etc owned homes! Most UNDER 100K. Don't rent when you can OWN for less! (941)923-0535.

2010-11-08T08:01:00.003-05:00

650SF OFFICE NOW AVAILABLE!

3 Offices!
TILE FLOORS!
Reception area!
Bathroom WITH SHOWER AND WASHER/DRYER HOOKUPS!!!

Asking $750/mo plus tax

CLEAN AND MOVE IN READY!!!

Siesta Drive Shops AVAILABLE FOR LEASE!

2010-11-05T09:22:00.006-04:00

Available NOW!

3 GREAT SPACES ON SIESTA DRIVE!

2069 Siesta Drive 1100SF
2135 Siesta Drive 1400SF
2061 Siesta Drive 5700SF (end cap)

ALL UNITS MOVE IN READY!!!

CALL FOR PRICING!!!

(941)923-0535

Home Buyer Calculator (via CNNMoney)

2010-11-01T08:50:00.002-04:00

CNNMoney presents: The potential home buyer calculator. Simple and easy way to ballpark just how much money you can SAFELY invest in the purchase of a home: http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/houseafford/houseafford.html

2010-10-26T14:17:00.001-04:00

RECENT TRANSACTIONS BY APG BROKERS AND AGENTS:

Barry Seidel.
Sales:
Transaction broker for:
8163 25th Court East. BioLife LLC (Buyer). F&H Assets Inc (Seller). Sold for $1,530,000.

Leases:
1359 Main St. 1750SF.
8075 Beneva. 1200SF.

Brian Seidel, P.A.
Sales:
1882 South Tamiami Trail (Venice). Kinetico Water Solutions (Buyer). Stearns Bank (Seller). Sold for $375,000

Leases:
5955c Clark Center Ave. 3834SF.
6115A Clark Center Ave. 2000SF.
6119A Clark Center Ave. 2000SF.
264 US Hwy 41 Bypass (Venice). 1000SF.
2817 Bee Ridge Rd. 2500SF.

That's only the past MONTH or so!!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK TEAM APG!

2010-10-26T10:33:00.002-04:00

Available NOW!

CLARK CENTER! Multiple units NOW AVAILABLE. 2000 to 7000 contiguous SF available today! Common bathrooms! Tractor trailer access in rear, LOCKED storage in rear, 220V power. Some units have AIR CONDITIONING in the WAREHOUSE! Weather isn't so HOT right now but come SUMMER TIME you will want that A/C!

Limited time offer: 2000SF for $1000/mo plus tax

CALL TODAY, MOVE IN TOMORROW!

Sarasota named 1 of TOP 10 places to buy a home for UNDER $800/mo!

2010-10-04T15:41:00.003-04:00

CLICK LINK ABOVE FOR FULL ARTICLE DETAILING US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT'S FINDINGS!

How to make the Government work for you, SBA 504.

2010-10-04T15:21:00.004-04:00

Here's an article written in the Sarasota Herald Tribune 10/4/10:

Commercial properties financed at lower rates

By JERRY CHAUTIN

Published: Monday, October 4, 2010 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, October 2, 2010 at 5:30 p.m.

'MANY BANKS ARE restricting their lending on real estate because they already have so many nonperforming real estate loans on their books," Anthony Downs, senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, wrote in "National Real Estate Investor." "These banks are focusing on longtime and large customers whose business they want to retain."

An exception is the U.S. Small Business Administration's 504 program. It permits you to borrow up to 90 percent of your cost to build, purchase or renovate a commercial building. More recently, SBA added refinancing for qualified properties.

"With commercial real estate interest rates below 5 percent that are fixed for a 20-year term, many businesses have taken advantage of this opportune time," according Ron Reuss, a Lakewood Ranch resident and president of GulfCoast Business Finance, an SBA-licensed, certified development company in St. Petersburg. I asked him what kinds of deals he was doing in Southwest Florida.

"Three (SBA 504 loans) that we recently funded were Classic Creations and Domari & Associates in Sarasota County and Environmental Biotech in Manatee County," he told me.

Environmental Biotech used the loan to acquire an existing building. The other two acquired land and built new buildings.

GulfCoast Business Finance is one of several CDCs that lend in Florida. Their role includes arranging for an SBA-guaranteed, subordinated debenture representing 40 percent of the project cost. The debenture is like a second mortgage. Concurrently, a bank makes a 50 percent first mortgage. The borrower supplies the remaining 10 percent equity.

The new HR 5297 small-business legislation hiked the maximum debenture to $5 million from $1.5 million. That means the maximum project size can be $12.5 million or higher, depending on how large a first mortgage the lender is willing to make.

For small manufacturers and companies that generate renewable fuels, the maximum debenture is now $5.5 million, indicating a maximum project size of $13.75 million.

Most of the property must be owner-occupied by a borrower whose tangible net worth is $15 million or less. Job creation or retention is usually required.

The 504 loans can include machinery, furniture, fixtures, equipment and transaction fees. In some cases, borrowers use the program to finance heavy equipment without real estate.

According to the National Association of Development Companies, "The greatest concentration of (SBA 504) loans has been to physicians, dentists, veterinarians, lawyers and accountants." Financing small hotels, motels and restaurants are other frequent uses.

SBA does not set a minimum or maximum project size. But it may not be economically feasible for lenders and CDCs to process projects below $200,000.

Borrowers must contribute at least 10 percent of their own cash. Five percent more is required from start-up companies and an additional 5 percent is needed to finance single-purpose buildings.

By comparison, conventional lenders want a minimum of 30 percent equity and are apt to reject single-purpose buildings and insist upon higher credit scores. In many cases, the 504 program is the only way business owners can finance or refinance commercial real estate projects.

A list of CDCs making 504 loans in Florida is at tinyurl.com/ 668x3g.

Jerry Chautin is a local volunteer business counselor with Manasota SCORE, Counselors to America's Small Business. Send business questions and stories to him at jkchautin@aol.com and follow him on Twitter.com/JerryChautin.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON LOCAL SBA ACTIVITY GIVE US A CALL AT (941)923-0535.

CONGRATS MARCIA AND BRIAN!!! Way to go TEAM APG!

2010-10-04T15:15:00.002-04:00

CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER!

TWO SALES COMPLETED by AMERICAN PROPERTY GROUP associates!

WAY TO GO MARCIA and BRIAN!

2010-09-21T09:26:00.002-04:00

2000SF MEDICAL COMPLEX NOW AVAILABLE

Multiple offices
Waiting area with patient bathroom
3 entrances/exits
Kitchen
Laundry facility
4 bathrooms

2000SF NOW AVAILABLE!!!
Perfect for a small medical clinic!

Click here for more information: http://www.loopnet.com/xNet/Looplink/Profile/Profile.aspx?stid=apg&LID=16158973&LL=true&UOMListing=&UOMMoneyCurrency=&RentPer=PY&SRID=1128746369

CHEAP FLEXSPACE NOW AVAILABLE

2010-09-20T10:22:00.002-04:00

Need FLEXSPACE?
Need it to come with major road visibility?
Need it to be INEXPENSIVE?

We have it! CALL AMERICAN PROPERTY GROUP of SARASOTA TODAY!

(941)923-0535

2010-09-02T09:57:00.004-04:00

Available NOW!

5650 JASON LEE PLACE (pictured above) and 5706 JASON LEE PLACE

2250SF Reception with A/C
Kitchen Loft Shower!!! 2 bathrooms
12' overhead door
Asking $1200/mo. plus tax

-OR-

1500SF
Reception
Bathroom
10' overhead door
Asking $900/mo. plus tax

CALL (941)923-0535 for more information on either of these! WE'RE DEALING!

2010-08-30T09:55:00.003-04:00

ALL WESTCOAST FL RESIDENTS! Hurricane season is upon us! Let's get ready and make sure our hurricane kits are easily accessible and well stocked.

Hurricane Earl has sustained winds over 105mph @ this point. Chances are it WILL NOT hit us but there is a lot more where Earl came from. Can't be prepared too soon!

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/30/tropical.weather/index.html?hpt=T1

2010-08-16T09:37:00.002-04:00

Respected Real Estate teacher Andy Grey passes away.

From Herald Tribune 8/16/10: http://realestatetoday.blogs.heraldtribune.com/11452/longtime-sarasota-real-estate-educator-dies/

Our deepest condolences go out to Andy's family and friends. We all took your course and loved your easy paced teaching style. Thank you.

Sincerely,

The Seidel Family.

2010-08-16T09:33:00.002-04:00

NEW ROUNDABOUT on MAIN ST is completed!!! LOOKS GREAT AND FUNCTIONS GREAT TOO!!!

Link below from Sarasota Herald Tribune article detailing new roundabout and it's quick construction 8/16/10:

http://realestatetoday.blogs.heraldtribune.com/11484/new-roundabout-doesnt-look-like-a-disaster/

Located right near: STAIRWAY TO BELGIUM
In the mood for a distinctly unique beer? Try Stairway to Belgium today! Over 100 different varieties available coupled with some of the best Belgian food you can find and you've got yourself a winning combination!

1359 Main Street (West end of Main Street near First Watch, Marina Jacks)

2010-08-09T14:38:00.004-04:00

Available NOW!

ONLY A FEW UNITS LEFT!

303 S Tamiami Trail. 800SF for $856/mo.

Interior is open with a bathroom in rear.

2 spaces NOW available! 2000SF/6000SF. What a location!!!

2010-07-23T11:46:00.005-04:00

Available NOW!

2000SF of PRIME RETAIL SPACE ON US 41 for $3000/mo. plus tax!!!! OR
6000SF of PRIME (I mean a ton of frontage here!) for $7000/mo. plus tax!!!!

40 Parking spaces
BIG signage
Easy to see, easy to find, even easier to lease!

7668 S Tamiami Trail

NEW LOWER PRICE! OUTSTANDING LOCATION DIRECTLY BETWEEN THE TWO SARASOTA MAJOR MALLS ON US 41 WITH HUGE SIGNAGE AND EXTENSIVE GLASS EXTERIOR. PROPERTY MAY BE AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE AS WELL. HIGH CEILINGS, LIGHT AND BRIGHT. WONDERFUL STREET APPEAL! CALL FOR DETAILS.

SOUTH OF SR 72 ON THE WEST SIDE OF US41 SOUTH TAMIAMI TRAIL IN TRENDY SARASOTA FLORIDA. PERFECT FOR NATIONAL COMPANY

Quaint office space for sale BEHIND STARBUCKS/BMW/Lamborghini/Land Rover on Clark

2010-07-23T10:50:00.004-04:00

Available NOW! What a GREAT little space!

5780 Mead Ave.

Description

2 STORY OFFICE BUILDING JUST OFF CLARK ROAD BEHIND STARBUCKS/BMW. GREAT VISIBILITY FROM CLARK ROAD. BIG PARKING LOT AND BACKYARD. OFFICES UPSTAIRS AND DOWN, STORAGE ROOMS, KITCHEN. NEW AC, TIN ROOF, WINDOWS AND TILE FLOORS. BEAUTIFUL INSIDE AND OUT.

CLARK ROAD TO NORTH ON MEAD AVENUE. VISIBLE FROM CLARK.

Call today for a personal tour of the property! (941)923-0535 24/7 @ brianseidel85@comcast.net

CLICK LINK FOR 14 additional pictures!

4000SF on S Tamiami Trail near Palmer Ranch

2010-06-10T09:30:00.002-04:00

Available NOW!

Address: 7690 S Tamiami Trail
SF (Appx.): 4000
Interior/exterior features: Free standing with plenty of parking
Is signage available? If so, where at? HUGE signage on US 41
Asking price per month: CALL FOR PRICING
Major landmarks/intersections nearby? Everything on STT is at your fingertips. Siesta Key, Palmer Ranch, Gulf Gate
Extra: Did I mention the location is stellar? Appx. 55,000 cars daily.

2010-06-10T09:26:00.002-04:00

Address: 2210 S Tamiami Trail (VENICE)
SF (Appx.): 600 or 1000
Interior/exterior features: Built out nicely, available August 1st.
Is signage available? If so, where at? On building and on US 41
Asking price per month: $14/SF NNN ($3/CAM)
Major landmarks/intersections nearby? 7-11, DeSears, Englewood, all major car dealers in Venice
Extra: 55 plus parking spaces

Positive real estate trends on the Suncoast (from SAR)

2010-06-10T09:24:00.002-04:00

It has to start somewhere! SALES ARE UP!!! See article below from SAR:

April 2010 Sales Best In Over Four Years

Property sales in April in the Sarasota market hit the highest total in almost five years, while pending sales were the highest in four years, likely fueled by the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit on April 30. Median sale prices continued the steady pace reflected in recent months.

The 757 sales exceeded the March 2010 total of 753. It was the highest total since December 2005 and 50 percent higher than April 2009.

Pending sales were once again strong, hitting 1,160 – better than March 2010’s total of 1,060. It was the highest total in the past four years.

“There was clearly a sense of urgency in April, reflected in higher closed sales as well as contracts written, as buyers attempted to purchase properties before the expiration of the homebuyer tax credits,” said 2010 SAR President Erick Shumway. “There is a lot of enthusiasm and optimism among local real estate agents that the trend will sustain in the months to come.”

Members of the Sarasota Association of Realtors® sold 529 single family homes and 228 condos in April 2010, a huge jump over April 2009, which saw only 367 single family homes and 138 condos sold. Pending sales, at 1,160, were about 18 percent higher than last April, when only 981 were reported. This statistic is a strong indicator for the next two or three months of sales, as pending sales reflect current buyer activity.

The median sale price for a single family home was steady at $165,000, up from last April’s figure of $160,000. For condos, the median price was $193,975, higher than last April’s figure of $182,750. Both figures were slightly lower than March 2010. For the last 12 months combined, the median sale price for single family homes was $163,800, while the median sale price for condos was $192,000.

The level of distressed property sales (foreclosures and short sales) dropped again in April 2010 to 38 percent of the overall market, from 41 percent in March 2010. The downward trend is a sign that the market is returning to health after topping 48 percent in late 2009. The downward trend in the percentage of short sales and bank-owned foreclosure sales in the Sarasota market, if it continues, would be a harbinger of a market in full recovery, and should bring greater appreciation for the overall median sale prices.

The property inventory level remained steady in April 2010 at 6,160, the lowest level since late summer of 2005.

The months of inventory for single family homes in April 2010 was 7.3 months, the number of months it would take to sell all available homes at the current pace. This was a huge drop from April 2009 – 15.2 months – and very near equilibrium. For condos, the figure was 9.9 months, much lower than last April’s figure of 19.1 months. Once the market reaches the 6 month level it is considered to be in equilibrium between a buyers and sellers market.

2000SF FREE STANDING RESTAURANT

2010-04-12T12:17:00.003-04:00

Available NOW!

Another AMERICAN PROPERTY GROUP of SARASOTA listing:
Address: 7129 South Tamiami Trail
SF(Appx): 2000
Features: Full kitchen, 2 bars, drive thru, bathrooms, etc. NICE SPOT!
Signage: YES
Rental Rate: CALL FOR PRICING INFORMATION
Major intersections/landmarks nearby: Stickney Pt/US 41 is the biggest one. This road sees up to 55,000 cars daily.
Extra: This combo (free standing, drive thru) doesn't exist elsewhere on US 41!
Want to see more of this property? Call (941)923-0535 and one of our sales associates will assist you!

FREE STANDING. BIG SIGNAGE. BIG PARKING. Lots of EXPOSURE ON THE TRAIL!

2010-04-12T11:51:00.002-04:00

Available NOW!

Another AMERICAN PROPERTY GROUP of SARASOTA listing:
Address: 240 S Tamiami Trail
SF(Appx): 575
Features: It's all about visibility with this one. Cannot be missed if you travel through Osprey you've seen this space!!!
Signage: YES
Rental Rate: Asking $2500/mo. NNN plus tax
Major intersections/landmarks nearby: Spanish Point, Pine View, Bay Street, WalMart
Extra: Lots of parking for such a little space. Perfect for a single user!
Want to see more of this property? Call (941)923-0535 and one of our sales associates will assist you!

1250 to 2500SF on W Venice Ave

2010-03-29T13:22:00.003-04:00

Available NOW!

Another AMERICAN PROPERTY GROUP of SARASOTA listing:
Address: 205 W Venice Ave
SF(Appx): 2500 (1250)
Features: Multiple offices, central reception area, kitchenettes, rear entrance
Signage: On building
Rental Rate: Asking for offers. That means just make an offer and we'll see what happens.
Major intersections/landmarks nearby: Island of Venice, it's above Kilwins
Extra: Great layout, great view of Venice Ave.
Want to see more of this property? Call (941)923-0535 and one of our sales associates will assist you!

Under 500SF office condo on US 41 FOR SALE

2010-03-29T13:11:00.004-04:00

Available NOW!

Small office condo. 2 offices, reception area and a bathroom! What else do you need!!!

Another AMERICAN PROPERTY GROUP of SARASOTA listing:
Address: 7029B S Tamiami Trail
SF(Appx): 462
Features: 2 offices, reception, bathroom
Signage: Yes, on building
Sale Price: $79,000
Major intersections/landmarks nearby: Just south of Stickney Pt on US 41
Extra: Well maintained condo assc. Can't ask for much else on that end. We have the condo docs available.
Want to see more of this property? Call (941)923-0535 and one of our sales associates will assist you!

Industrial spaces w/office in NORTHGATE off US 301

2010-03-24T12:43:00.002-04:00

Available NOW!

Thank you for looking. If this listing doesn’t suit your needs then let me find you something that does! Brianseidel85@comcast.net. Email me today for efficient and friendly customer service.
HAVE A LOOK. TAKE A PEEK. WE HAVE WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR!
CALL (941)923-0535.
Address: 1729 Independence Blvd
SF(Appx): 1440 and beyond!
Features: Office, warehouse, bathroom, etc. ASK ABOUT POWER!!!
Signage: On building
Rental Rate: Asking $6.99/SF NNN
Major intersections/landmarks nearby: US 301/University Parkway
Extra: Multiple layouts exist, give us a call for more information.
Interested? Contact BRIAN SEIDEL, Realtor
Phone: (941)923-0535 or Email: brianseidel85@comcast.net
Not exactly what you’re looking for? We have others!!! Give us a call or send an email. We can find you what you need!!!
On the web at sarasotacommercialproperties.blogspot.com
Brianseidel85@comcast.net

800-1000SF units on S. Tamiami Trail. New look! Biggest parking lot in the area!

2010-03-24T09:28:00.003-04:00

Available NOW!

Thank you for looking. If this listing doesn’t suit your needs then let me find you something that does! Brianseidel85@comcast.net. Email me today for efficient and friendly customer service.
HAVE A LOOK. TAKE A PEEK. WE HAVE WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR!
CALL (941)923-0535.

Address: 303 S. Tamiami Trail
SF(Appx): 800-1000SF units available
Features: Layout is open and flexible. Bathroom in rear. Big glass windows in front with entryway and exit/shipping door in rear.
Signage: Yes on building and on pylon sign.
Rental Rate: Asking $800/mo!!!! plus tax
Major intersections/landmarks nearby: Albee Rd, S Tamiami Trail
Extra: Great location, great signage, nice spaces. MOVE IN TODAY!

Interested? Contact BRIAN SEIDEL, Realtor
Phone: (941)923-0535 or Email: brianseidel85@comcast.net
Not exactly what you’re looking for? We have others!!! Give us a call or send an email. We can find you what you need!!!
On the web at sarasotacommercialproperties.blogspot.com
Brianseidel85@comcast.net