Natan Jacobs

"Quick Sale" is usually something a distressed seller is looking for. Usually, this means they have already discounted the property to hopefully attract a wholesale-type Buyer or Investor. A typical advertisement would look like, " Motivated Seller. Priced for Quick Sale." - Tue Jan 29 2008, 14:04

Hi Paige,

Have you chosen a firm yet? Many of the previous posts have some great advice for you. When I first got my license, I "tried" working with two difference larger firms, Dan Schwartz and Century 21, and wasn't able to find the mentoring or direction I needed to succeed. Granted I was still in college at the time - and maybe I wasn't taken seriously with my spiked hair (back then). I don't know. Where I found my mentors that gave me the education and motivation to succeed were the smaller firms: Cutler Commercial, Right Place Properties/Red Door Group. Again, my experience is different than most, but working in a smaller office with only a few agents/brokers and having the ability to shadow a head broker and bounce questions off everyone else in the office - was the key to MY success.

When interviewing brokers, training and support should be your must-haves, as opposed to commission splits and how pretty the office is. To give you some perspective, my firm, which you've probably never heard of, has closed over $500M in real estate transactions in the last 5 years with under ten full-time brokers/agents - all out of a 1950's building in downtown Phoenix that until recently hadn't been remodeled since probably 1970. We are always looking for great people to add to the team. If you are interested in working in "commercial" real estate, feel free to contact me to learn a little more about what we do.

Good luck to you. - Wed Jan 16 2008, 19:39

Hi Scott,

With the amount of inventory on the market, there are plenty of opportunities for buyers and investors like yourself. Have you spoken with a lender or mortgage broker yet to get pre-approved? That will help you get a better idea of your buying power before you start looking. I work in the commercial real estate arena, specializing in apartments and land - I actually have a couple of opportunities that may work for a hands-on investor like yourself.

First scenario: At 65th Avenue & Maryland in Glendale, I have a duplex ($249,000), a single family home ($164,900) and 1.07 Acres of R-4 Zoned land ($493.000). Zoning allows for 17 Townhomes to be built in the vacant land. Purchase all three for $806,900, a savings of $100,000. The 1,850 SF Duplex has current leases in place ($1,150 + $600 =$1,750/mo). The 700 SF Single Family Home is also leased at ($850/mo). With the additional parcels, the total land area is approx. 1.46 acres - Glendale's Zoning would allow up to 34 Townhomes at this site. The owner of all three properties is motivated to look at all offers (including a joint venture) and is also willing to carryback (provide seller financing). Feel free to visit the property website at: http://listing.loopnet.com/15162635

The second scenario, is more of a Value Add Commercial play: Two 2,000 SF houses located on 59th Avenue ($500,000 for the pair), just south of Bethany Home Road in Glendale. 59th Ave is a major thoroughfare, so probably not the ideal situation for a single family residence to live in - but here is the Value Add. Several of the adjacent Single Family Homes have already been re-zoned to Commercial to allow for Office and Retail use. You could live in one house and rent out the other while you work with the City thru the re-zoning process. These two homes sit on an approximate half acre and there is an additional adjacent 2.35 acres of multifamily zoned land to the west of the property which could be purchased separately ($720,000) and developed at a later date into apartments or condominiums. Sound too big, not really. The owners are willing to carryback (become the lender) on the land and the two homes and would also consider a joint-venture. For the details on this opportunity, feel free to visit the property website at: http://listing.loopnet.com/15443363

Now the above are just a couple of smaller deals that I have listed. There are many other opportunities out there. I am sure that there are a few brokers on Trulia that can also tell you about some similar deals. My advice to you is to first, get pre-approved by a lender to find out your buying power, hook up with an experienced realtor and start asking as many questions until you find the right deal that makes sense to you. Keep in mind that you can get residential financing on single family homes, duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes. Once you hit 5-units or more, you are now in the commercial lending arena. The difference being, commercial loans generally have tighter requirements, including larger down payments. Also remember that in this buyer's market, there are many owners offering to help with closing costs or carryback (become a lender) to help with the sale. Good luck! Let me know if you have any questions along the way.

Natan Jacobs
Broker, Managing Principal
Red Door Commercial - Thu Jan 3 2008, 07:34

Hi William,
The broker's job is to promote and protect their client's interest while dealing honestly with all parties to the transaction. My clients hire me to negotiate on their behalf, as if I owned the property, and do not want their time wasted with low-ball offers. Throughout the listing period, I am constantly communicating with my client, regarding market conditions, changes in the lending arena, feeback from inquiries to the listing, etc. so that when an offer comes in, we have a pre-determined range of what we would call "real offers" that we will look at and begin negotiations on. A big part of my job is qualifying the buyers for my client. Who is the buyer? How many deals have they done? Do they need financing and if so have they been pre-approved by a lender in writing? When we do get a real offer in, from what we feel is a qualified buyer, we start the negotiation process - always knowing what our end price/terms must look like in advance for us to move forward with the sale. The stronger we feel the buyer is, the more likely we are to budge on our ideal price and terms. Obviously, the price and terms have to make sense for both buyer and seller, for their to be a deal. But when things are close, the Principal has to be able to ask their Broker - Would you do this deal? And the broker has to have the knowledge, experience and integrity to tell them the truth. I know I am not afraid to "kill the deal" if I think it is a bad one - and my clients pay me for that.

Respectfully,

Natan Jacobs
Broker, Managing Partner
Red Door Commercial - Mon Dec 31 2007, 14:13

Have you heard of Right Place Properties? RPP has been selling affordable condos and townhomes in the Valley since 1991. RPP pays all closing costs and down payment through a charity. In the last year, they have also added a Rent-To-Own program that allows folks with a few dings on their credit or the need to have a few more months on the job, the ability to qualify and move into to their own home. With the fact that you are paying approx. $800/month for rent and the swapmeet, you are well within the payment range of many of their communities. Feel free to look them up on the web: http://www.RightPlaceProperties.com
or call Lisett Vasquez, the Sales Manager, at 602-330-9032. Lizett is super-sweet and will be able to answer all your questions. Good luck! - Fri Dec 28 2007, 19:34