All Forum Posts by: James W.

I own a commercial property in a LLC and back in 2014, I did some renovations on the building. During the renovation, one of my tenants claims she tripped and broke her hip on some loose gravel that was displaced by the contractor's scaffolding and was on the walkway. I think her whole story is bogus but I have no way to prove it. She wanted damages for pain and suffering and medical bills equal to about $50k.

Long story short my property insurance company initially settled for $25k but at the last minute they said they are no longer paying the claim because in my contract with the contractor, I placed a line in that states," The Contractor agrees to indemnify and hold the Owner harmless from any claims or liability arising from the Contractor's work under this agreement".   My insurance company told the tenant's attorney to contact the contractors insurance for the claim.

Yesterday I received a notice from my insurance company that I will be getting served pretty soon and to forward to lawsuit notice to them.  I did not sleep at all this weekend and my insurance company is closed today for presidents day.  Do I need to find a lawyer once I get served or will the insurance company have one for me? Is my insurance company trying to get out of payment by shifting the liability to the contractor?  What am I going to do if both my insurance company and the contractors insurance both refuse to pay?  

Does anyone have any experience with this?  

I have a commercial retail building with 12 tenants currently. A few of the leases have expired and are now on month-to-month. I am using Cushman Wakefield as my broker.

My property mgr says they can renew my leases for free versus Cushman Wakefield will charge 6% of the term of the lease for renewals.

Do most landlords use their property mgr to renew leases or the leasing broker? Should I be using the leasing broker to renew the leases just to keep a good relationship with her?

how do you find a broker to give you the good deals before they show up on loopnet?

Thanks Joel, I guess the questions should be what priority I should do everything in. I started a new thread to ask that question:
http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/32/topics/89672-how-prioritize-improvements-to-my-commercial-building--photos-attached

The painting is for the exterior. I was thinking of a light gray paint and white railings. I dont want to mess with the stairs besides painting because of issues with ADA compliance. The building is already grandfathered in.

The tenants #1 complaint is the HVAC in the summer and winters. The tenants have to use portable heaters and swamp coolers when it gets too hot or cold. But this property is about 2 miles from the beach where the weather is pretty mild most of the time but should I do this first before anything else?

I got bids for a traditional duct system with forced air for $6000/suite. Another bid is for a ductless system which will range from $5000-$10000 per suite. Any suggestions about doing a duct or ductless system?

Do you think HVAC should be first? It is the most expensive item on the list. My thinking is potential tenants only notice the exterior appearance and signage of the building when they look for somewhere to rent. They do not notice the HVAC issue until after they signed the lease and moved in which is why I was thinking maybe do the exterior first.

What do you think?

How should I prioritize the work for this commercial building to get more for rent? Here is a list of things that need to be done:
1) stucco and faux stone sidings building to make it look new (not sure about cost?
2) painting ($8000)
3) new roof ($10000)
4) termite control ($4000)
5) new larger modern sign ($7000)
6) HVAC for all suites ($72000)

The back of the building is stucco but the front is wood panel sidings. It has a old brown cabin look which I hate. Do you think it is worth it to stucco it to make it look more modern or should I simply just paint it.

The suites are renting at $1.35/sq ft which is a bit below market rate but that is because there is no A/C in the building since it was built in 1975 and is next to the beach. I got quotes which will be about $6000 per suite (12 suites total).

I got a good deal on this property because it has deferred maintenance. Inspection report says it need a new roof ($10,000) and termite control ($4000) and the HVAC $6000 per suite ($72000 total), So I am looking at almost $100,000 in repairs. Should I do all this first before trying to renovate the building?

My main goal is to get more rent per suite. 10 out of 12 suites are rented out right now. I get about 5500/month in rent right now after all expenses cost and $3500 goes towards the mortgage.

PHOTOS OF BUILDING BELOW
http://s1360.photobucket.com/user/molarband/media/building_zps68b454eb.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0#/user/molarband/media/building_zps68b454eb.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0&_suid=136867695256005613242336101308

I need some advice on renovating my building. I recently bought this 8500 sq ft commercial office building with approximately 10 suites in San Diego. The buiding is about 1 mile from the beach. It was built in 1975 and looks very run down. I would like to renovate it to look modern but do not know where to start. Do I need to hire an architect?

Some ideas I had was to stucco the whole building, add spanish red tile roof, make a larger nice sign facing the street.

Anyone with experience renovating commercial buildings?

Below is the link for a picture of the property:
http://s1360.photobucket.com/user/molarband/media/building_zps68b454eb.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0#/user/molarband/media/building_zps68b454eb.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0&_suid=136867695256005613242336101308

stupid question but what is Gross Rent Mulitplier and how do you calculate it? I am not as familiar with MF. Can someone explain this? Thanks!

I recently purchased a commercial retail building which closed on 12/31/2012. It was a normal purchase using my broker and a standard AIR contract. I kept the original property manager to manage the building.

My february rent check came in at half of the january rent. When I asked why, the property manager said the tenant was behind on rent before the sale and the tenant finally made the payments.

My question is when you buy a property, do you automatically buy the accounts receivables? Or is it okay for the property to give the rent checks due before the sale to the previous owner?

on my most recent purchase of a commercial retail space last month, I had to put about 50% down. It is very different from residential.