In my previous post, I discussed what I believe are some of the most important pros and cons of investing in self-storage real estate. As with most real estate sectors, self-storage features some terms that are particular to this property type — specifically in how owners describe occupancy: Unit Occupancy, Physical Occupancy, and Economic Occupancy. Let’s review them: Unit Occupancy Unit occupancy is the most straightforward of the three. It refers to the number of occupied units at a self-storage property, expressed as a percentage of the total. For example, if a facility has 100 units and ..read more

What is self-storage real estate? Simply put, self-storage properties are built to contain many, often hundreds of individual storage spaces of varying sizes. It’s a booming market, forecast to be worth over $64 billion by 2026. Individuals and businesses rent these spaces to store possessions like furniture, clothes, equipment, business records, inventory – just about anything one can imagine. The top five reasons people use self-storage are for moving purposes, lack of space at home, change in household size, downsizing, and business purposes. These facilities have become increasingly ..read more

Test your knowledge of real estate and finance Looks like folks enjoyed my first quiz, so I hope you’ll have some fun with this new one too! Test your understanding of concepts and terminology that are important to real estate investors. After each question, I’ll explain the reason for the correct answer!   — Frank Gallinelli   Copyright 2024, Frank Gallinelli and RealData® Inc. All Rights Reserved The information presented in this article represents the opinions of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of RealData® Inc. The material contained in articles tha ..read more

Environmental awareness and sustainability have become increasingly important in recent years, and this is certainly true of the commercial real estate industry. Commercial property owners who implement energy-saving improvements can not only help the environment but at the same time unlock a number of long-term benefits for their businesses.      1. Cost Savings According to energy.gov, commercial buildings waste up to 30% of the energy they consume. Investing in energy-saving improvements can significantly lower overall operating costs. Some common measures include: • Lightin ..read more

For those of us whose experience with rental property goes back a few decades (maybe even more than a few), the term “property management” conjures up images of ledger books for recording rent payments and expenses, receipt pads for tenants who paid by cash, and a plumber or two on our landline’s speed dial. Things have changed, and much of that change is driven by technology. Perhaps what hasn’t changed is that sound property management still plays a vital role in our success as real estate investors, giving us the best opportunity to maximize returns, promote tenant satisfaction, and ensure ..read more

Environmental awareness and sustainability have become increasingly important in recent years, and this is certainly true of the commercial real estate industry. Commercial property owners who implement energy-saving improvements can not only help the environment but at the same time unlock a number of long-term benefits for their businesses.      1. Cost Savings According to energy.gov, commercial buildings waste up to 30% of the energy they consume. Investing in energy-saving improvements can significantly lower overall operating costs. Some common measures include: • Lightin ..read more

The rise of home-sharing platforms like Airbnb has been a boon to property owners, especially owners of smaller income properties, but it has also prompted municipalities to introduce regulations on short-term rentals (STRs). Many places impose restrictions, such as requiring permits or licensing, limiting occupancy, and restricting the number of days permitted. Regulations vary widely from state to state, city to city, and perhaps even within neighborhoods. For example, California provides a statewide definition of what constitutes a short-term rental — a residential dwelling rented out for ..read more

  REIA Quick Edition is a compact a very affordable quick analysis of any income-producing property. We designed it so you can key in just a few key items and get a single-page report that can help you to decide whether you should pass or examine the property in create detail. It will calculate your NOI, Cash-on-Cash, Debt Coverage Ratio, IRR, potential resale price and more. Get more info at https://www.realdata.com/products/reia-quick The post New Program from RealData: “REIA Quick Edition” appeared first on RealData Software ..read more

Inflation, interest rates, concerns about recession, pandemic-inspired work-style changes, taxes. There are enough wild cards in the deck to give any economic forecaster vertigo. Not all real estate markets or all sectors are created equal, so to paraphrase an old TV auto ad, your mileage may vary. Nonetheless, we think it’s possible to make at least some reasonable and general forecasts about the near-term prospects for commercial real estate. Here is some of what we’re hearing, and thinking. Multifamily The multifamily sector seems likely to continue showing positive revenue growth. Freddie ..read more

Users of our Real Estate Investment Analysis program sometimes call us with questions that are not about the software but about the underlying analysis. If we had a “greatest hits” list for those questions the all-time winner would be this: “My cash flow goes up each year; the value of the property goes up each year; but when I look at the Internal Rate of Return, it goes down almost every year. What’s up with that?” To see how this can happen, let’s take a look at two very simple examples. Example #1: We purchase a property for $100,000 all cash. It has a Net Operating Income of $10,000 ..read more