Buying a commercial building for your own use has many advantages like predictable payments, pride of ownership, long-term investment and for the time being, low mortgage payments. But it does take cash reserves for the down payment, improvements and closing costs and the question that typically arises is could that cash provide a better return when invested directly into your core business rather than into the real estate. When you have made the decision to move forward and search for a suitable building there is a laundry list of do's and don'ts that I don't have room here to explain in detail but let me mention the key issues as seen from representing buyers. Price, use me to help you get the price right. There are numerous methods used to appraise a property and even more when valuing a property. Value includes emotion and will center on perceived personal advantage along with basic buying fundamentals. Our job is to take the emotion out of the decision making. When the price and terms have been agreed by a letter of intent, the buyer has a window of time to investigate the property this can be anywhere from 14 days to 6 months but typically 60 days. During this time a buyer and his team will thoroughly check the physical and legal characteristics of the property. Typically the major items to look at are the roof, HVAC and plumbing systems but everything should be looked at to determine the life expectancy of the parts of the building so you can budget for these costs down the line or deduct them from the purchase price now. The seller is obligated to provide all documents in his possession and this can be a mighty pile so be ready to hire experts to analyze each report. Due diligence is also the time to arrange your loan and from experience this takes twice as long as people expect it to so get on it early. Investigation often brings to light matters that were unknown to the seller and when these are costly to resolve there is always the task of agreeing who is responsible so be ready for continued negotiation until close of escrow. Trivalleyoffices.com can guide you through this process from sourcing the property to making an intelligent offer to negotiating on your behalf to arranging finance to finding contractors to close of escrow. Contact me