Dear Michael: I am looking to purchase a commercial property. My real estate agent who sold me my home says he can help me. Can a residential real estate agent really sell a commercial property?
Answer: Many investors want to enter into the world of commercial real estate without truly knowing the basics of commercial investment. The very 1st step an investor should take is to hire a knowledgeable agent to represent him. In the state of California a real estate licensee can sell either residential or commercial real estate. The question you need to ask yourself is if your agent is qualified enough and has had sufficient experience to represent you on a commercial transaction? Commercial real estate and residential real estate are two completely different animals. On a commercial purchase your agent will need to be familiar with the following terms: Gross Income, Vacancy Rate, Effective Gross Income (EGI), Operating Expenses, Net Operating Income (NOI), Debt Service, Cash Flow, Cash-on-Cash Return and Capitalization Rate (Cap Rate). The amount of time it takes for a residential agent to acquire knowledge, experience and build his own database in the commercial field does not allow one to ponder in commercial real estate. Therefore, I don’t believe an agent can be effective doing both. Find yourself a good commercial agent and let an expert represent you!
Dear Michael: I am selling my home and my tenants are not co-operating. They refuse to let my Realtor show my house to prospective buyers. Is there anything I can do to get them to co-operate with my Realtor?
Answer: This is a common and unfortunate circumstance. Tenants are required by law to let your Realtor show your property as long as they received a 24-hours notice of entry. Unfortunately if your tenants do not cooperate there is not much you can do. Showing up and letting yourself in turns an already bad situation into a worst one. If a tenant does not want to cooperate, the only logical choice you have is to put your property on hold and give your tenants a 60-day notice to vacate, which is the amount of time required by law. After the tenants move out your Realtor can have full control of showings and can market your home effectively. You may be out of rent for everyday your property is vacant after your tenants moves out but this is a small price to pay in order to complete an effective sale. If you’re in a rush to sell your home you can entice your tenants to move out early by reducing their rent for everyday they leave or you can just give them a relocation allowance. Selling a home in today’s market has many challenges; dealing with un-cooperating tenants only make things worse.
Dear Michael: I own a condominium in a complex. A family used to live upstairs from me, and the noise I would hear was typical for condo living. They moved out and the new owner renovated the apartment and put in hardwood floors. Now the noise is unbearable. What can I do? Our condominium association is unwilling to help me.
Answer: Most condominium associations have rules and regulations relating to the type, quality and installation procedures for flooring and carpeting. If your association has these rules, you will want to make sure that the neighbor has abided by them. If in fact there has been work performed on the neighbors unit without condominium authorization, you might be able to force the new owner to fix these issues by going to the association and reporting the violations. You may also have the condominium board cite the homeowner if he/she has failed to conform to the condominium covenant and restrictions (CC&R). Unfortunately, if the cause of the noise is merely that the new family upstairs is more active, you might be out of luck. Some associations have rules relating to noisy activities. If there are violations of noise rules, and the neighbors are unreasonably loud, those rules can be enforced by the association. But, if your problem seems to come about from normal activities in the unit: as such, it is unlikely that you would be able to force the owner to do anything. If the noise issue is only a result of making use of a condo in a usual and customary manner. If after trying everything and all has failed, your only other option may be to sell your unit. Keep in mind that you will have to disclose to your new buyer any nuisance related facts.
Michael Kayem is a Realtor with Re/max Estate Properties serving Culver City and the Westside since 2001. You can email Michael with your questions at: homes@agentmichael.com