As various news scoops have highlighted over the last year or so, if you’re looking for a lucrative project in Florida then you won’t get much better than real estate investment. Both retail and commercial investments of this ilk are performing very well right now, although for the purposes of today it’s going to be the latter that is focussed on.
According to Shaun Benderson, who started his career in Phoenix, it’s the likes of Sarasota and Tampa Bay which are really reaping the rewards at this moment in time. Bearing this in mind, we will now take a look at what sort of things you should be looking towards as you bid to start your commercial real estate investment portfolio in these regions.
What can the building be used for?
As we all know, commercial investments are anything but like ones of the residential variety. When it comes to residential properties, there is one use and one use only.
Things take a turn for the more complicated with commercial investments. Some commercial buildings might be designated to be used as a restaurant, while others might be designed for a shop. The classifications tend to vary depending on the area you live in, so the rules for Florida might be a lot different to other regions of the country for example.
Sometimes restrictions exist which mean that you can’t simply change these allowable uses. Naturally, this can prompt some major roadblocks in some investments, whereby the potential was only going to be realized if the building was going to be used for a specific purpose.
Can any changes be made to the building?
This is a very similar topic to the previous one we looked at. As well as the limitations regarding what a building can be used for, there can be limitations as to what can be physically changed inside and out of it. This tends to be based on historic buildings, where a lot of authorities dictate that you can’t make wholesale changes that change the appearance of the building too drastically.
A lot of the time the possibilities in relation to this can be found by reading up on the local building codes or zoning laws.
Are there sufficient provisions for access and parking?
This final point isn’t related to rules and regulations, as the previous couple have covered. Instead, it’s more related to how valid a commercial investment is going to be for you.
As we all know, parking can be premium in parts of Florida. As such, any building which has this has an immediate advantage – and this can be represented in its investment potential.
If parking and general access are poor, it goes without saying that the opposite is true. If this is the case, you might have to question just where potential customers to the premises will park. Is there anywhere nearby? If not, the pool of potential tenants might have suddenly dwindled considerably.
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