MikeBolen.com

There is no argument that today’s real estate market news cycle is dominated by the sub-prime loan meltdown. The drive by media will say real estate is not just slow or in a correction but rather a full fledge depression. This news when reported with soaring war costs, election uncertainty, sky high oil, and a bloated deficit has sent real estate investors running. I say keep focus when blood runs through the street opportunity quickly follows.

Having analyzed the real estate market for over 16 years I see an opportunity like few I have witnessed in the past. The commercial real estate market is not only stable it is flourishing. Remember commercial real estate received little of the appreciation frenzy experienced in our super heated Marin, Sonoma and Napa markets.

To bust the myth take the multi-family commercial sector. This sub market has actually benefitted from the subprime meltdown. The multi-family market has actually experienced an up-tick in rental rates, a new demand from developers for multi-family zoned land and extremely low vacancy rates. All the while prices for multi-family product are actually declining! This type of market anomaly cannot exist for an extended period and a price move upward in this sector is inevitable. The time to buy is now.

When contrasted with a stock market investment, consider that today borrowing rates are low and commercial real estate will give you a better investment return than bond yields and you own the investment. A commercial real estate investment gives you not only tax advantages but the opportunity for long term real estate appreciation.

A mentor once told me “never wait to buy a commercial real estate investment, buy the commercial real estate investment and wait”. Keep in mind 6 out of every 10 millionaires in the United States made their fortune in real estate. A single good commercial real estate investment can yield the same benefit as an entire lifetime of toil in another field.