Category Archives: Landlord Financial Issues

A Face For Radio

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It was an honor and an all around neat experience to participate in Michael Bull’s Commercial Real Estate Radio show last week (link is at the bottom of this post). Michael assembled a panel of David Tennery, principal of Regent Partners, John Davidson, principal of   Parmenter Realty Partners, and yours truly. Ryan Severino, senior economist for REIS, dialed in by phone from New York. While my fellow panelists are all knowledgeable real estate thought-leaders, the clear consensus was that the entire panel had faces built for radio. The mechanics of radio broadcasting are fascinating. I’ve never been in a [...]

What Would Warren Do?

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warren-buffett

As reported in this recent WSJ article, even Warren Buffet is buying back his own company's stock. The Journal reports that Berkshire Hathaway has a stunning amount of cash totaling nearly $50 billion dollars on hand. In the first 6 months of this year, the company generated $9.7   billion in cash or nearly $54 million per day. Mr. Buffet is in good company. According to Deallogic, $347. 5 billion has been squirreled away by corporate America, which is the most since 2008. We read similar stories about Apple, GE, and many life insurance companies, among others. In early October, the Journal [...]

Ranch Dressing

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ranch-dressing

Ah, the economic malaise continues. This New York Times article (Fed Divisions Led to a Compromise on Interest Rates) starts with a pulse quickening statement: "No one knows what to do to fix the economy." With the certainty of uncertainty continuing to be a daily   media subject, interest rates are trending near all time lows. Yes, one day, Ethel, it will be ok. The cycle will turn and joblessness will no longer be the headline de jour. But with all the fun in the economy,  there's an unintended consequence of this "condition" we are in: bad real estate deals still have life [...]

Git-R-Done; Time To Move Those Deals Forward

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Disney's acclaimed Pixar unit recently released Cars 2 with “co-stars” race-car Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) and tow-truck Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy). In the movie, the characters head to Europe and Japan to compete in the World Grand Prix, but of course get side tracked with all manner of problems, including international espionage. While the new movie is a hit, we like the original Cars movie better as it's seemingly innocent humor is classic and truly funny. Our favorite character, Mater, resembles an International Harvester mining "boom-truck" from the 1950’s. The vehicle that is the inspiration for his [...]

Nobody Loves Me But My Mother (And She Could Be Jiving Too)

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bb-king

By Ken Ashley ATLANTA (April 4th, 2011) This great BB King song must be emblematic of how some down on their luck developers feel at this point in the market. Tenants are demanding rent reduction   and more services; the tax man wants to be paid; the lender is holding on the other line and oh, by the way, you need to cash a check to feed the kids. Developers take big risks and sometimes those risks don't pay off. We empathize with some landlord friends who are currently losing at the real estate game. The economy is recovering, but [...]

DeTERMination

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By Ken Ashley (ATLANTA) March 7th, 2011 No matter what market conditions are, we frequently get questions about what is “fair” for a term or length of lease commitment. If corporate users could get landlords to commit to a scenario where they could unilaterally terminate every year, every month or even every day, then that would be just dandy. Wouldn’t that flexibility make the corporate real estate game easy? This would be the equivalent of writing in pencil; you could erase your mistakes and start over. As a corporate officer or real estate director, you know well that the more [...]

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

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By Ken Ashley (ATLANTA) February 14th, 2011 No, we are not talking about your sweetheart on this Valentines day. Instead we are covering that other significant relationship in your life; your landlord. When tenants evaluated market opportunities over the past 18-24 months, most decided to remain in place. This behavior is described by real estate brokers and landlords as “blend and extend” because tenants usually have unexpired term that they fold into the new extended term. Landlords made blend and extends easy because they were terrified to lose paying customers. Tenants were complicit and all too happy to stay because they were scared [...]

Can We Talk?

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By Ken Ashley (ATLANTA) January 21, 2010 The words make your heart beat, don’t they? Whether from a coworker, friend or spouse, when someone asks for time to communicate seriously, you pay attention. But in the tenant and landlord relationship how do you have a serious conversation? Like most everything this is governed by the lease. Many miss some subtle but very important communications tools in the so called “Notices” section of the lease. It all seems so, well, so standard and boring. But stick with me as we share a few important tips on the lease communication front. Men [...]

Life Is Simpler When You Plow Around The Stump

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By Ken Ashley ATLANTA (December 13th, 2010) In a recent visit to a friends office space I took a second look at the common areas for the so called class “A” office building. The poor quality of the maintenance was simply stunning. The “deferred maintenance” included loose floor tiles, dirty wall covering, squeaking doors and many burned out light bulbs. Heaven only knows about the condition of the building systems such as heating and air conditioning. Times are still hard in the commercial real estate business and many owners who are hanging on for dear life have really no option [...]

Will It Blend?

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By Ken Ashley ATLANTA (November 8th, 2010) In one of the most successful viral marketing campaigns online to date, kitchen blender manufacturer Blentec has created a series of infomercials featuring founder Tom Dickson. The spots which run in a variety of forums have become an online phenomenon with over 120 million hits on YouTube. Dickson has blended golf balls, cell phones, iPads/iPhones, frozen chickens, Bic lighters  and any number of seemingly unblendable items in his device. During every episode, he places the improbable item in the blender and utters the now famous phrase “Will It Blend?” with the words “Don’t [...]