Market Intelligently
Don’t Give it Away for Free
Leverage Zoning
Maximize Unit Efficiency
Image Is Everything
Put Your Best Face Forward
Track Your Performance
Know Your Neighbor
Utilize Security
Storage Income is not Everything

1.) Market Intelligently – Are you maximizing your marketing dollar?Are you thinking outside the box? A variety of marketing tools exist intoday’s self-storage industry. In addition to traditional media types such as [...]

How have the Capital markets affected lending for the self storage industry?
Like most other income property classes, with the exception of apartments, financing for self-storage properties has been hard hit with limited capital available in today’s market. Because of the management intensive nature of self-storage, lenders including banks and insurance companies who once were willing [...]

Accurate valuation is enhanced by solid operating history. However, it iscommon to rely upon expense comparable data when valuing propertiesthrough direct capitalization. Understanding how operating expenses varyfrom region-to-region is key, especially for specialized lenders and investorslooking to expand into other national markets. The table to the right is asampling of over 200 expense comparables located [...]

“I rarely have a conversation these days where the topic of financing doesn’t arise as a serious concern for my clients. When the economy is robust, and the capital markets are frothy, financing a commercial real estate transaction is a relatively simple matter. However during today’s recessionary times, the commercial capital markets are severely constrained. Not only is the supply of capital tight, but the demand may be near all time highs as well. Depending on which industry source you quote there is between $150 and $200 billion dollars of CMBS debt maturing in 2009 alone. This figure doesn’t include maturing loans from insurance companies, banks and other lenders, which means that many borrowers will be forced to secure financing in a market that presently offers little liquidity.” (”Getting your Property Financed” – Jackson Cooper, SVN – Boise, ID)

Walgreens is a national, retail drugstore chain that sells prescription and non-prescription drugs and general merchandise. General merchandise includes, among other things, beauty care, personal care, household items, candy, photofinishing, greeting cards, seasonal items and convenience food. Walgreens’ sales of pharmaceutical items account for approximately two-thirds of all sales.
Walgreens was founded in 1901, and as [...]

The tension was high at the special meeting called by the Colorado Banker’s Association in early December. The bankers were gathering to listen to Dr. Tom Hoenig, President of the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City, discuss the current recession and to get his predictions on how long it will last. With the reputation of [...]

“VALUATION TECHNIQUES FOR COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE AMIDST A WORLD OF CHANGE”
Introduction

There is broad sweeping change in the mindset of the World economy caused by the credit crisis, economic downturn and long-term uncertainty, which is having a profound impact on the real estate market. Our job as appraisers is to interpret what is occurring in the [...]

Capitalization Rate Analysis
In this article, a capitalization rate for a strip center is analyzed based on (1) market extraction; (2) national survey; and (3) debt coverage/equity dividend analysis. This is an in-depth analysis that shows how a capitalization rate can be derived when little data is available in a market area. This presentation is an [...]

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year, you know we are in a recession. This recession has impacted everyone from the average Joe to leaders of fortune 500 companies. We know that the recession has hit retailers hard; but how bad is this situation affecting landlords?
Many retailers are searching for [...]

Many auto dealerships are going dark; over 21 in 2008 according to The Oregonian. In 2009 in the Portland Metro area alone we have seen some big names fall to darkness, most notably the Kuni Cadillac dealership that was located in Beaverton. For an auto dealership, the trade area expands beyond the immediate market area. [...]

Thanks for popping in and checking out our real estate blog. We are just getting this project off the ground so be patient as the site evolves over the next several months. Our long-term goal is to provide a unique real estate experience where users participate in discussion topics, have access to a broad range [...]

Way back in November 1996, Oregon voters passed Measure 47. This was a constitutional amendment popularly referred to as the “cut and cap” tax reform act. The “cut” aspect of the legislation referred to a reduction in taxes for the 1997-98 tax year calculated as the lesser of the 1994-95 taxes or 90 percent of the 1995-96 taxes. Bonded debt would be exempt from the calculations. The “cap” aspect of the measure restricted growth in taxes to no greater than 3 percent annually after the 1997-98 tax year.

PGP Valuation Inc is proud to bring you a Retail Newsletter for the first quarter of 2009. This four page newsletter talks about the economic market and its effects on the retail industry in the northwest and nationally.

W. Grant Noring, Jeff Grose, MAI & Steven L. Waugh presented today at the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland Oregon at the CCIM meeting. Below is the presentation. A copy can be downloaded by going to the Publications section of this site or you can view the presentation by clicking on “Continue Reading” below.

As many property owners are well aware, their properties have quite possibly lost value over the past year. Many of these investors are either (a) stuck holding their properties with blind hope that values will reach the inflection point (point where values change from decreasing to increasing) and begin to regain their recent losses or [...]

A look at capitalization rates the past few months may leave you wondering where the value in your property has gone. Many property owners are sitting on properties that have lost 10 to 15 percent of their value in the past year. Chris Rodriguez of Retail Chatr stated it best in his recent article on [...]

Circuit City lost its battle with the recession early in the game and was forced into chapter 11 even after the initial closing of 155 poorly performing stores across the Midwest. With a lackluster showing of buyers to purchase existing leases and bleeding capital at the seams; no other choices were left but to close [...]

Consumer confidence is at a 40 year low of 37.7 in January of 2009 compared to 87.3 in January of 2007. A little background on consumer confidence: the index started in 1967 and was at 100 in 1985. What does this all mean for the retail industry? Consumer confidence is intrinsically tied to retail. It’s [...]

On September 16, 2008, GVA Williams and FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSRV; TSX:FSV) entered into a definitive agreement for FirstService to acquire an interest in the New York-based, full-service commercial real estate firm. The firm announced today that it will be renamed FirstService Williams.
The partnership with the FirstService Corporation not only lends global reach, but significantly enhances [...]