Written by Danny Wechsler
In December of 2011, the IRS published new temporary regulations (T.D. 9654) in relation to capital expenditures under Sec.263(a). I bring this topic up now because the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) recently released a paper discussing these new regulations. Continue reading
By Moshe Hildeshaim
While you may not be able to retire early, certain depreciable assets in your real estate portfolio may be eligible for early retirement. While we are all familiar with the concept of a cost-segregation study, there is another aspect to a cost-segregation study that – although not as well known – offers the potential of huge tax savings. This is known as the “write off component”. It is what should happen when you decide to renovate a property and remove its original assets. Continue reading
Much proverbial ink has been spilled on how real estate as an investment asset class has become a required part of a well balanced investment portfolio. This is welcome news for real estate investors as it invites substantial amounts of capital to flood the market. This is typically a good thing.
One of the challenges to achieving this goal, though, is a lack of quality information. Specifically, I’m referring to quality information about the sub-market and even more importantly, information about the specific property that a buyer is pursuing. Sure, there’s lots of information available about the city or town in which the property is located, but more granular information about the particular sub-market and the property itself is virtually non-existent. Continue reading
As a company with services to offer, we are (as are all other businesses) inherently always in the “sales mode”. This is what it takes to stay ahead of the pack, or at least to be in the race, in today’s environment. No matter what place or setting in which we find ourselves, our antennas are tuned for the next opportunity to ‘bring home the bacon.’
This blog, however, is called ‘The Trusted Advisor’. It’s titled this way because we view ourselves as the trusted advisor to commercial real estate investors. As a trusted advisor, our role is to objectively present all sides of the business opportunity and hopefully steer our client in the best direction for the client’s bottom line, not ours. I’ve often advised clients not to move forward with one or other of our services when I felt it wouldn’t produce the results they were looking for or generate the proper return on their investment. Continue reading
The leadership at Madison Commercial Real Estate Services (MCRES) will be attending and exhibiting at RECON 2012, the largest retail commercial real estate convention in the world. Hosted by the International Council of Shopping Centers, the RECON Show will be held in Las Vegas, NV from May 20-23, 2011. This is a rare opportunity for commercial real estate property owners and their advisors to meet privately with all of Madison’s top brass – in Madison’s private conference rooms at Booth S541, at the corner of W Street and 54th Avenue in the South Hall — to review and gain insight of how best to improve the ROI of one or multiple properties. To schedule an appointment with Madison’s Leadership Team at RECON 2012, contact Keren Peters at 732-333-2471 or kpeters@madisoncres.com to coordinate a meeting date and time. Continue reading
According to Preqin, between 2003 and 2012, more than 300 real estate private equity funds have raised around $670 billion in institutional capital. Unfortunately, PE firms had earned the reputation of being the vultures of the financial world. While Private Equity firms have been portrayed as greedy irresponsible investors in the past, with changing times a new outlook on them may be necessary. Continue reading
A recent tax court memo raised a lot of questions regarding cost segregation. I would like to give
you some clarification and perhaps even answer some of those questions. Continue reading
Most of the transactions that Madison insures for title involve fee estates (properties that are being purchased). From time to time, however, we are asked to insure a commercial or industrial leasehold transaction, whether it is a creation of a brand new lease or assignment of an existing lease. A prospective tenant of a property may have similar concerns as a prospective fee purchaser (buyer) of a real property. Likewise, a prospective lender of a leasehold mortgage also wants to make sure that it has a valid mortgage on the leasehold estate. That is where title insurance comes in…. Continue reading
When you purchase a piece of property, a survey should always be done, for any number of reasons. First, the lender will usually require it as a condition of getting a loan assuming that the purchaser is getting a mortgage. Second, the purchaser should insist on a survey in order to know exactly what is being purchased. This includes the size of the property, where the boundary lines are and any easements or encroachments that could affect the property. Finally, the purchaser’s title company will exclude from coverage any facts that an accurate and up-to-date survey would show. To have coverage for such issues included in a title policy, a survey must be provided to the title company. Continue reading
You may have noticed the recent firestorm that erupted in the ongoing Presidential election campaign. As usual, politics and real estate are intertwined. Mitt Romney’s revelation — one of the world’s worst kept secrets — that he paid less than 14% tax on much of his vast income has renewed the oft fought battle over carried interest tax rate. While much of the media coverage has focused on the private equity and hedge fund managers that benefit (fairly or not) from this particular tax structure, the fact is that the carried interest tax rate bears a tremendous impact on real estate and its current form of partnership agreements. What impact would it have? If elected officials were to remove the lower tax rate incentive in the hope of garnering a few more votes — effectively raising the bar to achieve profitability even higher for hedge fund managers and real estate partnerships alike — it would likely have the unintended consequence of slowing down further the real estate recovery. You’d be surprised at how it would impact it, and how much! Continue reading
