During my travels this past month, I have been speaking to a number of professionals that have all agreed with me that during what is typically the busy season for commercial real estate transaction, activity is still moving extremely slowly! It is not to say that deals are not happening, however, most of the deal activity tends to be lease transactions due to the fact that banks are still proceeding with extreme caution, and your credit must be exceptional in order to take advantage of borrowing money today for commercial transactions. And most of the lease transactions today are typical of renewals, early renewals which Tenants are taking advantage of; Tenants have some leverage to renegotiate favorable terms and in some cases, take advantage of slight rental reductions. The savvy Landlords will do this all day long knowing that with so much vacant space on the market, coupled with decreasing rental rates, they are much better off keeping their existing tenancies and maintain long-term relationships with their tenants.

Darren Lizzack, MSRE Associate VP NAI James E. Hanson 201 488 5800 x104 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it More Info

Investing in Commercial Real Estate Today and the Foreseeable Future

I hope you all enjoyed the end of summer and you spent your Labor Day doing something that will have created memories to last. With the onset of fall, I wanted to share some of my thoughts with you pertaining to the state of the economy today as we head into the fall season here in New Jersey. I am also trying to prepare you for the unveiling of the New Jersey Commercial Real Estate Alliance (www.njcrea.com) which I have been working with a team of professionals over the past year or so to bring to the forefront a wealth of information that you may tap into to help assist you with making informed real estate decisions.

Darren Lizzack, MSRE Associate VP NAI James E. Hanson 201 488 5800 x104 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it More Info

This month’s Topics:

I. Commercial Real Estate- Industrial, Office, & Retail

II. Coming Soon- NJ COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE ALLIANCE (www.njcrea.com)

I hope this email finds you enjoying your summer; I know it goes by quickly for all of us. I wanted to take this opportunity to briefly discuss the latest information as I am seeing things today with respect to each market sector, Industrial, Office and Retail markets. I am also going to share with you some of my general thoughts of where the commercial real estate arena is today and where we are heading. Lastly, I am going to introduce you to something I have been working on putting together with some friends for the past year and a half with the creation of NJ Commercial Real Estate Alliance (www.njcrea.com).

The past several news articles have focused on snapshots of the economy from the perspectives of various trade professionals. I feel that it would be timely to discuss something taking place in the marketplace today. Companies have been feeling the pinch all across the board with almost every business sector affected by this economic downturn. Many companies are focusing on survival and with that they should be thinking about their commercial real estate needs for today and the future in order to help them operate leaner and meaner in the short-term while positioning themselves for future growth as the economy improves.

During my travels this past month, I have been speaking to a number of professionals that have all agreed with me that during what is typically the busy season for commercial real estate transaction, activity is still moving extremely slowly! It is not to say that deals are not happening, however, most of the deal activity tends to be lease transactions due to the fact that banks are still proceeding with extreme caution, and your credit must be exceptional in order to take advantage of borrowing money today for commercial transactions. And most of the lease transactions today are typical of renewals, early renewals which Tenants are taking advantage of; Tenants have some leverage to renegotiate favorable terms and in some cases, take advantage of slight rental reductions. The savvy Landlords will do this all day long knowing that with so much vacant space on the market, coupled with decreasing rental rates, they are much better off keeping their existing tenancies and maintain long-term relationships with their tenants.

During my travels each week, I see and hear many things concerning the state of the economy and the Commercial Real Estate arena. I find listening to what others have to say about the state of the economy and specifically, the Commercial Real Estate Industry, quite intriguing, and I enjoy sharing this information with my readers, and below is what I have found to be of interest during the past month.

During my travels each week, I see and hear many things concerning the state of the economy and the Commercial Real Estate arena. I find listening to what others have to say about the state of the economy and specifically, the Commercial Real Estate Industry, quite intriguing, and I enjoy sharing this information with my readers, and below is what I have found to be of interest during the past month.

It is clear that people are looking at the world from a very different perspective than they did a year earlier, and there are a few things that puzzle me that I felt I would share with you in this month’s newsletter. First off, there are an alarming number of properties that are hitting the marketplace today, and I have firsthand experience given the number of new projects I have recently undertaken. The problem I foresee is that I am experiencing what I like to call an educational period whereas I have to spend much of my time educating my clients on the current state of the economy and how it affects their commercial property.

Last month, I discussed what other disciplines are up against in today’s volatile economic climate. This month, I want to focus in on the Lending Environment and also something new to my firm which is an Accelerated Marketing Program called Power Sale for Commercial Real Estate owners who are having difficulty disposing their assets in a timely fashion.  What do you do when banks are virtually "out of business and you need to sell your commercial property?"