The very first thing you need to ask yourself when wanting to purchase a new commercial property is what is its value not it’s selling price? You need to know what you’re going to be able to sell it for in order to make a profit before buying it. Also ask yourself if the asking price is relative to the income the property is generating.Vendors usually take chances and try to price a commercial property based on its future value. Unfortunately most vendors don’t get their properties sold as banks don’t look at the future value but the current market value of that property. So how do you value commercial property? Below are three tips I use to help me make the right decision when buying a property.Commercial Property ComparisonOne of the best ways to value a property is to compare its selling price with other properties which are in the same location and are more or less the same size. By seeing what kind of income other properties generate will also give you good idea on what you can charge for the one you want to buy.Replacement CostThe second thing you need to look at is what it would cost to replace the building. If you would have to spend one million rand to build a new building and it only costs 500 thousand rand to buy it in its current state it might be well worth the investment.Income Generating ValueThis is the most popular way to determine the value of a commercial property and it is called the capitalization rate also known as the Cap Rate. This is calculated by dividing the purchase price of your property by the net operating income or NOI. The NOI is the amount the property is taking in from rent, parking, storage, vending etc minus your vacancy rates, repairs, maintenance, taxes and all of the other expenses you might have associated with the property.In other words if you have a property that generated R150,000 per year but it has expenses of R50,000 per year that would leave you with a NOI of R100,000 per year. If you purchased a property worth one million rand and it generates a income of R100,000 per year that would be called a 10 cap property. The 10 cap means you would get a 10% return on your investment each and every year for your one million rand invested assuming you bought the property cash.
Tag Archives: Investing
Getting Started With Online Investing
As with everything else these days, the stock market has gone online. If you can shop, pay bills, and do your banking online, why not invest too? Investing online is not as big of an ordeal as some people make it out to be. The key is to know what you want before you start.
When opening a new account, investors need to answer the regular questions, such as the type of account they want and how it will be funded. When selecting an account type the kind you choose will depend on whether or not the account is taxable or tax-deferred, and also whether it is for just you or you and someone else.
You will also have to decide whether your account will be “cash” or “margin.” A cash account means you are only able to place trades for investments with money in your account. A margin account gives you a credit line from your brokerage firm. You can also have a “margin account with options,” which means you are purchasing the right to buy and/or sell a stock at a specific price. Options are quite complicated and usually only purchased by traders with experience and large portfolios.
After choosing the type of account money must be deposited. The initial deposit can be sent to the firm by check or an automatic transfer from a bank account. Another option is transferring an account from a different brokerage firm, but the process is quite lengthy and can take months to complete.
If you are trying online investing for the first time, start small. Don’t put every penny of your life savings into an online account. A smaller sum is easier to handle and easier to keep track of. When you feel confident and are ready, then you can expand your online account.
Another good thing to do when investing online is to try and stay diversified, in other words don’t concentrate all of your portfolio on just one thing, instead develop a well-balanced portfolio of stocks, bonds, and cash.
Many brokers will encourage you not to bail out on mutual funds. The main reason most investors are in mutual funds are because they don’t have the experience to make their own calls on stocks. They are also occupied with other things beside just watching the stock market. Keeping your mutual funds can be a wise decision instead of prematurely “playing the market” in individual stocks.
It is important to remember that online brokerage firms add fees and charges that need to be looked at closely. Before buying and selling large scale stocks online, look at what the tax results are of such trading. The average online brokerage costs are lower than full-service brokers, but fees can still add up.
Remember that just because you are investing online, the Internet is not foolproof and you are bound to run into some problems. There will surely be times when you are unable to gain access to your account. You’re connection could be down, the brokerage firm’s server could crash if trading is overly heavy, you could experience a software glitch, or you may be away from your computer when there is a major market move. Always be prepared for these things and keep in mind the available alternative trading options such as phone trading.
When investing online it is your responsibility to say as informed as possible. Don’t just settle for what you hear. Instead do a little research on a company before investing in them. There are services that send you automatic e-mail messages over news about your stock; take advantage of these. Remember in online investing everything is up to you and knowledge is power.