Commercial property investment

[kerosam]

Am looking into a partnership with parents... possibly a commercial property investment i.e. office & budget $500k including cost, but we are quite green, not really know where to begin, besides the forum.

questions to the forum members are:

1. Is there a minimum floor area we should look into? There are some office space about 40m2 for sale. But who would actually rent such a small office? If i am a one man-operating company, wouldn't i be better off working from home than renting a small office space?

2. Besides the coporate and council fees, are there any other?

3. Like residential, should we follow the same property investment mantra- location, location and location?

opinions from anyone would be appreciated.

thanks in advance.

 

[macca]

Re: - commercial property investment

I always think it best to pay extra for a prominent spot.

A lot of warehouse developments seem to have the ones down the back empty, even though the front one charges higher rent, they still seem the most popular.

 

[stevo]

Re: - commercial property investment

Is there a minimum floor area we should look into?

As much as you can afford in the right location!

I have no idea who would rent a 40 sq m property, but I am sure that they are around - look at the serviced offices in North Sydney - some of these are quite small. The tenants in these locations need a location that present a certain image - a bit of a shopfront. The fun part is when you are trying to find tenants, it is not uncommon to find that you have to give incentives depending on the location and competing properties.

I am no expert though and, like everything - do your homework. It can be hard if you only have one property but, like shares, if you have a portfolio of property it is less risky. My preference is for commercial over residential (unless it's your own house), and shares over both. With relatively small sums of money I would have to consider if commercial property is the best choice. I do own some commercial property but I really don't get too excited by it - I mainly rent it to "myself". But each to their own.

Stevo