Craig Higdon
‘ “The Investment Property Insider” is published by Craig S. Higdon, a veteran commercial mortgage broker. He publishes the weekly e-zine and blog, www.InvestmentPropertyInsider.com, for commercial real estate investors, developers, and industry professionals. Visit the blog and get this free report: “The 7 Biggest Loan Mistakes Real Estate Investors Make And How To Avoid Them.” ’
Articles by this Author
Insurance and Commercial Real Estate
- By Craig Higdon
- Published 02/28/2008
- Real Estate
- Rating: Unrated

Even though the market for residential real estate has begun to cool, commercial real estate investment opportunities abound. There are other risks in commercial real estate that you can mitigate through third party insurance policies. The most common form is title insurance. Environmental insurance is a new form of risk management that is gaining in popularity with lenders.
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How to Purchase Underperforming Properties with Construction Loans
- By Craig Higdon
- Published 02/28/2008
- Real Estate
- Rating: Unrated

In older investment properties, commercial properties that have been neglected by the current owner, or properties whose owners’ have fallen on hard times, there exists an opportunity for an educated investor to purchase real estate at a significant discount with high leverage! Construction loans on commercial property usually allow the investor to come in with 15% to 20% of the total costs of the project provided the construction loan doesn’t exceed 75% to 80% of the final, stabilized value.
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Commercial Real Estate Syndication: Controlling the Property
- By Craig Higdon
- Published 02/28/2008
- Real Estate
- Rating: Unrated

Your goal is to control the property without risking any of your money. As the Syndicator of group investment, you need to perform a Due Diligence investigation of the property. An acceptable alternative is the use of an Option to Purchase. The Option gives the option holder (you) an irrevocable right to purchase the property in the time period specified in the option. If you don’t purchase the property, your option payment (called “option money”) is gone.
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Apartment Loans: Common Multifamily Misconceptions
- By Craig Higdon
- Published 02/28/2008
- Loans
- Rating: Unrated

A property selling for $1,000,000 with $100,000 in annual income has a GRM of 10. The cap rate measures the return on investment for the capital invested in a property. The cap rate assumes that the property is purchased all cash and is calculated by dividing the Net Operating Income (NOI) by the purchase price.
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Commercial Real Estate Syndication: Property Selection and Purchase, Part 2
- By Craig Higdon
- Published 02/28/2008
- Real Estate
- Rating: Unrated

We’ll assume for the purposes of this article that you’ve selected your target investment property. The ideal time period for a group investment purchase is 120 days. Once it’s fully subscribed and the purchase escrow is ready to close, funds are transferred from the “funding” escrow to the purchase escrow. The reason to have the second escrow is to protect the investors’ funds in the event there are complications with the purchase escrow.
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Commercial Real Estate Syndication: Property Selection and Purchase, Part 1
- By Craig Higdon
- Published 02/28/2008
- Rating: Unrated

Let’s assume that you’ve decided to start assembling groups of investors to buy investment real estate. Here is a breakdown of property types and their attractiveness as syndication investments:
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Commercial Real Estate: Outlook at the Power Breakfast
- By Craig Higdon
- Published 02/28/2008
- Real Estate
- Rating: Unrated

Commercial real estate lenders are awash in money thanks to Collateralized Debt Obligations. Large funds are taking on more real estate, making it a legitimate “investment class” like stocks and bonds.
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Construction Loans: Questions and Answers
- By Craig Higdon
- Published 02/27/2008
- Loans
- Rating: Unrated

You sign loan documents and money is funded into escrow. In the case of a construction loan, only a portion of the total loan is released. A: Commercial loans have the added security of an income producing property providing the funds to pay the loan payments. For residential loans, it’s the borrower’s income. For any given property type, there is usually a maximum “loan to costs” and a maximum “loan to value.”
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A Roadmap for Commercial Real Estate Syndications, Part 2
- By Craig Higdon
- Published 02/27/2008
- Real Estate
- Rating: Unrated

Each of the members of the LLC (as individuals) has to sign a Property Management Agreement that employs the Syndicator as the day to day manager of the commercial property investment. 13. The Syndicator then files the Articles of Organization (LLC-1) with the state in which the LLC is formed and any formal registration documents if the property is in a different state.
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A Roadmap for Commercial Real Estate Syndication, Part 1
- By Craig Higdon
- Published 02/27/2008
- Real Estate
- Rating: Unrated

One of the most important requirements for purchasing commercial property is having enough down payment money, called “equity,” to complete the transaction. Most people getting involved in group investments are usually under-informed or inexperienced with regard to the following group-investment concepts:
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Blogs by this Author
Investment Property Insider
- By Craig Higdon
- Published 01/30/2008
The "Investment Property Insider" is a FREE weekly e-zine for real estate investors and service providers who want to profit from insider commercial real estate information, financing strategies, and ...
