Search This Blog

Monday, September 16, 2013

Finding the Right Broker

When you are looking for a broker, it is a good idea to ask a few questions.    The right broker will want to make sure that your needs are taken care of.   Ideally, that would benefit him as well.  

A colleague forwarded me a request from a broker in another state who wanted to find someone who knew about real estate in Costa Rica.   When I called, I was told that this broker had just listed a hotel in Costa Rica on the Pacific Coast. 

As we talked further, I discovered that this broker had never been to Costa Rica.  He did not speak Spanish or any other language other than English.  He had no experience with the hospitality industry.   He was not aware that there was a rainy season or that because of the rainy season, maximum occupancy was limited to about 60%.   He did not know that Germans were big investors in Costa Rica.   He did not know that you had to be careful who you worked with in Costa Rica because there were no licensure laws for real estate brokers.   He did not know how to do an international transaction or arrange for international financing.  He had no idea about Costa Rican immigration laws.   

Yet he was confident that he could handle this and had it under control....

I'm not sure how this broker got this listing but it is hard to beleive that this broker is acting in the best interests of his client.    Certainly, you want to take care of your client's needs but if you are not the appropriate one to do that, the best practice is to refer the listing to someone who can.

I doubt I will hear from this broker again but I left the door open for him to call, in case things start to blow up on him.   I have contacts in Costa Rica who are fluent in Spanish, German and English and who work on the Pacific Coast.      They routinely work with the hospitality industry, understand immigration laws and handle international transactions and financing.   And they are members of NAR, which means that they voluntarily follow the NAR Code of Ethics and take Continuing Education.  

For his client's sake, I hope that he managed to find someone in Costa Rica with similar qualifications. 

The lesson here is that it is a good idea to ask a lot of questions, especially when you know that you are asking someone to work on a property that is not a run of the mill project. 

If you have any questions about finding a broker or about real estate in general, give me a shout.  I would love to help if I can. 

Have a great day!

David

David W. McCoy, MBA
Associate Broker
Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate
10444 Bluegrass Pkwy
Louisville, KY  40299

ofc: (502) 379-6005
cel: (502) 905-5274
e-mail: DMcCoy@ccre.biz

BTW - I am a licensed Real Estate Broker in Kentucky and Indiana.  I specialize in Commercial and International Properties.   I handle Office, Industrial, Investment, Commercial Land and Retail properties.   I work with Landlords, Tenants, Sellers, Buyers and Investors.    Heck, I can even set you up with someone to help you with Residential property.    Let me know if I can help.

Friday, August 30, 2013

Ironman Louisville 2013

The big news for me is that last Sunday, August 25, I completed the Ironman Louisville.     It took me 16 hours and 13 minutes to complete it.     Three quarters of an hour to spare. (smile)

That was one of the great thrills of my life.   People ask me how it was and my immediate response is to say "great" but really a one word response does not do it justice.    It was a tremendous thrill to cross that finish line but it was not an easy journey.  

The Ironman competition, if you do not know, is a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run.    (hence the car stickers of 140.6)    In Louisville, the swim is in the Ohio River.  

The journey is different for every athlete.  One of the things I am most proud of is the swim.   The swim was the part that scared me the most.   I ended up having my best time ever for a swim that distance BUT just the fact that I jumped in that river and swam the distance, even though I was scared, is what means the most.

Normally, I would expect the bike to be the easiest part for me.  I expected to finish the bike in about 6.5 hours.   But that ended up being the hardest part instead.   I started having abdomenal cramps almost immediately when I mounted my bike, which lasted the entire 112 miles.    I really felt terrible the entire time and because I couldn't eat or drink nearly as much as I needed, I am sure that I was dehydrated and undernourished.  

When I went into the bike to run transition, one of the volunteers told me that they thought I needed to go to the medical tent and withdraw from the race.  Honestly, I felt so terrible that I wondered if that wouldn't be best.   But I really did not want to quit.  I asked them for some water.  I dumped 2 cups over my head and drank 2 cups.   Then I asked if I could have a coke.   After drinking some of the coke, I began to feel a little better for the first time in 8 hours.  I didnt feel great but I felt like I could continue.

Then I made 2 decisions.  I would walk the marathon and I would not try to take any more solid food.  I stopped at every aid station and got coke, chicken broth and water.    At every aid station, I felt better and better.

At mile 6, I realized that the bottoms of my feet were badly blistered.    I resolved not to stop to rest because I wasn't sure I would be able to continue if I ever stopped.  At mile 17, roughly 2/3 of the way through the marathon, I looked at my watch and knew that I was going to make it.    The last 3 miles was pure joy. 

When I could see the finish line, I jogged in that last block and across the finish line. The spectators cheered wildly high fiving me all the way down the line.  When I crossed the line and they proclaimed me an Ironman, my friends and family were there cheering.   It was an unbeleivable thrill.

One of the amazing things about the experience is the other athletes, the volunteers and the spectators.   The other athletes are so inspirational.  While there are definitely athletes there with some bravado, more often I heard stories of people competing for a cause.   Some had survived cancer.  Some had survived a heart attack.   Some had lost huge amounts of weight.  Some competed for a friend who was ill.  Everyone wants everyone out there to finish.  Athletes are constantly encouraging each other and helping each other whenever possible.   I would have to say that the most impressive thing about this group is that it is a group with big hearts.

Also the people of Louisville are some of the finest people there are.   More than 3,000 people volunteered to help with the race.   Countless spectators lined the routes.     All of them cheering the athletes on and offering words of encouragement.   I've heard story after story from athletes about how someone offered them encouragement at just the right moment.    It is a very emotional journey.

I didn't finish because I am great athlete. In all honesty, I was just lucky. There were competitors who were much better athletes than me, who did not make it.    But I am very proud to be a part of this group of Ironmen.

Anyway, that's what I did last week.   

Hope everyone has a great Labor Day holiday weekend!

David

David W. McCoy
Associate Broker
Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate
10444 Bluegrass Pkwy
Louisvile, KY  40299

ofc: (502) 379-6005
cel: (502) 905-5274
e-mail: DMcCoy@ccre.biz

BTW - when I am not doing triathlons or marathons (smile), I am working with Commercial Real Estate and International properties.   I handle Office, Industrial, Land, Investment and Retail properties.  I work with Buyers, Sellers, Tenants, Landlords and Investors.   I can even hook you up with Residential realtors.   Give me a call if I can help.


Thursday, August 22, 2013

Brazilian Dreaming

I got my tourist visa to go to Brazil!  

The end of next month, I will be traveling to Brazil with a group from GLI  (Greater Louisville Inc - our local Chamber of Commerce)   for a 9 day trip to Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro.     This is a cultural exchange trip for members of the Louisville community.    

I am looking forward to meeting the people going on the trip as well as those we will meet while we are in Brazil.    I have been surprised to learn we have a small Brazilian community in Louisville.  I have discovered this quite by chance when several Brazilians have introduced themselves after hearing me casually mention my upcoming trip. 

Admittedly, I am primarily going because of GLI's trip offering BUT here is why I want to go -

In recent years, Brazil's economy has been booming while at the same time the US dollar has been devaluing.   The combination of these factors has caused US goods and real estate to be very inexpensive for Brazilians.  Brazilians have responded by investing heavily in the US.     A buddy of mine from the Miami area told me that in one year, Brazilians pretty much absorbed the entire vacant inventory of condos that were left from the housing crisis.   In fact, he tells me that there are now billboards all over Miami in Portuguese.  

It may be a small chance that someone in Brazil will want to do something in Louisville, KY but perhaps a bigger chance that someone in Brazil will want to do something in the US.   Also, with Brazil's economy booming, if someone in the US wants to invest there, I think it would be nice to have met a few contacts.    I have some referral networks that would allow me to find people to help with Real Estate all over the world and those are very useful.   But I have found that when possible, meeting people face to face makes those connections stronger.

In any event, for me, I get to see first hand the land, people, culture (and real estate) in Brazil and hopefully, I get to build my network of friends and business connections.  

SO, with that said, if you happen to know someone interested in real estate in Brazil OR someone in Brazil interested in finding real estate in the US, let me know.

Wish me luck!  It's going to be a great trip!

David

David W. McCoy
Associate Broker
Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate
10444 Bluegrass Pkwy
Louisville, KY  40299

office: (502) 379-6005
cell: (502) 905-5274
e-mail: DMcCoy@ccre.biz

BTW - Call me if you need help with real estate! I am a licensed real estate broker in Kentucky and Indiana.  I specialize in Commercial Real Estate and Global property.   I work with Buyers, Sellers, Landlords, Tenants and Investors.     I handle Office, Industrial, Land, Investment and Retail properties.  Heck I can even set you up with help on Residential Real Estate.   Give me a call.  I would love to help.   You can reach me by my contact information above.  

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

August Big Event

This has been an extraordinary year for me.   It seems as though I am having an extraordinary event nearly every month.    This year, I went to Costa Rica for an International Real Estate Conference (which was really cool but not today's topic.)   I sold my house, which I have lived in for 22 years.   I have moved to a temporary situation and am still looking for a new place.  I participated in my first Half Ironman competition in Muncie Indiana.    I welcomed a new grandson into the family with my daughter and her husband.   I have been learning Russian and started learning Portuguese.    On the agenda I will be traveling to Brazil in September and plan on going to San Francisco in November.   BUT the big event for me this month is the Ironman competition.

On Sunday August 25th, Louisville will be hosting what I believe is our 7th full Ironman competition and I will be participating.  The competition involves a 2.4 mile swim in the Ohio River, a 112 mile bike throughout Louisville and adjoining counties and finishes with a full marathon (26.2 miles).   I will have 17 hours to complete it.  

This is one of the great unknown events in Louisville.   People are aware of it but I would say that most people are not aware that it is a really big deal.  We have participants come from all over the country and really all over the world.    Approximately 3,000 people will be competing including a number of professional athletes and it is a qualifying event for the Kona Ironman.    I am told the event pumps approximately $5,000,000 into our local economy.

I understand that doing an Ironman is not everyone's cup of tea BUT if you want to see something really cool and inspiring, come down to Fourth Street Live Sunday night and watch some of the participants cross the finish line.   Watch their expressions as it is announced as they cross the line, "You're an Ironman!"    

Afterwards, probably sometime Monday afternoon, I will be having a follow-up ceremony.   I will be putting my 140.6 sticker on the back of my car, drinking my favorite adult beverage with some friends and family and singing the National Anthem.  And then I might just download an "ironman" ring tone to my phone.

Have a great day everyone!    

David

David W. McCoy
Associate Broker
Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate
10444 Bluegrass Pkwy
Louisville, KY 40299

cell: 502-905-5274
ofc: 502-379-6005
e-mail: DMcCoy@ccre.biz

BTW - I am a licensed real estate broker in the States of Kentucky and Indiana.  I specialize in Commercial and International Real Estate.  I handle Office, Industrial, Investment, Land and Retail properties.  I work with Sellers, Buyers, Landlords, Tenants and Investors.  Heck I can even set you up with Residential real estate help.     Give me a call if you need any help with real estate. 

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

County Foreclosure on Broadway Office Real Estate

As I often do on Wednesdays, I was looking through the County Foreclosures listed in today's paper.  In today's list, I saw 500 West Broadway, which is a downtown Office Real Estate Property.  You may remember it as the Bank of Louisville building on Broadway.   I think this building is maybe 11 stories tall.   The Commission's list of County Foreclosures,  lists the amount to be raised at $3,370,265.28.   

This building is an older building which has had very low vacancy for some time.    So, in some respects this is not a big surprise.   

The auction date is set for June 18 and anything can happen between now and then.  So far, it does not appear that the court has done its appraisal for the auction, although that is usually done within a couple of weeks of the auction date.  

If you think that you might like to have an 11 story office building on Broadway, you can try to buy this property at auction.  The auction date is June 18 and it is in the Old Jail building located at 514 W Liberty at 10:00 AM.      You will need to bring with you a cashiers check (or certified check) for $10,000 for the deposit if you are the successful bidder.   (side note: If you bring a cashier's check, you should have this check made out to yourself so that if you are NOT the successful bidder, you can redeposit the funds into your account.  If you ARE the successful bidder, you can endorse it over to the Commissioners)   

CAUTION - Before bidding, you need to know the court's appraised value of the building.   Kentucky State law allows a right of redemption for properties sold at foreclosure auction, if they sell for less than 2/3 of the court appraised value of the property.   If you happen to buy a property at foreclosure auction for less than that, the previous owner can redeem the property within one year by repaying you the amount you paid.  

You just never know what you might find at a foreclosure sale.

Have a great day!

David

David W. McCoy, MBA
Associate Broker
Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate
10444 Bluegrass Parkway
Louisville, KY 40299

ofc: 502-379-6005
e-mail: DMcCoy@ccre.biz

Let me know if you need any help with Real Estate.  I am a licensed Real Estate Broker in Kentucky and Indiana and specialize in Commercial Real Estate and International Properties.   I handle Office, Industrial, Commercial Land, Investment, Multifamily and Retail properties.  I work with Buyers, Sellers, Landlords, Tenants and Investors.   I also work with international clients and speak enough Spanish to get myself into trouble.   Heck I can even set you up with residential help if you need it.   I'd love the opportunity to help.   

The information provided in this post comes from sources I deem to be reliable but I cannot warrant this information.   Any opinions I present are mine alone and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate, its brokers, agents, or employees other than myself, of course.  

Monday, May 13, 2013

Commercial Land - Market Activity and Analysis


As luck would have it, I have several Commercial Land listings again.  Recently I have shared some analysis of the Commercial Land - market activity with some of my land clients.  So I thought I would share it here as well.  
 
In general, there was sort of a bump of activity last year (2012) and there were signs of interest  with a number of calls in the first quarter 2013 on land but it seems that things have quieted down a little as we enter into the summer.  

Looking back at Commercial Land sales, I found that KCREA (Kentucky Commercial Real Estate Association – our Commercial Information Exchange) reported 23 sales of commercial land larger than 5 acres for the 12 month period beginning 4/1/2012.    So about 2 sales per month.   Interestingly, 8 of those 23 were foreclosure sales, auctions or bank sales.   In April of 2013, there were 253 commercial land properties larger than 5 acres which were listed for sale on KCREA.  So there is presently about an 11 year supply of land on the market.

It is no longer news that commercial land in general depreciated about 40% since 2008.  What this tells us is that with roughly a third of the commercial land sales being distressed sales, and an 11 year supply of land at current consumption rate, we can see this downward pressure on prices is still with us.  

On the positive side, the metro market area’s Industrial occupancy is very high and we are beginning to see a shortage of Industrial space.   This has led to some Industrial spec projects for the first time in quite a while.  If this demand continues and if financial institutions begin to loosen their credit somewhat and allow more of these projects, we should expect to see the demand for commercial land to increase in tandem with this activity.  

Of course, land is not a homogenous product.   Location, size, zoning, traffic, roads, visibility, availability of utilities are all factors in addition to price as projects come available.   Each of these will ultimately be a factor in the demand for a particular parcel when new projects are being considered.  

Let me know if you have any questions. 
 
I hope you have a great day!
 
Side note - I am a licensed real estate broker in Kentucky and Indiana and I specialize in Commercial Real Estate.  I handle Office, Industrial, Retail, Commercial Land, Investment and International Properties.   I work with Sellers, Buyers, Landlords, Tenants, and Investors.   Heck I can even set you up with a Residential specialist if you need help.   If you need any help with real estate, give me a call or send me an e-mail.  I would love to help.   
 
David
 
David W. McCoy
Associate Broker
Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate
10444 Bluegrass Parkway
Louisville, KY  40299
 
office: (502) 379-6005
Cell: (502) 905-5274
 
 

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Commercial Land - New Listing on I-65 Interchange


I have a new Commercial Land listing on an Interstate Interchange in Shepherdsville, KY.   There are 77 acres on the southeast quadrant of I-65 and Hwy 44.  It is situated at exit 117 of I-65, 11 miles from Louisville International Airport and UPS World Port.    This property has great highway visability with approximately 2500 feet of frontage on I-65.   All utilities are available.  For sale at $120,000 per acre.  

For more information on this listing or other Commercial Land, give me a call or e-mail me.   My contact information is below.

Thanks and have a great day! 

David

David W. McCoy, MBA
Associate Broker
Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate
10444 Bluegrass Parkway
Louisville, KY  40299

office: (502) 379-6005
cell: (502) 905-5274
e-mail: DMcCoy@ccre.biz

Note - If you have questions about this or about any Commercial Real Estate, please feel free to contact me.   I am a specialist in Commercial Real Estate and I handle Office, Industrial, Commercial Land, Investment and Retail Properties.  I work with Landlords, Tenants, Sellers, Buyers and Investors.     I am also an International Property Specialist and have specialized training to help international real estate investors with real estate needs here as well as US citizens and companies needing assistance internationally.   Heck, I can even set you up with residential help if you need it.    Give me a call.  I would love to help.

Disclaimers - While the information provided is from sources which we deem to be reliable, Commonwealth Commmercial Real Estate cannot warrant this information.    All information provided is subject to review and verification by the interested party as part of the due diligence process. 


Wednesday, April 3, 2013

County Foreclosure Surprise

Some folks claim that a real estate license amounts to a license to be nosy. 

Being a real estate broker AND a curious sort, I regularly check out the County Foreclosure list published in the Courier Journal on Wednesdays.   If you have not checked it out, it is published on Wednesdays in the Classified, which is in the Metro Section of the Paper.    There is an ad run by the Jefferson County Circuit Court which is titled COMMISSIONERS SALE, MASTER COMMISSIONER.  Following that title is a list of the upcoming foreclosures for auction.  

Today, I discovered that Meidinger Tower is scheduled to go to foreclosure auction on Tuesday, April 23.     According to the posting, the foreclosing party is seeking to raise $29,172,987.65 to satisfy their debt.

I suppose it shouldn't have been a great surprise.  Meidinger Tower lost their name sake tenant a year or two ago, when they moved to Aegon Tower.   With the principal tenant gone, they have had a lot of vacant space.  

Still, I hate for anyone to face hard times.

Anyway, it's amazing what you might find when you pay attention.  I will be curious to see if this makes it to auction and who ultimately ends up controlling the property. 

Have a great day everyone!  Thanks for reading.

David

David W. McCoy, MBA CIPS e-PRO
Associate Broker
Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate
10444 Bluegrass Parkway
Louisville, KY  40299

ofc: (502) 379-6005
cel: (502) 905-5274
e-mail: DMcCoy@ccre.biz

Monday, March 18, 2013

Transitioning and Technical Issues

I know it has been about a month since my last post.  I have been procrastinating.  I have been reviewing my blog strategy and discussing it with some friends who are a little more savvy than I about blog issues.   One of their recommendations has been to get away from Blogger. 

I have been using Blogger for 7 or 8 years and I have had some issues with them.   My original blog ran 5 or 6 years and then out of the blue for some reason which was never really clear to me, they deleted it.    They told me that I had violated some rules about spam but would not elaborate or even allow me to talk to anyone about it to figure out what they were talking about.  

In spite of that, I restarted the Blog and I stayed with Blogger to a large degree simply because it is very easy to set up.   Some things however are not easy.   Although there are different templates, I have not been happy with the appearance of the Blog and it seems difficult to adapt.    I understand that the Blog appears differently depending on a number of factors but I often find that the columns get messed up which makes the print difficult to read and just generally makes a bad impression.    Also, some useful tools to help drive traffic to the blog are not easy to access.  

My buddies have suggested that I set up my own domain name and use a little more robust blogging platform.    I have been working through some of these issues and the actual blogging has taken a back seat to these tasks.    I still don't have everything figured out just yet but I am hoping to make a change and hopefully improve the overall look and effectiveness of the blog.    

I am a little nervous about the transition but I hope to have the sites link to each other for a while (assuming that I am not violating any of the sites policies in doing so.

So, keep an eye out for a change.   AND hopefully after making the change, I will return to a more regular schedule.

Have a great day!

David

David W. McCoy
Associate Broker
Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate
10444 Bluegrass Pkwy
Louisville, KY  40299

office: (502) 379-6005
cell:  (502) 905-5274
dmccoy@ccre.biz

If you are looking for help with Commercial Real Estate, give me a call.  I specialize in Commercial Real Estate and handle Office, Industrial, Commercial Land, Investment and Retail properties.  I work with Sellers, Buyers, Landlords, Tenants and Investors.   Heck I can even set you up if you have residential needs.  

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Costa Rica Real Estate

I spent last week in Tamarindo Costa Rica at a Real Estate Conference on International Real Estate.    While there we visited several real estate developments in the Tamarindo area.   Tamarindo is a beautiful place.   It is on the Pacific coast of the country and the view of the Pacific is breath taking. 

It is a tropical environment on the coast, being about 11 degrees off of the equator.   But there are also the mountains and the rain forests which can be much cooler.   There is a dry season and a rainy season.   The rainy season starts in May and lasts through November.  October and November are normally the rainiest and I am told that many places close for the month of October.   

Costa Rica is a democracy with a stable government.   The official language is Spanish.   The literacy rate is about 97% and English is taught through the senior year in high school.  I would not claim that everyone is fluent in English but the majority of people understand enough English that getting around is almost never a problem.   In fact, everywhere I went the signs and menus were in both Spanish and English.   

Property rights are strong in Costa Rica.   The laws protect ownership rights of property owners and investors.   There is a national property registry that records all ownership.   They feel so strongly about the rights that the real estate attorneys in Costa Rica do not recommend title insurance.

Costa Rica has been actively encouraging foreign investment as well as retirement for many years and there is a large population of retired expats in the country.   There are people from Germany, Italy, and really all over although the majority immigrated from the US.   While retirement is one of the big draws, I met all kinds of people who moved there because they liked the climate and the country and the relaxed pace of life.   In fact, many of the people who moved to Tamarindo are surfers.

The economy struggled when the US economy had its downturn back in 2008.   Although unemployment presently is at nearly 11%, the country still has one of the stronger economies in Central America.   Nicaraguans come to the country looking for work and provide very inexpensive labor.  Many Nicaraguans will come and stay for the week, moving from house to house of Costa Ricans working as cooks, maids, landscapers and the like and then returning to their families in Nicaragua for the weekend.

With the efforts to attract retirees and foreign investment, Costa Rica has been developing its infrastructure.    Developments in Tamarindo have water, sewer (or septic systems), and electricity.   (Everywhere I went, the water was safe to drink.)    Cell phones work there and internet is available.  

A new airport in Liberia just came on line in 2012 and provides great access to the Pacific coast.   The trip from the airport to Tamarindo was a little less than an hour.   Still getting around can require a sense of adventure.   While there are some good roads in the country, probably the majority of the roads are still dirt.   Because of the mountains, some of the roads can be very steep.   Most of the roads are not named.    A lot of the people use 4 wheel drive vehicles to get around. 

It's a beautiful place with a perfect climate.  Property rights are strong.   There is good infrastructure.   You can see why Costa Rica has developed one of the best reputations for investment in Central America.   

If you are curious and would like to know more, I expect to have a link to the Costa Rica Global Association of Realtors available in the near future!  When I do, you can browse those listings and see for yourself.   AND if you need any help with real estate there, let me know.  I can definitely get you started. 

Thanks for reading.   Have a great day.

David

David W. McCoy
Associate Broker
Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate
10444 Bluegrass Pkwy
Louisville, KY  40299

ofc: (502) 379-6005
cel: (502) 905-5274
e-mail:  DMcCoy@ccre.biz





Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Costa Rica Real Estate Conference

I am in Tamarindo, Costa Rica this week taking the classes for the National Association of Realtors (R) designation for International Real Estate.    This consists of five 8 hours days of classes on International Real Estate.    Today was day 2.  

If you are a Realtor thinking about International Real Estate, I would strongly encourage you to take these courses.    There is so much information to learn and my instructor David Wyant is really awesome.  David is a retired IBM executive who lived in France and London for a while during his career at IBM.    David has literally been all over the world.    Also,  I was very pleased to find that most of the people attending this conference had similarly interesting stories.   One lady has lived in Athens for 12 years and now moved to the Boston area.  A gentleman from Scotland lived in Zambia working in copper mines but relocated to North Carolina.   A single mom of Cuban heritage from Miami is moving back to Costa Rica.   An English lady who lives in North Carolina once lived in Saudi Arabia.   Two or three Canadians are in the class.   People speak English, French, Greek, Spanish, and Russian.  The common factor seems to be that all are xenophiles.  

About 5 of those attending are Realtors (R) in Costa Rica.   (Yes, that is correct.  The Costa Rica Global Association of Realtors is associated with NAR.)    In addition to our class work, the local Realtors (r) have arranged for us to take several property tours.  We are getting a crash course in the Costa Rican real estate market, the economy here, the infrastructure and geography.    We are meeting developers and local property management professionals.    

Tamarindo is on the Pacific coast.  As I am here this week, the temperatures have been in the 90s.    No rain. (although this is the dry season)  A beautiful sunset every night.    This is truly a wonderful place that everyone should visit.  

Enough for now.  I will try to do more later in the week.   Maybe even get some of my pictures up.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

David

David W. McCoy
Associate Broker
Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate
10444 Bluegrass Pkwy
Louisville, KY  40299

ofc: (502)379-6005
cel: (502) 905-5274
e-mail: DMcCoy@ccre.biz

Thursday, February 7, 2013

KCREA goes International

If you are looking for Commercial Real Estate in Louisville and you are asking a residential realtor and looking at the MLS, I'm afraid that you are searching about 7 or 8 years too late.    Please don't misunderstand, I am not knocking residential realtors at all.  It is just that the MLS eliminated commercial properties from their data base about 7 years ago.   

There are several on-line listing services which provide information on Commercial Real Estate.  I use several and I think that most of the commercial real estate specialists do as well.   Locally, KCREA, the Kentucky Commercial Real Estate Association, has most of those listings.   

KCREA is constantly evolving.  It is not perfect but it does seem to be actively trying to improve.   So I was pleased when I recently discovered that KCREA now has an option to translate the listing into several different languages.   If you do a search for a property and click on one, on the right side of the page, down several lines is an option to translate the page.  If you click on that option, several icons of flags appear.   If you are not familiar with the flags, when you roll over the flags, a label appears displaying the language.  (Languages include: Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Hebrew)  Click on the flag and the page will translate.

Pretty cool.   Now, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story.   I speak a little Spanish and truth be told, the translation is not perfect.   Still, while the translation could be a little better, it certainly would be largely understandable to a Spanish speaker.  They might be somewhat amused at the translation but I suspect that they would be able to get the basic information and a decent understanding of what it being offered.  

I for one, think that this is a big step forward.   In our market, this is not yet a major issue although, in our office, we have worked with Cuban immigrants, who spoke almost no English, Russian business owners, who fortunately were bilingual, and Chinese business owners, who brought their kids to translate for them.   In some of our high schools, the students are speaking 30 or 40 different languages as their native language.  

Check it out.   You can go to www.KCREA.com and do some searching.   Then click on the Translate option and select a language.   If you find that you need some help, let me know. 

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

David

David W. McCoy
Associate Broker
Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate
10444 Bluegrass Parkway
Louisville, KY  40299

ofc: (502) 379-6005
cel: (502) 905-5274
e-mail: DMcCoy@ccre.biz

Let me know if you need help with Commercial Real Estate.  I am a licensed Real Estate Broker in Kentucky and Indiana and I specialize in Commercial Property.  I handle Office, Industrial, Commercial Land, Investment, and Retail properties.   I work with Landlords, Tenants, Sellers, Buyers, and Investors.     Heck, I can even set you up with some help from a residential realtor if you need it.  Give me a call.  I would love to help.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

New Adventures

I have mentioned a couple of times that I am declaring 2013 to be the Year of Prosperity, which is all well and good but one might legitimately ask how I expect that to play out.   At the end of 2012, I sat down to think about how I wanted to direct my life and career.   

I thought about things that I really loved and things that I really wanted to accomplish then looked at the talents I had in my tool box to see how I might make that happen. 
  • I love languages and cultures. 
  • I love travel and exploring.  
  • I love interacting with other people.  
  • I have an extensive background in Commercial Real Estate. 
  • I am conversant in Spanish.  
  • I have traveled a lot through out the Americas.     
From that, I decided that I needed to explore some new areas.  The obvious first step is to look into International Real Estate.    To be honest, I am not really sure how people make a living practicing international real estate but I intend to find out.    My hope is that I will be able to incorporate a practice of International Real Estate into my practice of Commercial Real Estate.  

Step One - I am going to Costa Rica this year for a conference on International Real Estate where I will get to network with some practitioners and hopefully get some insights.   Also, I will complete the National Association of Realtors courses for a designation of Certified International Property Specialist.     After that, I will evaluate whether this is something that looks promising.  If so, I am considering going for a visit to Brazil later in the year.    

In any event, it is looking like 2013 is going to be an exciting year.   

When I get back, I will share some of my insights.     

Thanks so much for reading!  Hope you have a great day.

David

David W. McCoy
Associate Broker
Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate
10444 Bluegrass Pkwy
Louisville, KY  40299

ofc: (502) 379-6005
cel: (502) 905-5274
e-mail:  DMcCoy@ccre.biz

Let me know if you would like some help with Commercial Real Estate.  I am a licensed Real Estate Broker in Kentucky and Indiana and I specialize in Commercial Real Estate.  I handle Office, Industrial, Commercial Land, Investment and Retail properties.   I work with Sellers, Buyers, Landlords and Tenants.   Heck, I can even find you some help with Residential Real Estate if you need it.   

Thursday, January 31, 2013

New Office / Special Purpose Listing

2013 is off to a great start!  Earlier this week, I listed a 32,000 square foot Office / Special Purpose property in Eastern Jefferson County for sale.   This building, located on a 7 acre suburban campus, has abundant parking and has terrific access to I-71 and I-64 via the Gene Snyder freeway.  The asking price is $3.1 Million.    

I plan to tour the property later this week, when I hope to be able to take some pictures that I can post later.  In the mean time, if you would like more information, you can e-mail me for more information OR you can check it out on one of the following sites:
It should be available on www.CoStar.com shortly as well.  

This is a really nice property.  If you know someone who might have an interest, please pass the word!  

Have a great day and thanks for reading!

David

David W. McCoy
Associate Broker
Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate
10444 Bluegrass Pkwy
Louisville, KY  40299

ofc: (502) 379-6005
cel: (502) 905-5274
e-mail: DMcCoy@ccre.biz

BTW - I am a licensed real estate broker in Kentucky and Indiana.  I specialize in Commercial Properties, handling Office, Industrial, Commercial land, Investment and Retail properties.   I work with Landlords, Tenants, Sellers and Buyers.    Give me a call if you need some help buying, selling or leasing commercial real estate.  I would love to help.    

Friday, January 11, 2013

2013 starts with a Busy Week in Commercial Real Estate

My initial post for 2013 declared this year to be the Year of Prosperity.   If things continue as they have this week, we should be well on track.    I guess I should check with my Commercial Real Estate colleagues around town to see if they are seeing similar activity  but I can tell you that my phone has been ringing like crazy all week.     In fact, my phone started ringing this morning at 6:30 AM and I was on the phone pretty much non-stop until lunch time.     

Or course, so far, none of this has resulted in a new contract, lease or closing but it is certainly encouraging.      After the dust has settled a little, I will probably go back and do some data analysis to provide some hard numbers where we can see if these gut instincts match real activity.

In the mean time, if you are looking for some commercial real estate, let me know.   I think it is time to spread this prosperity around.   I for one, would certainly like to help you accomplish that. 

That's all for now.  Really more of a "around the water cooler" kind of post.   Hope the New Year is going well for you.   Have a great day.

David

David W. McCoy
Associate Broker
Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate
10444 Bluegrass Pkwy
Louisville, KY 40299

ofc: (502) 379-6005
cel: (502) 905-5274
e-mail: DMcCoy@ccre.biz


Tuesday, January 8, 2013

2013 - The Year of Prosperity

We have all survived the Mayan Apocalypse. Hopefully, no one maxed out their credit or depleted their savings by December 21.   But now that we know that the world did not end, we are facing the startling reality that we are going to have to plan for 2013 after all.  

I don't know about you, but I for one am tired of dealing with economic doom and gloom.   I know that there are lots of folks making economic forecasts this time of year.  I suppose I could do some research and give it a go, but the truth of the matter is that I don't know what is in store for us in the coming year.  

Although I do not want to go off on a political commentary, I personally think that we could do better economically than our country is now doing.   Maybe we can do better or maybe at least for the time being, this is just the economic reality that we have to live with. 

After 4 years of difficult times, I realize that one of the things that has been hindering me is focusing so much on what I don't have rather than what I do have.   I am not a Pollyanna, but attitude does matter.   I won't try to pretend that people haven't experienced really difficult times and had significant losses.   At some point though, we need to let those things go so that we can move on.   

With that in mind, I am declaring 2013 the year of Prosperity.   It will be the year that things turn around.    I plan to focus on what I have and not what I have lost.  I plan to work on what I can do instead of worrying about what I can't do.  I also plan on working on things that make me happy instead of toiling on things that give me no joy.   

I am hoping for a year where I do well financially but I am counting on a year of Happiness and Prosperity.   I wish the same for you.

Have a great day!

David

David W McCoy
Associate Broker
Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate
10444 Bluegrass Parkway
Louisville, KY  40299

Ofc:  (502) 379-6005
Cel:  (502) 905-5274
e-mail: DMcCoy@ccre.biz