A commercial property inspection is one of the simplest and most effective ways to ensure that your commercial real estate investment will be successful.
Maintenance is an enormous part of that. Working with an unbiased, professional property inspector that you’ve vetted and chosen is a great way to put those protections in place.
While it’s true that inspections are an important (and oftentimes, necessary) step when a piece of property is changing hands, scheduling regular inspections will go a long way in bringing you a bigger return on your investment.
As a commercial property investor, you want to rest assured that you’ll make a maximum return on your investment. The only way to do that is to make sure that you are aware of any otherwise hidden costs that could eat into your earnings.
Regularly scheduled commercial property inspections can do more than catch problems before they become catastrophes.
Here are five ways that a property inspection will save you money on your commercial real estate investment:
- You can get on top of structural issues that will cost more as time goes on.
There are plenty of structural issues in a building that can go unnoticed. These also happen to be some of the most expensive repairs when the damage becomes apparent. Structural issues can include damage to the framing of the property, roofing, or foundation. A property inspection should be able to catch wood-destroying organisms or other signs of structural rot and damage immediately. A property inspection will also be able to point out structural features that were built with different safety codes and regulations, and which you may want to consider upgrading.
- You can preserve your investment property’s value.
A bad tenant can ruin a great investment overnight. Regular property inspections improve the relationship you have with your tenants, while simultaneously ensuring that the standards for your commercial property never drop below an acceptable level.
- You can get ahead of insurance claims.
The average real estate investor files an insurance claim at least once every nine years. With regular property inspections, you can stay abreast of any roofing, plumbing, heating, or other infrastructural concerns before they become real issues that will cost you money and time down the road.
While a good insurance policy will cover the claim in some way, there are still significant costs associated with organizing repairs as they pose problems. You’ll still be responsible for meeting the deductible, not to mention the amount of time and effort that it will cost you to work with insurance, contractors, and tenants who may have been disturbed by any particular damage. Regular inspections will shift your financial approach to maintaining the investment, allowing you to manage your operating and other overhead costs in a more cost- and time-effective way.
- If you’re buying, you’ll likely need an inspection to close the sale.
More and more selling agents require a property inspection before closing on the sale of commercial real estate. Oftentimes, such an inspection is required by the lenders before they’ll even approve the loan.
Calling in a commercial property inspector that you’ve hired can give your investment an advantage. As a buyer, you have no idea where the buyer may have gotten their property inspection. Perhaps it’s a friend of the seller or seller’s agent. Or perhaps it’s someone who doesn’t have a good track record of completing comprehensive and accurate inspections. Either way, you want to protect your investment.
As the buyer, hiring your own commercial property inspector will put the power in your hands. You can check for damage caused by previous tenants on the property. Perhaps previous owners did not maintain certain structural features or keep them up-to-code.
If there are any issues with the property that arise from your side’s inspection, you have leverage over the seller. You may be able to negotiate a better deal for yourself, whether that’s a lower price or a quicker close.
Similarly, once you own the property, potential tenants will be motivated to sign a lease with you if you can furnish recent property inspections. Not only does it give tenants peace of mind about the space they are about to move into, but they will also have the reassurance that their landlord is a trustworthy individual who cares about the property.
- You’ll get an unbiased report of maintenance items that you can decide how to prioritize.
Bias can go a few different directions. A shoddy inspection may result in certain things being overlooked, while a less-than-honest inspection by a contractor who’s in the business of mending roofs or pipes may exaggerate the severity of issues.
When you work with an inspector who’s tasked specifically with helping you keep track of maintenance, the details and information they gather will be specifically tailored to help you make informed decisions, reducing overall repair costs and allowing you to manage your investment in a proactive, as opposed to reactive way.
The Importance of Finding a Local, Trusted Commercial Property Inspector
Property inspectors are experts on the areas they serve. From the perspective of an inspector, different regions tend to present similar structural trends. The right company will have had years of experience in the area providing their services to other property investors who are looking at the same buildings as you.
AEI has over 30 years of experience in commercial property inspection, specializing in the identification of structural issues and the testing of all property components and systems. Their company provides detailed professional inspections throughout Northeastern Oklahoma.
Working with AEI will ensure that the commercial property will be inspected properly by a team of experts. AEI has years of experience performing inspections across a wide range of properties and can provide you with the information you’ll need to make the right decisions. Whether you need an industrial space or an apartment building looked at, you can be sure that AEI’s analysis will cover all the major components of Structure, Plumbing, Electrical, and Heating/Cooling systems.
