Merry Christmas! Here are your CAM Charges

This time of year, landlords all over Southern California, present their tenants with a Christmas gift - a bill for operating expenses. Merry Christmas indeed! Also referred to as Common Area Maintenance Charges - CAMs - these lumps of coal disguised as presents - anticipate the cost to operate your location.

So what’s included? Contained within the invoice is an estimate of property taxes, insurance for the structure, and various maintenance line items - such as roof, landscape, air conditioning and so on. Typically, these estimates take into account what’s known and what’s anticipated for next year.

Property taxes. Specifically, property taxes will be known - sort of. Owners receive their property tax bill in October for the last six months of the current year plus the first six months of next year. Yep. You got it. If you receive a bill now for expected charges next year - the last six months of next year are unknown. Confusing? Yes. Since County fiscal years run differently than calendar years - most landlords simply figure a small pop will occur and invoice accordingly. However, if your building sells or if The California Schools and Local Community Funding Act should pass - prepare for a large increase!

Property insurance. Insurance on the structure tends to be fairly easy. Policies are written annually. If the owner of your building and his insurance broker are in synch - not the Boy Band, BTW - these renewals can occur in December - allowing for the owner to allocate accurately.

Maintenance. Other expenses - such as mowing the grass and clearing leaves from your roof - can be predicted through yearly renewable maintenance contracts.

But what’s not included? If your owner hires someone to collect the rents and pay the mortgage - AKA a property manager - most likely this isn’t included in your CAM. Bank charges, depreciation, legal and accounting bills, and debt service are not generally your responsibility.

Major improvements - such as resurfacing the parking lot, changing the storefronts, installing drought tolerant landscape, employing solar panels, or replacing the roof - are afforded special treatment in your lease. Known as capital expenses - significant dollar expenditures - they are normally billed back over a number of years vs a lump sum transfer to a tenant.

Do I pay these? Yes! Companies who rent their business home are bound by lease agreements - unless your landlord has allowed the contract to lapse - at which point a month-to-month relationship exists. Regardless of the term remaining - lease contracts are generally one of two persuasions - a Net or Gross lease. And you pay operating expenses with BOTH.

With a Net - or sometimes called a NNN or Triple Net lease - you commonly pay as you go. Base rent is paid monthly and operating expenses are paid separately as they occur. In other words - property taxes twice a year, insurance once a year, and other maintenance as it happens. Remember - roof, HVAC, and trimming the bushes are all your responsibility - in addition to your rent. Some owners figure it’s easier to simply calculate what their occupants will pay and divide the number by twelve vs relying upon the tenant to pay when due.

With a Gross - or sometimes called a Modified or Full Service Gross lease - your expenses are baked into your base rent. A word of caution here. Some believe a Gross lease limits increases in monthly payments. After all - a base rent bump is specified. But, most Gross leases allow an owner to recapture an increase over your first year’s expense - known as a base year. A double whammy!

Can I dispute the charges? Of course! Typically you have a right to audit the invoice - even requesting specific calculations and back up documentation. Plus, if an owner over or under estimates - there is a reconciliation the following year.

It’s been my honor, dear readers, to converse with you weekly - not weakly hopefully - this year! My best wishes to you and yours for a magical holiday season! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Joyous Kwanzaa to you all and to all a good night!

Allen C. Buchanan, SIOR, is a principal with Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services in Orange. He can be reached at abuchanan@lee-associates.com or 714.564.7104. His website is allencbuchanan.com.

Six Tough Commercial Real Estate Conversations - Cooperation Can Help!

Cooperation is a reality in commercial real estate deals. Meaning - a buyer and seller or landlord and tenant - must reach an agreement. Simple. But there are other layers of cooperation which factor in - the professionals representing each side - brokers, lawyers, lenders, CPAs, and the like. All must genuflect at the alter of a deal for it to close. Generally, the level of cooperation is enhanced when the advisors do their jobs. That is - conduct the tough conversations which should precede any transaction. Indulge me while I describe a few of my favorites.

The disruption of a move. Sure. Moving to save a few dollars may seem like a good idea. But, a move is expensive! Once physical moving expenses, the potential loss of key employees, downtime, fixturization of the new facility, and customer confusion are weighed - are you really saving? Have you considered things such as internet speed, a new phone number, website changes to reflect the new address, revised marketing collateral? Add any sort of complexity to the use with which you utilize the building and a costly use permit may be needed. Someone must consider the true cost of a move before you wander into the market.

Taxes, taxes, taxes. Uncle Sam, the state of California, and the Affordable Care Act will all want a major taste of your sale proceeds. The time to understand the impact is before you plant that “for sale” sign. Easy math. You can plan on approximately 40% of your gain to be consumed by taxes. Whaaaat? That’s correct. A tax professional can run the numbers for your specific situation. Sure. You can employ certain tax deferral strategies - a 1031 tax deferred exchange, a charitable remainder trust, or an installment sale - but all come with complexities which should be fully vetted.

Market realities. Small business owners that buy or lease commercial real estate are smart. They read. They listen to their customers. They’re informed. In today’s market - unrealistic owners get crushed. The halcyon days of crazy asking prices, waves of buyer interest, and feeding frenzies have vanished like La Niña. Sure. Deals are transacting - but, at a more normal pace.

Condition of the building. During the go-go days of 2016 and 2017 - a buyer would overlook repair necessities such as the roof, air conditioning, paving or exterior condition. Not anymore. We recommend a pre-sale inspection to identity any issues and an assigning a cost estimate. Even if you opt to wait on the fixes - you know what they will run.

Limited availabilities. The weird thing is demand still exceeds supply - there are fewer buildings on the market than buyers. What’s changed since last year? Buyers are proceeding more cautiously, offers well below asking prices are the norm, and market times have increased.

Complete information. Access to scaled drawings, an office layout, a building inspection highlighting the condition and needed repairs, a current title report, copies of leases, expenses, maintenance contracts, and utility bills - all can hasten the timing of a transaction. Buyers will ask. Have them ready.

Allen C. Buchanan, SIOR, is a principal with Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services in Orange. He can be reached at abuchanan@lee-associates.com or 714.564.7104. His website is allencbuchanan.com.

Are YOU Prepared for a Rent Increase?

You've opted to lease your business location - which means every month you pay rent to a landlord. Several considerations led you to the decision to lease versus own your building. We will leave the lease versus own conversation for another day.

Today, my goal is to discuss the dynamics that will cause your rent to increase - sometimes dramatically! Hopefully, the topics discussed here will prepare you for the call that your rent will soon balloon.

When a commercial real estate lease originates, the number of years - term, rent amount, rent increases, concessions - such as abated rent, building improvements and the like are spelled out in the document you and the landlord sign.

As the term of your commercial real estate lease can dictate increases in your rent, a brief explanation about length of leases is important to review.

Depending on the size of your space, lease terms range from month-to-month to ten+ years. A smaller space - fewer than 5000 square feet - normally means a shorter term - fewer than two years. Why, you may ask? Tenants that occupy small blocks of space are frequently start-up companies without the benefit of years of financial history. In some cases, these businesses are a payment risk. Landlords counter this risk by limiting the lease term - the overall amount of rent to which a tenant is obligated. Additionally, growth trajectory is tough to quantify with a new enterprise. Therefore, these operators are reluctant to commit long term lest they outgrow their digs.

With term explanation as a back drop, there are several other factors can cause rents to rise. I've ordered these from least to greatest:

Increases in operating expenses. Operating expenses include charges for property taxes, insurance on the building, common area maintenance - landscape, trash, utilities, parking lot sweeping, a share of capital expenses - a new roof or air conditioner, and in some cases property management. All of these charges are either baked into your base rent - a gross lease, or are paid for in addition to your base rent - a NNN lease. Unless your agreement specifies otherwise, as these expenses increase over the term of your lease - yep - your rent increases.

Pre-set increases throughout the term. Leases today typically carry annual increases in the base rent of 3%-4%. Gone are the days where the amount of rent paid each year increased by the change that occurs in the Consumer Price Index. Even though three to four percent annually seems steep compared with inflation - please understand, commercial lease rates have increased approximately 70% since 2009 - a staggering 8% a year! So, if you signed a ten year lease in 2009 with annual escalators of 2.5%, prepare for a bit of a jolt next year.

The sale of your building. The largest operating expense is property taxes. Recall, these are paid as a part of your base rent or in addition to your base rent. Annually billed at one percent of the assessed value of the real estate, property taxes can increase a maximum of two percent per year - unless - the building is sold for more than the assessed value. And then, WHAM! You are stuck with a huge bill.

The expiration and renewal of an existing lease. The coup de grace these days. Many leases expire and are slated for renewal - as our volume of leasing hit a peak in 2010-2013. A seven year lease originated in 2010 expired last year as did a five year lease commenced in 2012. Shock and awe are mild adjectives to describe tenant reactions to their landlord renewal proposals. Met with a limited amount of available buildings, many tenants have been forced to swallow hard and accept that their rent might increase 30-40%! Ouch!

Next week, I will discuss some strategies for limiting your rent increases - so stay tuned, faithful readers!