Resources for first time CRE buyers
My wife and I have been keeping an eye out for potential investment properties for a while and recently stumbled on a small parking garage that's for sale for a surprisingly attractive price. Unfortunately I don't know much about buying non-residential property. I've gotten a book on the topic and am reading up on how commercial loans work but I was wondering if anyone here had any recommendations for an introduction to the basics. 
[{"id": "dgbmzuk", "text": "It wouldn't hurt to call up an appraiser and grab a coffee. They see a ton of properties and don't have the same biases a broker might.", "replies": [{"id": "dgbyy8z", "text": "That's fairly insightful and I've never thought of that for potential acquisitions.  Do you find appraisers to be fairly responsive?  \n\nGenerally when I'm looking at a new acquisition on a marketed property, I'll ask another competing brokerage shop for info but still don't completely buy their story on the market.\n\nThanks for the tip.", "replies": [{"id": "dgc48lk", "text": "In general yes, I think most would be responsive to this sort of inquiry. In a general sense, they have a lot to gain by talking to market participants and understanding their motivations. More practically, if you're looking to acquire, you'll probably need financing and you'll probably need an appraisal. So it's not totally altruistic.\n\nEstablished appraisers are good liaisons. They talk to brokers, lenders, asset managers and developers regularly to understand the market. Those relationships really are the essence of the trade, so you'd be hard-pressed to find a good one that wouldn't be willing to shoot the shit with you in exchange for being top of my mind come lending time.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dgh0u24", "text": "maybe some recent students can post some good text book recommendations. There isn't a Fabozzi of CRE as far as I know, and there are a lot of options on Amazon.  \n\nYou could dig and try and find a syllabus from a respected program and figure out what text the professors for intro to CRE classes are using. That's going to be a good starting place.  \n\nThat way you have a base of knowledge and aren't wasting an appraisers time trying to understand what a cap rate is. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dgh86gm", "text": "Hi /u/P__Squared - exciting that you're jumping into commercial real estate! You should absolutely keep educating yourself through all methods possible, some good suggestions already here.\n\nFree education on commercial loans is not as easy to come by. Experienced mortgage brokers have a wealth of knowledge, but they don't typically share until you have a deal for them. Some of that is actually legitimate, as things can get so complex in commercial real estate, that it's hard to dole out general advice that will be relevant for every deal.\n\nWhen it comes time for exploring financing options, the *best* thing you can do is explore a lot of potential options. Many first-timers will go straight to their local bank, maybe where they have an existing banking relationship, and take their feedback on a deal as truth. We've found that different lenders often have very different views on the same deal. That's why we built StackSource, an online platform that helps you position your loan request, and instantly reach competitive lender options based on the deal's specific scenario. It's free to access our base lender network - would love feedback from a first-time entrant to commercial real estate!\n\nStackSource.com", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dgr7imm", "text": "Be careful with parking garages. They can be extremely expensive to maintain. Insurance is a huge cost and repairs to comply with city codes is another. I would go into multifamily first.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]