Empower Commercial Seminar

[Heg]

Just got home after a full on weekend.
We want to say "thank you" to Peter and the entire Empower team for organising such an excellent seminar.
The amount of knowledge and information that the speakers have openly and honestly shared with us over the last two days was immense. What made it so great was the fact that these guys are actively out there buying and selling. Every example of a 'Deal' was an actual purchase/sale that had been made by that speaker. And that included the good,the bad and the downright ugly in some instances.
To us, the quality of a seminar is reflected in the "hands on" experience of the people speaking.

Some companies rely on 'invented for the seminar' numbers and scenarios, which are simply regurgitated by people who have little or no actual hands on investing experience and are purely a money making exercise. We would love to witness these companies cope with something like the Q and A session that took place at the end of today's Empower session......
We think they may have struggled somewhat.

Cheers
Jo and Rob

[Julian]

To have speakers "openly and honestly" sharing their information is what I would expect in a paid seminar.

Are you suggesting it is the norm to attend a paid seminar and have the speakers behaving in a covert and dishonest way?

Julian

[Heg]

Should have been more concise maybe Julian but have had a full on two days and are we are knackered.
No -we are not suggesting speakers are covert and dishonest. However SOME speakers do not speak from their own personal experience. They simply spout figures and show spreadsheets and tell you how great investing is.
Some of the information shared this weekend was extremely personal and that is often not what one would expect in a paid seminar.
We were simply saying that the Empower seminar was excellent and that the quality of the speakers was superb.
Off to bed now.

[Julian]

Sorry to hear you are knackered. When my uncle, a farmer, used to "knacker" the rams they were a bit wobbly on their pins for a little while. Knowing what the operation entailed I could understand completely. I hope you recover quickly.
Some viewers might be interested in the price of the seminar, and what you thought were the most significant points.
Julian

[SuperDad]

I would say that a mojor selling point would be that the material was rightfully theirs.

[Heg]

Sorry to hear you are knackered. When my uncle, a farmer, used to "knacker" the rams they were a bit wobbly on their pins for a little while. .

Is that where the expression came from? I am "knackerless" in the grammatical sense then, having never had any to begin with. "tired' doesn't have quite the same ring though
We paid $1295 pp for the course after PIA and Early Bird discounts.
I'll leave significant points until tomorrow as I am " awfully tired"

[Heg]

I would say that a mojor selling point would be that the material was rightfully theirs.

Couldn't have put it better SD. Although like to think I touched on it in a subtle fashion (not usually my style and you may have not spotted it )

[David_W]

Glad you enjoyed the seminar Jo - thinking of complimenting your residential portfolio with some commercial after this weekend, or holding tight in residential for now?

[Heg]

Hi David
Definitley going to start doing my research into commercial. Everyone I have spoken to who has made the switch from residential to commercial says they will never go back. I reckon I will still keep my fingers in the residential pie though.

[Heg]

Some viewers might be interested in the price of the seminar, and what you thought were the most significant points.
Julian

Price was $1295 as I mentioned in my earlier post. Some points of significance for me were -
What to do when tenants go bad, which was an eye opener into landlordsand tenants rights.

An explaination of Cap rates and how they affect value.

How to increase the value of a building.

Funding - how it works and what the criteria are.

We also did a couple of practical exercises which I found extrmely useful. One was negotiating a lease with a tenant, the other was making an offer on a building. (Not quite as straightforward as that but you get the idea)

[Taurean]

Hi Jo, have been contemplating this course for some time now but the price put me off. I guess it put me off for perhaps one of the reasons you elude to above. I have spent this amount & much more on what turned out to be a weekend of rah rah, followed by mentoring, sorry monthly meetings to see what each other had been doing and listen to a topical speaker.
I have read the book and I must say that almost pursuaded me to go the next course, now withyour endorsement I may go to the next.

Peter L

[Heg]

Hi Taurean,
I agree, these events aren't cheap and as you point out, some are simply not worth the cost, but this weekend certainly was.
A few of the topics were a bit 'Dry' but it's hard to make GST and tax exciting and it's all stuff that we need to know.

[Louise5]

HI, I'm very new to this commercial property side of things. Can you please explain what a 3 x 3 lease is on a building. Is that 3 years with another right to renew for 3 years? Also, is there an average % yield that is normal/expected for commercial. We're looking at a tenanted place on the North Shore which is 8% and wondered if that was good or average?

[OllyN]

In reply

Louise5
A 3x 3 year lease usually means that the tenant has the right to renew the lease every 3 years or vacate the premises at their option. Unless stated to the contrary in the lease, the ball is in the tenants court and the landlord cannot stop a tenant renewing or vacating at that time.
This is a general description and much depends on the wording and circumstances at the time.
An 8% yield would normally be considered very good, but again it depends on the lease and the tenant and the property. If the tenant is a mongrel, the lease a botch up, and the property a dog box, then 8% may not be enough.
Therefore in answer to your question there is no
average yield figure that would be useful in your particular cirrcumstances without knowing all the details exactly. That's what consultants are for.
Olly Newland
Commercial Property Consutant

[Julian]

As Olly implies it can be unwise to misinterpret a 3+3+3 lease (sometimes written as a 3x3x3 lease) as a nine year lease. Many people do, only to find that the tenant vacates at the end of the first 3-year period - which is the tenant's right.

Yeilds have decreased considerably over the last five years. Back then it was realtively easy to find good properties with a 10% return, a good 2% above the cost of funds, but these days such a building is a rarity - if not extinct - and the cost of borrowing has risen to compound the problem of financing an investment property.

Julian