Industrial property is the entry point for many property investors to the commercial property industry. As a property type, industrial property is relatively straightforward with little complexity. The property owner needs to target and strategize the following issues when looking for a property to buy:
- Stable tenants
- Achievable rentals
- Good property location
- Industrial property precinct
- Growth of the local community and business sector
- Vibrant industrial community supplying services, products, and raw materials
- Access to transport links, ports, airports, and railheads
So now, let’s look at the industrial property needed today by tenants.
What do Industrial Tenants Need?
Traditional warehouses will include quality height, size, loading and unloading facilities, quality office space to support industrial operations, ample car parking for staff and customers, hardstand areas for operational flexibility, and high levels of security to protect the tenant’s goods function. Industrial tenants today are far more sophisticated and demanding when selecting a property to lease or buy. Therefore, the investor should choose a property with all the property usage elements tenants expect in the local market. Tenants know that the property will impact operational costs and, eventually the bottom line of their business. Tenants will choose their property well as a consequence.
Taking the First Step to Investment in Industrial Property
Industrial warehouses are simple to construct and have a long economic life; investors see them as entry-level investments. The property’s stable future for investors is usually achievable if they select a sound and strong tenant and apply a good lease. Very little management is required on industrial property, and as a direct result, many private investors will manage the industrial property themselves. Unfortunately, this does have negative connotations. First-time investor sometimes lacks awareness of the specialist terms and operational conditions supported by lease documentation on their property.
These first-time investors can then overlook critical matters and make mistakes. It is easy for the experienced commercial property specialist and commercial real estate agent to see these ‘first-time’ landlord-managed properties as you drive through a town or city. The errors of ownership are visually apparent. These errors can even reflect in the ultimate rent and price levels on the property.
The buyers of property today will conduct a due diligence period and investigation of any property before settlement. Invariably and importantly, this self-management problem will surface at the final sale or rent review time when the investor has overlooked something or transacted it incorrectly. Those property owners that manage their investments should only do so when and if they completely understand the complexity of the task. If the investors have only a basic understanding of property performance and function, they should not self-manage. The matter is plain and simple.
