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Acquisition and Analysis:

Whether you are a professional investor or a little less seasoned, the professionals at John Propp Commercial Group can provide you with a level of services suited to your particular assignment.

We are experts at finding quality commercial real estate investment properties in Denver, Colorado. Our contacts in the marketplace, cultivated over the past 20 years, benefit our clients by providing them access to opportunities they might not otherwise have.

The best investment properties rarely see the light of day. It takes a concentrated, focused, proactive and persistent effort to locate suitable quality investment properties.

We actively seek properties that show evidence of strong investment value, and then carefully evaluate each property’s fundamentals and financial information to determine that property’s economic feasibility.

Due to our years of property investment experience, combined with our extensive property management expertise, John Propp Commercial Group is able to analyze the income and expenses of a particular property in a manner that discovers statistical anomalies in any one category. Has the seller underestimated the maintenance numbers? Have they budgeted enough for snow removal? Can you run the property in a proper manner given the current expense level? Conversely, we can discover areas where efficiency or property improvements can reduce owner and tenant costs.

Let’s go find your investment!

A 31 year Veteran of the Industry:

John V. Propp, CCIM, a Denver Colorado native, has extensive personal investment experience to share with you!

Over a 31 year career John has invested in dozens of successful projects, including residential properties, converted apartments to condo communities for resale, owned and operated apartments, fix and flip offices and retail shopping centers.

John knows that so much more goes into making a good investment property than just the “numbers.”

Is the property functionally correct enough to handle the test of time?  How will the path of progress affect the investment?  Are we buying for cash flow or appreciation?  How do the improvements and site work together? Etc., etc…

“I know it when I see it.” – John V. Propp, CCIM 

A Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM):

John considers himself a “student of the business” committed to staying on top of his industry, a fact proven by his being awarded the coveted CCIM Designation in 1998. A CCIM Designee is a recognized expert in the commercial and investment real estate industry.

The CCIM designation curriculum is demanding, rigorous, and ranked as the best and most practitioner-oriented education in the industry – the Ph.D. of commercial investment real estate. The CCIM lapel pin is earned after successfully completing a designation process that ensures CCIMs are proficient not only in theory, but also in practice. This elite corps of CCIMs includes brokers, leasing professionals, investment counselors, asset managers, appraisers, corporate real estate executives, property managers, developers, institutional investors, commercial lenders, attorneys, bankers, and other allied professionals.

A CCIM is part of a global commercial real estate network with members across North America and in more than 30 countries. This professional network has enabled CCIM members to close thousands of transactions annually, representing more than $200 billion in value. As a result, the experts who possess the CCIM designation are an invaluable resource for commercial real estate owners, investors, and users.

CCIMs have completed a designation curriculum that covers essential CCIM skill sets including ethics, interest-based negotiation, financial analysis, market analysis, user decision analysis, and investment analysis for commercial investment real estate. CCIMs have completed a portfolio demonstrating the depth of their commercial real estate experience. Finally, they have demonstrated their proficiency in the CCIM skill sets by successfully completing a comprehensive examination. Only then is a designation candidate awarded the coveted CCIM pin, joining the ranks of highly skilled commercial and investment real estate experts.

Worldwide, only 15,000 commercial real estate professionals have earned the CCIM designation.

Hire a CCIM! 

Why Invest in Real Estate:

“Under all is the land.” – Preamble to the National Association of Realtors Code of Ethics

“Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.” – Mark Twain

Whether by price appreciation or income cash flow, over history land ownership (real estate) has proven to be a major creator of wealth; wealth that is often passed down from generation to generation. Real Estate ownership has always been more than just an investment – it is often a legacy as well.

Through back and forth economic swings, quality real estate continues to survive. The recent Great Recession has certainly cooled the heels on the old take big risk rules and put a more conservative slant onto real estate investing. But with commercial mortgage rates at an all-time low, there may never be another opportunity like there is today to lock in long term cash flows.

Advantages over Alternative Investments:

Real Estate offers an investor many advantages over other alternative investments. For example:

Leverage:
Leverage is the most important advantage in real estate investing. Unless you choose to be a margin player in the stock market, only real estate allows you to buy more product than you have cash. With a 25 percent down payment, an investor can purchase up to four times the investment value than they have in cash. Combining your cash with a bank loan creates the magic of positive leverage, earning money on your cash and the bank’s loan simultaneously. An unleveraged 7% return becomes 13% when leveraged. Borrowing money on real estate is the most powerful tool in real estate investing. John Propp Commercial Group strives to locate returns in the 10% to 15% range.

Depreciation:
Depreciation is the theory that a physical asset wears out and loses value over time. Current Federal tax law allows you a tax deduction for your property’s depreciation, when in fact the property may actually be appreciating! No other investment vehicle offers this benefit. The depreciation deduction protects a portion of the actual cash flow distributions from taxation.

1031 Tax Deferred Exchange:
The “Like Kind Exchange,” or “1031 Exchange” are commonly used nomenclature when describing the Internal Revenue Federal Code section 1031, relating to a “Tax Deferred Exchange.”

Unlike most every other type of investment, when selling a piece of real estate at a profit, one can choose to replace that property with another and defer having to pay capital gains taxes on the profits made from the sale of the first property. The idea behind this section of the tax code is when an individual sells a property to buy another, no economic gain has been achieved. There has simply been a transfer from one property to another.

This important tax treatment benefit is a useful tool for real estate investors. It allows them to delay tax payments and to keep their untaxed gains working for them alongside their own equity as they move from one real estate investment to another.

A 1031 Exchange is a simple sounding but completely confusing process, requiring careful planning and strategic execution. Several tricky requirements and short timeframe deadlines must be met in order to ensure that a tax liability is not created upon the sale of the first asset. After all, the IRS would just as soon you pay taxes, so they don’t make it too easy for you.

Can I close on the replacement before I sell the first property?
Can I take “boot” and replace it with “debt?”
What is a like kind property?
Can I buy more than one property?

Having helped numerous clients in the past, we are well versed in the 1031 process and can direct you to legal and accounting professionals. We are glad to share our knowledge and advice with our clients.