Multi-Millionaire by 24- How One Kid Did It

Certainly goes to show you that success can come with hard work. Someone needs to tell broke ass Donald Trump to learn some lessons from this kid on how to do successful real estate deals.

Adam Blake made one of his first life-changing decisions as an eighth-grader in Kansas City. He made another just a couple of weeks ago.

Blake, 24, who has made a residential real estate business he started as a sophomore at Texas Christian University into a multimillion-dollar venture, in September closed on the purchase of the historic Electric Building in downtown Fort Worth from billionaire Robert Bass.

Blake hopes it will be the first of several commercial real estate buys. The deal, though, catapulted him into a market dominated by local deep pockets, institutional investors and older developers — right where he wants to be.

His company Atlas Properties was on the latest Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private U.S. companies, reporting 2008 revenues of $5.8 million, up from $382,778 in 2005. And that’s just one of the nearly dozen companies and investment funds he owns. Another is Blake Venture Corp.

His youth does get in the way of deals, he said. Recently, he wanted to buy a Houston apartment community, but the broker involved asked to see his personal bank statements before he’d accept his offer.

"One guy told me he thought a deal was out of my league because he read on one of my Web sites that I am only 24," Blake said. "Definitely, age can be a hurdle."

Commercial Real Estate, Rent Reduction, and what it all means

Kudos for Mish for reporting on that office space is down 50% in value, retail vacancy is at 7.5%, and industrial space is at its lowest demand in decades.
Ritholtz has the story on the shadow inventory in housing
But the story of the day belongs to the subject of rent reduction free for all.

Last month, commercial real estate research firm Reis Inc. reported that the steepest rent declines since 2002 occurred at shopping malls between April and the end of June. The threat of vacancies was to blame.

Joe Coradino, who oversees retail leasing for Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, said last week that "everybody who could was asking for rent relief. It was a free-for-all."

PREIT, which owns Cherry Hill, Willow Grove Park, and other malls, even formed a "lease modification review committee" to handle the influx, Coradino told me yesterday. Requests have finally slowed down, though.

Interesting Investment Ideas to Consider

1) Some dividend stocks are in danger of blowing up their dividend...some names here!

2) A 100% FDIC insured CD that invests in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) currencies

3) Taking advantage of Circuit City going out of business and cheap rental rates in retail, this electronics retail company is now taking aim at Best Buy and will be one of the few retailers expanding.

4) 10 Questions To Ask When Joining A Startup company.

5) Why you shouldn't lease space to state or government agencies: NY state demands lower rents and that all contractors employed by commercial real estate leased to state agenices are paid "prevailing wages"

The Commercial RE time bomb

Commercial RE is something I have always wanted to invest in. After reading this article I wonder. 2 to 3 trillion in bad commercial RE debt that must be turned over. WOW that's a big number. I am hoping to be able to take advantage of some firesale pricing when it hits bottom, but based on Denningers opinion it may never come back. I have seen the for lease signs popping up all over recently. Even in class A space in very prominent areas there must be a 25% vacancy factor. As things continue to get worse I wonder how low it can really go. I see a bunch of available industrial and warehouse space. Who the hell is going to be looking for that type of space the next 5 to 10 years. What about all the car dealerships going out of business. What type of business, other than a car dealer has use for this type of space. What about all the Big box retail stuff. Who is going to take over the vacated K Mart building, or empty ACME supermarket. What will happen to all the employees of these vacated ventures? Their lack of spending will further continue the downward spiral. Never in my lifetime have I seen such an economic decay. The media is seeing light at the end of the tunnel. I wonder if it's an oncoming train.

Office Vacancies Rise

I think that one of the biggest opportunities to gain wealth in this coming Depression is in the commercial Real Estate market. Many commercial RE investors will not be able to cover their nuts as vacancies increase. I know my landlord at the car lot owns a bunch of industrial and retail properties. Many of his tenants(myself included) are struggling to pay the rent, and are giving notice they cannot continue operations. I am pretty certain there will be commercial foreclosures ramping up the next few years. Since you can't live in a commercial piece demand will be low, and banks will be offering firesale pricing, and in house financing to get these off the books. If I can get a fully leveraged break even with a bunch of upside potential, I'm in. Here's hoping it continues to get worse.(It's hard to swallow as I write that, but a true contrarian wants to see it hit the fan.)

Profit BIG from the Commercial Real Estate Crash

Here comes the crash in commercial real estate...

Just because it is happening doesn't mean you can't make a killing on it.