By Jerry Anderson, CCIM

I am so tired of reading and hearing the bad news in the industry of my passion - commercial real estate, that I’ve stopped talking to nay sayers and am taking proactive aggressive action. We all know values have tanked, but how can we personally take advantage and help our clients through the maze? Lenders are not any fun to deal with these days. Any type of what we used to consider reasonable leverage seems impossible. What precious stash of cash we do have, we are not willing to risk on one particular deal, so forget 50%-60% down and borrowing the balance with unreasonable terms and high closing costs. Success in commercial real estate investment is usually a matter of how fast you can adapt to changes that create opportunity. The only position to occupy in today’s market is that of buyer; a buyer with cash that can perform quickly. The answer lies not in borrowing to buy assets like in the past, but reversing the leverage scenario – yes, put in MORE cash. But diversification and partners is the key.