You could be making a great investment if you purchase the right commercial property. However, there might be legal problems with the property that you don't know about. Real estate lawyers are able to help you find and solve any legal problems that you may experience so that you can be protected when investing in a business property. Here are some problems they can assist you with.
Existing Leases and NonPaying Tenants
Tenants may already be on the property you are thinking about purchasing. While a real estate agent can help you learn what their rent is for the year, a lawyer can help you interpret the leases to determine whether they are beneficial for you or whether you are even bound by those leases.
Of particular interest to you is that a real estate lawyer can identify slow-paying and nonpaying tenants. You may wish to draft your own leases with these tenants, and if that is a possibility, a good real estate lawyer can draw up new leases and distribute them. They can also assist you in issuing terminations.
Unknown Property Boundaries
Because you don't know what kind of agreements past owners have had with neighbors, there is no way for you to know what the legal property boundaries are--unless you hire a real estate attorney to help you discover them by looking up the legal description in the deed and check for any liens on the property. Past neighbors may have allowed the owner of the property you're buying to erect a fence on their land for instance, but you may run into problems if you want to install a new one. Knowing what the real boundaries are can also help you understand how renovations or expansions might affect you.
Existing Lawsuits
If a current or former tenant in the building has decided to sue the owner of the property for any reason, if the case has not yet been decided, you could very well be affected by this. A lawyer can help you determine what kinds of cases are pending and how best to protect you before you purchase the property.
Purchasing a piece of commercial real estate can be a solid investment, but you need to be able to handle possible problems before you buy. Speak to real estate lawyers in your neighborhood, like Zane Law, to get a clearer idea of how they can help you with a particular property.
