Neil Swanson is our Waterfront Specialist serving Puget Sound, its islands and coastal regions. In addition to occupying most of the Kitsap Peninsula, Kitsap County includes both Bainbridge Island and Blake Island. Search Kitsap properties today.

NWMLS provides new brokers an online E-Learning orientation course to enhance their ability to fully utilize the products and services NWMLS offers. This orientation is an excellent resource for newly licensed brokers to learn more about our industry and NWMLS services.

NWMLS permits any member broker to download portions of the MLS database to the member’s own website, so long as specific guidelines are followed. In addition to Matrix, NWMLS also maintains a public website at www.nwrealestate.com. The content contains limited information, both to protect the property owner’s privacy and to promote the real estate practitioner’s role in the real estate transaction.

Federal taxation impacts both the periodic cash flows from operations and the cash flow from disposition, and it can have a significant effect on the after-tax returns from commercial investment property. It is important for the investor to understand the concept of tax basis, the implications of basis allocation, and the items that may cause basis to increase or decrease. It also is necessary to understand methods of cost recovery, calculate cost-recovery deductions, and recognize the conditions under which cost-recovery recapture may occur.

Investing in real estate typically is not just investing in buildings, but rather investing in the income stream tied to a particular building, which is generated through the rent paid by the tenants. As such, the income generated by a property has the ability to cause the price of the property to fluctuate greatly. In most scenarios, real estate investments exhibit greater risk characteristics than bond investments; however, real estate investments also have greater return expectations. In addition, by its nature, direct investment in real estate is not considered a highly liquid investment because it is not traded on a public basis like stocks and bonds.

Unless an investor is paying all cash, a source of additional capital must be found, whether through debt capital or provided by an equity partner through a joint venture. What are the likely sources of additional debt or equity capital? Is this likely to change in the future? In the current market, the availability of capital for real estate is one of the key issues facing investors.

Investors tend to use a lot of debt when purchasing a real estate investment, but this also increases the investment’s risk. How do you determine whether the use of leverage is favorable? How do taxes impact the benefits of leverage? What are the factors that impact whether the leverage is favorable? How does leverage relate to risk? Leverage can enhance returns, but investors also must consider how it impacts risk.