Spirepoint’s Paul Blacquiere Interviews Sens Founder Bruce M Firestone About Entering the Commercial Real Estate Business

Ottawa Senators founder Bruce Firestone talks with Spirepoint’s Paul Blacquiere about:

1. how to get started in the commercial real estate business/buying when no one else is buying

2. different types of commercial real estate

3. how the Internet, things like Facebook advertising, is changing commercial real estate

4. why 61 out of the top 100 richest families in Canada have all or substantially all of their wealth in real estate

5. pitfalls when buying property/never buy property that doesn’t cashflow/quickest way to turn billionaire into millionaire or millionaire into pauper

6. the value proposition of residential and commercial realtors

7. how to analyze real estate opportunities

8. issues with city planners and rezoning

9. need for specialization

10. what to look for when hiring a realtor

11. how and why to own your own building

12. why realtors should share information freely

13. why realtors should belong to their real estate boards

14. what is a CMA, comparative market analysis

15. how long is a due diligence period in commercial real estate

16. how big should a deposit be

17. how to finance commercial transactions

18. what is seller take back financing

19. examples of great deals and poor ones

20. why real estate delivers performance superior to most other investments such as mutual funds, banks accounts, CDs, GICs, etc

21. no 1 risk factor in purchasing commercial property is… zoning

22. what it’s like to a 55-year old apprentice

23. why it takes 10,000 hours to master anything

24. how long it takes to close a commercial office or industrial condo deal

25. doing environmental phase 1, 2 and 3 studies/tests/remediation

26. marketing and leasing during conditional periods

27. everything in real estate must be in writing

28. distraining and absence of RTA (residential tenancy act) in commercial 

29. triple net leasing

30. longterm leasing for commercial uses, e.g., 10 year terms with 10 year options for new restaurants/bars

31. real estate is a very local business, e.g., Olympia and York’s failure in London with their Canary Wharf project

32. realtors can’t do everything and should specialize

33. California model versus Ontario model– being either buyer agent or seller agent but not both

34. young client buys 5,000 square foot office condo in downtown location for $5 per square foot

35. theming real estate adds value/turning disadvantages into advantages

36. add cashlfow to create value

37. how Canadian Tire Centre (the Palladium) almost never came to be

38. no 1 thing in real estate is the same as everything else–build a trusted team

@ profbruce

bruce.firestone @ century21.ca

www.brucemfirestone.com