Los riesgos son relativos y un contador es una inversión importante.

When we bought our second building back in 2016, we took out a $1 million loan.

It was a 50-unit building in Ohio, purchased for just $1,250,000 — you can’t find deals like that today!

We put down 20% as a down payment, and financed the rest. To me, the numbers made perfect sense.

One of our neighbors, a lawyer, heard the numbers and told me:

“I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night with a loan that size.”

I was completely surprised. The deal seemed so good that I couldn’t even understand how someone might see it as risky.

¿Lección aprendida?

Risk tolerance is different for everyone.

Some people see a $1 million loan as a risk.

I saw not buying the property as the real risk.

If something is going to keep you up at night, it’s not worth the deal — no matter how attractive it looks.

That Ohio building has been ours for nine years now.

We’ve refinanced the loan at least twice, and we already got back our original investment.

Everything since then has been profit.

A tip for anyone transitioning from residential to commercial real estate:

When you take a mortgage on a commercial property, you’re often required to pay a full year of taxes and insurance upfront at closing.

That can be tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the deal.

If you’re not prepared for that — it’s a very unpleasant surprise. So plan for it ahead of time.

Another key concept: Cost Segregation

When investing in commercial real estate, you can use a process called cost segregation to reduce your taxes significantly.

I’m probably not doing it full justice here, but the basic idea is this:

You’re allowed to depreciate your real estate asset for tax purposes.

Cost segregation accelerates that depreciation and increases the amount you can deduct — saving you a lot on taxes.

If you don’t like paying taxes (and who does?) — I highly recommend doing cost segregation as soon as you buy the property.

There are companies that specialize in this, and one of them even has a very friendly Israeli guy who’d be happy to help. Let me know if you want a referral!

En conclusión:

There are a lot of tax benefits in commercial real estate.

I strongly recommend hiring an experienced accountant who can help you get every dollar you’re entitled to.

This is not the area to try and cut costs.

Also — educate yourself about the tax advantages available to you.

The more you know, the more you’ll earn.