Few things in life are as satisfying as the purchase of an undeveloped plot of land. It is, essentially, a blank slate, an opportunity to build your vision. Land development requires more than just an idea, however. Investors must also navigate through a complex set of nuanced rules and regulations. Overseen and enforced by local, state, and even federal municipalities, the laws of greatest concern relate to how the land can be used. Learn more about zoning and entitlements in the commercial real estate industry (CRE) in the following sections.

Zoning and Entitlements - What Are These Laws and Why Do They Matter?

New CRE investors are often surprised to discover just how important zoning and entitlements are to their real estate projects. Able to bring a development project to a complete standstill, zoning and entitlement issues can hike up costs and threaten a project's completion. So what, exactly, are these laws, and how can you avoid them in your investment projects?

Tariffs, shortages within the construction industry, and the increasing costs associated with purchasing or renting a property point to the possibility of an impending real estate down cycle. It might be tempting to wait out this cycle, in hopes of making it big in commercial real estate (CRE) like many others did during the Great Recession, but is it a sound strategy? The following sections highlight the potential downfalls of holding out until the next market crash, and it explains how you can begin to take immediate steps toward successfully breaking into the CRE investment market.

Waiting to Invest in Commercial Real Estate - Sound Strategy or Major Mistake?

For those who have not yet entered the CRE investing market, waiting may seem like a sound strategy. However, seasoned investors know the truth: breaking into the market takes time. Knowledge must be acquired, and relationships must be built. These resources are all critical to success for investors, and if you wait to break into the market, you may struggle to find the ones that you need the most. Part of that is due to the changes that happen within the market when a crash occurs. Banks and lenders may merge, or they may tighten their lending criteria. Others may disappear entirely, even after approving your loan, leaving you without proper funding. In short, if you want to invest in the commercial real estate market, the time to get started is now.

A Closer Look at the Restaurant Investment Boom

From a distance, it might appear that the entire restaurant industry is booming. However, upon closer inspection, current trends indicate that growth is confined mostly to Class A properties. All other properties are seeing little (if any) growth - and in many areas, closure rates for Class B and C restaurants are increasing. As such, investors wishing to break into the restaurant sector are encouraged to focus their sights on high-end properties. Just keep in mind that, because of the current boom, competition in the Class A restaurant sector is exceptionally high.

Real estate has always operated in a cycle. Prices and interest rates drop, offering opportunities to seasoned and new investors alike. Then they rise again, causing what is known as a real estate downcycle. In these downcycles, some investors fall to the wayside, either through bankruptcy or because they leave the market in an attempt to preserve their remaining wealth. Others get creative, increase their agility, and manage to hold on to their businesses until the next real estate boom. Learn how you can be a part of the latter group, even in today's increasingly volatile commercial real estate (CRE) market.

Relevancy and Real Estate

Many of the issues occurring in today's real estate market can be traced back to a lack of relevancy. In fact, countless department stores, toy stores, restaurants, and hospitals have gone bankrupt because they failed to stay ahead of the curve or were unwilling to change. The very same thing happens to investors as well. Thankfully, by using the following three strategies, you can decrease your company's chances of experiencing such a fate:

In DuPage County, and virtually every other county in America, most land is zoned, or designated, to be used for specific things. For example, a plot of land could be zoned as single-family residential, in which case it could not be used to build an apartment complex or open a business. In most situations, large areas are made up of plots of property that are zoned in the same way. If you want to open a business in an area that is zoned as residential, you will have to get what is called a variance, or exception, to the zoning rules. In order to open the business, you would need a commercial real estate zoning variance.

Types of Variance

There are two types of variance available, and you need to apply for the correct one when seeking a commercial real estate zoning variance. The two options are: