Blog

I joined the Diamond Inner circle in August of 2010, and WOW has it been an incredible ride. We have closed 15 deals in less than ten years, which I have always dreamed about but wasn’t sure how to do it. With the Commercial Property Academy and Scott’s help, I was able to obtain that […]

Congratulations on becoming a Platinum Member of Commercial Academy… and welcome to the team! This is one of the most important steps you’ve ever taken for your Commercial Real Estate business career.  So now you may be asking yourself: Where do I go from here? What does it really take to be successful? How do […]

“A wise person should have money in their head, but not in their heart.” — Jonathan Swift

MAFDRA has been recently featured in the news! Check out some of the articles and videos praising the plan.

MAFDRA has been recently featured in the news! Check out some of the articles and videos praising the plan.

COVID-19 has the potential to have an unprecedented financial impact on our economy.

Millions of Americans, who were thriving before the COVID-19 pandemic, now find themselves in a personal financial crisis.

Commercial Academy is supporting Commercial Real Estate professionals through the COVID-19 Health and Economic Crisis.

The Moratorium and Forbearance Debt Relief Act (MAFDRA) is plan to mitigate the economic damage of the COVID-19 Pandemic

A prominent magazine has chosen to feature Commercial Academy’s founder, J. Scott Scheel, in a feature article about his business acumen, past and present success, as well the importance he places on family life. Resident Magazine’s August 2019 issue is circulated in a myriad of markets and profiles business leaders and their stories of trial […]

(Excerpts courtesy of Jordyn Grzelewski, Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer) CLEVELAND, Ohio – A former Sam’s Club site that has languished for a decade will soon be revived by a Cleveland company that will bring an estimated 300 jobs to the facility on Chardon Road. Produce Packaging, Inc., http://ppifresh.net, a produce packer that is currently based […]

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from working with J. Scott Scheel and the rest of the Commercial Academy team, it’s that the real benefits of working with Commercial Real Estate comes from the power it affords you to give to others. Before my wife and I met Scott, these accomplishments were just goals […]

I always knew that I wasn’t going to be one of those 9-5 guys.  I wanted more out of life and working for someone else was not going to give me the time or the money I needed to accomplish my goals. I remember when I first told my father that I wanted to drop […]

Yes, I am a Millennial. I am here to say that my generation has been underestimated. Much has been written about us and not all of it has been good. We have been described as the “entitled generation.” That is far from the truth. The fact is, we only reflect how society has changed. We […]

Do you have a dream, deep down in your soul, to make 2019 the year you achieve financial security and independence? If you do, these are the three most important steps you can take: Don’t wait until the situation is perfect. It will never be perfect. It’s easy to have an excuse or a reason […]

If you are an entrepreneur, you know that your monthly lease payment is one of the most expensive parts of operating a business. This is especially the case when you are operating a service company, such as being a chiropractor, a dentist or an esthetician. Once you acquire your equipment, paying your lease is the […]

The world belongs to Millennials, and we need to take heed, because they will be the driving force in the commercial real estate market. There are over 73 million Millennials (ages 23 to 38) and they will overtake the Baby Boomers, in population, in 2019. Why is this important? By 2020, Millennials will have a […]

One of the most common questions we are asked is, “How do I know the Commercial Property Academy is right for me?” “Will I really walk away with the tools to help me secure my first commercial real estate deal? The short answer to that question is YES!  You will walk away from the 3-day […]

Being a real estate agent can be the best job in the world. Isn’t that why you picked this career?  It allows you to be your own boss by creating your own hours and deciding how to run and manage your business. If you are willing to put the time and effort in, there are […]

You spend your whole life planning and saving for your first home, starting your family, paying for kids college, and finally saving for your retirement. It is not unusual for soon-to-be-retired investors being concerned that there will simply not be enough money to allow them to live a comfortable life after they retire. Many retirees […]

Single-family residential real estate investment is great. It can represent a phenomenal entry point into owning real property. Single-family residential real estate investments can secure you rental income, depreciation, and equity. After all, it teaches you how to find a property, identify its value, and turn it into income through rent or sale. Although, what […]

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to achieve financial freedom? Of course you have, who hasn’t? The problem isn’t the desire, or even the willingness, to work hard. The problem has always been figuring out how. The world is filled with successful people, those who are living life on their terms. Many […]

When I got into commercial investment, it wasn’t for the material things. I worked in construction for a number of years and had seen Commercial Real Estate Investors and Developers with their expensive suits, fancy watches, and imported cars but none of that really had any appeal to me. What I wanted was a bit […]

It is finally here, 2019! What is so great about January 1st is that it’s a new beginning. Whatever happened in 2018 is history, and we now have a clean slate to get it right. That seems to be a universal feeling where New Year’s resolutions are made and the commitment is set to make […]

We were recently asked who makes the best real estate investors. The fact is that anyone who has the training, process, and tools can be successful as long as they put in the time and effort. That being said, we typically see investors who fit into one of the following categories: Casual Residential Investor – […]

Real Estate Investing can be a powerful investment strategy that includes: Building Equity for the Future Generating Passive Income Providing Cash Flow for Retirement Providing a Hedge Against Inflation Providing Tax Benefits Saving for a College Education Creating Wealth All of this while indulging your entrepreneurial spirit and benefiting the community. Powerful, right? But, if […]

A steady job in the IT industry was good, but it wasn’t going to build true wealth. At the end of each year, I managed to save a few bucks and max out contributions to my 401K. That alone could be seen as a success! However, I still felt this was the ‘same-old-same’ rat race, […]

Whether your investment portfolio is comprised of a 20 unit apartment complex in the suburbs or 10 retail strips located across five states, it is important to know that your building, whatever it may be, has its own brand. For those of you unfamiliar with developing a brand in commercial real estate, the basic principal […]

The world of commercial real estate is ever changing.  Why?  Because the world we live in is ever changing.  Advancement in population, tastes, labor markets, and technology require that commercial assets continue to adapt. Unfortunately, the items required to keep up with tenant needs would dictate that buildings with historic or societal value be removed […]

Since the industrial revolution, human history has been defined by the advancement of machinery and its ability to surpass our own capabilities. For the next generation, the defining fuel for commercial real estate investment will be Artificial Intelligence.  This technology will determine success and failure of entire portfolios over the course of the next decade. […]

As many markets continue the process of overheating their rent rates, it will become more and more challenging to force appreciation when purchasing multi-family assets in larger markets. Buying an asset at an attractive rate is only one part of the equation when investing in apartments.  To be successful, you will need to provide a […]

Achieving success when investing in retail assets is challenging, especially when you are pursuing value-add opportunities.   More often than not, investors are in a mad dash to fill vacancy, often forgetting to properly align new tenants correctly to ensure success in the given market. Creating the right tenant roster is like creating a go to […]

Leases are complicated. They are usually long, full of redundancy, and include contradictory information. More so than residential leases, commercial leases are full of complications that often can only be understood by a legal professional. The difficulties only increase when investing in retail or office properties due to the specific needs of each tenant and […]

Regardless of the location, property type, or age of your first asset, investing in commercial real estate will require three things to ensure success:  capital, experience, and calm. If you lack any or all of these requirements then there is often only one solution:  Get a partner!  Just because you may not have the funds […]

Over the course of the last month, Amazon has taken further steps in the “War on Retail.”  With the company’s purchase of Whole Foods Market on June 16th, the e-commerce super giant seems to be taking steps to render brick-and-mortar locations obsolete before the year 2020.  Or, at least that is the absurd conclusion many […]

When looking at potential commercial real estate properties to invest in you are sure to come across listings in various states – pristine to falling apart, vacant to full, or new to old.  In the case of the new to old spectrum, particularly for the multi-family arena, properties prior to 1980 tend to have certain […]

Here at the Commercial Academy, many of our alumni started out investing in residential real estate.  One of the biggest differences, and greatest benefits, many of them have found when transitioning from residential to commercial investing is that the two do not treat competitive properties in the same way. In residential real estate, the value […]

The world as we know it continues to change – the biggest being a shift from ownership to a sharing economy.  Now it seems that the sharing economy has begun to bleed into the multi-family housing market with renters now looking at the idea of hostel style homes. In a very creative way, renters have […]

What do you do at the first sign of failure?  Are you the type of person who will quit if your best effort did not yield success?  Or, are you the type of person who gets back up ready for round 2? There is a misconstrued belief that success is the complete absence of failure.  […]

Of all of the commercial property types, multi-family is often the most pigeonholed.  Most investors will look at the category and see only apartment complexes.  However, the category is actually much more nuanced with expansive opportunities based on their locations. Below is a list of four asset sub-types outside of traditional apartment complexes which exist […]

J. Scott Scheel, the Nation’s #1 instructor on “Creative Commercial Real Estate” is offering his FREE “7 Moves to Checkmate in Commercial Real Estate” Course to show you exactly what you need to do to create massive wealth in Commercial Real Estate, by doing just “One Deal, One Time” to change your life forever! Right now […]

There is no doubt that the advancement of technology has driven a lot of changes in the world of commercial real estate.  For office buildings, it has caused a drop in tenancy across the board.  With the ability to fill staff positions without filling square footage, many office tenants have seen the remote workplace as […]

Last week another great retail chain closed its doors for good.  HHGregg was a brand which had built its fortune in the days when customer care and high profit margins walked together hand in hand.  However, the brand found it hard to adapt to the new era of retail experience. With the collapse of this […]

Earlier this week, U.S. economists, investors, lenders, and political enthusiasts were able to wake up and breathe of sigh of relief.  Sunday’s French presidential elections closed with Emmanuel Macron claiming victory as the youngest president in French history. With Macron’s win over Marine Le Pen many economists are predicting stability in the European Union (E.U.) […]

Spring is here!  Birds are nesting, flowers are starting to bloom, and Uncle Sam is warming up his calculator.  For the majority of Americans, springtime marks the beginning of tax season and the time crunch in which to file federal tax returns by the April deadline.  But, for those who invest in commercial real estate, […]

Is America’s retail sector dying?  With the announcement that another big box retail brand will be closing over 100 locations across the country, it certainly looks like the country has fallen out of love with large retail centers. Per an announcement by JC Penney CEO Marvin Ellison, this past Friday, it was confirmed that the […]

Here at the Commercial Academy, we are celebrating.  Why are we celebrating?  Because today is February 22nd – National Margarita Day.  You might be wondering why as commercial real estate investors, mentors, and educators we would be interested in this social media holiday, but we have good reason: The possibility of signing a tequilería as […]

It’s Valentine’s day- the second busiest day for restaurants in the United States, next to Mother’s Day.  On average, U.S. citizens will spend a total of $4.5 billion on dining across the country with an average price of $87.00 to over $200.00 per couple. For those of us who make their living in commercial real […]

Today there is a lot of talk about “comeback cities.”  For commercial real estate investors seeking long-term value-add investments, these areas are prime markets to acquire new assets.  Why?  Because properties in these markets can be acquired at low initial costs when the market is in a downturn before being sold off for higher returns […]

In the world of commercial real estate, retail centers are an income-producing approach to buying commercial real estate in any market.  This property type is easy to both manage and finance. And, in this category, there is nothing better than a center with an established anchor tenant. A great anchor tenant will generate a stream […]

Commercial real estate strategies we may see employed during the Trump Administration  It’s been a while since you’ve heard from us here at the Commercial Academy and I am so excited to share why we’ve been so quiet.  This past year has been an incredibly busy one as we’ve added an additional 1.5 million square […]

Many real estate investors begin their careers flipping houses. This totally makes sense and is a great way to get into the game of real estate. But after some time in the business, so many single-family home investors face the same thing: the dreaded plateau. After doing a handful of houses, many investors face the […]

At the heart of the European debt crisis is the euro, the currency that ties together 18 countries in an intimate manner. So when one country teeters on the brink of financial collapse, the entire continent is at risk. How did such a flawed system come to be? Bloomberg Television and Jonathan Jarvis present “The […]

Trying to find the right market to invest in can be a monumental and confusing task. Remember, the goal of market analysis is to minimize the risk of your investment while maximizing the opportunity for you to earn a higher return. Below is a list of Seven Steps I perform whenever I am looking to […]

Before you can start trying to acquire a property, it is important to understand how commercial property is valued.  After all, how do we know if we are REALLY making money on a commercial property if we don’t know how much the property was worth in the first place? The #1 most important rule for […]

Master Lease Options are a great tool for acquiring Commercial Real Estate with little to no money down! Even better, you can really help to neutralize the risk of your investment since you are in essence committing to nothing! Here’s how the Master Lease Option process works: First you identify an owner of an underperforming […]

One of the most commonly used investment tactics for me and for my students is the value-added strategy for commercial real estate investment. Not for the faint of heart, this strategy is all about purchasing non or underperforming assets, Renovating them, Repositioning them and then Re-establishing their value in the market. Although the initial purchase […]

You are invited to learn the insider secrets for successfully investing in multi-family real estate of any size from the nation’s #1 instructor, J. Scott Scheel, founder of the Commercial Property Academy. If you’re a single family home investor, entrepreneur, or even if you’ve never invested at all, you can learn how you can earn […]

This Ground-breaking, Detailed System Will Show You Everything You Need To Know To Successfully Invest In Apartment Buildings Of Any Size – Even If You Have No Cash, Credit, Or Previous Experience!!! The Complete Apartment Investing Program™ Home Study System includes: 9 Full Length Audio CD’s 300+ page Study Guide The Opportunity Evaluator Software Apartment […]

Trying to find the right market to invest in can be a monumental and confusing task. Remember, the goal of market analysis is to minimize the risk of your investment while maximizing the opportunity for you to earn a higher return. Below is a list of Seven Steps I perform whenever I am looking to […]

Trying to find the right market to invest in can be a monumental and confusing task. Remember, the goal of market analysis is to minimize the risk of your investment while maximizing the opportunity for you to earn a higher return. Below is a list of Seven Steps I perform whenever I am looking to […]

Negotiating is a skill in Real Estate that will help you in all stages of your investment. You will use this skill in negotiating the contract, negotiating the financing, working with your tenants, working with contractors and lastly negotiating your sales contract when you are ready to dispose of your asset. The first thing you […]

Going “Green” is one the fastest growing trends in America! Green cars, green houses, green energy are all booming in demand and feasibility, and that goes for Commercial Real Estate as well! Not only are “Green” properties socially and ecologically conscious and responsible, they are also a huge source of untapped potential and opportunities in real […]

A very important question you need to ask yourself is, “What is my risk tolerance?” So many people evaluating a project find themselves unable to move forward for any number of reasons. Most commonly, they will find themselves undermining their own success, out of fear that the project will not work out. With this in […]

One reason people get involved in commercial real estate is to replace income.  Some people think about leaving their jobs but they’re not comfortable with the idea of working the single-family market where they’re constantly out there chasing a new opportunity.  In single-family property, that is one of the hazards.  If you slow down, the […]

How far out of your specific living region would you go to invest?  I, personally, deal anywhere, and I would recommend that you be open to dealing anywhere, especially if you’ve got the right opportunity, but never neglect your own backyard. Now for a lot of people who are located in the higher-priced markets, your […]

After you have acquired your commercial property, managing your finances becomes one of the most critical aspects of property ownership. Even if you only have a five suite building, you are still the owner of a business and you must run your finances accordingly. Remember keeping good, organized books isn’t just to keep you out […]

The State Of The Apartment Market Even in this strange economic climate, the fundamentals of the apartment market are solid. The national occupancy rate for apartments is in the low 90’s. Supply is still relatively low at 1% inventory overall. This means that, on a national basis, there is not a huge oversupply of units. […]

When you are deciding if it is necessary to use an attorney during your real estate transaction there are a few things you need to consider. First, look at the complexity of the transaction. If you are issuing a standard Letter of Intent (LOI) it is unnecessary to incur the costs to engage an attorney. […]

We left off in the last entry talking about different types of property conditions that lend themselves to the “Forcing Appreciation” strategy. Under maintained Properties that have been poorly maintained offer us a tremendous opportunity in the current economic climate.  In this scenario we try to focus on strong locations and properties that will need […]

We left off in the last entry talking about different types of property conditions that lend themselves to the “Forcing Appreciation” strategy. Under Valued Undervalued property is typically made up of properties that have fallen out of investor favor.  These types of properties tend to fall into this category on a cyclical basis due to […]

Capitalizing in an uncertain market is the key to our success in Creative commercial real estate.  One of the best strategies for creating wealth that I have come across in my career in commercial real estate is to force appreciation. This is the lead principle that has driven my success in this industry while I […]

When you are deciding if it is necessary to use an attorney during your real estate transaction there are a few things you need to consider. First, look at the complexity of the transaction. If you are issuing a standard Letter of Intent (LOI) it is unnecessary to incur the costs to engage an attorney. […]

Do you want to join the ranks of the few that really understand Commercial Real Estate Investing? Are you ready to capitalize on the current commercial real estate market, generating huge profits? Spend four days with J. Scott Scheel, and get the detailed step-by-step education you need to start investing in Office Buildings, Retail Strip Centers, […]

You want to learn how to create more Time and Money? During the  4 day Apartment Time Machine Live, taught by J. Scott Scheel you will not only learn the in and outs of Apartment Investing, but you will also learn how to create a generation worth of wealth in just a few short months. Have you […]

From raw land to full scale development. This 3 day advanced  training event is focused on all the steps an investor must undertake to successfully develop land. Zoning, Platting, Subdividing, Variances and many more instrumental strategies will be taught, so you can go out and confidently conquer the probably most lucrative form of commercial real […]