Jan. 13, 2026

Powerful Business Strategies - Buying a Building

Show Notes
Transcript

Buying a building – A lot of business owners are faced with the dilemma of Buying a building versus renting. Buying is a much better route, however with prices of commercial buildings these days you need to get creative.

Click Here to Subscribe to The Adventures of Pipeman for PERKS, BONUS Content & FREE GIVEWAYS!

Take some zany and serious journeys with The Pipeman aka Dean K. Piper, CST on The Adventures of Pipeman also known as Pipeman Radio syndicated globally “Where Who Knows And Anything Goes.”

Would you like to be a sponsor of the show?
Would you like to have your business, products, services, merch, programs, books, music or any other professional or artistic endeavors promoted on the show?
Would you like interviewed as a professional or music guest on The Adventures of Pipeman, Positively Pipeman and/or Pipeman in the Pit?
Would you like to host your own Radio Show, Streaming TV Show, or Podcast?

PipemanRadio Podcasts are heard on Pipeman Radio, Talk 4 Media, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Amazon Music, Audible, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and over 100 other podcast outlets where you listen to Podcasts.

The following are the different podcasts to Follow, Listen, Download, Subscribe:
•The Adventures of Pipeman
•Pipeman Radio
•Pipeman in the Pit – Music Interviews & Festivals
•Positively Pipeman – Empowerment, Inspiration, Motivation, Self-Help, Business, Spiritual & Health & Wellness

Click Here to Subscribe for PERKS, BONUS Content & FREE GIVEWAYS!

Follow @pipemanradio on all socials & Pipeman Radio Requests & Info at www.linktr.ee/pipemanradio

Stream The Adventures of Pipeman daily & live Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays at 1PM ET on W4CY Radio & Talk 4 TV.

Download, Rate & Review the Podcast at The Adventures of Pipeman, Pipeman Radio, Talk 4 Media, iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, YouTube & All Podcast Apps.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:12.640
Hi, you have done to the censure wow for you your.

2
00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:21.800
This is the pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe

3
00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:24.320
Man W four c Y Radio and once again it's

4
00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:28.519
our positively pipe Man segment and we are here with

5
00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:33.679
our resident business expert Michael Barbarita, which is gonna give

6
00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:38.079
us some more powerful business strategies. So welcome to the show. Michael,

7
00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:39.359
thank you, thank.

8
00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:39.520
You, Dan.

9
00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:42.560
Pleasure to be here, thanks for having me so today.

10
00:00:43.880 --> 00:00:47.399
You know, one of the things that business owners should

11
00:00:47.399 --> 00:00:50.200
try to do is they should try to buy the

12
00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:53.119
building that they're in. It's easier said than done, there's

13
00:00:53.119 --> 00:00:56.479
no question about that. But there are you know, there

14
00:00:56.520 --> 00:00:58.880
certainly are a number of advantages. One is is that

15
00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:02.159
the the business will pay the rent, which will pay

16
00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:04.920
which will which will which will be, and will pay

17
00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:07.280
the mortgage as a result of that, And of course,

18
00:01:07.319 --> 00:01:09.319
by the way, your business should be a separate I mean,

19
00:01:09.319 --> 00:01:12.120
your business should be a separate entity from the building.

20
00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:15.079
You should never buy a building within your business because

21
00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:17.799
of liability. If somebody sues you, you don't want to go

22
00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:22.480
after the building. So yeah, so that's always different, and

23
00:01:22.519 --> 00:01:25.719
so there's always you're always the landlord of a building

24
00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:28.159
you own as well as the tenant.

25
00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:33.000
You're you're both because your business is the tenant. So uh.

26
00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:37.599
There so with the business paying paying the mortgage, Uh,

27
00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:41.599
it really serves as a tremendous advantage to own a building.

28
00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:44.959
Not to mention the tax benefits from the depreciation and

29
00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:47.719
so forth, but that there are a lot of benefits

30
00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:48.040
to it.

31
00:01:48.519 --> 00:01:49.519
So uh.

32
00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:55.480
But here's the dilemma. Some of the commercial properties out

33
00:01:55.480 --> 00:01:58.239
there have gotten really out of control from a price standpoint.

34
00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:02.000
But that doesn't mean you should shouldn't you should stop looking.

35
00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:05.439
You should continue looking because there's a couple of things

36
00:02:05.480 --> 00:02:07.159
that you could do. Number one, if you if you

37
00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:09.879
like the building that you're in, the next time that

38
00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:14.599
your lease renews, you should add a an option to

39
00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:17.319
buy and see if the landlord would go for it,

40
00:02:17.719 --> 00:02:20.759
and make sure that you're clear on the terms uh

41
00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:21.599
and the pricing.

42
00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:22.560
Uh.

43
00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:24.960
There's been there's a number of ways to skin that cat.

44
00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:28.479
I've had a couple of clients who I've helped negotiate

45
00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:31.719
a lease with an option to buy with UH.

46
00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:34.680
The landlord has been open to it. Uh.

47
00:02:34.759 --> 00:02:36.319
You know, you have to you have to give them

48
00:02:36.360 --> 00:02:39.919
an attractive offer sometimes and sometimes it's you know, you

49
00:02:39.960 --> 00:02:44.159
can get it at just regular market value, but uh,

50
00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:47.520
most of the times you're projecting what the market value

51
00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:52.039
will be most of the time. So, but but that's

52
00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:56.039
one way to try to get an opportunity to get

53
00:02:56.039 --> 00:02:56.479
into the.

54
00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:59.560
Get you know, by the buy a building, uh.

55
00:02:59.639 --> 00:03:01.360
The other and by the way, if the building has

56
00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:04.000
other tenants, that's that's just as attractive. It's not that

57
00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:07.080
it retracts from that attractiveness. You are more of a

58
00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:09.000
landlord that way, because you have to make sure you

59
00:03:09.039 --> 00:03:12.599
fill tenants and so forth constantly or as tenants leave.

60
00:03:13.080 --> 00:03:18.360
But it's a very valuable owning a building, uh with

61
00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:21.719
a with your business is a very valuable thing. And

62
00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:27.800
so the other thing is if you call five banks

63
00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:32.000
who do SBA financing, you potentially could get five different

64
00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:35.759
answers on the structure of the of the financing. For example,

65
00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:41.319
if you negotiate seller financing, there are some banks that

66
00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:45.960
will allow you because the SBA will to take to.

67
00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:47.479
Reduce the down payment.

68
00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:50.080
Now, the down payment for commercial real estate with the

69
00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:53.080
SBA is normally ten percent. But if you could get

70
00:03:53.080 --> 00:03:56.159
some significant or relatively state doesn't have to be overwhelming,

71
00:03:56.240 --> 00:04:02.800
but relatively significant financing, you can get a lower down payment,

72
00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:06.360
but it depends. Sometimes the bank won't let you even

73
00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:10.199
though the SBA will. The bank won't because you're dealing

74
00:04:10.199 --> 00:04:13.800
with two different finance companies. Unfortunately, when you're dealing with

75
00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:16.639
the SBA, you're dealing with the bank who has their

76
00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:18.959
set of rules and regulations, and then you're dealing with

77
00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:25.040
the SBA. So you have to get very creative and

78
00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:29.639
you might have to shop around when it comes to

79
00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:32.399
buying a building because some of the prices for commercial

80
00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:37.000
real estate, especially in the New England area where I am,

81
00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:41.160
are really outrageous at this point, and so it's very

82
00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:44.000
difficult for buyers to get into a situation.

83
00:04:44.519 --> 00:04:46.279
But they have. But you have to be creative.

84
00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:52.600
You have to potentially utilize option to buy and by

85
00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:55.639
the way, you could do options to buy to a rate.

86
00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:57.439
You know, you don't have to be the tenant in

87
00:04:57.439 --> 00:04:59.759
a particular building. You can always do an option to

88
00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:04.120
buy with a particular UH seller if they're not ready

89
00:05:04.120 --> 00:05:06.759
to sell now. So it's just another another way to

90
00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:09.120
go about it. You have to get creative in this

91
00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:13.199
market because it's very difficult UH to get in, you know,

92
00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:15.040
to get a piece of real est a commercial real

93
00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:18.199
estate especially, So those are the things that I wanted

94
00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:22.720
to point out for you know, for anybody who's who's

95
00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:28.000
faced with that dilemma, they should be trying to definitely purchase.

96
00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:31.639
But also they have to they have to understand and

97
00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:34.480
they probably already do that. They have to get creative,

98
00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:38.439
and uh, you know, there's different there's different ways to

99
00:05:38.519 --> 00:05:44.000
negotiate a purchase, and options is one and seller financing

100
00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:46.759
is another. There's a big advantage for seller financing on

101
00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:50.199
the seller side. Sure, they're taking the risk, but they

102
00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:52.399
do have a mortgage on the property, so they have

103
00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:56.199
security and if they believe in their price, the security

104
00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:59.639
is probably they got to think that security is good.

105
00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:04.319
But they also have tax benefits. They're able to defer

106
00:06:04.439 --> 00:06:11.360
taxes with a installment sale methodology. So there's there's advantages

107
00:06:11.399 --> 00:06:14.399
to the seller to take back paper as they call it,

108
00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:19.079
and take back financing. So uh and I've seen, by

109
00:06:19.079 --> 00:06:21.480
the way, I've seen situations where the seller takes back

110
00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:25.879
one hundred percent of the financing because of those tax advantages.

111
00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:29.560
So it's not it's not off the wall. Certainly, there's

112
00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:34.519
some sellers who are just you know, staunch, and but

113
00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:37.120
they're but they're also limiting the number of buyers that

114
00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:39.800
could buy the building because it's not it's not that

115
00:06:39.959 --> 00:06:42.680
easy to sell commercial real estate. Although it's in great demand,

116
00:06:43.399 --> 00:06:45.439
it's not that easy to sell because the building has

117
00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:47.199
to be just right to that business.

118
00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:50.800
Well, and I have a question for you that proade

119
00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:55.199
listeners would be wondering. Okay, you know, because it's it's

120
00:06:55.279 --> 00:06:58.639
during the real estate market right now, the residential real

121
00:06:58.759 --> 00:07:04.399
estate in Florida that anybody that has any kind of

122
00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:06.879
financial savvy is going to tell you not to buy

123
00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:09.560
right now and you're better off renting. A couple of

124
00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:12.399
years ago, you were better off buying and you were renting,

125
00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:18.000
So that switches. So what if somebody is thinking, well,

126
00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:21.839
with commercial real estate being so out of sight right now,

127
00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:27.800
isn't it more cost effective to rent and more cost

128
00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:33.000
prohibitive and prohibitive and more liability to own and more

129
00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:36.480
of a risk because you could be buying it at

130
00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:39.759
the peak and the business loses its value which may

131
00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:43.600
also cause you to have to charge lower rents or

132
00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:45.319
any variable like that.

133
00:07:47.319 --> 00:07:50.439
I agree, but that's where terms come in. Terms are everything.

134
00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:53.079
In other words, you know, just because you have a

135
00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:55.160
seller willing to finance doesn't mean you have to make

136
00:07:55.199 --> 00:08:00.160
payments right away. You know, they're out there a way

137
00:08:00.279 --> 00:08:05.279
to to uh structure a transaction so that it could

138
00:08:05.319 --> 00:08:06.560
be very favorable for you know.

139
00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:08.399
Obviously, if they don't do it, they don't do it.

140
00:08:09.079 --> 00:08:13.439
But but to your point, you're right, you know, because

141
00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:15.920
of the high cost of commercial real estate right now,

142
00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:19.079
it is better to rent. But that's why I talk

143
00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:22.720
about the lease options. Yeah, you know you're renting, but

144
00:08:22.839 --> 00:08:25.759
then you know you're you're in a position to buy

145
00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:28.439
down the road, and I would stop planting, even though

146
00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:31.439
they cost money, you know, some token amounts for the

147
00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:34.960
most part, but you know, I would stop planting seeds

148
00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:40.559
and and looking to potentially uh have an option to

149
00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:43.879
buy on these products and and put you know, put.

150
00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:46.919
Down, and then by time you're ready to buy, you

151
00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:49.159
know it will be the right time to buy.

152
00:08:49.399 --> 00:08:50.519
That's right, that's.

153
00:08:50.360 --> 00:08:53.639
Right, because it's all cyclical, it's always cyclical, and you're right,

154
00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:55.840
right now it's probably a good time to rent. But

155
00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:00.679
I think that there's creative ways to structure deal because

156
00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:03.440
at the end of the day, I can't tell you

157
00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:07.600
how many times I've seen it. Dean where the retirement

158
00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:11.720
of a person was the fact that they bought the building,

159
00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:14.279
not the value of the business because they were one

160
00:09:14.360 --> 00:09:17.879
on paperhanger or you know, their business really didn't make

161
00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:20.480
enough money to be able to sell it up you know,

162
00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:23.559
three times earning, So whatever it is, it was their

163
00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:26.600
building that ended up being their retirement package.

164
00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:28.919
Yeah, the building that happens.

165
00:09:29.080 --> 00:09:32.600
That makes so much sense, and like even as a

166
00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:35.320
perfect story of that. Many years ago in the beginning

167
00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:39.759
of starting this network, my daughter worked for me and

168
00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:43.360
we had a fan and somebody else that worked for

169
00:09:43.399 --> 00:09:45.919
me that also happened to be a family friend for

170
00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:48.080
may years, but she was in radio for may years.

171
00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:51.960
That's why she was working here. And so she knew

172
00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:54.360
my daughter since she was little. Her daughter and my

173
00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:58.120
daughter were like best friends when they were little. And

174
00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:02.799
basically she was saying to this person. My door was

175
00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:06.000
saying to this person, oh, yeah, like, I'm just gonna

176
00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:09.960
take over the business, you know, when my dad either

177
00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:13.519
retires or passes or something and like, and the woman

178
00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:18.000
said to her, like, well, because you know, my daughter

179
00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:21.440
wasn't acting like an owner, she was acting more like

180
00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:24.200
an employee. But then I'm going to take over the business,

181
00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:28.679
and like right now, there is no business without your dad.

182
00:10:29.399 --> 00:10:32.080
So if you want to take over the business, you're

183
00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:34.360
gonna have to get more involved and have more of

184
00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:39.480
a vested interest and learn the business. You know, because

185
00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:41.200
I bring this up because a lot of kids think

186
00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:43.679
that they're just gonna take over their parents' business.

187
00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:48.320
I know that. So that's such the wrong thought process.

188
00:10:48.039 --> 00:10:52.480
Right, and perfect example is I worked for I was

189
00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:54.799
a manager when I was going to college. I was

190
00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:58.039
a manager of this pool and spa place called Harrows.

191
00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:01.600
They had been in business for sixty years, you know,

192
00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:06.360
and they were very well known. And the kids there

193
00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:10.919
were like multiple partners, like three or four partners. All

194
00:11:10.919 --> 00:11:14.799
of them retired, all their kids took over, and that

195
00:11:14.919 --> 00:11:22.120
business doesn't exist today, like a sixty year old business

196
00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:28.840
that just disappears because kids think it's like just an inheritance.

197
00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:31.480
They just have to take it over and everything will

198
00:11:31.559 --> 00:11:35.720
run smoothly and not realize that. You know, it doesn't

199
00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:36.440
work that way.

200
00:11:36.600 --> 00:11:37.399
No, it doesn't.

201
00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:39.639
It doesn't, And you have to have the mindset to

202
00:11:39.639 --> 00:11:41.440
be able to deal with it, because if you don't,

203
00:11:42.360 --> 00:11:44.360
you're just gonna you're just gonna give up quick.

204
00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:48.960
And had it that it would be worthless to you exactly,

205
00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:55.600
so well as usual, you give the greatest advice. And yes,

206
00:11:55.759 --> 00:11:59.360
I am a believer you should buy the building because listen,

207
00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:02.919
real state, whether it be residential, commercial, is still one

208
00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:06.799
of the best investments that you know. You hold it

209
00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:10.799
long enough, you're probably not gonna lose money, right and.

210
00:12:10.759 --> 00:12:12.919
If you do the deal right, the tenants, which you

211
00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:15.799
might be one, are going to pay the mortgage.

212
00:12:16.279 --> 00:12:16.840
Exactly.

213
00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:20.919
Yeah, I mean it really is. And a lot of

214
00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:24.320
respects and no brainer. Now there's responsibilities. You talked about

215
00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:27.039
repairs and maintenance and all that kind of stuff. Absolutely,

216
00:12:27.559 --> 00:12:31.159
but that has to be all figured into the numbers

217
00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:33.200
when you analyze the opportunity.

218
00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:35.679
So how do people talk to you and find out

219
00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:39.679
more about that specifically and maybe you can coach them

220
00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:44.120
in the proper strategies in order to upportunity.

221
00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:48.559
They go to NeXTSTEP CFO dot net and click on

222
00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:51.639
the contact page. You could also download my book for free,

223
00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:55.919
Call Powerful Business Strategies. They can when they get on

224
00:12:55.960 --> 00:12:59.679
the contact page, they could go to the message section.

225
00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:02.679
They thought the form in the message section they could

226
00:13:02.679 --> 00:13:05.240
tie to words buying a building, I'd be glad to

227
00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:07.120
talk to them about it or want to buy a building,

228
00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:09.759
and I'd be glad to talk to him about it.

229
00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:14.480
Nice. Well, I definitely think they should reach out to you, because,

230
00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:16.919
you know, we've been doing a lot of these episodes.

231
00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:18.720
I think this one's been like one of the most

232
00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:21.480
important ones because it's it's one that most people don't

233
00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:24.399
think of. You know, people think of a lot of

234
00:13:24.440 --> 00:13:27.679
the other strategies we were talking about. They've heard of it,

235
00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:31.679
but I don't know many business owners that even contemplate

236
00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:34.039
that they should be buying the building, right.

237
00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:38.720
Right, Oh, that's right. They's it's something they should consider it,

238
00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:42.960
and especially when the e least renews they should talk

239
00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:46.120
to the owner of the building about an option.

240
00:13:46.840 --> 00:13:51.000
Yeah, exactly. Well, love it. Love that you're here on

241
00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:56.080
the Positively pipe Man segment, and thanks once again for

242
00:13:56.120 --> 00:13:58.440
helping our listeners and thanks for being on the Adventures

243
00:13:58.440 --> 00:13:59.840
of Pipe Man here on W FOURC.

244
00:14:00.919 --> 00:14:03.039
Great to be here, Thanks for having me. Thank you

245
00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:08.919
for listening to the Adventures of Patement on w for

246
00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:10.840
c u I Radio.