How far can we go just on wisdom and an idea without spending any money?  Lately, I have been asked to make a couple of miracles happen in the world of real estate and have been stumped.  The majority of my friends that have started small businesses in the last couple of years have done so without a dollar in their pocket and with no lines of credit.  In fact, it is “cool” right now to start out without money or partners.  This is great until they want to expand and start asking me about expanding current space and creating the perfect workspace.  Many of them have not had to do a build out or project how many offices will be occupied by end of year.  Most of them have not looked past the dining room table or the expensive office suite they are using and at this time “rent” is not even a line item on the balance sheet.  So when a friend says to me they want to move my first question I always ask is “How much will you spend?”.  We are constantly blasted with good deals we see happening on TV and in the news but to say that’s going to work for you is tough.  We need to start at a dollar amount and work from their.  Mainly because the condition, usage or build out can and will make it an entirely different project than expected.  To say you got a building for half price and the seller financed it does you no good if it needs $200K of remodeling and you are behind on your cell phone bill.  One of the ways we work through this is we do a pro forma that outlines the next 10 years of a building and the cost of doing business there.  Its alot more realistic than saying $300 in rent per month is that bad!  So lets keep growing and expanding but in a realistic world and with the long-term in mind.  Great?  Great!
curt