Business Sector

With the development of private property ownership, real estate has become a major area of business, commonly referred to as commercial real estate. Purchasing real estate requires a significant investment, and each parcel of land has unique characteristics, so the real estate industry has evolved into several distinct fields. Specialists are often called on to valuate real estate and facilitate transactions. Some kinds of real estate businesses include:

Appraisal
Real estate appraisal, property valuation or land valuation is the practice of developing an opinion of the value of real property, usually its Market Value. The need for appraisals arises from the heterogeneous nature of property as an investment class: no two properties are identical, and all properties differ from each other in their location - which is one of the most important determinants of their value. So there cannot exist a centralised Walrasian auction setting for the trading of property assets, as there exists for trade in corporate stock. The absence of a market-based pricing mechanism determines the need for an expert appraisal/valuation of real estate/property.

Although some areas require no license or certification at all, a real estate appraisal is generally performed by a licensed or certified appraiser (in many countries known as a Property Valuer or Land Valuer and in British English as a "valuation surveyor"). If the appraiser's opinion is based on Market Value, then it must also be based on the Highest and Best Use of the real property. For mortgage valuations of improved residential property in the US, the appraisal is most often reported on a standardized form, such as the Uniform Residential Appraisal Report.[1] Appraisals of more complex property (e.g. -- income producing, raw land) are usually reported in a narrative appraisal report.

Brokers
A real estate broker is a term in the United States and Canada that describes a party who acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers of real estate (or real property as it is known elsewhere) and attempts to find sellers who wish to sell and buyers who wish to buy. In the United States, the relationship was originally established by reference to the English common law of agency with the broker having a fiduciary relationship with his clients.

Estate agent is the term used in the United Kingdom to describe a person or organization whose business is to market real estate on behalf of clients, but there are significant differences between the actions and liabilities of brokers and estate agents in each country. Beyond the US, other countries take markedly different approaches to the marketing and selling of real property.

In the US, real estate brokers and their salespersons (commonly called "real estate agents" or, in some states, "brokers")[1] assist sellers in marketing their property and selling it for the highest possible price under the best terms. When acting as a Buyer's agent with a signed agreement (or, in many cases, verbal agreement, although a broker may not be legally entitled to his commission unless the agreement is in writing), they assist buyers by helping them purchase property for the lowest possible price under the best terms. Without a signed agreement, brokers may assist buyers in the acquisition of property but still represent the seller and the seller's interests.

In most jurisdictions in the United States, a person must have a license before they may receive remuneration for services rendered as a real estate broker. Unlicensed activity is illegal, but buyers and sellers acting as principals in the sale or purchase of real estate are not required to be licensed. In some states, lawyers are allowed to handle real estate sales for compensation without being licensed as brokers or agents.

Development
Real estate development is a multifaceted business, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of improved parcels to others. Developers are the coordinators of the activities, converting ideas on paper into real property.

Real estate development is different from building. Developer Louis Lesser drew the distinction in a 1963 New York Times article, “Developing is the key word. ‘We don’t build ourselves’, Mr. Lesser stresses. ‘We buy the land, finance the deal, and then we have the best builders build under bond at a fixed cost.’”

Developers buy land, finance real estate deals, build or have builders build projects,create, imagine, control and orchestrate the process of development from the beginning to end. Developers usually take the greatest risk in the creation or renovation of real estate—and receive the greatest rewards. Typically, developers purchase a tract of land, determine the marketing of the property, develop the building program and design, obtain the necessary public approval and financing, build the structure, and lease, manage, and ultimately sell it. Developers work with many different counterparts along each step of this process, including architects, city planners, engineers, surveyors, inspectors, contractors, leasing agents and more. In the Town and Country Planning context of the UK, 'development' is defined in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 s55.

Net Lease
In commercial real estate, a net lease requires the tenant to pay, in addition to rent, some or all of the property expenses which normally would be paid by the property owner (known as the "landlord" or "lessor"). These include expenses such as real estate taxes, insurance, maintenance, repairs, utilities and other items.
The precise items that are to be paid by the tenant are usually specified in a written lease. For properties that are leased by more than one tenant, such as a shopping center, the expenses that are "passed through" to the tenants are usually prorated among the tenants based on the size (square footage) of the area occupied by each tenant. The term "net Lease" is distinguished from the term "gross lease". In a net lease, the property owner receives the rent "net" after the expenses that are to be passed through to tenants are paid. In a gross lease, the tenant pays a gross amount of rent, which the landlord can use to pay expenses or in any other way as the landlord sees fit.

Lease
A lease is a contract conferring a right on one person (called a tenant or lessee) to possess property belonging to another person (called a landlord or lessor) to the exclusion of the owner landlord, and all others except with the invitation of the tenant. It is a rental agreement between landlord and tenant.[1] The relationship between the tenant and the landlord is called a tenancy, and the right to possession by the tenant is sometimes called a leasehold interest. A lease can be for a fixed period of time (called the term of the lease) but (depending on the terms of the lease) may be terminated sooner. The consideration for the lease is called rent or the rental.

A lease should be contrasted to a license, which may entitle a person (called a licensee) to use property, but which is subject to termination at the will of the owner of the property (called the licensor). An example of a license is the relationship between a parking lot owner and a person who parks a vehicle in the parking lot.

Under normal circumstances, owners of property are at liberty to do what they want with their property (for a lawful purpose), including dealing with it or handing over possession of the property to a tenant for a limited period of time. If an owner has surrendered possession to another (i.e., the tenant) then any interference with the quiet enjoyment of the property by the tenant in lawful possession is itself unlawful.

Similar principles apply to real property as well as to personal property, though the terminology would be different. Similar principles apply to sub-leasing, that is the leasing by a tenant in possession to a sub-tenant. The right to sub-lease can be expressly prohibited by the main lease, sometimes referred to as a "master lease".

Leasehold estate
A leasehold estate is an ownership interest in land in which a lessee or a tenant holds real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord.

Leasehold is a form of property tenure where one party buys the right to occupy land or a building for a given length of time. As lease is a legal estate, leasehold estate can be bought and sold on the open market. A leasehold thus differs from a freehold where the ownership of a property is purchased outright and thereafter held for an indeterminate length of time, and also differs from a tenancy where a property is let (rented) on a periodic basis such as weekly or monthly.

Until the end of the lease period (often measured in decades or centuries; a 999 year lease is quite common) the leaseholder has the right to remain in occupation as an assured tenant paying an agreed rent to the owner. Terms of the agreement are contained in a lease, which has elements of contract and property law intertwined.

The term estate for years may occasionally be used. This refers to a leasehold estate for any specific period of time (the word "years" is misleading). An estate for years is not automatically renewed.

Colloquially, a "lease" is often a formalization of a longer, specific period as compared with a "rental" that created a tenancy at will, terminable or renewable at the end of a short period.

Types of net leases
There are standard names in the commercial real estate industry for different sets of costs passed on to the tenant in a net lease.

Single net lease
In a single net lease (sometimes shortened to Net or N), the lessee or tenant is responsible for paying property taxes as well as the base rent. Double- and triple-net leases are more common forms of net leases because all or the majority of the expenses are passed on the tenant.[2]

Double net lease
In a double net lease (Net-Net or NN) the lessee or tenant is responsible for real estate taxes and building insurance. The lessor or landlord is responsible for any expenses incurred for structural repairs and common area maintenance. "Roof and structure" is sometimes calculated as a reserve, the most common amount is equal to $0.15 per square foot.[citation needed] Double net leases are rarely used in the industry because if two tenants are willing to cut their costs to halves, they are typically willing to cut their costs to thirds.[clarification needed]

Triple net lease
A triple net lease (Net-Net-Net or NNN) is a lease agreement on a property where the tenant or lessee agrees to pay all real estate taxes, building insurance, and maintenance (the three 'Nets') on the property in addition to any normal fees that are expected under the agreement (rent, etc.). In such a lease, the tenant or lessee is responsible for all costs associated with the repair and maintenance of any common area.

This form of lease is frequently used for freestanding buildings.

Bondable lease
A bondable lease (also called an absolute triple net lease or a "hell-or-high-water lease") is the most extreme variation of a triple net lease, where the tenant carries every imaginable real estate risk related to the property. Notably, these additional risks include the obligations to rebuild after a casualty, regardless of the adequacy of insurance proceeds, and to pay rent after partial or full condemnation. These leases are not terminable by the tenant, nor are rent abatements permissible. The concept is to make the rent absolutely net under all circumstances, equivalent to the obligations of a bond: hence the "hell-or-high water" moniker. An example of this type of lease would be a leaseback arrangement in which a retailer leases back the building it formerly owned and continues to run the store.

Bondable leases are typically used in so-called "credit tenant lease" deals, where the main driver of value is not so much the real estate, but the uninterrupted cash flow from the usually investment-grade rated "credit" tenant.

Property management
Property management is the operation of commercial, industrial and/or residential real estate. This is much akin to the role of management in any business.

Property Management is also the management of personal property, equipment, tooling and physical capital assets that are acquired and used to build, repair and maintain end item deliverables. Property Management involves the processes, systems and manpower required to manage the life cycle of all acquired property as defined above including Acquisition, Control, Accountability, Maintenance, Utilization, and disposition.

Real estate investing
Real estate investing involves the purchase, ownership, management, rental and/or sale of real estate for profit. Improvement of realty property as part of a real estate investment strategy is generally considered to be a sub-specialty of real estate investing called real estate development. Real estate is an asset form with limited liquidity relative to other investments, it is also capital intensive (although capital may be gained through mortgage leverage) and is highly cash flow dependent. If these factors are not well understood and managed by the investor, real estate becomes a risky investment. The primary cause of investment failure for real estate is that the investor goes into negative cash flow for a period of time that is not sustainable, often forcing them to resell the property at a loss or go into insolvency.

Relocation
Relocation services or "employee relocation" includes a range of internal business processes that are engaged to transfer employees, their families, and/or entire departments of a business to a new work location. Like other types of employee benefits, these processes are usually administered by human resources specialists within a corporation and outsourced to different types of service providers. Relocation Services are not synonymous with moving/relocation companies as not all of these companies offer "relocation services."

Such business processes can include domestic residential services where an employee moves within a country or state as well as international relocation services which include planning for (diplomats, managers etc.) working abroad. An agency providing relocation services directs and manages the process of relocation including arranging necessary documents (visa, long-term stay permissions), finding a new house (accommodation), finding a school for children (education), finding a job for the partner or "trailing spouse" and arranging a teacher for the family (language teaching).

Corporate real estate
Corporate real estate is a term used to describe the real property held and/or used by a business enterprise or organization for its own operational purposes. A corporate real estate portfolio typically includes a corporate headquarters and a number of branch offices, and perhaps also various manufacturing and retail sites.

Corporate real estate may also describe the functional practice, department, and/or profession that is concerned with the planning, acquisition, management, and administration of real property on behalf of a company. Generally, Corporate real estate professionals approach the real estate market from the buy-side, or demand perspective, similar to corporate purchasing or procurement. As such, they seek to contain costs, and may benefit from economic environments that are described by most as "weak".

Although closely related to facilities management and property management, Corporate real estate as a concept is usually broader in corporate functional scope but more narrow within the real estate sector. For instance, Corporate Real Estate professionals (or departments) typically dedicate greater emphasis and time on multi-site long-range planning (often called "portfolio planning" or "strategic planning"). However, Corporate real estate is almost exclusively focused on commercial properties types (mostly office, with industrial and retail depending on the company); residential properties are rare in a corporate portfolio