Finding the right partner takes time. Don’t be discouraged if a partner you thought would be ideal does not work out. Companies should interview at least three potential partners before selecting one. In a way, it’s a lot like dating.You don’t necessarily marry the first person you go out with. In business, you don’t want to form a partnership with the first potential partner you meet. Someone better suited to your needs may come along at any moment.
In the Bank of America/Exult case, the bank knew it wanted to outsource its human resource capabilities and Exult wanted to demonstrate to others that it could manage a business on that scale. But as they explored their partnership, they discovered they might benefit in other ways. For example, Exult manages the payroll for many of its clients. Those payroll services could be managed through Bank of America, providing both seamless service for Exult’s clients and additional business for the bank.
Capitalization rate? I know you’re thinking this is starting to sound complicated; definitely third-year college accounting. Well before you close the book, allow me to explain. First, it sounds way more complicated than it is. In numerical terms, the capitalization rate is the net operating income divided bv the purchase price:
Capitalization Rate = Net Operating Income -T- Purchase Price
So now you’re thinking, “Ken, how can I calculate the capitalization rate when I don’t have a purchase price yet? That’s what I’m trying to figure out through this whole exercise after all. Don’t tell me algebra is involved!” No, algebra is not involved. This is actually really easy. The purchase price here is actually the purchase price trends for a comparable building in your market. So this very complicated sounding word is actually something you can get very easily from brokers, real estate agents, or even the pro forma document for the property. The people in the business—your team members—will either know the capitalization rate for your market or help you calculate it, and that’s all there is to it.
Keep in mind, at this point in the process your goal is to get an idea of the ongoing services and repairs as well as upgrades the building may need. Later in the process, you’ll go into lots more detail. This is the time to put rough numbers on paper and analyze if the cost of the needed repairs will still allow you to be profitable. There is a real balancing act between spending enough to get the place in shape and overspending. Again, your property management representative can help you determine many of these costs.
The goal throughout this whole exercise is to get a picture of where your expenses are and try to find ways to do things better, smarter, and for less money. Those increase your net income and increase your profitability. So what are the expenses? To answer that question, we’ll turn to the pro forma expense table. It shows the seller’s anticipated expenses for the coming year (the pro forma column) and the actual expenses for the prior year.
Expenses are the second important variable to consider. As I mentioned earlier, the definition of net operating income is income minus expenses. In the previous section, we showed you the specifics you need to review to estimate the income potential of a property. In this section, you’ll see how to assess the expenses.
Just as we did when we verified income, you’ll want to get a picture of the current expenses. Unlike the income calculation where our goal was to be 100 percent on the money in terms of accuracy, with expenses the goal is to get reasonably close. We’ll find out all the minute details later in the game. This is another area where your team of pros can help you.
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