Managing a "Classic Property"

As a commercial property owner, you may find that managing your real estate investment is not as easy (or fun) as the previous owners and their brokers suggested. In reality, managing a classic property is very similar to maintaining a classic car. That car needs maintenance and special care to stay in great shape! Unfortunately, just because you own a classic car, or in this case a classic building, does not mean you are an expert on fixing it. And, just like a classic car, not every property manager will know how to correctly manage and maintain your property.

You need a specialist!

Commercial Management Consultants, aka CMC, was founded in 1990 by Charles D. Currey. CMC currently manages 2,000,000 square feet of privately-owned, small, multi-tenant buildings and associations in San Diego County.

Large professional management organizations have not historically targeted this product type for several reasons:

• These buildings require an expert, as they are not typically occupied by cut-and-dry corporate tenants.


• Tenants in smaller properties are often businesses run by hard-working, regular citizens who experience normal road bumps in their lives. Navigating these road bumps with tenants is difficult and in many ways similar to managing an apartment complex.


• Management services provided by large management operations have a high cost of doing business, which can only be supported by large contracts with high monthly pay.


• Small investment buildings often yield the same or greater capitalization rates as larger buildings, but their yield, when considered in pure dollars, is often too thin to provide for a professional manager.

A proper “mechanic” may not be available for your property due some of the reasons listed above. This causes many owners to manage their own building or settle on an expensive corporate manager – who does little more than collect rents and, in practice, rarely visits the property. The last thing you want for your investment is for all of the cash flow to be eaten up by a management service that simply changes the oil and runs the building into the ground!

Property Improvement vs. Property Management

CMC helps owners improve their property in cost-efficient ways, perform long-term maintenance, and keep their investment looking great. When a property is correctly improved it will attract new, high quality tenants that can afford to pay a rental price at the upper end of the rent spectrum for a given product type. You want your property to turn heads and draw “thumb-ups” from prospective tenants!

How do we do it?

• CMC prefers energy-efficient transformers and regulators, water meters, modern lightning, advanced sunshades, and other "green" improvements that show up on the monthly utility bill. Your overhead will be lower.


• CMC works with an established network of professional designers, color coordinators, and landscape companies to make small aesthetic changes that transform a property into a pleasing package.


• CMC performs (or recommends) ongoing, proactive maintenance that more than pays for itself.


• CMC leverages on the experience of a principal with 32 years of experience as one of the top producing real estate brokers in San Diego County to advise you on your investment.

A building is more efficient when its operating expenses are lowered, its suites are full of credit tenants, and its income is improved. The real benefit is it is also worth more money, more easily financed, and pride of ownership is increased. This is the difference between improving a property, and ramping up the capitalization on your investment, compared to just managing it. When a property is improved, it generates more money with lower overhead, while allows an owner to afford a professional manager – a manager that will help to bring out the same pride-of-ownership that can be derived from a beautiful classic car.

How does CMC compare in cost?

Typical tenant rent as a percentage of sales is 7%. If your property is rented to a dentist, who operates 4 days a week, for $2000 a month – that dentist must generate $1,785.00 a day in dental services to cover rent. If an aging utility system in your building fails for three days - due to improper maintenance – that dentist will come up $5,357.00 short. In this scenario, paying rent usually becomes last priority. Why? Leases are typically a non-secured obligation, and disputes are resolved in civil court. Proper maintenance by CMC lessons the risk of these problems and can easily cover the cost of an entire year’s management free in just one unpredicted event.

CMC works on a time-analysis basis, not a percentage of rents.

CMC works on a profit-share basis. Our fee starts low (very low compared to corporate managers) and increases as rents and occupancy increase.

CMC strives to improve your building, attract new tenants, and increase rents. 99% of the time CMC is able to more than cover its management cost within the first six months of management.

(760) 505-2020
chuck@lockwoodcommercial.com