Sale Leaseback-Absolute Net and Bond Lease Financing
Specialists in evaluating and implementing off balance sheet transactions for corporate users.
An impressive client base and extensive real estate finance experience enables REF to provide sound advice for corporations looking to think “outside of the box” and develop real estate finance structures that help achieve their corporate objectives. At REF, our mission is to partner with those companies that we emulate as successful leaders in their business and help develop real estate strategies that allow our clients to achieve their financial goals and ultimately succeed in exceeding their corporate objectives.
We meet with company personnel to better understand 1) the company’s strategy in the near future for real estate facilities, 2) learn more about the existing facilities, 3) discuss current lease forms and existing corporate financing agreements which may place restrictions or covenants on any given sale-leaseback financing transaction and 4) discuss and explain how bond lease or absolute net leases work and can save the company a substantial amount of money over the course of a long term lease.
Advisors to Companies and Individual Investors
Help clients identify suitable Section 1031 tax free exchange-like kind property and advise them through the due diligence and closing process.
We have excellent access to investor groups, which have closed on transactions involving REF, as well as on other transactions in which REF was not involved. The bottom line is that we can easily match up buyers and sellers. A key point here is that we are not acting solely as a broker or just a finder. When matching a buyer and seller up, we will continue to act as an advisor to our client. We do this by understanding all aspects of the transaction and representing our clients until the transaction is successfully completed.
Real Estate Property Tax Assessment and Appeal Services
The significant erosion in commercial real estate values has resulted in a major disconnect between real estate tax assessments and their true market value. We are seeing numerous cases where the assessed values are significantly in excess of true fair market value.
As a result, there are great opportunities for owners and tenants of single tenant net lease properties to save a significant amount of money by appealing the current tax assessments to the local assessors and/or the various Boards of Appeal/Equalization.
In 2009, REF was retained initially by Rite Aid Corporation to assist them in this area for 8 states where they do business. To date, we have had some very successful appeals and are continuing this service not only for Rite Aid but have recently been retained by two additional companies to assist them in the same way.
In 2010, REF was retained by Performance Food Group to assist them in evaluating their real estate tax assessments for a number of their large distribution centers. In 2012, following a 22-month process, we successfully finalized an appeal in New Jersey for one facility that reduced the real estate taxes by over 25%.
Services to Developers
Advisory services to developers with regard to permanent lease financing.
Expert Witness Testimony
Providing added value to existing clients in contesting real estate tax increases resulting from completed sale-leaseback transactions.