Xavier Pullen, Director of Commercial Property, Property Partner
- Introducing Xavier Pullen
- What Type of Investor Typically Invests in Commercial Property?
- What Types of Commercial Property are Popular and Why?
- How Does Commercial Property Compare to Residential?
- Are Permitted Developments from Commercial to Residential a Good Idea?
- How does Property Partner Select their Commercial Properties?
- The UK’s Commercial Property Market and the Rest of the World
Rob: In today’s question, we are going to be looking at the type of investor that typically would choose to invest in commercial property. I appreciate that this will be quiet a broad spectrum of people and companies that would consider that but what does commercial tend to… Why do people get interested in commercial property investment?
Xavier: Often, it is the sophisticated investor that is looking at it. So, it will be somebody who has already got exposure to residential. They like property and it’s an obvious move. Because there are so many different types of commercial property, they might come in through buying retail investments or industrial investments or, a lot of these families have their own businesses and they might buy the business that the company is in, already.
So, from a private, individual point-of-view that tends to be where they come from.
Rob: There is an element of comfort, for that entry point. They have got some experience.
Xavier: Exactly or they have already invested in the stock market, maybe in some property companies or they may have invested in large open-ended funds, specialising in commercial property. So, that would be where they get comfortable with the whole notion of it and they think, wouldn’t it be good if I could have a slice of that, myself.
Rob: I guess, historically, commercial property, in some instances, can be relatively expensive, it’s certainly more nuanced. From my perspective, I’m residential, that’s my background. So, in commercial, there are, certainly, things there where I am not necessarily as experienced with. So, I guess, it’s always been, not hidden or behind closed doors but a lot harder for the mainstream investor to access and that’s where Property Partner comes in.
Xavier: Yes, exactly. That is what encouraged me to look at the whole model with Property Partner because the idea of being able to access commercial properties, as you say, is really difficult and the idea with Property Partner is to make it as simple as possible and certainly, as a forerunner, to going on your own and doing yourself.
It is a phenomenal platform which enables you to suck-it-and-see. You can see all the nuances that go into a sector, which is very difficult to access, as a private individual. It’s tricky.
Rob: So, the nature of the platform is that you see a range of people, possibly looking at crowdfunding and commercial, specifically. And within the wider sphere of commercial, you have got companies and organisations that will invest in it, as well.
Xavier: Yes, exactly. And then, within commercial property itself, there are various types of commercial property that you might want to invest in first before you get to more adventurous opportunities.
Rob: A host of options.
Xavier: So, we’ve been concentrating just on pretty straightforward investments that produce a good return.
Rob: Fantastic. Sounds good, thank you.
Xavier: And it is really different to anything else such as residential and that sort of thing.