Fun Facts about Commercial Real Estate

From being a landlord to major mergers and from record-breaking deals to impacting an entire community, commercial real estate’s ever-evolving nature is truly fascinating in today’s markets. Understanding the current economy plays a large role in understanding the intricacies of commercial real estate as a whole. For example, as the growth of online retailers throughout the United States continues to surge, warehouse space has become increasingly desirable across the country. The shift to online sales means less retail space and more warehouse space to store the goods being shipped around the world. With this in mind, commercial real estate investors must think through the impact that this shift may have on the market.

Commercial real estate is often a cut-throat, competitive industry. With landlords, buyers, and sellers continually fighting for the best prices and highest value, it’s an exhausting business to be in. As such, we want to bring some fun back into the commercial real estate space. Take a look at these surprising, fun, and interesting facts about commercial real estate:

• You can purchase an acre of land on the moon for under $30
• McDonald’s owns some of the greatest commercial real estate on the globe
• Monopoly was originally created with the goal of teaching players about Capitalism
• Sellers in New York’s real estate market are required to disclose in their property is haunted by ghosts
• The White House is valued around $110 million
• In 2009, the number of foreclosures in the U.S. exceeded the number of marriages in the U.S.
• There are approximately 5 times the number of vacant houses as there are homeless people in the U.S.
• The Eiffel Tower has a secret apartment at the very top, meant for its designer
• In Palo Alto, Mark Zuckerberg bought the four houses next to his and then leased them back to their owners to avoid the houses being sold to people looking to live next to him
• Someone once took a red paper clip and traded continually until he eventually owned a house through trades
• “The strip” in Las Vegas is actually located in a city called “Paradise” to avoid the high taxes in Las Vegas
• Warren Buffett still lives in the home he purchased in 1958 for $31,500

Hopefully this relieved a little bit of the stress associated with the commercial real estate market. Keep these fun facts in mind the next time you feel overwhelmed by the complexities of your commercial real estate deal.