So I ran into Apu just now......

[Brian37]

The one shopping complex that is doing well further down the road is doing something different than the one close to me.

Unless the landlord - or more correctly the property manager he hired - is completely falling down and the job and refusing to adequately maintain the property (and you haven't said that) then I think the success of the businesses there is a result of the actions of the store owners/operators rather than the landlord.

Come on, I am tired of that shit always placing blame on those lower than the top.

The 4 businesses that are in that mostly empty complex do well, so you cant blame it on those few.

The rent in that complex is too high, and for whatever reason the few that are there on top of the corporate gas station in the front of the lot are just enough for the complex owners to skate by.

I'd say that the other complex further down the road, the reason they DON'T have a high turn over rate or empty complex isn't just because the renters do good business, but because BEFORE they rented they vetted to insure they would have a better chance of longer staying power.

[Minimalist]

LOL.

I spent 33 years with the IRS and before I got fully involved in the union game I had a whole drawer full of failing small businesses.  Most of them had some idea of how to deliver the product or service they specialized in.  Most equally had no fucking clue how to run a business.  They were constantly getting ripped off by lawyers or accountants.  They may have been excellent mechanics, or whatever, but this is where they fell down.

[Brian37]

LOL.

I spent 33 years with the IRS and before I got fully involved in the union game I had a whole drawer full of failing small businesses.  Most of them had some idea of how to deliver the product or service they specialized in.  Most equally had no fucking clue how to run a business.  They were constantly getting ripped off by lawyers or accountants.  They may have been excellent mechanics, or whatever, but this is where they fell down.

I am not doubting your time with the IRS.

I am saying what good does it do you as property owner, to let your units set empty unless you get a tax break and make more keeping them empty.

It would be no different if you are an apartment complex owner. If your units are empty you make no money.

AGAIN, the one further down the road has kept its units full, and has had a low turnover rate as far as renters. Whereas the complex close to me is dependent on 4 businesses and a gas station. 

Those 4 businesses in the mostly empty complex produce quality work. 

The difference I see is that the property owners close to me use Tax code to keep the properties empty and the full one further down the road actually vetted potential renters far better to insure that they would not have a high turn over rate.

If it were all solely about taking money, renters of apartments would not ask for deposits or 1 or 2 year contracts, nor would they ask for references. If I owned a shopping complex I would want any potential renter to have a viable business model that would bring traffic to my complex.

[Rev. Rye]

Ok, no I did not, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express....

In all seriousness, I did run into a guy from India at the strip mall for sale while waiting for my Chinese food. I noticed him going from empty unit to empty unit looking in them. Wasn't sure if he was looking to rent, turned out he was looking to buy the entire mall.

So we got to talking, I noticed his accent and asked him where he was from, India as you already know. I took a risk knowing that lots of business owners side with the GOP in mentioning that I FUCKING HATE 45, and this guy AGREED WITH ME. I LOVE THIS GUY......

I basically told him that all but 4 of the units had been empty for the past 8 years including the middle section which used to be a Lowes grocery store. I told him if he chose to buy it, he should have damned good leverage knowing how long it has sat empty, and that I would root for his successful buy if he could end up filling all the units.

It would give me tons of satisfaction to have a sane immigrant business man, buy that place and prove the asshole GOP and 45 how full of shit they really are.

This guy had a great sense of humor, and hated 45 and the GOP. THAT is a business owner I could support.

He's a business owner, but remember, he's also a member of a minority group. And since you mentioned he has an accent, it's safe to assume he's probably an immigrant. And I think it's likely a more recent one, since, in my experience, people who've emigrated a young age, tend to have less pronounced accents after they've been in their new land for a long time (unless they live in a more insular community). Fun fact: I once had a German history class taught by a real German; he was born in West Berlin, and shortly after the wall fell, he started to study at UIC; now he teaches at Columbia College Chicago and speaks with an accent that sounds strangely Kennedy-like to my ears.

Given that he's most likely an immigrant (and perhaps a recent one at that), it would appear more likely that he'd hate the most anti-immigration, most openly racist, and most consistently unpopular President in recent memory. Granted, Trump doesn't seem too interested in fucking over Indian-Americans (the fact that Indian-Americans have the highest average income of any ethnic group in America, including the Jews, might have something to do with it), but I'd suspect they'd probably still be suspicious.

[Minimalist]

I am saying what good does it do you as property owner, to let your units set empty unless you get a tax break and make more keeping them empty.

Of course they get a tax break.  One of the big scams in the tax code - and one you can bet your ass that a scumbag like the WLB will not abolish - is the depreciation scam. 

So let's say your friend buys the property in question.  He gets to spread the purchase price plus fees and expenses over the useful life and the deduction begins the day he puts it into service.  (Meaning when he starts renting it out.)  Now here's the scam.  The property in question could well have been fully depreciated by the original owner or every owner in the interim but the new owner gets to "depreciate" it again.  In case you haven't figured it out by now, we pay for these rich motherfuckers' tax breaks.