Doctor or Landlord? Should health practitioners own the property they practise in? The question of whether you should own the commercial property your practice is in depends on your individual preferences, your income and investment goals, and the type of clinic you run. also by other professionals such as engineers – I have even heard the question from the occasional accountant with whom I’ve worked over the past 20 years. The question: “Is it better to have an investment real estate portfolio or to own the commercial property my business or practice it is in?” Both options have merit but, as with most things in life, this isn’t simple to answer, as there are many items that are unique to each individual and their practice’s operations to consider. T RENT AND OPPORTUNITY I recently had an interesting conversation with a chiropractor’s accountant on this topic, which led me to write this article. This particular accountant’s perspective was: “The answer to the question of whether a chiropractor should have an investment real state portfolio, separate from his/her practice, or own the commercial property his/her prac-tice is in depends on whether, in the long run, they want to be a doctor or a landlord.” Further demonstrating that this is not a clear-cut decision with a cookie-cutter answer for all professionals, he added: “It’s simple if your rent is far more expensive than the mortgage payment to own and the renovation costs are reasonable for a place you can see your practice in for a long time. The primary item to factor in is the opportunity cost of the capital and time required.” The interpretation of this is that you must decide whether or not you could get a better return by investing the available capital in some-thing else compared to tying it up in a down payment, renovations and ongoing building www.canadianchiropractor.ca here is an age-old question I’ve come across in discussions with many health-care professionals. This question is not limited to professionals in the health-care industry, such as medical doctors, chiropractors and pharmacists, but is raised Will Wong is the director at CORE Investment Solutions Inc., a real estate investment firm based in Vancouver that specializes in help-ing individuals and companies build hassle-free real estate portfolios.He has written a report called The Stra-tegic Real Estate Investing Report, and if you would like a copy or have any suggestions on topics for future articles, he can be reached at will@ investresmart.com. CANADIAN CHIROPRACTOR | DECEMBER 2012 • 39 feature Will Wong
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor December 2012: Page 39
