Considering Buying Real Estate for Your Practice? Part 2 Renovations and condominiums SET UP A SEPARATE COMPANY TO OWN THE PROPERTY The real estate you acquire for your clinic’s occupancy should not be part and parcel of your chiropractic practice but separately owned and leased to the chiropractic practice. This is good business and it protects your investment against any legal liability that might be incurred by your professional corporation. To avoid problems with Canada Revenue Agency the lease should be at market rate and contain all of the same clauses as if you were renting to or from a third party. Building operating costs such as taxes, insur- ance, maintenance, etc., should be segregated from those of the practice. At the time of acquisition, set out specific rules, terms and conditions that will allow your present and perhaps future partners to buy in, or if in the property ownership, opt out. Lloyd Manning is a semi-retired business appraiser and financial analyst who is now a freelance business article writer. He resides in Lloydminster, Sask. He can be reached at [email protected]. The successful investor looks beyond today, into the longer investment horizon RENOVATING AN EXISTING BUILDING Probably the most difficult decision is whether to buy or build. Building requires se- lecting and purchasing a suitable site, design, employing a contractor, financing, going through the municipal, legal and other hoops to get it done, and the time element. This could take several months. Alternatively, the probability of finding a property, which, exactly as is, fits your needs and is in close proximity to your patient base is near impos- sible. At times it could make economic sense to buy an older building, modernize, and retrofit it for your specific use. Doing so could produce a building with equal utility at a much lower end cost than developing new. With some creativity many older buildings can be effectively upgraded. However, you must be very judicious in your selection. Many are not worth renovat- ing. Before buying ensure that the building is structurally sound with all inherent prob- lems correctable at a reasonable cost. If the building suffers cosmetically, superficially, or 16 • CANADIAN CHIROPRACTOR | JUNE 2010 www.canadianchiropractor.ca Lloyd Manning, AACI, FRI feature
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