CBA'S NEW SEARCH PLATFORM COMING SOON!
In alignment with our mission to help our members be more productive and successful, we are pleased to announce the upcoming phased rollout of our NEW search platform powered by Catylist!
Phase 1 of the new platform rollout, Searching and Reporting, will be available to all members on July 13th.
Over the next few months, we will be working closely with our members to transition to the new listings database platform. We will be providing online webinar training for all of our members.
WEBINAR TRAINING DATES:
Starting Tuesday, July 7th, we will hold twice-weekly webinars on Tuesdays from 10-11 a.m. and Thursdays from 1-2 p.m.
SIGN UP FOR WEBINAR TRAINING
If you need training for your brokerage, we are happy to provide group training for 15 people or more. Please email us to schedule a time that meets your needs.
NEW ENHANCEMENTS MADE TO LEGAL LIBRARY PRO!
Based on member feedback and requests, we’re pleased to
announce that we have made several enhancements to the functionality of Legal Library PRO.
These upgrades are designed to help you search for transactions, create custom templates, fill out and edit forms, and invite users to collaborate more quickly and easily.
These NEW enhancements Include:
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Auto-Fill Document Content: Auto-filled content (including Buyer, Seller, Property Address) now displays in both fill out and edit modes.
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Quickly Add Documents: You can now select documents and hit “Done” to add them to your transaction without first having to click “Add Documents.”
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Add Additional Transaction Details: A new “Document Note” field has been added so you can easily differentiate between forms of the same name — which is particularly helpful with multiple addendums.
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Search Transactions Faster: Hitting “Enter” will now execute a search, whether you’re searching for a transaction or searching for a form.
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Invite Users to Collaborate More Easily: Changes have been made to provide additional clarification about access levels for Transaction User and Document User.
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LOGIN TO LEGAL LIBRARY PRO
CBA WILL BE CLOSED ON FRIDAY, JULY 3RD, IN OBSERVANCE OF THE 4TH OF JULY.
Our offices will close at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 2nd, and reopen on Monday, July 6th at 8:00 a.m. Enjoy the long weekend!
UPDATED GUIDANCE FOR COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE -- JUNE 19, 2020
Today, King County officially moved into Phase 2 of Governor Inslee's county-by-county based “Safe Start” reopening plan for resuming recreational, social, and business activities. Several other counties have also moved into Phase 3.
If you do not know your county's current status, please check the
County status and Safe Start application process website.
Based on the information provided by our friends at Washington REALTORS® and the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, we have created a quick reference chart that outlines the activities that are allowed in each phase of opening.
VIEW CBA'S "SAFE START" CRE PHASE CHART
PLEASE NOTE:
Gov. Jay Inslee and Secretary of Health John Wiesman announced a statewide mandatory face-covering order that will take effect Friday, June 26.
Beginning June 26, every Washingtonian in an indoor public space, or in an outside public space when unable to physically distance from others, will be legally required to wear a face covering.
NOW AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS: CBA'S CMA 2020 VS 2019 DETAILED SALES OVERVIEW AND FULL RESEARCH REPORT
CBA's new CMA Sales Report analyzes quarterly economic and commercial real estate activity and trends at the market and submarket levels. We are pleased to offer this detailed analysis and report for your use and interpretation.
With the rush of commercial property
sales in 2019 to beat Washington’s increased Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) taking effect in 2020, in addition to the restrictions on Commercial Real Estate activity due to COVID-19 concerns, CBA anticipated that 2020 sales activity would be negatively impacted. We started a running tally from our database to compare same-month sales by asset class and county from 2019 to 2020.
OVERVIEW
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The number of transactions from January 2020 compared to 2019 was down 18.7%, and dollar volume was down 69%. February transactions had a 7.8% drop and saw the same drop of 69% in dollar volume. March transactions were down 14.1%, but dollar volume was softened by the retail sale of the former Macy’s department store in downtown Seattle for $68.7m, which made for a more modest decrease of 42.2%. On March 15th, the state-wide COVID-19 shutdown and reduced sales
leading up to and throughout April
made for the biggest drops to date.
April transactions were down 57.9%, and dollar volume was down 76.8%.
Overall, the biggest discrepancies in volumes were seen in the Office (-76.3%) and Multi-family (-78%) classes, while the smallest declines in volume were Retail (-14.1%) and Land (-15.2%). Multiple large deals in 2019 greatly affected sales volume disparities, which are listed throughout the report as notable sales.
In comparison, 2020 has had only one
nine-figure deal with the office sale of Tower 333 in downtown Bellevue for $401.5m. 2020 vs 2019 transactions and dollar volume are negative across all asset classes and counties so far, with the exception of Thurston County, which shows a net positive in sales volume of 38.3%.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR FULL SALES REPORT
GOVERNOR INSLEE EXTENDS MORATORIUM ON EVICTIONS
On June 2, Governor Inslee extended the Moratorium on Evictions until August 1, 2020. Under the extended moratorium, it is unlawful for a landlord to evict a tenant or deliver any notice of termination. However, a critical exception was included in the June 2 extension order. Effective immediately, a landlord may: "...provide at least 60 days’ written notice of intent to (i) personally occupy the premises as a primary residence, or (ii) sell the property."
As a result of this language included in Governor Inslee's moratorium extension, a landlord may deliver notice to a tenant whose lease is expired or will expire in the next 60 days, that the tenant's lease rights will terminate at the end of the 60 day notice period so long as landlord intends to personally occupy the property or sell the property at the end of that 60 day notice period. Thereafter, if the tenant does not vacate the unit, the landlord may evict the tenant.
NEW! EXCLUSIVE SUBLEASE AGREEMENT ADDED TO LEGAL LIBRARY PRO
In response to our rapidly changing commercial real estate market and in anticipation of shifting member needs, we've added an Exclusive Sublease Agreement to Legal Library PRO.
Developed by top commercial real estate experts, Legal Library PRO's contracts are recognized as the industry standard and are the fastest and easiest way to close a deal.
CBA members can instantly access and edit any of Legal Library PRO's 100+ copyrighted contracts and forms for Washington and Idaho. Forms include Purchase and Sale Agreements for Commercial Properties as well as Business Opportunities and Lease Agreements.
SPECIAL WEBINAR: LIMITATIONS ON COMMERCIAL TENANCIES IN THE TIME OF COVID-19 WITH HUNTER JEFFERS
If you were not able to join us for the recent webinar regarding the limitations on commercial tenancies in the state of Washington and City of Seattle and how it might impact you, we have recorded the webinar and have posted it to our COVID-19 resources tab. Click below to watch it now.
Our friends at Washington REALTORS® recently provided the following important and timely guidance on applying for Unemployment Assistance in Washington state, and we're sharing this valuable information with our members.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
IRS EXTENDS TAX DEADLINES: RELIEF FOR 1031 EXCHANGES AND OPPORTUNITY ZONES
On April 9th, the IRS granted deadline relief for both 1031 like-kind exchanges and opportunity zone investments that are already underway. Both of these programs promote economic growth in communities, and the NAR and other CRE advocacy groups successfully argued that investors in these programs should not be harmed due to the effects of COVID-19. Some specifics of the new guidance include:
1031 Like-kind Exchanges: If an investor has taken the first step of a like-kind exchange by selling the old property, and either the 45-day or the 180-day deadline falls between April 1 and July 15, the deadline has been extended to July 15.
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Opportunity Zones: If investors who sold a capital asset planned to roll over the gain into an Opportunity Fund and the 180-day deadline to do so falls between April 1 and July 15, 2020, they can make the investment as late as July 15.
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Estimated Tax Payments: Sole proprietors who pay quarterly estimated taxes now have until July 15 to file their second-quarter payment. Any individual or corporation that has a quarterly estimated tax payment due on or after April 1, 2020, and before July 15, 2020, can wait until July 15 to make that payment, without penalty.
NEW FORCE MAJEURE AND CLOSING ADDENDUM TO PURCHASE AND SALE AGREEMENT
The Commercial Brokers Association has published a new addendum to help address issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. The form, entitled “FMA Force Majeure
Addendum,” is posted for use in Legal Library PRO within the Purchase & Sale Forms and is also posted in the List of Contracts. (Note: you must be logged in to the CBA website to view the form.)
It may be used in new transactions as an addendum or existing transactions
as an amendment to provide for remedies in the event either party is prevented from performing in a transaction due to a force majeure.
“Force majeure” is a French term that translates literally as “superior force.” A “force majeure event” is an event or effect that can be neither anticipated nor controlled. Many contracts contain a force majeure clause allocating risk between parties if the contract becomes impossible or impractical to perform in the event of a force majeure. Common examples of force majeure events include acts of nature, such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and the like, and acts of people, such as wars, riots or strikes and, of course, an epidemic/pandemic such as the current pandemic.
DISCUSSION
CBA’s new addendum provides for extensions of contingencies and conditions and the closing date in purchase and sale agreements for a limited amount of time should a force majeure event occur, precluding timely performance. It operates in the same way as the residential addendum recently released for the same purpose by NWMLS.
The addendum provides that, if through no fault of the parties, and by reason of a force majeure event, any contingency or condition in the agreement cannot be timely completed, then all the time periods associated with that contingency or condition (and any related notices and responses thereto) are extended for an amount of time agreed to and stated in the form.
An example may help:
The parties reach mutual acceptance on March 25, and the buyer has a ten-day inspection/feasibility contingency.
On March 26, a shelter-in-place order goes into effect for two weeks (until April 9) that prevents the selling broker, buyer and inspector from inspecting the property. The parties agree in the addendum that any contingency or condition will be extended for ten days should a force majeure event occur. The original contingency would have expired on Monday, April 6, but the addendum would extend the contingency to April 16, including any related notice and response timeframes.
Obviously, dealing with force majeure events are circumstances unfamiliar to the industry. Calculating the extension of contingency time periods due to a force majeure event may be complicated. Brokers are encouraged to cooperate and work together to ensure that the parties have the same expectations with regard to timelines, and any impact a force majeure event may have.
The addendum provides that, if through no fault of the parties and by reason of a force majeure event, the sale of the property cannot be timely closed on the Closing Date, the date will be extended for an agreed-upon period of time – the “Extended Closing Date.” If the sale of the property cannot be timely closed by the Extended Closing Date, the transaction terminates and the earnest money will be refunded to the buyer.
CONCLUSION
CBA recommends that all brokers working on pending transactions consider amending the transaction with this or an equivalent addendum to address force majeure events. Certainly, brokers entering into new transactions should recommend their clients consider a force majeure addendum.
If you have any questions, please call us at (425) 820-3348, send us an email, or start an online chat.
IMPORTANT COVID-19 UPDATE:
CBA STAFF WORKING REMOTELY AND ALL IN-PERSON CLASSES CANCELED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
At the Commercial Brokers Association, we're concerned about the impact of the COVID-19 virus on our staff and our members and have been following the rapidly changing situation closely.
Due to the local impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and our need to keep our employees and their loved ones as safe and as healthy as possible, CBA’s staff will be working remotely until further notice.
CBA has the technology and phone systems infrastructure to ensure all our services, support, and applications will run smoothly during this time. Our members should not notice any difference in support or interruptions in our services.
If you have signed up for a class or event through one of our managed associations, please visit the association website directly for updates on their classes and events.We will reschedule canceled classes at a later date if feasible. If you registered for a canceled class, you received a message directly from our Education Manager, Kristin Austin. Please email or call Kristin at 425-952-2739 about options to reschedule, use your credits for a future class, or obtain a refund.
Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) Washington State Chapter
CoreNet Global Washington State Chapter
Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Washington State Chapter
The Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) Washington State Chapter
The Society of Industrial and Office REALTORS® (SIOR) Washington State Chapter
Washington State Commercial Association of REALTORS® (WSCAR)
For all classes and events, please remember to check our full schedule for up-to-date information BEFORE you leave to attend.
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CBA DATA FEATURED IN PSBJ
CBA’s CMA data and analysis on commercial property sales over the past 10+ years was recently featured in the Puget Sound Business Journal's Real Estate section. This underscores the quality of our data and terrific work done by the entire staff. Watch for additional data and analysis from our team in future editions!
The numbers highlighted are for King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. To see a more in-depth version that also contains Kitsap, Spokane, and Thurston counties, click here.
