NOW is the time to Open a Billiard Room

[Falcon Eddie]

Have you ever just thought that if I only knew when the right time to buy a stock was I would have been rich???

This is your NOTICE. Right NOW is the time to open a billiard room.

Why NOW, you ask..........

Right NOW all over the country land owners, strip mall owners and free standing building owners are just figuring out that it is more profitable to have a tenant (any rent paying tenant) than to wait for the high price they have been asking per square foot at the locations they own. It used to be a nice tax right-off and profitable in the long run for the wealthy owners to keep their spaces open and wait for the right tenant that would bow to the demands of the high SQ Ft prices and Triple Net demands.

Well, THE TIDE HAS TURNED

I got news for you sunshine. The same owners that held pool rooms back from opening because the SQ Ft price was too high (and we all know pool rooms need lots of SQ space) are in jeopardy of losing their properties to the bank because they can not make the nut on the mortgage, AND they have figured out that business-breeds-business and they need there properties to have high traffic to support the other business in the properties they own so they can keep there tenants. Now, the same owners have come to the conclusion that it is better to have something rather than nothing to help them keep their properties.

IT IS ALL IN THE NEGOTIATION.......

Here is my advice.

RIGHT NOW you (the possible tenant) has the upper hand in lease negotiations. You are a HARD CORE Hustler on the ACTION table, use those same skills when negotiating your lease. Do not be rude but be blunt, know you are in a position to have them choke on the long shot.
Lately, I myself have been trying my hand a negotiations with property owners and here is what I have found to work.

BE Excited as this creates a level of excitement with the prospective landlord. Let him/her know you are interested so you can begin negotiations ASAP before somebody else has the bright idea and blocks you. Being excited and very interested may not give you the upper hand when in negotiations if you were not the HUSTLER that you know you are. Use this to your advantage, you (the Lessee) now have created an emotional level of control over you opponent (the LEASER) and we all know how valuable it is to be in control of the game. From here you can now take that control to many different levels to get to were you want to be to make this work.

FREE RENT,,,,,,, HUH? Do not be surprised if you ask for 2-6 months of free rent in the beginning and the landlord agrees. In fact, most already do this, it is called build-out time. However, lately I have noticed that the owners are more willing to give you more free time just to get you in there and up and running. ASK< the worst they can do is say NO then you can move on to the next location you are interested in.

GRADUATED RENT, once you have found the amount of FREE rent you are looking for consider asking for graduated rent. Example, $2K for the next 6 months after the FREE rent, Then $2,500 for the next 12mos then $3,000 per month for the remainder of the lease.. The graduated rent will give you more money to get the things done in the location you want to do. Spend the savings on improvements as they will pay off in the long run.

Ooops, I ran out of time. Good luck in your hunt.

Remember, NOW IS THE TIME !

Ok you have me hooked ...now I have a proposition. I live in a city that has NO poolroom. The only place is a bar/ room with 6 -9' tables. They have a monopoly on the game.
Anyone with the idea of owning / opening a room in Key West pm me I will be more than happy to become partners or GM in the business. It could be a gold mine !!

 

[JesPiddlin]

When you lease, you don't have to come up with a large down payment. And you are not stuck with a mortgage if things don't pan out. A good long term lease (with options to renew) can be a very good way to go in opening a new room. Typically buying a building entails a much larger commitment in terms of dollar outlay, and a much bigger nut to crack each month. Remember when you buy, you must now pay property taxes and insurance. Two large additional costs.

Jay - What if someone has the money to buy a place outright? Or, enough to make the payments much smaller than leasing? In a case like that, property taxes should be much cheaper than a lease.

Also, you should have to have insurance whether you own the place, or not. I don't know the difference in price, but insurance is a must.

I do understand that if the business goes belly-up, you can get out of a lease MUCH easier than you can sell a property. But, sometimes, I think buying is the best way to go.

There is a property I think would make a wonderful pool hall between two towns on a main arterial highway, here in Northeastern Oklahoma. I think it would do very well, because of it's location AND type of business for that area. No other businesses seem to survive there, but a pool hall would be perfect and the parking is supreme! I just don't have the money. Also, there seems to be another food business giving the location a try, right now. So, I"m sure it's not available. :frown: I figure that business will be shut down within a couple of years, like all the rest. It's the perfect size and site for a pool hall. A family pool hall would be great for the location. It's just that nobody has figured it out, yet. Maybe one day, we'll get rich and the place will be available...

 

[jay helfert]

Jay - What if someone has the money to buy a place outright? Or, enough to make the payments much smaller than leasing? In a case like that, property taxes should be much cheaper than a lease.

Also, you should have to have insurance whether you own the place, or not. I don't know the difference in price, but insurance is a must.

I do understand that if the business goes belly-up, you can get out of a lease MUCH easier than you can sell a property. But, sometimes, I think buying is the best way to go.

There is a property I think would make a wonderful pool hall between two towns on a main arterial highway, here in Northeastern Oklahoma. I think it would do very well, because of it's location AND type of business for that area. No other businesses seem to survive there, but a pool hall would be perfect and the parking is supreme! I just don't have the money. Also, there seems to be another food business giving the location a try, right now. So, I"m sure it's not available. :frown: I figure that business will be shut down within a couple of years, like all the rest. It's the perfect size and site for a pool hall. A family pool hall would be great for the location. It's just that nobody has figured it out, yet. Maybe one day, we'll get rich and the place will be available...

Yes, in a business you need insurance. It is called "business insurance." It will cover you against theft/burglary, damage to your equipment, emergency closures, and most important liability if you get sued by a customer. This is a different policy then the owner of a building has. That said, if you can afford to buy the building and the deal is right, go for it!

 

[bobroberts]

Ok you have me hooked ...now I have a proposition. I live in a city that has NO poolroom. The only place is a bar/ room with 6 -9' tables. They have a monopoly on the game.
Anyone with the idea of owning / opening a room in Key West pm me I will be more than happy to become partners or GM in the business. It could be a gold mine !!

There is no way in the world that yo will find rent or be able to buy a place in the keys for a pool room. It is just to expensive. Find me a spot and we could do something.

 

[bobroberts]

I know around South Florida the shopping centers don't care if they stay vacant.They write it off their taxes. I know that for a fact.
Now most of the small centers don't have enough draw to keep a room going but its possible to make it but its extremely hard to do in todays market.

 

[cuesmith]

Yes, in a business you need insurance. It is called "business insurance." It will cover you against theft/burglary, damage to your equipment, emergency closures, and most important liability if you get sued by a customer. This is a different policy then the owner of a building has. That said, if you can afford to buy the building and the deal is right, go for it!

I agree with most of what you're saying but as you know, any costs the landlord incurs ultimately are passed on to the leasee in the form of higher rent or a surcharge of

some sort. Also it's cheaper to get insurance with everything bundled together rather than 2 separate policies, one for the landlord and one for the tennent. Except for the

initial down payment and closing costs there's no way you could lease a place cheaper than you can buy and there are several advantages of

owning the property, such as building equity, not having the landlord dictating terms of usage, being able to make any changes you feel will benefit your business without

getting approval of the landlord etc.... The ONLY benefits I can see of leasing is that if things go awry it's easier to walk away from the business and if you're not in a

position to purchase because of credit issues or lack of the necessary down payment, but if these are really big issues, you're probably not really in a position to open a

poolroom anyway. Lets face it, property owners are in business also. Their profit comes right out of your bottom line indirectly, maybe but they're like a middle man that you

can cut out by purchasing the property. It may seem easier to lease but you're paying for that convience every month you're in business. I've known of some poolrooms that

closed because the owner owned the building as well as the business and received an offer for the property that was just too good to pass up. From what I've heard through

the grapevine, Hollywood Billiards fits into that catagory. It's my opinion that it's almost always better to own the property unless you feel the business has a high

probability of failing, which may well be the case in most poolrooms! But if you're looking at it that way from the beginning, you're nuts to even consider going into business!

Yes they're some bargains out there on leasing property, especially when it's been vacant a while, but there are also many good opportunities to purchase for the same

reasons.

 

[smoooothstroke]

Owning is of course better then leasing/renting in almost all if not all cases.

I think one of the points the OP was making is that in the present economy you can get such a great lease that its worthwhile to open a room with out being able to buy the building.With all the empty commercial properties sitting around it may even be possible to get a real steal in a lease to own contract.

Leasing a property has some advantages as mentioned in this thread.When you lease though you are just dividing up the pie to more people.Why is it that people build commercial properties just to lease them out..there is $$ in it in a good economy.

Another advantage to owning is you can have a building suited perfectly to your business and you don't have to deal with a third party for maintenance.Build to suite is a very nice option in a good economy.Also many commercial buildings that are leased were originally used as a business location for the owner but either the business failed or the owner decided it was more lucrative to lease to someone else.

 

[JamisonNeu]

Thanks Jay, that is a good idea!

 

[Da Bank]

Ok you have me hooked ...now I have a proposition. I live in a city that has NO poolroom. The only place is a bar/ room with 6 -9' tables. They have a monopoly on the game.
Anyone with the idea of owning / opening a room in Key West pm me I will be more than happy to become partners or GM in the business. It could be a gold mine !!

what could be more ideal than owning a pool hall in Key West.