FAQ’s
A triple net lease requires the tenant to pay, in addition to rent, all of the property expenses that normally would be paid by the property owner, including real estate taxes, insurance, maintenance costs and utilities. Typically, net lease assets tend to be single tenant, free standing buildings such as banks and fast food restaurants that can come with a corporate guarantee which makes the corporation, not the property, responsible for making your monthly payments.
A triple net lease requires the tenant to pay, in addition to rent, all of the property expenses that normally would be paid by the property owner, including real estate taxes, insurance, maintenance costs and utilities.
Typically, net lease assets tend to be single tenant, free standing buildings such as banks and fast food restaurants that can come with a corporate guarantee which makes the corporation, not the property, responsible for making your monthly payments.
A single-tenant, net-leased investment is typically a freestanding office, retail, or industrial building that is leased and occupied by one user or one company. Typically the tenant has committed to a long-term lease – usually longer than 10 years, and as long as 25 years with increasing rent over the lease term.
Many net-lease investors have previously owned other types of real estate but are looking for an investment that requires less maintenance and supervision. For example, many apartment investors end up selling their high-maintenance properties and then reinvesting the sale proceeds in single-tenant, net-leased retail properties, as do many landowners who have previously never received any income or tax benefits from their property.
Anyone can invest in single-tenant leased properties. Other than large institutional investors and life insurance companies who invest in triple net leases because of the security they offer, individual investors who own single-family rentals who are just tired of having to deal with tenants or are afraid their equity will be wiped out in another market shift, are ideal candidates, especially since they can sell their rental and exchange that equity, tax free, into a net-leased property.
While there are fewer risks related to investing in single-tenant, net-leased properties, as compared to more speculative real estate investments, tenants with non-investment grade credit profiles offer higher levels of risk. But that risk typically provides higher returns as well. And investors always need to think about the “re-leaseability” of a property if the tenant were to vacate the space.
Unlike traditional real estate investments whose valued is determined exclusively by the real estate itself, a single-tenant, net-leased property’s value is determined by a combination of factors including the tenant’s credit, the length of the lease and rental escalations over the term, and, last but not least, the real estate. In markets where the real estate experiences wide valuation swings, a single-tenant, net-leased property will maintain its value because of its bond-like, long-term lease and the credit tenant guaranty for the lease.
Net-leased properties are like all-weather tires. They are good investments in both good and bad economic times and in hot and cold real estate markets. Here’s why: a single-tenant net lease investment is guaranteed by the lease at pre-set rental rates. As an owner, you know exactly who will be a tenant in your building, how long that tenant will be there and exactly how much rent they will pay. That means you will derive a predetermined income from your investment, as long as the tenant is occupying the asset and current with the terms of their lease.