According to a survey by the Real Estate Roundtable, a large majority of business executives see tight credit severely impacting the commercial real estate market. Nearly 44 percent of those surveyed see commercial asset values lower in 2009.

While this is not great news, the tight credit markets are making those with cash offers very, very desirable. The combination of lower prices and a lack of credit will severely slow the commercial real estate market in the coming year.

So what should you be looking for if you are needing to buy an income property? My best advice is to look for a seller willing to take some paper on the back side. There will always be those who want to or have to sell a property that are in a position to self finance the deal.

But those who arrive at the closing table with a bag of cash will be able to drive some very sweet deals in the next year or two.

In the most recent survey, 84 percent of those surveyed classified credit availability as “much worse” than it was in 2007. And while real estate executives also noticed strains in equity financing, respondents said the equity side of the market is not faring as bad as the debt side.

Nearly two-thirds of the executives surveyed also expect to see some improvement in debt market conditions over the next 12 months, while very few expect to find what they would classify as “much better” conditions in the debt market next year, The Real Estate Roundtable Sentiment Survey concluded. via  Dallas Business Journal:.

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