I seriously caution anybody on this board to stay FAR away from TIC investments. The people who set them up (like NNN or Grubb & Ellis) are sharks who initially present you with the best case scenario, along with the free lunch seminar, and they proceed to look after their own interests at the expense of the ignorant (unsophisticated might be a kinder word) unsuspecting investor.
I speak from painful and on-going experience. In 2006 I took a $200k capital gain from a property I sold in San Diego and (on my accountant’s advice) invested it with NNN (since bought by Grubb and Ellis) in a $32million property rented to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN on a long term lease. The return was 6% and it was supposed to be a conservative and safe (hello, the Mayo Clinic !) investment. However, my mistake was not reading the fine-print on the loan document. It was an interest only loan fixed at 5.5% for 5 years. The problem is that it comes due next June and in this down market it will be difficult to get refinancing. The property is probably in the classic “underwater” situation, appraising 30-40% below the original $32million. I’m watching a slow-motion train wreck and will be lucky not to lose my whole investment.
Financing is one pitfall, but here are many others in TIC investing that most unsophisticated investors, and even some smart ones, will not see. That is why they should be avoided.
Probably in an “up” market I would be unaware of any problems, but I’ve learned the hard way that it is not wise to trust ANYTHING any TIC investment company tells me.
Any suggestions on how to extricate myself from this ?
