Summary. Buying a commercial building is a diligence exercise with a contract wrapped around it, and the contract mainly defines how long you have to discover problems and what happens when you do. This article covers the letter of intent and purchase agreement, the deposit structure and hard money, and the due diligence period. It then covers title review — reading a commitment and its exceptions, what an ALTA survey shows, and the endorsements worth buying — followed by environmental assessment and the innocent landowner defense, zoning verification, tenant estoppels and lender documents, financing, entity and 1031 structuring, and closing.

A dental practice buys the building it has leased for eleven years. The price is fair, the seller is the retiring founder of the practice next door, and everyone is friendly. The buyer's lender orders an appraisal and a Phase I environmental site assessment; the buyer, to save money and time, waives a survey.

Six months after closing, the neighboring property owner repaves and installs a fence along what he says is the true boundary — eleven feet inside the parking area the dental practice has always used. He is right. A 1967 easement, recorded and disclosed as a Schedule B exception in a title commitment nobody read carefully, gave the neighbor rights the buyer never understood, and the parking spaces that made the building work for a dental practice belonged to someone else.

The title policy does not help, because the easement was an exception to coverage. The survey the buyer skipped would have shown it in a drawing anyone could understand.

Commercial real estate diligence is not complicated. It is a list, and the transactions that go wrong are almost always the ones where an item on the list was skipped because it seemed unnecessary in a friendly deal.

The short answer

The sequence. Letter of intent → purchase and sale agreement → deposit → due diligence period → title and survey review → financing → closing.

The three documents that matter most:

  1. The title commitment, especially Schedule B-II (the exceptions), which lists everything the policy will not cover.
  2. The ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey, which shows on a drawing what the exceptions describe in prose.
  3. The Phase I environmental site assessment, which is both a diligence tool and the predicate for a statutory defense to environmental liability.

The one contract term that controls everything else is the due diligence period — its length, what terminates it, and whether the deposit becomes non-refundable when it ends.

The rule that governs all of it: commercial real estate is sold as is, and caveat emptor applies with far more force than in residential transactions. What you fail to discover is what you own.

Letter of intent

Most commercial purchases begin with a non-binding LOI covering price, deposit, due diligence period length, closing date, financing contingency, what the seller will deliver, the condition of the property at closing, brokerage, and any exclusivity.

Two provisions deserve real attention:

Binding versus non-binding. State clearly that only confidentiality, exclusivity, and expense allocation bind. Then behave consistently — beginning performance or exchanging drafts of an "agreed" deal can produce enforceable obligations in some states.

Access. Negotiate the right to enter the property for inspection during diligence, with insurance and indemnity terms, and the right to speak with tenants. A seller who resists tenant contact is telling you something.

The purchase and sale agreement

Parties and property. Confirm the seller is the record owner, and confirm the legal description matches the title commitment and the survey. Include appurtenant rights, easements, and any personal property, licenses, warranties, and intangibles being conveyed.

Purchase price and deposit. The structure typically has an initial deposit at signing, refundable during diligence, and an additional deposit that goes hard — non-refundable — at the end of the diligence period. Negotiate:

  • The amount and timing of each deposit.
  • Whether the deposit is applied to the price at closing (it should be).
  • The escrow agent and the conditions for release.
  • Interest on the deposit and who receives it.

The due diligence period. The buyer's single most valuable right. Terms to negotiate:

  • Length — 30 to 60 days is common; complex or tenanted properties warrant more, and the clock should not start until the seller delivers all required materials.
  • Scope — an unrestricted right to terminate for any reason or no reason is far better than a right conditioned on the buyer's dissatisfaction with specified matters, because the latter invites a dispute about whether the reason qualifies.
  • Extension rights, often with an additional deposit.
  • Delivery trigger — the period should not begin until the seller has delivered the diligence package, and should extend if items arrive late.

Seller deliverables. Enumerate them in a schedule: title documents, existing survey, existing environmental reports, leases and amendments, rent roll, tenant correspondence and default notices, operating statements for three years, tax bills, service contracts, warranties, permits and certificates of occupancy, plans and specifications, insurance loss runs, notices from governmental authorities, and litigation.

Representations and warranties. Sellers resist; buyers should insist on at least: authority and no conflicts; no undisclosed litigation or condemnation; no undisclosed notices of violation; the accuracy of the rent roll and that the leases delivered are complete; no defaults under leases or service contracts; environmental disclosure to the seller's knowledge; and that no other party has a right to purchase. Negotiate survival — a period after closing (six to twelve months is common) during which the buyer may bring a claim — and a floor and cap on liability, backed by an escrow holdback if the seller is an entity that will dissolve.

Conditions to closing. Title in the required condition, accuracy of representations at closing, delivery of estoppels, no material adverse change, and financing if a contingency was obtained.

Casualty and condemnation. Define the threshold above which the buyer may terminate, and who receives insurance proceeds or condemnation awards below it.

Remedies. Sellers push for the deposit as liquidated damages as their sole remedy against a defaulting buyer; buyers should push for specific performance against a defaulting seller, because real property is unique and damages are inadequate.

Closing date and extension rights, and who bears the cost of extension.

Title: reading the commitment

The title commitment is the title company's promise to issue a policy on stated terms. It has three parts, and the third is the one that matters.

Schedule A — the effective date, the policy amount, the type of policy, the vested owner, and the legal description. Confirm the vested owner is your seller and that the legal description matches the survey and the deed.

Schedule B-I — requirements the title company must see satisfied before it issues the policy: payoff and release of existing mortgages, corporate resolutions and evidence of authority, satisfaction of liens, and the recording of the deed.

Schedule B-II — exceptions. Everything the policy will not insure against. This is the list that defines what you are actually buying.

Standard exceptions, which appear on every commitment and which a survey and an owner's affidavit can usually remove:

  • Rights of parties in possession.
  • Easements or claims of easements not shown by the public records.
  • Encroachments, overlaps, boundary line disputes, and matters an accurate survey would disclose.
  • Mechanics' liens for work not yet of record.
  • Taxes and assessments not yet due and payable.

Removing these is called deleting the standard exceptions, and it is done by providing a current ALTA survey and a seller's affidavit. Do it.

Specific exceptions are the recorded documents affecting the property. Obtain and read every one. They typically include:

  • Easements — utility, access, drainage, parking, and sometimes exclusive rights that eliminate part of the usable area.
  • Covenants, conditions, and restrictions, which may restrict use, require architectural approval, or impose assessments.
  • Reciprocal easement agreements in retail centers governing parking, signage, access, and operating covenants.
  • Leases and memoranda of lease.
  • Mineral, oil, gas, and water rights reservations, which in some states are severed and can permit surface entry.
  • Rights of first refusal or purchase options held by tenants or neighbors.
  • Development agreements and impact fee obligations.

How to review. For each exception, ask three questions: does it affect the area I intend to use, does it restrict the use I intend, and does it obligate me to do or pay anything? Then plot it on the survey. An easement that reads harmlessly can run through the middle of a planned building pad.

Objections. The agreement should give the buyer a period to object to title matters and require the seller to respond, either curing or declining. Where the seller declines, the buyer may waive or terminate. Do not let the objection deadline pass while waiting for the survey.

The survey

An ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey prepared to the current national standards is the single best diligence dollar in a commercial purchase. It shows:

  • Boundary lines and their relationship to the legal description.
  • Improvements and their location relative to boundaries and setbacks.
  • Every plotted easement from the title commitment, keyed to the exception number.
  • Encroachments in both directions.
  • Access to a public right of way — a property with no legal access is unfinanceable and nearly unsellable.
  • Parking count, which matters for both zoning compliance and lease obligations.
  • Flood zone designation, utilities, and observable evidence of cemeteries, wetlands, or earth-moving work.

Table A optional items are selected by the buyer and lender and drive the cost. Commonly requested: parking count, zoning classification from a zoning report, flood zone, gross land area, building height and square footage, utility locations, and offsite easements.

What to do with it. Overlay the survey on the site plan for the intended use. The parking easement dispute described at the start of this article appears immediately on any competent ALTA survey.

Title insurance and endorsements

The owner's policy insures against defects in title, liens, encumbrances not excepted, unmarketability, and lack of access, up to the policy amount. It is a contract of indemnity for past defects — it does not insure the future, and it does not insure the physical condition of the property.

Endorsements extend coverage and are where sophisticated buyers add value:

  • Zoning (ALTA 3.1 or 3.2) — insures that the property is zoned as stated and that the existing structures and use comply, including parking and setbacks. The 3.2 version covers a specified use and improvements.
  • Access (17 series) — insures actual vehicular and pedestrian access to a named public street.
  • Survey / same-as-survey (25 series) — insures that the land described is the land shown on the survey.
  • Contiguity (19 series) — for multiple parcels, insures there are no gaps or strips between them.
  • Restrictions, encroachments, and minerals (9 series) — the workhorse endorsement covering violations of covenants, encroachments, and surface damage from mineral extraction.
  • Non-imputation — for entity acquisitions, prevents the insurer from imputing a prior partner's knowledge to the buyer.
  • Tax parcel (18 series) — insures the property is assessed as a separate tax parcel.

Endorsement availability and cost vary by state, and some states regulate rates. Ask the title company for a list of available endorsements early rather than at closing.

Environmental diligence

The Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, conducted to the ASTM E1527 standard, is a records and reconnaissance review — historical use, regulatory database searches, aerial photographs, interviews, and a site visit — designed to identify recognized environmental conditions.

Its legal significance is that it is the mechanism for establishing all appropriate inquiries under CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. § 9601(35)(B), which is a prerequisite to the innocent landowner, bona fide prospective purchaser, and contiguous property owner defenses to liability under 42 U.S.C. § 9607. Without it, a buyer who acquires contaminated property becomes a potentially responsible party subject to strict, joint and several, and retroactive liability, United States v. Bestfoods, 524 U.S. 51 (1998).

Requirements worth knowing:

  • The Phase I must be conducted or updated within 180 days before acquisition, with certain components refreshed within 180 days and the whole report generally viable for one year.
  • The buyer must be able to show it exercised appropriate care with respect to any contamination found, complied with land use restrictions, and cooperated with response actions.
  • The report must be addressed to the buyer or accompanied by a reliance letter — a report addressed to the seller or the lender does not protect the buyer.

Phase II involves sampling — soil borings, groundwater monitoring wells, soil vapor — and follows when the Phase I identifies a recognized environmental condition. Negotiate the right to conduct Phase II work during diligence; many sellers resist because sampling results can trigger reporting obligations.

Property types with elevated risk: dry cleaners (perchloroethylene), gas stations and any site with underground storage tanks, auto repair, metal plating and finishing, printing, agricultural chemical storage, and any manufacturing before 1980. Adjacent and upgradient properties matter too, because groundwater migrates.

Other environmental items: asbestos-containing materials and lead-based paint in pre-1980 buildings, radon, mold, wetlands delineation, endangered species habitat, and PFAS, which is an emerging and rapidly developing area of liability.

Zoning, land use, and building compliance

Title insurance does not insure zoning compliance unless you buy the endorsement, and even then the endorsement insures against loss, not against the disappointment of a plan.

Verify:

  • The current zoning district and whether the intended use is permitted by right, permitted conditionally, or prohibited.
  • Whether the existing use and structures are conforming, or are legal nonconforming — and if nonconforming, what happens on damage, discontinuance, or expansion. A nonconforming use that cannot be rebuilt after a fire is a very different asset.
  • Bulk requirements: setbacks, height, lot coverage, floor area ratio, and parking count.
  • Certificate of occupancy for the current use, and whether a new CO will be required for yours.
  • Open permits and violations — search the building department, fire marshal, and health department records. Open permits block a new CO and are the seller's problem to close before closing.
  • Special districts and overlays — historic, coastal, airport, floodplain, and design review, each with its own approval process.
  • Impact fees, development agreements, and unpaid assessments.
  • Access permits from the state or county highway authority for any curb cut.

Obtain a zoning report (from a third-party provider or the municipality) and, for a use-critical purchase, a zoning verification letter from the municipality. Where the intended use requires a variance, special exception, or rezoning, make the purchase contingent on obtaining it, with a defined deadline and a cooperation covenant from the seller.

Leased property: rent roll, estoppels, and lender documents

If the property has tenants, you are buying an income stream, and the diligence shifts.

Rent roll and lease abstracts. Abstract every lease: premises, term, options and notice windows, base rent and escalations, expense structure and caps, free rent and unamortized concessions, security deposits, tenant improvement obligations, exclusive use rights, co-tenancy provisions, assignment restrictions, and termination rights.

Estoppel certificates are the buyer's protection against a rent roll that is wrong. Each tenant certifies the lease is in full force, the rent and expiration date, the security deposit held, that no defaults exist on either side, that no free rent or concessions remain unpaid, and that the tenant holds no purchase option. Negotiate:

  • Which estoppels are a condition to closing — commonly all major tenants plus a percentage of the balance.
  • The form, attached to the purchase agreement as an exhibit.
  • What happens if a tenant returns a modified estoppel disclosing something adverse.
  • A seller estoppel covering tenants that fail to deliver, backed by the seller's representation.

SNDAs. Where a lender is involved, subordination, non-disturbance, and attornment agreements govern what happens to the leases on a foreclosure. Confirm whether existing tenants have them and whether the new lender requires new ones.

Security deposits must be transferred or credited at closing, with the buyer assuming the obligation. In some states they must be held in a specific manner.

Service contracts. Determine which the buyer will assume and which the seller must terminate — property management, landscaping, security, and elevator maintenance contracts frequently have long terms and termination fees.

Financing, entity structure, and tax

Financing. Obtain a term sheet before the diligence period ends, and negotiate a financing contingency if the deal depends on it — though in competitive markets sellers resist. Lender requirements duplicate much of the diligence: appraisal, Phase I, survey, title, zoning report, property condition assessment, and often a seismic report in certain regions. Lender counsel will require a single purpose entity borrower, a non-recourse carve-out guaranty, and estoppels and SNDAs.

Entity structure. Most commercial property is held in a single purpose LLC to isolate liability and to facilitate financing and transfer. Form it early — the entity should be the named buyer or the assignee under an assignment right in the contract, and lenders often require specific organizational provisions including an independent manager for larger loans.

Transfer taxes vary enormously by state and municipality and can be a material closing cost. Determine who pays by custom and by contract, and check whether transfers of entity interests are taxed as transfers of real property in the jurisdiction — several states tax controlling-interest transfers.

Property tax reassessment. In many jurisdictions a sale triggers reassessment at the purchase price. Model the post-closing tax bill rather than the seller's current one; the difference can eliminate the projected return.

Section 1031 like-kind exchange. A buyer disposing of other investment property can defer gain by acquiring this one through a qualified intermediary, subject to strict timing: 45 days to identify replacement property and 180 days to close, from the transfer of the relinquished property. The intermediary must be engaged before the relinquished property closes, and the purchase agreement should contain a cooperation clause permitting assignment to the intermediary. Since 2018, § 1031 applies only to real property.

Cost segregation. After closing, a study allocating purchase price among building components with shorter depreciable lives can accelerate deductions substantially. Model it before closing, because it can affect the price a buyer can pay.

Closing

The closing statement should be reviewed line by line, several days before closing, against the contract:

  • Purchase price and deposit credits.
  • Prorations — real estate taxes (on a calendar or fiscal basis, per local custom), rents (including a schedule for delinquent rents and how they are applied when collected), operating expenses, utilities, and service contracts.
  • Security deposits transferred or credited.
  • Unamortized tenant improvement allowances and leasing commissions for existing leases, typically credited to the buyer.
  • Title insurance premium and endorsements, survey, and search costs, allocated per contract or custom.
  • Transfer taxes and recording fees.
  • Brokerage commissions.
  • Loan costs, points, escrows for taxes and insurance, and prepaid interest.

Documents. Deed (special warranty is the commercial norm; general warranty and quitclaim are the ends of the spectrum), bill of sale for personal property, assignment and assumption of leases and security deposits, assignment of service contracts, warranties and intangibles, tenant notice letters, FIRPTA affidavit, owner's affidavit for title, seller's authority documents, closing statement, and loan documents.

Post-closing. Record the deed and mortgage promptly. Notify tenants where to pay rent. Transfer utilities, insurance, and licenses. Change locks and building access. Update the tax assessor's mailing address. Calendar lease option dates and expense reconciliation deadlines from day one.

A worked example

Harrow Ridge Partners contracts to buy a 48,000 square foot flex industrial building for $6.4 million, leased to three tenants.

Day 0. PSA signed. $100,000 initial deposit, refundable. 45-day diligence beginning on delivery of the seller's package. Additional $150,000 hard deposit at expiration.

Day 4. Seller delivers. The clock starts.

Day 12. Title commitment reviewed. Eighteen Schedule B-II exceptions. Two matter: a 1994 drainage easement crossing the rear yard, and a reciprocal parking agreement with the adjacent parcel that caps Harrow Ridge's exclusive spaces at 62 — fewer than the 78 the rent roll implies are available.

Day 18. ALTA survey delivered with Table A items for parking count and zoning. It plots both exceptions. The parking shortfall is real, and one tenant's lease guarantees 30 spaces.

Day 22. Phase I identifies a former printing operation on the site through 1988, with a recognized environmental condition relating to historical solvent storage. Harrow Ridge negotiates access for a Phase II.

Day 30. Phase II soil borings find impacts below applicable standards, with no groundwater impact. The report supports appropriate care and the bona fide prospective purchaser defense; the Phase I is addressed to Harrow Ridge.

Day 33. Estoppels return. Two are clean. The third discloses a $46,000 unfunded tenant improvement allowance and an unexercised right of first offer on any sale — which the seller had not disclosed. The ROFO was waived in writing after the seller notified the tenant, but the notice was defective.

Day 40. Harrow Ridge objects on three grounds. The parties negotiate: a $46,000 credit for the allowance, a $75,000 price reduction reflecting the parking constraint, seller-obtained corrected ROFO waiver as a closing condition, and a $150,000 escrow for twelve months backing the environmental and lease representations.

Day 45. Diligence expires. Deposit goes hard on revised terms.

Day 78. Closing. Prorations, security deposit transfer, tenant notice letters, deed recorded.

What diligence found that the contract alone would not have: a parking constraint that reduced value, an undisclosed tenant obligation, a defective ROFO waiver that could have clouded title, and an environmental history that — properly documented — supports a statutory defense. Total diligence cost: roughly $38,000. Value identified: over $120,000, plus the avoided liability.

A diligence checklist

Title and survey

  • Title commitment with legible copies of every Schedule B-II exception.
  • ALTA/NSPS survey with agreed Table A items, plotting all exceptions.
  • Delete standard exceptions with survey and owner's affidavit.
  • Order endorsements: zoning, access, survey, contiguity, restrictions/encroachments/minerals, tax parcel.
  • Confirm legal access to a public right of way.

Environmental

  • Phase I to ASTM E1527, addressed to buyer or with reliance letter, current within the required window.
  • Phase II if a recognized environmental condition is identified.
  • Asbestos, lead paint, radon, mold, wetlands, and floodplain as applicable.

Zoning and building

  • Zoning report and, where use-critical, a municipal verification letter.
  • Certificate of occupancy; open permit and violation searches with building, fire, and health.
  • Setback, height, coverage, FAR, and parking compliance confirmed against the survey.
  • Confirm nonconforming status and rebuild rights.

Physical

  • Property condition assessment covering roof, structure, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, elevators, and pavement, with a capital reserve schedule.
  • ADA accessibility assessment for public accommodations.
  • Confirm utility capacity for the intended use.

Financial and leases

  • Three years of operating statements and rent rolls; trailing twelve months.
  • Lease abstracts and complete lease files with all amendments.
  • Tenant estoppels and, where applicable, SNDAs.
  • Security deposit accounting.
  • Real estate tax bills and reassessment analysis.
  • Insurance loss runs and current premiums.
  • Service contracts with term and termination provisions.

Legal and entity

  • Seller entity authority and good standing; deed into seller.
  • Litigation, condemnation, and violation notice searches.
  • UCC searches for fixture filings.
  • Formation of the acquisition entity; qualification if out of state.
  • Confirm transfer tax treatment, including controlling-interest rules.
  • 1031 intermediary engaged before the relinquished property closes, with assignment language in the PSA.

Frequently asked questions

Can we skip the survey to save time? You can, and it is the most common expensive mistake in the category. The survey is what turns the title exceptions from prose into a picture.

Isn't the title policy enough? No. The policy expressly excepts everything on Schedule B-II, and it insures title, not physical condition, zoning compliance (absent an endorsement), or environmental condition.

Does a Phase I protect us from environmental liability? It is a prerequisite to the statutory defenses, not a guarantee. You must also be addressed as the user or hold a reliance letter, exercise appropriate care, and cooperate with response actions.

The seller says the building is fully permitted. Is that enough? No. Search the records yourself. Open permits and unresolved violations are common, and they become the buyer's problem at closing.

How long a due diligence period should we ask for? Enough to receive and review title, survey, environmental, and — for leased property — estoppels, which take the longest. Forty-five to sixty days is typical, and the clock should start on complete delivery.

Can we get specific performance if the seller backs out? Only if the contract provides for it. Sellers routinely try to limit the buyer to a deposit return; insist on specific performance.

What happens to the tenants' security deposits? They transfer or are credited at closing, and the buyer assumes the obligation. Confirm state law on how they must be held.

Will our taxes go up? In many jurisdictions, yes — reassessment at the purchase price is common. Underwrite the post-closing bill, not the seller's.

Conclusion

The purchase and sale agreement is not where commercial real estate deals are won. It is where the time to look is negotiated. Everything else — price adjustments, credits, escrows, walk-away decisions — follows from what the buyer finds during that window.

The buyers who do badly are not the ones who negotiated a weaker contract. They are the ones who let the diligence period run while waiting for a survey they ordered late, or who read the title commitment's cover page and not its eighteen exceptions, or who accepted a Phase I addressed to somebody else.

The list is not long. It is just unforgiving about being skipped.

Buying the entity instead of the property

Sometimes the better structure is to buy the membership interests in the LLC that owns the building rather than the building itself. The choice has consequences a buyer should evaluate during diligence rather than at closing.

Why buyers do it. In several jurisdictions an entity transfer avoids real property transfer tax — though many states have closed this by taxing controlling-interest transfers, and the analysis is jurisdiction-specific. It can also avoid triggering property tax reassessment in states like California, where a change of ownership analysis under the Revenue and Taxation Code turns on the transfer of a controlling interest rather than the deed. It may permit assumption of favorable existing debt without a formal assumption, and it keeps existing permits, licenses, and nonconforming use rights with the entity rather than requiring reissuance.

Why buyers hesitate. You acquire the entity's entire history — every liability, known and unknown, whether or not it relates to the property. You also inherit the entity's tax basis in the real property rather than taking a stepped-up basis at the purchase price, which can be a very expensive difference over a hold period.

What changes in diligence. Add entity-level review to the property review: organizational documents and all amendments; the complete membership ledger and transfer history; consents required for the transfer; tax returns for the entity; litigation and judgment searches against the entity in every jurisdiction; UCC searches against the entity name; employment matters if the entity has employees; and lender consent, because most loan documents make a transfer of controlling interests a default.

What changes in the agreement. Representations expand substantially — organization, capitalization, no undisclosed liabilities, financial statements, taxes filed and paid, no employees or benefit plans (or full disclosure if there are), and compliance with law. Survival periods lengthen, and an escrow or holdback becomes essential rather than optional. Representation and warranty insurance is available for larger entity transactions and can substitute for much of the escrow.

Title. The title company will require a non-imputation endorsement, which prevents it from denying a claim on the theory that knowledge held by the continuing entity is imputed to the new owner. Obtain it; without it, the policy may be worth substantially less than the buyer assumes.

Ground leases and sale-leasebacks

Two structures recur in commercial acquisitions and each carries traps the standard checklist does not surface.

Ground leases. The buyer acquires a leasehold interest in land, usually long-term, and owns the improvements it builds. Diligence adds: the remaining term (a leasehold with fewer than roughly thirty years remaining is difficult to finance), rent escalation and reset mechanisms, whether the ground lease is mortgageable and what protections it gives a leasehold mortgagee (notice and cure rights, and the right to a new lease on termination), transfer and assignment provisions, the obligation to remove improvements at expiration, and casualty and condemnation allocation between the fee owner and the leasehold owner. A leasehold policy of title insurance, with the appropriate endorsements, is the counterpart to an owner's policy.

Sale-leasebacks. An operating company sells its real estate and leases it back, converting an owned asset to a long-term obligation. For the buyer, this is a credit transaction as much as a real estate transaction: the value is the lease and the tenant's credit, and the diligence emphasis shifts to the tenant's financial condition, the lease's absolute-net structure, guaranty support, and the residual value of a single-tenant, purpose-built building if the tenant fails. For the seller-tenant, the questions are accounting treatment, the rent's relationship to market, the term and renewal structure, and whether the transaction inadvertently violates a loan covenant or a change-of-control provision elsewhere.

Related articles

This article is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Real property law, transfer taxes, survey standards, and environmental requirements vary by state and locality. Consult qualified real estate counsel before signing a purchase agreement or waiving a diligence contingency.