The City of Pasadena runs several different rebate programs for commercial businesses. One of these programs is the Pasadena Express Efficiency Rebate Program (PEER). PEER is meant for smaller sized projects. These smaller rebates take less time to process and they have less paper work to submit. Here are some examples of projects that would qualify for the PEER Program:

For larger projects the City of Pasadena has the Energy Efficiency Partnering Program (EEP). The EEP has a third party engineering group review your project and estimate your energy savings.

The City of Pasadena also offers a Commercial Water & Energy Direct Install Program (WeDip). This program allows the customer to have energy saving equipment installed at no cost. Here are some of the projects that you can apply for:

The City has several other programs including water rebates. For more information please visit their site at: http://cityofpasadena.net/waterandpower/comm_programs/.

It is not just the IRS that should considered when transferring interest in real property Case #1. Girl and boy in love and engaged to be married. Girl owns her house and as a demonstration of her love, puts her fiancée on the deed. Case #2. Brother and sister are left two commercial properties by their mother, each with 50/50 ownership interest in each property.  Brother and sister think, “Wouldn’t it be easier for each of us to be able to own one by ourselves?” Both cases had the same result. The County of Los Angeles reassessed the base year tax for real estate taxes as of the time of transfer.

• In neither case did the parties realize the consequence of the transfer.
• In both cases, the real estate tax that was being paid at the time, due to “Prop 13″ was low in comparison to the reassessed value.
• In both cases the owners were surprised by a huge increase in their real estate taxes.

The valuation of the Base Year upon transfer can be argued, however it is complicated.  If the names are different, the County might not realize that the transfer was a 50% interest (as in the case of the young lovers). The value has to be appraised as of the time of transfer and there is a formula to blend the value of the original interest with the newly transferred interest . Even after appeal, the Assessor’s office is not always correct in completing the paperwork on the transfer. MacVaugh & Co is a registered tax agent and has successfully had the Base Year Valuations reduced. We can go back 3 years. Think before you blindly transfer property out of demonstrations of fidelity or familial harmony. Speak with your accountant before making any decisions on real property transfer. If it is too late, call MacVaugh & Co.

Whether you’re looking for a space for your new business or expanding (or down-sizing) your current one, it’s a good idea to have representation (you can read my earlier entry about Tenant Representation here).

So you’ve located the city you would like to set up shop.  Who do you call?  If you’ve gone through this process before, you might already have a trusted agent that you like to work with.  What if this is your first time or the last agent got the job done, but you really didn’t enjoy the process?  Moving can be a stressful and expensive proposition, and for that reason you might have thought to contact a bunch of agents and have them all vying to find you that perfect spot.  The more agents that you have working for you, the quicker you find a spot, right?

The truth is that while this may seem to be the most effective means of finding a space – and who doesn’t like a drove of agents running around and working on our behalf – this is probably the least effective manner in getting a simple task done. Essentially, all you have done at this point is re-invent the wheel regarding your space requirements to multiple agents and spent valuable time explaining what you want to a small army of agent!

Consider working with one agent.  It may seem counter-intuitive, but you’re building a lasting relationship with somebody that can help you find a great space – now and in the future.  The agent won’t be wondering if all his/her work is a waste of time seeing that you have multiple agents repping you and there is also a dynamic learning curve that takes place as this agent learns what you don’t like and the things that are a “must have” for you.

Of course, I’m not telling you to endure the agent that is consistently late, inaccessible, or just lazy in the name of commitment.  You need somebody that is going to be professional and work on your behalf; Somebody that knows the area and may be privy to additional information like what spaces are likely to be available in the future!  And if you can meet that somebody that you enjoy looking for spaces with, that’s a huge bonus!  You might even end up meeting a good friend that be a world of resources to you in the future.