One of the first conferences of its kind took place Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at the Race Palace in Plainview, New York. I assembled a team of experts to present a rationale to corporate leaders for the process of making a decision whether to buy or lease their corporate real estate. Steven Elliot Cohen, Partner at Franklin, Gringer & Cohen, P.C. and Kevin Leifer, CPA and Tax Director at Gettry Marcus CPA, P.C. joined me as guest speakers. Collectively, we developed a program that brought our three different disciplines together for a two-hour morning conference.

Over forty key executives of major regional companies accepted our invitation and attended this unique program where they obtained the information they needed from three distinct perspectives; accounting, legal and real estate brokerage. The topics included:

• discounted cash flow analysis as a tool to analyze the buy-lease decision
• why it is often better for fast growing companies to lease and not-for-profits to buy
• how privately held companies should hold their real estate
• the implications of owning real estate while maximizing deductions
• an overview of the Long Island real estate marketplace today

Guests had the opportunity to speak with each of the speakers and walk away with a program booklet as a future resource. Participants were provided with the six basic questions every business must ask before making a buy-lease decision.

This type of forum was interactive and informative, bringing perspectives from the three disciplines of law, accounting, and real estate brokerage. Feedback was positive, with many guests saying that they walked away feeling better equipped to make this type of real estate decision.

Many thanks to all for helping to make this conference a wonderful success. We are already planning our next conference, “How to Negotiate the Commercial Lease – A Tenant’s Guide.” Watch for it this fall.