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The Outdoor BIllboard Business - Make Money Purchasing Existing Billboards

Guest post by: Frank Rolfe

Article Overview: Outdoor billboards are an ideal method to earn extra income or even start a business. Contrary to popular belief, the outdoor billboard business still has plenty of opportunity and one area worth considering is acquiring existing billboards. After all, someone else has done the difficult work of scouting an appropriate location, negotiating the ground lease, and obtaining the appropriate permits.

The Outdoor BIllboard Business - Make Money Purchasing Existing Billboards

Outdoor billboards are an ideal method to earn extra income or even start a business. Contrary to popular belief, the outdoor billboard business still has plenty of opportunity and one area worth considering is acquiring existing billboards. After all, someone else has done the difficult work of scouting an appropriate location, negotiating the ground lease, and obtaining the appropriate permits.

How does one acquire existing billboards then?

If you've heard of people who rehabilitate property, the concept is very similar. With this strategy, you scout for existing signs and billboards that can be improved with small repairs and have them looking all new and attractive.

Most experienced billboard investors will agree that purchasing existing billboards can form a very solid foundation in one's billboard portfolio. However, few are willing to disclose their secrets to purchasing existing billboards until now. I have several methods to acquire existing billboards.

• The first strategy in the acquisition of existing billboard is to seek out those old and obsolete signs which have been ignored. This might be the best way to get started in the outdoor billboard business. You can start with old signs in your area. For me, I targeted a chain of old franchises that went out of business a long time ago. To my surprise, no one has ever approached them about their old signs. The signs themselves were run down and dilapidated. However, every billboard that they operated came with a valid permit, which was the real goldmine. I rehabilitated each billboard and then rented them out to advertisers for a nice profit.
• The other existing billboard opportunity is to seek out the money-losers for existing billboard companies such as CBS Outdoor, Clear Channel, or Lamar. I call these "dog" signs because they are considered unprofitable by the big players. Several reasons might have led to their diminished status. For instance, trees might obstruct some, in which case you only need to find a way to trim the trees on the immediate property or the neighbor's property. Whatever the reason, think creatively because the larger billboard operators may decide to sell off a perfectly good sign due to a relatively minor issue that could be easily fixed. When pursuing this strategy, you'll want to make sure you establish good relationships with the key people in these larger billboard companies so you have the opportunity to acquire a billboard when a deal suddenly presents itself.
• Another seldom explored strategy when looking for existing billboards is to seek signs that are part of bankruptcy or foreclosure proceedings. This will call for a lot of patience and establishing the right relationships, but the effort will eventually pay off. Purchasing billboards through this method can be very profitable because banks don't always know how to value a billboard. In other words, this is a strategy where one could acquire signs for less than the replacement cost of the sign.
• The last existing billboard sourcing is to purchase at full retail. This strategy pertains to billboards that have long-term potential because you're already paying a premium for it. I would exercise caution with this strategy because rents might fluctuate if the market conditions deteriorate. In other words, you might purchase a sign for full price at the top of the market and then suddenly have challenges collecting the same rent from advertisers if the economy goes south.

Outdoor billboards are investments that can be very profitable if done in the correct way. Buying existing billboards is just one way of getting started in the industry. I know this from first-hand experience because approximately 30% of my billboards were obtained through the various strategies I have just shared with you.

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Article Tags: extra income, ground lease, money, outdoor billboard, outdoor billboards
Referred by: http://www.mrlaundromat.com/



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