When Did the Building Start Owning You?

It’s been a big week for ownership news in Los Angeles sports.

Mark Walter bought the Lakers last October at a record $10 billion valuation. Now, less than a year later, he’s reportedly selling the team to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger for $12.5 billion.

I don’t know Walter’s reasons.

But it reminded me of something JJ Redick said a while back that I came across recently on X.

It had nothing to do with basketball.

It was about watches.

Redick sold his entire watch collection.

Not because he needed the money.

Because he realized something uncomfortable:

The collection had stopped being his hobby and started being his master.

He has talked openly about having an obsessive personality. When he gets interested in something, he goes all in.

And he went all in on watches.

But eventually, he realized the collection had become all-consuming.

His wife wasn’t getting anything out of it.

His kids weren’t getting anything out of it.

His friends weren’t getting anything out of it.

He was the only person in the room wearing the watch.

At some point, he had to ask himself whether he was still enjoying the hobby—or whether the hobby was running his life.

So he sold it.

All of it.

And I think there’s a lesson in that for commercial property owners.

Because I see something similar all the time.

I talk to owners who are holding onto a building the way Redick was holding onto his watches.

Not necessarily because the numbers still make sense.

Not because the property is still helping them accomplish what they want.

And sometimes, not even because they actually want to own it anymore.

They’re holding because letting go feels like admitting something.

Maybe they built the business there 20 years ago.

Maybe they inherited the property from their parents.

Maybe they fought through a difficult market to acquire it.

Maybe they remember what they paid for it.

Maybe the building represents everything they accomplished.

Over time, the property stops being an asset on a balance sheet and becomes part of their identity.

And that’s where things can get dangerous.

Because meanwhile, the building still needs attention.

There’s a difficult tenant.

The roof needs work.

The parking lot needs repairs.

The HVAC is aging.

The property taxes keep going up.

The loan is approaching maturity.

And refinancing may mean accepting a completely different interest rate than the one they locked in years ago.

Yet the owner keeps holding.

Not because the property is necessarily producing the best return on their capital.

But because letting go feels worse than holding on.

That’s when I think you need to ask a very simple question:

Who is actually benefiting from you still owning this building?

Is the property funding your life?

Helping your family?

Supporting your retirement?

Giving you the flexibility to make your next investment?

Or has it quietly become something you’re carrying simply because you’ve always carried it?

That’s an important distinction.

Because owning real estate is supposed to give you options.

It shouldn’t eliminate them.

And selling isn’t the only way to get some of those options back.

For some owners, seller financing can be a middle ground.

You can transfer ownership without necessarily walking away from the economic relationship entirely.

Instead of managing the building, dealing with tenants, maintenance and day-to-day headaches, you become the lender.

The property changes hands.

You stop carrying the operational burden.

But you may continue receiving payments and interest under terms you’ve negotiated.

It’s not right for every property or every seller.

But that’s the point.

There isn’t one answer.

Sometimes you should sell.

Sometimes you should refinance.

Sometimes you should restructure the debt.

Sometimes you should improve the property and hold it.

And sometimes the best decision is to do absolutely nothing.

But you can’t know which one is right until you separate what the property means to you from what the property is actually doing for you.

That’s the hard part.

Because the price you paid 20 years ago doesn’t determine what the property is worth to you today.

The memories don’t determine the return on your equity.

And the fact that you’ve owned something for a long time doesn’t automatically mean you should keep owning it.

Redick didn’t decide that watches were bad.

He decided that this particular relationship with watches was no longer serving him.

That’s a very different conclusion.

And I think commercial property owners need to ask themselves the same question:

Is this building still serving me—or am I serving the building?

If the answer isn’t obvious, don’t make the decision emotionally.

Run the numbers.

Look at your equity.

Look at your cash flow.

Look at the debt.

Look at upcoming capital expenditures.

Look at what the property is costing you in time and attention.

And then ask yourself what else that equity could accomplish.

Because sometimes the smartest thing you can do with an asset you’ve spent decades building isn’t to hold it forever.

Sometimes it’s to recognize that you’ve gotten what you needed from it—and it’s time to let it work for you in a different way.

If you’ve been holding onto a commercial property and you’re no longer sure whether it’s serving you or you’re simply serving it, let’s have a conversation.

No pressure to sell.

No assumption that you should refinance.

Let’s just look at what the building is actually doing for you today.

Call me at 818-430-8497.

Gary Mittin Commercial Real Estate Broker | CA DRE #01177574 GaryMittin.com glmittin@gmail.com

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This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or investment advice. Financing structures discussed are subject to lender approval, seller willingness, SBA eligibility requirements, and current program guidelines. Consult your own CPA, attorney, and lender before making investment decisions