End users are now active players in OC retail property investment as well, Marcus & Millichap senior associate in Newport Beach office (and brand-new dad) Joseph Lising tells us. Business owners are not only taking advantage of low interest rates to finance acquisitions of the properties that they occupy, but also SBA loans that allow them to put just 10% down. In some cases, users are now willing to step up in price over a straight investor, Joseph says. (The baby's yawn made it very clear that some people are just not interested in all this.)

Recently Joseph oversaw the sale of Lincoln Village, an 8,200 SF retail property in Orange, repping both the seller and the buyer(he had to shake his own hand to seal the deal), who will occupy a portion of the space for his own business.The property traded for $1.2M. Financing for the transaction was an SBA loan at 4.4% and 25-year fully amortized, allowing the buyer to pay close to full list price with 10% down.