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(March 9, 2005)
Friday,
Oct. 10, 1986/THE DETROIT NEWS
Spirited Sales
Brothers tap million-dollar church market
When Mike Messier seeks out new homes for his real estate clients, his findings
are usually inspirational.
But since he must satisfy the tastes of some very large
"families," that is not always an easy task.
Messier's mission is to match the buyers and sellers of
church properties in the southeast Michigan area, a specialty he thinks is
unique to himself and his brother, Kevin, who recently joined as his partner.
The brothers took over from their father, Richard, an agent
at Real Estate One's Commercial Division in Southfield, who developed the
"church beat" through word-of-mouth references after he sold his first
church in 1971.
"He decided to move to Florida, so he brought me in as a
partner, and I slowly took over as he phased out." says Messier.
"Last year, Kevin joined me when (business) started to get real
heavy."
Mike Messier had been in real estate six years before he
began concentrating on churches in 1984. With probably 6,000 churches in
southeastern Michigan and virtually no competition, the brothers have a wide
field to serve. The growth of churches - especially among Pentecostal
religions - has given the church market the same kind of increase as the housing
market. The brothers average about three to four listings a month.
Last year's $8.7 million in sales came mostly from the successful transaction of
about 45 to 50 churches.
Buying or selling is much the same as buying or selling a
house, says Messier. The complications begin when he starts to sell a
building to not one buyer, but a few hundred, instead.
Showing a church is usually a three-stage process. The
initial contact might be a pastor or the head of a church's building
committee. One of the brothers will show the property, pointing out the
sanctuary's seating capacity, classrooms, office space, fellowship hall and
other key featured, depending on the needs of the particular denomination.
If a building lacks a particular feature, it can often be added.
"But," he sales, "it's easier to add a
baptismal pool than build a choir stand."
If the building seems appropriate, the next step is to show
the property to the board of directors, who may have diverse ideas of what the
church really needs. The last step is showing the property to the
congregation.
"The pastor and the board will usually look at the
features." he says, "but the church members look at it more
emotionally."
To get the feel of the building, congregations often hold a
short service or sing, to test the acoustics.
The main reason churches are moving is because they outgrow
their present building and need room for their congregations to expand.
"A buyer for a building like the Church of the Nazarene
in Plymouth that sears 450 to 500 people probably won't have much above 300
actual buyers (church members)," he says. "When you pay this
kind of price, invest in a building this large, you want to make sure it is
going to service you for the next several years. The way churches are growing -
many, many times doubling within a two or three-year period - you have to ask
how long you are going to be able to use the sanctuary area."
The biggest concern for church congregations is price, says
Messier, an issue he likes to address after a church board has decided if a
building might suit their needs.
"Churches generally don't have that kind of money,
strictly because of what their church is. It's function is to help its
membership, support missionaries, run blessing programs..."
Most lending institutions will not deal with church sales,
since there is not one person to assume responsibility for the lean. The
typical church sale is done by land contract, with a large down payment, and
churches are often sold for cash. If a church that is selling one building
has a commitment on another, it will often negotiate a price to get the cash
sale it needs. Messier says that he will sit down and work with a church's
budget to determine what building it can afford. Sometimes, a church's
state or national governing body will make a loan.
While the cost of buying a church can run from a few thousand
dollars for a storefront location to more than $2 million for a modern recently
build suburban church, it is still much cheaper than building, says
Messier. A building that would sell in the $700,000 range would probably
cost about $1.2 million to replace.
The Messiers' keep a directory of southeastern Michigan
properties, which goes back several years, that help them determine the fair
market price of a property. Those comparisons often are referred to by
Member of the Appraisal Institution or Society of Real Estate Appraisers
specialists, whose assessments of church properties are considered critical and
the most accurate for high-priced properties.
The 450-seat, 21,000-square-foot Church of the Nazarene is
considered a large property in today's market, says Messier. Most of the
demand today is for churches that seat about 300.
Today's hottest church market is in Detroit, says Messier,
because of the boom in Pentecostal religions in the city.
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Detroit News - October 10, 1986
