What are the major differences between commerical and residential real estate?

Huge diferences; with commercial you deal with feasiblity studies, enviromental issues, phas 1 and 2 studies, remdiations, multile tenant sales and on and on an on... get the idea!

Well, besides the obvious, the commissions are higher on commerical sales.

Residential Real Estate
- A property that is used by people to live in and has less than 4 units.
- It consists mainly of single family homes, duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes.

Commercial Real Estate
- A property that is used to conduct commerce or business that has more than 4 units

Your question leaves much open to conjecture. In short, residential real estate is generally considered any property with 4 or fewer units. Commercial dwellings begin with 5 units, but dwellings are only one type of commercial property. Office buildings, storage facilities, post offices, warehouses & Industrial facilities, and the list goes on, are all commercial types of property.

Another big difference is how they are financed. Residential properties are nearly always dependent on your credit and your money. Commercial properties are judged primarily on the income from operations of the property, and to a lesser degree on your credit or your money.

And finally, from an investment standpoint, consider residential properties. A single family home investor can only have one tenant (generally). If that tenant moves out, the investor is stuck with 100% of the mortgage on that property. In a 20-unit apartment building however, if one tenant moves out, 19 others (assuming 100% vacancy) are still paying rent.

As a residential broker for 5 years, I would advise any new investor to look at apartment buildings that are at least 20 to 50 units and learn all you can about seller financing.

The major difference between commercial and residential real estate?
Residential properties provide housing for people, commercial properties don't