Tips For Fist Apartment Complex Walkthrough?

[Taylor Austin]

Yesterday I went and did my first walkthrough of an apartment building nearby. It's an 152 Unit building, the listing was sent to me through an associate, told me the Broker was doing showings in about 30 minutes so I had to move fast. My associate wanted a lot of pictures and videos to share with potential Private Capital investors to see if they were interested in the deal.

As I said, this was my first walkthrough so my biggest priority was knowing what to look at. Personally, my thinking was looking at it like I was a prospective tenant. So i'm looking at the AC/HVAC situation and their durability, the surrounding area, the infrastructure; do i need to worry about flooding. The flooring, windows, appliances, roof, parking lot, clubhouse & pool (if applicable) and so forth.

That said, before I did this walk through I was scanning BP for some helpful articles but couldn't find a lot of good content on this particular subject. So I am posting this in hopes of learning what to look for next time, maybe things that get overlooked but should be looked at etc.

Can anyone offer what their walkthrough checklist is?

[Steve Morris]

On a walk-thru as a buyer, main thing I tell people to look for is moisture invasion since that can be expensive and needs to be fixed sooner rather than later.  So look in attics and crawl space and moisture check around windows and look at the ceiling corners and for mold..

Also, you need to get an assessment on mechanicals, like are all the HW heaters 15 years old, then you need to budget for replacement.  Also what's the plumbing like is CPVC (beige) or galvanized (50 year life).