Buying a commercial building (includes restaurant) in Eastern Iowa - suggestions?

[Matthew Gunderson]

I have been looking for my first rental property deal in Eastern Iowa (Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, etc) for the past several months and so far have come up dry.  The single family home market is absolutely crazy here, most homes I look at sell within hours of listing, even at ~7% interest rates.  I've also been looking at multifamily and commercial property deals.

This morning I came upon a brand new listing for a two story building in downtown Mt. Vernon, IA (119 1ST ST NW Mt Vernon, IA 52314), which includes the restaurant and two small apartments on the second floor.  See link below for the listing. 

https://www.remax.com/ia/mount...

I hear from my friends that live in that town that the restaurant is packed Thursday-Saturday.  I don't yet have any financial statements from the sellers, but hoping to get that information later today so I can determine if this deal makes sense.  I also hope to look at the property today. 

This is an interesting deal as it seems to present a lot of options, including multiple exit strategies.  However I've never operated a restaurant before.

What should I be thinking about in terms of this deal?  What don't I know that I should? Any red flags?

Matt Gunderson