12 unit Commercial Building

[Joe Kasprzyk]

Morning BP. I'm new to posting so I'll start off with an intro. 

My wife and I live in the south burbs of Chicago. We both work full time in amazing careers that we enjoy. 5 years ago we made the decision to start investing in long term rentals as a way to cement our future. Things have been going great with that. We have a condo that owned free and clear (Taxes and association = $400 monthly, Rents @ 950), and in 2016 we bought a townhome (P.I. = $700, Rents @ $1,150).

So after reading and listening to BP, and other people that I respect in the industry I think that in the next 12 months I wanted to look at a M.F. property. A few nights ago I'm having a conversation with a neighbor of mine who's been retired for some time. He mentions he owns a 12 unit building, with only 2 units rented out! He's older, and he said up front he hasn't taken care of it the way that he should, and he wants to get rid of it. My mind starts spinning. Am I ready? I have no idea?? 

So my first of a million questions to you BPers. Is it a good thing to buy an apartment building that doesn't have the renters already in it? Do banks value the building on rental income?

Thanks in advance

Joe