How do I find funding for 5 Duplexes with value-add potential

How do I find funding for 5 Duplexes with value-add potential

New to Real Estate · Polk County, FL · Member since 2018 · 6 posts · 2 votes

Hi. My name is Nate, from central Florida. I’m a Firefighter/EMT, aspiring to acquire cash producing assets with the hope creating financial independence and financial freedom. 
I've been following BiggerPockets and reading REI books for a couple years and really want to do my first deal with a desire to apply economies scale, sooner than later. (As Brandon Turner says, "don't be afraid of commas".)
I’m actively looking for a REI mentor to share investing/acquisition knowledge so that I can share what I learn with my fellow first responders. Working 48 and 72 hour shifts in a row to “get ahead” is just not sustainable anymore. I need to find a better way, as do my fellow brothers and sisters.

Here’s the deal I’m currently looking at, as provided by the listing agent and new property manager:

5 Duplexes sitting on 2.57 acres, corner lot, city sewer and water, in a tertiary market (3,500 population, strong local history of agriculture and phosphate mining), about an hour south of Disney (Orlando), built in 2019, block construction with metal roofs, 825 sq ft each unit, 2 bed/1 bath, currently 100% occupied. So, 10 units in total, current rent is $830 a month. That’s $8,300 a month, $99,600 annually. Monthly expenses are super low: $350 for lawn maintenance and $150 for miscellaneous, for a total of $500. Tenants pay utilities, there’s little to no Cap Ex as it’s recently built. The property is bank owned by a bank in California. Asking price: $1.0 million.

Many of the tenants have relatives (parents, aunts and uncles) who live in SFH on the same and neighboring streets, so there's a strong sense of local community.
There’s significant value-add potential: 1) increase rents 2) potential to build 5 more duplexes on the existing property, PLUS all impact fees have already been paid. 

It was previously owned/managed by a “mom and pop” operation that did not keep good records. The new property manager is professional, but is having difficulty acquiring the necessary documentation for me to submit it to lenders. The lender says I’d have to put down 20%-30%. I have yet to receive anything after multiple requests. The lender I’m speaking with needs these documents, otherwise they say I’d have to pay cash (which I obviously don’t have.)

Net pro’s vs cons: I think this deal has significant potential to be a good 1st deal, especially with the value add potential. Not too big, not too small. I just want to get in the game, get my feet wet and hands dirty. It probably wouldn’t appreciate as well as in a primary or secondary market, but that’s ok, as long as it cash flows. 
Potential strategy/exit strategy: 1) keep it as a long term buy and hold and pull equity in the future to buy new deals OR 2) sell it and do a 1031 exchange, leveling up next time to buy a bigger asset. 

Personally. Emotions aside, if the numbers work, I’d want to buy it. But how?

My questions are:

1) Would you consider this a good deal? Why?

2) What's the wisest way to acquire funding for this deal? Down payment and commercial loan? (Hard money lender, ask family to jointly pull a HELOC?)

3) What’s the next best step? 

I don’t own any property at this time. I’ve attempted to purchase my first home the past 2 years, but have been unsuccessful in this highly competitive market.
My parents own there own home, but it’s old and in need of repair. It probably appraises for $150,000. Not enough equity for 20-30% down. 
My grandmother owns her own home on the water in Key West and although it’s old, it appraises for $950,000. 
I'd be willing to ask her to do a joint HELOC if it's a good deal but some of my family might advise her not to as I'm not a experienced real estate investor.

I want to be proactive, find positive solutions and make wise investments. Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions are welcomed. 

Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts.

Best Regards,


Nate Tinaya 


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  • Real Estate Consultant · USA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 751 votes
    4y

    The first step is to find out if this is a good deal. Ask the seller for detailed financials for the last 12 months. What you want to do is determine the Net Operting Income. This will tell you how much money you have left to pay for financing.

    It also will be used in determining the cap rate so you can see how it compares to other properties in the area.

  • New to Real Estate · Polk County, FL · Member since 2018 · 6 posts · 2 votes
    4y

    Thank you, Jim and Jim, for replying.

    I’ve reached out to the current property manager requesting the information my lender is requiring which is:

    - 2021 and 2022 YTD P&L and/or T12 P&L (depending on what the broker has.)
    - current rent roll

    - Link to the property listing

    I’ve sent the link to the property listing to the lender and am now waiting for the other documents, so I can relay them to the lender.

    I have not gotten the property appraised yet, but that is a great question I could ask the listing agent. Perhaps it’s been recently appraised on his end, that would at least give me a rough estimate of valuation.

    Thanks for the comments.

    Any other thoughts or suggestions are welcomed.

  • Member since 2020 · 671 posts · 937 votes
    4y

    @Nathanael Tinaya

    This is a total guess based on the numbers presented, but I think you'd be pretty exposed if you purchased a million dollar property that generated 8k a month with 100% financing (between the first and the HELOC). Rates are pretty high right now (based on the past couple of years, not historically) and I don't think you'd have a ton left over each month to cover the BS that occasionally arises with being a landlord.

    Also, arguably, prices might be dropping and interest rates might continue increasing, so you might find yourself in a worse financial position in a year or two with being upside with higher payments.  A tenant or two skips a couple of months payment and the wheels might come off if you don't have proper liquidity.

    Again, this is just a guess and I'd definitely kick the tires on it to satiate my curiosity if I were you.  If the numbers aren't good enough, don't be afraid to keep looking though.

    Good luck and best wishes

  • New to Real Estate · Polk County, FL · Member since 2018 · 6 posts · 2 votes
    4y

    Chris John,

    Thank you for the reflections. Those are very valid thoughts. 

    As a firefighter, we have to do “dangerous things carefully”; we can’t avoid risk, we must mitigate it. We have to bring a sense of caution and aggressive action depending on the circumstances or nature of the emergency. 
    I see investing very similarly to firefighting. Being an investor is inherently risky too, but you have to mitigate risk and adjust accordingly.

    As a new REI, I'm still learning what questions to ask to mitigate risk and capitalize on potential upside. Thank you for posing those questions. Good food for thought.

  • New to Real Estate · Polk County, FL · Member since 2018 · 6 posts · 2 votes
    4y

    This might be a little naive and simplistic, but in your opinion, what would be the numbers that would make you say “Yes deal” vs “No deal”?

    Is there a specific NOI or Cap rate minimum that would make you say yes vs no? Thanks.

  • Member since 2020 · 671 posts · 937 votes
    4y

    @Nathanael Tinaya

    Obviously, everyone has different numbers that work for them.  I'm lazy, but this is how I do it:

    Step 1- I calculate how much money I'll have in the deal (down payment, renovation costs (we try to get durable finishes like tile, semigloss paint, etc.), etc.).

    Step 2 - I'll calculate my expected yearly income (based on 100% occupancy) once the units are turned (meaning they're shiny and fresh with tenants paying market rents).

    Step 3 - I'll calculate my known yearly expenses (mortgage costs, insurance, taxes, management fees, etc. - I actually ignore CAPEX, vacancies, maintenance, etc. as I've never been good at guessing these. I'd rather just make enough money to reasonably pay for them regardless of what happens).

    Step 4 - I subtract Step 3 from Step 2 to get my expected yearly net income.

    Step 5 - I divide Step 4 by Step 1 to get a rough idea of my best case scenario of my return on the cash I'm actually out.  

    I want this to be 15+%.  If it is, I'm good to go.  If it's not, I either try to negotiate a lower price or find something else.

    For me, I've found that 15+% provides enough cashflow to pay for vacancies, CAPEX, maintenance, etc. and still leaves a little left over for profit. I will say that when we get a new unit, we try to make it durable and "bullet proof" with finishes that will stand the test of time to tenants (tile, semi-gloss paint, etc.) to save future monies.

    Please note that for me, cashflow is nice to grease the wheels, but we've made more money in appreciation.  If I were trying to buy in more of a cashflow market where I figured that's where most of my profit would come from, I'd probably insist on more than 15%.

    I hope this helps and please note that I'm definitely an amateur.  I like real estate and what it's done for me, but I'm a very low effort investor.

    Best wishes

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