Lessons from my investments in syndications: Delinquency

Lessons from my investments in syndications: Delinquency

Investor · Rockland County, NY · Member since 2018 · 46 posts · 55 votes

Things I'm learning on my investments in syndications:

Delinquency (tenants living in a property who are behind or not paying rent) is a killer of cash flow, which you will find in the income section of the monthly report.

Delinquency is worse than vacancy for several reasons:

1. You still have all the costs without the income.

2. The costs to evict can quickly add up.

3. It's contagious.

Almost every property will have some delinquency, especially Class C where most tenants live paycheck to paycheck. Without strong management, it is easy for delinquency to get out of control.

It's normal for a value-add deal to start out with high delinquency, but within 9-12 months, it should be no more than 5-6% of collections. Stabilized Class B properties should be at 3-4%. (These figures are approximate and vary by market and class.)

As an LP, there isn't much you can do, but an informed investor makes a successful investor.

Also, when looking at a potential deal that is underwritten at 95% economic occupancy, understand that while it's possible, achieving this is a rare thing.

4Reply
22 views

2 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Chris SeveneyBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Investor · VA · Member since 2015 · 21k+ posts · 19k+ votes
    3y

    @Solomon Rosenberg

    9/10 PPM’s that I review have their proforma based on the rosiest of situations

    Low turnover rates, high absorption rates, low vacancy and of course premium rent prices based on low cost renovations

    You are going to start seeing a lot more pain in this sector the next 12-24 months

    7e investments53 Reviews
  • Real Estate Agent · Tewksbury, MA · Member since 2020 · 494 posts · 284 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Solomon Rosenberg:

    Things I'm learning on my investments in syndications:

    Delinquency (tenants living in a property who are behind or not paying rent) is a killer of cash flow, which you will find in the income section of the monthly report.

    Delinquency is worse than vacancy for several reasons:

    1. You still have all the costs without the income.

    2. The costs to evict can quickly add up.

    3. It's contagious.

    Almost every property will have some delinquency, especially Class C where most tenants live paycheck to paycheck. Without strong management, it is easy for delinquency to get out of control.

    It's normal for a value-add deal to start out with high delinquency, but within 9-12 months, it should be no more than 5-6% of collections. Stabilized Class B properties should be at 3-4%. (These figures are approximate and vary by market and class.)

    As an LP, there isn't much you can do, but an informed investor makes a successful investor.

    Also, when looking at a potential deal that is underwritten at 95% economic occupancy, understand that while it's possible, achieving this is a rare thing.

    This is awesome advice man, especially with the increased impact in the C+/- class MF with the average tenant demographic living on more of a paycheck to paycheck basis or being on government assistance programs in those types of assets. :)

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.