Created $4+ million in equity in 15 months - lenders are a pain

[Brian Adams]

In July 2014 I bought a 200+ unit off market deal for $6 million that appraised for $7.4 million at day of purchase in Dallas, TX.

The deal was a re-positioning/value add play - meaning I had to clear out the "bad apple" tenants, bring in better management, rehab the property, and value was created as rents were below market.

In 15 months, my team took the property from 84% occupancy to 98% and we achieved raising rents over $100 per unit. 

Ultimately the deal appraised $4+ million more in 15 months. With the massive amount of equity created a refi strategy was executed.

I have some experience doing large apartment deals, I have bought and sold almost 1000 apartment units. I know that getting a loan is never really "easy".

Generally for larger multifamily deals the lender looks more at the performance of the asset vs. you as the operator. Don't get me wrong, the lender wants to make sure you as the owner knows what the heck you are doing and they don't just give a loan to anyone. The value of an apartment complex is driven off of the NOI (Net Operating Income) and the market cap rate.

My point of posting is that in my opinion, there is significant investment risk in the markets right now. The CMBS (commercial mortgage-backed securities) lender I decided to go with got really skittish with the deal as we got closer to completing the refi.

Several times the deal looked like it was going to terminate.

If you need financing for commercial deals, I encourage you to ask lots of questions before you sign the term sheet. One question I didn't ask upfront of this particular lender was "of the deals they have signed up, how many haven't closed and why". I must admit I am not sure why I didn't ask the question, but will be adding to my question list the next time.