NEED HELP ON 120 UNIT MULTI-FAMILY?

[Lee Scarlett]

Hello everyone,

I have not focused any attention on multi-family know-how here on BP since I didn't see myself having the resources to tackle such a project as a new investor.  Then someone I know mentioned there is this apartment building I know of been up for sale.  I honestly don't know how else to approach this except introduce it here and see where the rabbit hole goes.

Contact me so we can go over some details to see if this even makes sense.  I think it's pricey but it's Miami.  Miami is fairly pricey.  Vacancy is quite good is what I am been told.  It is a 120 unit multi-family.

[Mark Mosch]

The basic thing you first need to do is to see if the numbers even justify a conversation.  You need to create a proforma budget, then see what your annualized cashflow looks like.  Part of that is figuring out what kind of loan you can get on the property - which will heavily drive your cash on cash return.  Miami is a fairly good area for lenders to lend to, but you also need to have some creds in the industry or you won't get a loan.  Having a solid local property management guy will help with the lender.  that being said, you need to decide what return is appropriate.  If a first timer, you need a pretty decent return to allow for the inevitable mistakes and errors.  Personally, I would never pursue a property I can't comfortably expect to make 10% going in - which rules out a ton of gateway markets like LA, Miami...etc...  However, I at least can sleep at night knowing if i have some vacancies i can still cover the debt service.  This could be a 5-page post, but let me sum up by just saying - do the numbers.  Make a budget, see what the pro-forma return is after you have factored everything you can think of in...expenses, repair reserves, average area vacancy...etc... Then if its good enough, you can think about moving forward.  I toss 75% of the deals i see (about 10 a week) after that phase because some idiot is trying to sell me something with a 2% cash on cash return and is trying to persuade me that i should buy that for the "potential future value" of the property.  Best of luck...120 is a bit large to be starting with.  Get good local people and advisers down there!