Real Estate Broker · Fort Wayne, IN · Member since 2016 · 88 posts · 41 votes
Hello everyone!
I've been property hunting for some time now and found a great opportunity near me. This is something I could manage while I go to college, Purdue University. So the deal I have here is 6 two bedroom units and 1 one bedroom unit all in the same building. The list price is $409,000 but I found through public records that the valuation done in 2016 found it to be $375,500 and noticed they have not paid $7,500 in taxes for year 2016. I also happened to find out the local company that owns it. My question is, would it be okay to directly contact them by either calling or going directly to their office instead of going through a broker? The property has also been on the market for nearly 6 months. So would it be reasonable to place an offer around the $300k mark? (I plan to do rehab on the floor, kitchen, and bathrooms).
It depends on where you found out about the property. If the broker gave it to you, you should honor that and go through him. Plus, he may very well have a contract on the property. If that's the case, you have no choice but to go through him or wait until his contract expires. If he has too high of a fee on it, tell him how much you're willing to pay and see if he can renegotiate with the seller. Good luck.
Hi Aaron, I went to school at Purdue (grad 06') and there was a few big players when it came to student housing so I'm surprised that complex hasn't been picked up yet. Is it a pretty good distance off campus?
@Scott Steffek I found it through loopnet and have not contacted anyone yet. At worst, I am hoping I could talk to the owner and just have the listing broker take double commission (listing and selling). Best case, buy directly from the owner.
@Ryan Kinsella There are absolutely some big game here, mainly just Granite now aside from dorm housing. It is roughly a mile to two miles from campus (Union Memorial). It is located a few streets down from South (entering Lafayette from West Lafayette over the bridge). It is walkable considering I walk a mile everyday to classes from where I park off-campus.
I definately recommend talking to the owner. Ive found out who and talked to the owner of listed properties a few times. I feel like this helps big time, cuz it gives you the oppurtunity to find out there story and reason for selling. There is just no way to get personable with an owner through a broker. Its not like your undercutting the broker, they still get there cut if you buy.
@Aaron Van Curen, Sure talk to the owners to find out the scoop on the property but understand commercial is very different from buying a residential property and on top of that you are a newbie in buying an investment property. My recommendation would be to get your own Commercial Realtor involved to help protect yourself (not the seller) and navigate through the purchase of a commercial contract. Commercial is very complicated and you do not want to have issues after you have purchased the property.
@Aaron Van Curen go talk to the owners. If you build rapport with them it will make the transaction go smoother regardless if agents get involved later or not.
They might even do owner financing for you if they like you.
Once you get into the details of the deal, I'd recommend you get yourself a good RE lawyer and put a good contract in place that will protect you.
As was mentioned above me, if you don't have the knowledge (not sure how much HW you've done on commercial transactions), then you might want to get someone that has the experience to work with you on this deal.