Buying my first 6 unit apartment

[Scott Garber]

Greetings,

I started about 18 months ago buying SFR and duplexes which i would buy, renovate, refinace, and repeat. As of now i have 3 SFR's and 2 duplexes that are all fixed, rented, and cashflowing great.

I decided to take the next step and made an offer on a 6 plex which consists of six 1 bedroom/1bath in a C+ type area.  currently they are all rented, below market rate, and can be rented for 3,600-3,900 per month as opposed to the 3,050 that it is currently.

The owner is currently paying water/trash/sewer which is $450.00 per month for water and $150.00 for trash.

The starting price was 299,000, i offered 179,900, and the owner countered with 179,000 if i picked up ALL the closing costs (roughly 14,000) or 199,900 which is a 100K under the original price.

There is some major cosmetic work which needs to be done to get them up to the 3,600 income (will cost about 6,000 per rental)

So here are my questions;

1) Can i remove the tenents if there was a lease in place prior to my purchase to get the apartments cleaned up?

2) Can I cut some of that big water/trash expense by sub-metering the water and passing it on to the users?

3) The bank that i've used for the other purchases are starting to make it tougher due to my loan to debt ratio, what other options should i consider for financing?

I am so excited about this deal, but want to make sure i'm not missing major details.

[Aaron H.]

1) No. Leases transfer with the property, so you either have to wait till the lease expires, or try cash for keys and see if you can buy people out.

2) Probably? Depends on your specific property and what tenants will accept, but look into "RUBS" as one option. At worst you can usually pass on a flat cost to all tenants to cover some of the utilities.

3) Your best bet is going to be to find a local portfolio lender that can see the income potential on the property and is willing to count it towards your DTI. Worst case, look for hard money lenders or a private lender/partner.