Help getting the ball rolling for apartment deal

[Morgan Wallace]

Hey BP, I need some guidance on first steps for the following scenario:

There are several small, old single-family homes located in a great location for a moderate-size apartment complex. I want to buy half of a block (5 houses) with a good street front, demo all the SFHs, re-zone the land, then build my 75-150 apartments.

I feel strongly about the rent potential here, and with some preliminary analysis, I could get cash out of the deal if I buy at market rates for these old houses, use a construction loan to build, then re-fi into a 30-year. And it has strong cash flow potential.

I’m also confident in coming up with the cash requirements for 20% on my project through a good network of friends and family.

I assume my starting point is to get a letter of intent (LOI) from a bank, recruit my investors, then recruit my sellers. Is this correct?

What do you think I'll need for my LOI? Preliminary architectural drawings and an few estimates from builders to include in my business plan? A thumbs-up from the city?

Executing this deal seems more straightforward than launching it.

Thanks for your thoughts!