When to ask for pro forma

[Dan Hilton]

Hey BP!

Beginner question about getting the financial statements from the current owner regarding their rental property. When is the best time to try and acquire this type of information? Specifically is this information that you can (and want to) request prior to making an offer? I understand that we want to analyze the deal with our own number/research. I'm curious from the perspective of pointing at the owner's pro forma to justify a low-ball offer.

Thanks,

Dan

[Darren Sager]

In most cases @Dan Hilton smaller real estate investors would not provide such information.  I would never ask for a "pro forma" because most are based on future projections of which can be manipulated to show a property the way that they want you to see it.  It would serve you better to ask for prior years Schedule E to get a good idea of what the past has done and you create your own pro forma based upon your numbers of what improvements, cap ex, and raise in rent could do for the property.