Apartment split into 6 four-plexes?

Apartment split into 6 four-plexes?

Brandon TurnerPro Member
Investor · Maui, HI · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 3k+ votes

Hi Ya'll. I will very soon be closing on a 24 unit apartment complex in my town. I will be using Seller financing and like the deal a lot.

My realtor mentioned an idea to me and I thought I would bring it up on here, to see if anyone had any thoughts.

The apartment is actually 6 four-plexes surrounding a central parking lot. Ideally, I would like to separate these six 4-plexes into 6 individual quads, thus making the sale of them significantly easier and increasing the overall profit substantially. However, because the 6 units surround a parking lot, i don't believe I can separate them into separate parcels. So instead, my realtor suggested doing a "condo conversion" - BUT rather than converting the individual units into condos (which would probably never sell to homeowners in that neighborhood or town) I would use the same technique to turn each "4-plex" into its own "condo" to be separately sold to investors looking for a good investment. Make sense? There would need to be a HOA set up, who would manage the parking lot, property management, etc. In theory it seems like a great, complicated idea.

Has anyone heard of doing this? As I figure it, each 4-plex running at max efficiency should be worth $250,000. Thats $1,500,000 total in value. I am purchasing the property for $580,000. So the potential is HUGE if I can make it work. Any ideas? Anyone done something like this?

Thanks everyone.

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  • Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
    16y

    I've not done it, but I looked at a property that was exactly like this. It was five buildings, IIRC they were sixplexes. Parking around the outside with a central courtyard. At the time, one person owned two of the buildings and each of the other three were owned by one person. There was an HOA that I assume maintained the common areas. Given you can get these down to where someone could use a conforming loan to buy, this seems to have great potential. I looked at a fourplex that was also like this. It had a mirror image building across a courtyard, separately owned. Now that I've looked closer, there are two other identical buildings hidden behind fences right next door.

    I've seen a number of other properties where there are a series of very similar buildings all owned individually, so I think this is not uncommon.

    If the utilities are separate, and you can subdivide the lots so each has their own parking, you could avoid the HOA.

  • Brandon TurnerPro Member
    OP
    Investor · Maui, HI · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    16y

    Thanks Jon. So it sounds like it can be done. I guess I now just need to figure out how. Is this generally a city question or a county question? Probably both huh?

    Also, currently, the units are on 2 separate parcels. So if I can get the units in tip-top shape, I may be able to sell off half the units and maybe pay off the original loan. Owning 12 units free and clear would definitely not be a bad thing.

    Anymore thoughts anyone?

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