4-plex under contract - now what?

[Jon Tripp]

I just put a 4-plex under contract And I’m in the due diligence period. While I’m in the real estate business as a residential agent, I feel a bit like a fish out of water with multi-family.

The main question I have at this point is this: what documents should I be getting from the seller that pertain to the property during this DD period? I’ve gotten most of the leases, a couple of repair tickets and that’s it. How extensive a document dump should I expect or require so that I can have a comprehensive understanding of everything involved?

[Will Fraser]

You should look into the utility costs for the property (better gained by calling the utility providers than asking the seller usually), have the seller participate in an Estoppel agreement, and that's about it in my opinion.  If you were looking at a 20-unit commercial property you might look at a much more extensive round of documents, but for a 1-4 unit you're still in the residential world and the open market tends to simplify the sale process for 1-4 units.