Potential Deal... Help Please!

[Russell Gaston]

So I have an opportunity to purchase an off-market duplex in Spring Arbor, Michigan but I'm nervous about the numbers.  The seller hasn't given a price but they purchased the property 10 years ago for $135,000.  I can see the property from my back deck and its location is great and in a very desirable school district.  The larger 3 bedroom unit is currently rented out at $750 mo and the tenant is a long term tenant.  The second unit is a smaller 2 bedroom and is currently rented out at $650 mo, that tenant is new.  The property needs a new roof and both units could use a good refresh.  A similar but smaller property just sold for $100,000 but that property was in better condition.  How much would you offer on this property?  My analysis tells me $100,000.     

[Ari Zartarian]

Based exclusively on the numbers provided, $100k seems like a good starting point. As others have said, it will depend on how you plan to purchase the property (Cash or Financed) and what you're looking to get out of the deal (Immediate ROI, paying down debt, etc.). I can say for myself, depending on the age of the property, if you think you can consistently rent it quickly upon a vacancy, and the strength of the market in your area, this is a deal that otherwise looks good.

On larger multi-family properties, I usually land around a 40-50% expense ratio when projecting an NOI if I only have the rent roll; that number is typically lower on single family homes, as tenants tend to maintain grounds themselves and pay for utilities themselves. For this deal, your rent roll projects an annual gross of $16,800, I would project expenses of roughly $7,500 (property tax, insurance, repair and maintenance, reserves), leaving you with projected NOI of $9,300 - I'm also assuming no vacancy factor. Moreover, it sound like you live pretty close to the property, so you might even be able to cut that number down by doing some of the repair and maintenance yourself.

I would look concretely at what the taxes would be upon a sale (it looks like you're a realtor so check out what the current taxable value is on the property by looking at the public record), speak with an insurance agent about what they might charge for a premium on this property, and gauge how many repairs you would need to do in the next 1-5 years.

That's where I would start if I were looking into this deal.  

**Mind you, I'm not familiar with this property, or this particular market of Michigan, so these are just general consideration I would make if I were in your shoes, not to be considered legal or investment advice**