Multifamily BRRR strategy that created 4.5m of value in 12 months

Multifamily BRRR strategy that created 4.5m of value in 12 months

Real Estate Investor / Syndicator · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 210 posts · 135 votes

We are happy to report about the recent cash-out refinance of our 174 Units Apartment Complex in San Antonio, TX.  This property won the San Antonio Apartment Association Property of the Year award for 2017. We did a post about the deal when we bought it. You can read it here. https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/223/topics/408271-achieve-investment-group-closed-on-174-units-in-san-antonio

We pullout out 117% of equity (cash out of pocket 3.76m) within 12 months. The deal was bought at 6.9m and we added rehab of 1.3m. The property appraised at 12.7m creating a value of 4.5m within 1 year. Furthermore, we are only 50% done with interior unit rehab. We efficiently used BRRRR strategy to create this massive value. Below is the outline of strategy

Buy

We bought these deal at deep discount of 39K per door. This was a direct buyer-seller transaction. The deal was done with a Freddie mac loan assumption with 4 more years left on the loan. 

Reposition

Interior

We rehabbed 50% of interior units by spending 5K per door. We increase rents by $173 per door on average. We painted exterior/interior, installed Stainless Steel Appliances, New kitchen/bathroom/light/door fixtures, crown Molding and Kitchen Backsplash.

Exterior

New Exterior paint, carpentry/masonry repairs, new community/gym room, New landscaping, driveway fixes, plumbing leaks repairs, new pool resurfacing, new roofs where needed, water heater replacements, new water softeners and security systems.

Property Management

Upon takeover, the property occupancy dropped from 89% to 77% within 2 months. We were evicting tenants that were not paying or they simply leave because of better property management. We brought back the occupancy from 77% to 90% within 6 months.

The property was managed by our in-house property management company

Refinancing

We assumed the 7 year Freddie Mac loan with a strategy of refinancing it quickly to a longer-term debt of 10 years. The prepayment penalty came up to almost 400K. That's ok since we are making more than 4.5m and getting into a long-term debt.

Rent

Currently, the property is stabilized with occupancy above 95%. We plan to let it cash flow and continue to for another 30-40% of interior unit rehab whenever the unit turn.

Turning around a huge 174 units apartment complex within this short time frame has been challenging. There was a lot of hard work, determination, and persistence in this project.

Rehab Budget

Row Labels Sum of Amount Details of Rehab
Exterior Improvements $367,020 1) All Exterior Carpentry, Brick and Painting Work
2) Tree Trimming
3) Foundation repair work for 2 building
4) French Drain to reduce soil movements
HVACs $146,307 New HVACS replaced as needed
Interior Unit Rehab $502,094 1) 5K Budget on average for a unit interior.
2) Total 81 units remodeled including new painting, crown molding, new vinyl flooring, new stainless steel appliances, new fixtures, resurfaced countertops, new light fixtures, new ceiling fans
Landscaping $30,000 1) Landscaping near Office area and Villa
Lighting $6,932 3) Exterior porch lights and critical building lights
Maintenance Tools $10,653 4) Maintenance tools such as HVACs Gauges
Office/Laundry/Community $76,718 1) Office were renovated completely. New equipment/Office Supplies
2) We bought 8 new Washer and Dryer 100% ownership. The laundry room was completely renovated
3) New Community room was remodeled and installed
4) New Gym room was remodeled/installed
Parking Lot $18,583 1) Patch and repair 4K sqft of Asphalt all around the property
Playground $30,131 1) New Playground at Villa and New safety area for old playground
Plumbing improvements $44,704 1) New PRV (Pressure Reducing Valve) for main line
2) New Water Softener for the main line
3) Major plumbing section replacements as needed.
Pool Renovation $17,302 1) Pools resurfacing for 1 pool at Villa
Roof replacements $47,525 1) New Roof for Westers
2) Roof improvement for Cumberland to eliminate stagnant water
Security Systems $9,458 1) Camera monitoring systems - 16 Channels
Signs $10,000 1) Temporary Signage for the property
Water Heater replacements $31,314 1) 3-4 Water Heater replacement for the property
Grand Total $1,348,741

See below pictures to see before and after.

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Peter TverdovBusiness Member
Developer · New Brunswick, NJ · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
8y

Looks great. Very impressive. In these types of syndications, when you guys refinance do you pay your investors back and then keep the property? Essentially legging into a property for limited down payment? Always curious how that part works...

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  • Peter TverdovBusiness Member
    Developer · New Brunswick, NJ · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    8y

    Looks great. Very impressive. In these types of syndications, when you guys refinance do you pay your investors back and then keep the property? Essentially legging into a property for limited down payment? Always curious how that part works...

  • Investor · Hoboken, NJ · Member since 2016 · 464 posts · 179 votes
    8y

    Hey @James Kandasamy

    Fantastic job and impressive returns! Well done

  • Real Estate Investor / Syndicator · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 210 posts · 135 votes
    8y

    @Peter Tverdov We do pay back the investors as a return but they are still the equity partners in the deal. Their equity % are not diluted just because they get a huge chunk of capital back.

    @Patrice Penda Thanks

  • Rental Property Investor · Oakland, CA · Member since 2016 · 268 posts · 106 votes
    8y

    Wow, congratulations on the RiFi and thanks so much for sharing your story and numbers

  • Real Estate Investor / Syndicator · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 210 posts · 135 votes
    8y

    @Simon Stahl Thanks

  • Rental Property Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2015 · 272 posts · 50 votes
    8y
    Awesome job! Thanks for sharing.
  • Investor · North Richland Hills, TX · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    8y

    Awesome performance, James!

    BTW, if investors got 117% upon refinance  (loan proceeds), are they supposed to pay taxes on the 17% as it represents capital gains and not original capital?

  • Rental Property Investor · Friendswood, TX · Member since 2010 · 663 posts · 508 votes
    8y

    @James Kandasamy  On that first landscaping picture, is that just pebbles in place of where the dirt was? 

  • Investor · Newark, DE · Member since 2012 · 81 posts · 45 votes
    8y

    Absolutely amazing. Thanks for putting this post together. The interior renovations come out great.

  • Real Estate Investor / Syndicator · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 210 posts · 135 votes
    8y

    Thanks for @Tristan Cortez @Mike Carr

    @Account Closed   The refinance is a tax-free event from what I understand it.  I need to check with an accountant on how does that work when we go above the original capital. In all case, who cares about the taxes when we are earning this much.

  • José RiveraPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Clermont, FL · Member since 2017 · 21 posts · 7 votes
    8y
    Fantastic, well done !
  • Real Estate Investor / Syndicator · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 210 posts · 135 votes
    8y
  • Involved In Real Estate · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2012 · 216 posts · 42 votes
    8y

    I'm pretty sure it's tax free but your statement says it all. This is what I would like to do but on a much smaller scale. It has worked great in the four unit realm but I'd like to move up to medium size apartments. Almost bought a 6 unit building at auction that needed to be gutted to the studs but I feel I was too conservative. There are always more but I'm still disappointed though.  I'd rather get nothing than a loser but it still hurts. 

  • Investor · Leander, TX · Member since 2016 · 105 posts · 40 votes
    8y

    Hi James,

    Fantastic Post. We do not see many Multifamily BRRR strategy being posted. I am a big fan of BRRR.

    Do you have any meet-up in Austin? 

  • Patrick RowePro Member
    Investor · Baton Rouge, LA · Member since 2011 · 133 posts · 13 votes
    8y

    @James Kandasamy Congrats on this amazing deal, I would like get some more insights from you on multi family.

  • Rental Property Investor · Sacramento Area, CA · Member since 2017 · 45 posts · 64 votes
    8y

    Way to go James!  I do have two questions.  With respects to taxes (mainly depreciation), are you doing using a Cost Segregation model or straight-line depreciation?  With respects to each renovation, how were you able to keep the costs at $5K per door; given you needed new Stainless Steel appliances?  I average around $7K-$8K on a door on a ~1,200 sq.ft. 2B/2b unit.  Any hints on how to lower my costs would be helpful.

    Thanks and again, way to go!

  • Rental Property Investor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2016 · 114 posts · 54 votes
    8y

    @James Kandasamy, Awesome! I heard you on 2 podcast even before this article. Very nice. 

    Question: When you do refinance and take money out, wouldn't you have to pay the interest on that Money on a recurring basis - since this more or less HELOC? If so, what is the %age of that interest? Are the investors who were paid back going to pay the interest on a recurring basis or you as a syndicator going to do that?

    If not, why not?

    Also, what would happen when the interest rates rise in the above scenario if it is yes..

    Sorry, too many questions but this is been my question for any syndicator out there who keeps talking about pulling money after force appreciation.

  • New to Real Estate · Miami, FL · Member since 2017 · 6 posts · 0 votes
    8y

    Amazing post James, this is the kind of stuff I like to read on BP. I love how well you repositioned the property. 

    I am curious, how else did you force value  to the sum of 4.5M aside from raising rents? 

    Very inspirational post.

    Thanks again, 

    - Jessie S.

  • Palpark, NJ · Member since 2016 · 69 posts · 11 votes
    8y

    Why did you guys opt to pay the pre-penalty instead of waiting to refinance at a later date? 

    If this was to pay the investors, was this part of the agreement that you'll refinance as soon as possible? 

    Also big congrats!!! I'm working towards that 

  • Houston, TX · Member since 2017 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    8y

    Great post. Congratulations on your project!

  • Rental Property Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2016 · 23 posts · 81 votes
    8y

    This is such an inspiring post. I am trying to get a 52-unit under contract with the same BRRRR strategy in mind for a re-position from a Class C to a Class B.

    I have the same questions as @Joseph M. and @Account Closed

  • Rental Property Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2016 · 294 posts · 104 votes
    8y

    So if the investors pull out 117% from the property during refinancing, they will still have a % of the property and as a consequence a liability. Technically, if the market drops, the investor got stuck with a property that has negative value. Is this correct?

  • Real Estate Investor / Syndicator · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 210 posts · 135 votes
    8y

    @Tim Czarkowski You are right. I just confirmed with my CPA that its a tax free event. You can certainly do in smaller scale. Out of my 11 rental houses, 6 of it was zero cash out of pocket with BRRR strategy.

    @Nirmal Khanderia   Thanks. There are many meetups, But I attend occasionally some of the meetups when I get a chance. Send me a PM if you want to chat .

    @Patrick Rowe   Sure , let me know what you really want to know.

    @Joseph M.   We do cost segregation for all our properties since we like to keep our properties for a long term. We are able to do 5K per door by doing things in Volume. for example, we buy stainless steel appliance in 11 sets at a time.  Of course we are our own GC so we control our cost.  The 5K is average across all units configuration. I have 1500sq ft 3/2 that cost almost 7K for the entire thing and 4.3K for 1/1 640 sqft.

    @Rich Lopes Thanks. In commercial space, this is not a HELOC similar to Single family homes. In this case, the value of the property has increased so the new loan will pay back the old loan. Please google IRV triangle to learn more. I have no problem with questions. Problem is many people read my post and don't ask any questions. That is where I am a bit disappointed.

    @Account Closed  Thanks.

  • Andrew SyriosPro Member
    Moderator
    Residential Real Estate Investor · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    8y

    Very impressive @James K.!

  • Investor · Ruston, LA · Member since 2017 · 21 posts · 3 votes
    8y

    Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions.

    Can you tell us about the work you did prior to actually making the purchase:

    How much effort did you put into getting actual bids for the rehab work before making an offer?  Or did you use rules of thumb? 

    What was you due diligence like for determining new rents?

    Did you consider offering the contractor equity in lieu of cash spend on the rehab?

    How much back and forth was there on the purchase price negotiation?

    Did you pay for a property inspection as one might for a house prior to purchase?

    And lastly, after the project was completed, how close did your actual expenses that you list above come to your pre-investment estimates/expectations?

    Thanks

    Jay in Louisiana

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