Syracuse Small Commercial Property

[Patrick O'Connor]

Investment Info:

Office Space commercial investment investment in Syracuse.

Purchase price: $220,000
Cash invested: $7,000

4,000 square foot multi-office commercial property catering to Psychology and social work professionals located in Syracuse, NY.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

This was one of those deals where luck played a large part. The previous owner was having difficulty managing from a distance, they contacted me to assist with the sale of the property. When I first came on it was in poor condition and tenants were ready to leave. I convinced the owner that with some improvements they could get a higher sale price.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

The boiler went in the building and the previous owner did not want to repair. I offered to buy the building at a discount if the owner would hold the mortgage for 2 years and replaced the boiler as the downpayment.

How did you finance this deal?

I put $7,000 cash down to cover half the boiler replacement and was able to use building cash flow to pay the balance. A year later I was able to refinance through a traditional bank.

How did you add value to the deal?

By making incremental improvements to enhance tenant retention.

What was the outcome?

The building continues to provide good cash flow and I've been able to refinance a second time to pull cash out to make additional improvements.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This deal seemed to go very easy, almost too easy and it has been made it hard to make the next deal to add another when looking at the terms in comparison.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Refinanced twice through NBT Bank, NA and would highly recommend them in the Syracuse or Central New York marketplace.