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All Forum Posts by: Albert D.

Albert D. has started 20 posts and replied 86 times.

Post: Do I Care Where My First Apartment Building Is?

Albert D.Posted
  • Investor
  • Germantown, TN
  • Posts 86
  • Votes 26

Hi @Luke Carl,

Good questions.  I think it really depends on your goals and what role you want to play in the investment.

If you just want to put your money to work and don’t want to get involved in the day to day, you can just be a passive investor (LP) in a syndication.  That way, you write your check and forget about.  Expect a distribution of return every few months or so and a big payday in couple of years, if everything goes as planned.  In this case, you have more flexibility on location and no need to worry about PM.  The syndicator will do that work.  The key here is to vet a reputable syndicator with great track record.  

If you plan to be more hands on and start with smaller units, I’d say you need to be close to the property unless you have a trusted PM.  Depending on the size of the property, it may or may not make economic sense at all to have a PM to start with, really depends on the purchase price, rent potential and scale of your property.  My rule of thumb is PM won’t be needed under 20 units.  But again totally depends on your goal, lifestyle, degree of involvement, etc.  

Hope this helps.

Post: Sevierville Tennessee Cabin

Albert D.Posted
  • Investor
  • Germantown, TN
  • Posts 86
  • Votes 26

I’m interested in the topic too...following 

Post: FSBO: Fantastic cabin in Smoky Mountain (7% Cap rate)

Albert D.Posted
  • Investor
  • Germantown, TN
  • Posts 86
  • Votes 26

Dear BPers,

I'm off-loading our investment cabin in Gatlinburg, TN to beef up my investment in multi-family. Last 12 months actual NOI is ~$82,000. LTM revenue is over $140,000. Asking price: $1.15 million.

This is a turnkey operation. All setup: Property management, cleaning crew, maintenance crew. I've been remote owner for over two years and have been very happy with crew.

For details, please check link below on Zillow and VRBO. Financials and showing are available upon request. Please PM me if interested.

Listing on Zillow.com:

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/62900621_zpi...

Rental on VRBO.com:

https://www.vrbo.com/673630

Post: FSBO: Fantastic cabin in Smoky Mountain (7% Cap rate)

Albert D.Posted
  • Investor
  • Germantown, TN
  • Posts 86
  • Votes 26

Dear BPers,

I'm off-loading our investment cabin in Gatlinburg, TN to beef up my investment in multi-family. Last 12 months actual NOI is ~$82,000. LTM revenue is over $140,000. Asking price: $1.15 million.

This is a turnkey operation.  All setup: Property management, cleaning crew, maintenance crew.  I've been remote owner for over two years and have been very happy with crew.  

For details, please check link below on Zillow and VRBO.  Financials and showing are available upon request.  Please PM me if interested.

Listing on Zillow.com:

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/62900621_zpi...

Rental on VRBO.com:

https://www.vrbo.com/673630

Post: Turn apt land into Parking Lot business, anyone?

Albert D.Posted
  • Investor
  • Germantown, TN
  • Posts 86
  • Votes 26

@Josue Vargas; @Andrew Johnson; @Sean Walton; @Ray Thorsen:

Thank you all.  Great great advice.

Looks like the permit could be an issue if the city views me as a competition.  Otherwise, it'll be a matter of processing.  Not a big deal.  I need to clear that first.

Cost to build still seems unclear to me.  Yes, this is a flat ground, no concrete left (sadly the demo guys damaged the slab and footings and removed them although engineer deemed they are sound for rebuilding).

@Josue Vargas, when I think about the total cost to build, should I add up all the layers (subgrade, base course, asphalt) together to get a total cost?  How do I determine the depth/heights of each layer to get to the SY?

Rebuild costs: not quite clear if I can reuse the parking lot build as foundation to rebuild apt on OR if I have to demolition the parking lots and lay concrete foundation to rebuild.

Hope someone can clarify a bit.

Many thanks.

Post: Turn apt land into Parking Lot business, anyone?

Albert D.Posted
  • Investor
  • Germantown, TN
  • Posts 86
  • Votes 26

Dear BP community,

I welcome your constructive comments and suggestions to my crazy idea above.

Here is the background.  My apt complex was burned down in a wildfire last year.  I've been trying to rebuild it since Jan this year.  However, the task just seems to overwhelming, esp. I'm remote (8 hours away) and have a full-time job.

So I came up with this genius idea as an interim solution.  Maybe I can run it as a public parking lot for a while until I get comfortable on the learning curve and build a trustworthy network of local people who can do the jobs required (architect, engineer, GC, builders, etc.).

I figure that the parking lot business will take very small investment upfront and will generate some cash to cover annual property tax and then some.  But I could be wrong.

Can anyone share some knowledge on how much to build the parking lot, automated payment collection (I saw a credit card machine in the middle of parking lot with solar panel on top of the pole), and cost to undo the parking lot and build back the apartments?

More details on the vacant land:

Location: A- minus location; three blocks away from the busiest street in downtown Gatlinburg; 10 minutes walk to the Space Needle, which is in the middle of Parkway.  Over 10 million people visit the Smoky Mountain National Park each year and a lot of them will walk this main street.

Competition: Three public parking lots in between my land and the main street.  They together host hundreds of cars and charge between $6-$10 a day.  When I was there late March, two of them were full and one was half full.  I can charge $5/day and hopefully get half full for the high seasons (Apr - Oct).

Capacity: My land is zoned R2, with a density of FAR 0.5.  The total building area is around 9,000 SQF.  Each parking space is about 162 SQF.  So I can build 50 plus parking spaces if I use up all the 9,000 SQF.  But I guess we need to build some spaces to allow cars to back up, etc.  Let's say between 30-50 parking spaces in total.

Income: Assume $5/space/day, 30 spaces, 50% occupancy, 200 days rented, we are looking at $1,5000 annual income.  This definitely covers property tax and insurance as well as minor repairs.

Cost: This is where I need help most.  No idea how much it costs to get it ready, paint the stripes and install the solar powered credit card machine.  I guess that's the bulk of the costs.  Maybe later on, how much to get rid of the stuff and pour concrete for apt rebuild.  Since I envision an automated operation so no labor costs for management here.

Regulation/permits: Need help as well.  Do I need to change zoning from R2 to something else?  How?  Any special licenses/permits needed for a public parking lot business?  Any special tax?

I look forward to your advice.  

Post: First Multi-family Burned Down in Four Months. Help!

Albert D.Posted
  • Investor
  • Germantown, TN
  • Posts 86
  • Votes 26

@Joe Splitrock, @Account Closed

That's right.  I think I'm pretty clear on the insurance piece but feel muddy on the rebuild.

I was thinking about adding units and converting to condos.  Here are my questions to you experienced BPers:

1. What steps need to be taken to convert apt to condos?  How long and how much?  What are the blocks I need to be aware of?  Currently I have one tax parcel number and dual-use of the land (R-2 and C-2).  Originally we had two stand-still four-plex buildings on the land.

2. Is there any checklist, timeline, cost estimate on BP or somewhere that guides me through entire rebuild process (from demolish to rental ready)?  Any pitfalls I need to watch out for (e.g., contractor liens, etc.)?

Many thanks,

Albert

Post: First Multi-family Burned Down in Four Months. Help!

Albert D.Posted
  • Investor
  • Germantown, TN
  • Posts 86
  • Votes 26
Boots Bonner , Great info. I'll point them that way. That'll surely help!

Post: First Multi-family Burned Down in Four Months. Help!

Albert D.Posted
  • Investor
  • Germantown, TN
  • Posts 86
  • Votes 26

To all,

I did some digging on the TN VPL, Valued Policy Law, and found answer to my previous questions on the Loss Payment value the insurance company should pay in the event of a total loss by fire in TN.

Here is the answer: In the situation described above, the loss payment should be the Limit of coverage as stated in the policy.  That's what the insurance company offered me this morning.  I was confused with the total replacement cost and the limit, as to which the Loss payment should equal.  Found some great articles on the Tennessee Insurance Litigation Blog.  Several lawyers/partners wrote about the cases on the VPL.  The consensus is the Limit should be the Loss Payment, no deductibles.  Some arguments around how to define "total loss".  Thought I shall this great resources with you all.

Post: First Multi-family Burned Down in Four Months. Help!

Albert D.Posted
  • Investor
  • Germantown, TN
  • Posts 86
  • Votes 26

@Anthony Wienke,

Sure.  But after this incident, I do believe it should be mandate to protect the renters.  I may well give other incentives to help them enforce this policy.  It'll help them a great deal when they need it most.