All Forum Posts by: Amit Dhawan

@Ronald Rohde

Sorry for a late response. Got busy with the deal :-) Actually we are moving forward. Just completed the due dilligence. Even with all the Wal Mart restrictions we feel we have enough ROI to proceed. BTW, I'll be posting some more info focussing on due dilligence learnings in another short post.

Thanks.

Hi All,

I'll be pusblishing some quick tips and tricks as well as lessons learned as I start on a commercial development - a shopping center, my first time. Signed the contract for a 2Ac land in April, spent close to $10K in attorney fee, ALTA survey etc. and come to find out that there was a restriction on land that'd reduce the buildable area by 25%. So here's Tip#1:

- Hire a good real estate attorney first

- Once you've signed the LOI and starting on the contract negotiaitions, ask for any and all restrictions etc. (ECRs and REAs) especially if the land is next to a big box like Wal-Mart. They control a lot in terms of visiblity, types of tenants, access control, easements etc. Most sellers will provide that info. Don't wait until survey/title review to find these very basic issues.

- Review the restrictions yourself first and catch any basic issues. Ask your attorney questions if you don't understand something. You can use the seller's survey for this iinitial review with your attorney.

If you are able to do the above before you even sign the contract that'd save you time and money later.

Thoughts are welcome !

@Evan Polaski, Thanks for a detailed response. Interesting advise on self-leasing vs. handing off to a leasing agent.

@Ronald Rohde I do agree with you that an independent assessment is absolutely critical, not that I don't trust agents as I'm an agent as well along with being a programmer (my day job)  and an investor, but yes an agent won't be as unbiased. Thanks.

@Aj Parikh, Thanks. I'll reach out to you shortly for some advise.

@Chris Davidson, Thanks. Good points and that's what I struggle with. Putting a long distance team seems daunting especially if I'm going to be investing in a lot of different cities for example. 

As for the tool I'm developing, I'll have moe details in coming days and will inform everyone here. Would be great to get first hand information from this community.  

Hi Everyone, 

What are your thoughs on long distance investing - specifically what would you see as the biggest risks. For example, how important is having local eyes and ears on the ground before signnig the contract (commercial or residential) so you have a clear visual understandng of the site as well as the neighborhood. A lot of time google-map images are not recent. How about talking to local real estate agents to get first hand undertsanding of the area. I'm an investor here in Texas but would like to venture out. I'm also a programmer and as a part of addressing my concens with long distance investing, I'm looking to develop a portal/tool that can help other long distance investors as well. Your thoughts are highly appreciated.

Thanks.

My investments are on commercial side and I make sure to use an attorney mainly due to complexitoes with title review. There are always some concerns with easements/encroachments etc. For residential probably not that critical in my opinion.

Thank you all for a lot of good information on my post. My apologies for a late response back... was bogged down with some personal issues. But it's all good ...

So far I've only done some investments in small retail strip centers in Texas. Since I don't live in the area I'd need to focus only on turn-key or very low touch type of properties. Any guidance on an average ROI on such an investment (small MF) assuming I'd need a property management to run the place - cash-on-cash yield and overall say 5 yr return assuming some appreciation?

Thanks

Hi looking for some tips and recommendations for areas to invest in Grand Rapids, mainly in small Multi-family turnkey apartments.