All Forum Posts by: Sue T.

Thank you to everyone that replied; I really appreciate your thoughts.

As far as investment goals, I'm buying to hold long term and would mainly like to see cash flow but with some possibility for appreciation.

Aaron,
You mentioned that you thought other cities were a better buy...do you mind telling me what those cities are?

To those that think Austin property values will rise due to the population growth, you're not worried that the high property tax and insurance will put a damper on that?

Hi,
I'm trying to decide where to focus my investment efforts. Both cities appear to be experiencing good population and job growth, but everyone I've spoken to thinks Austin, TX is the better buy...which actually makes me think Salt Lake City, UT may be better b/c it may a little more "under the radar". The thing that worries me about TX is the high property tax, high insurance rate, and higher risk for natural disaster. Since the property taxes are so high, I'm worried this would mean that there would be little appreciation in TX? What do you guys think?

Thank you for reading and I appreciate all opinions.

Joel and Aaron,

Thanks for taking the time to answer all of my questions; your answers were very helpful and cleared up things for me.

Regards,
Sue

Hi,
I have a question for people who are experienced with buying real estate using seller financing. Do you guys only use seller financing when the seller owns the property free and clear? If the seller does NOT own the property free and clear, how do you guys ensure that when you pay the seller, the seller pays the bank? How do you ensure that payment calculations are correct? How do you ensure that the seller will remove their lien once you've paid off the balance? What happens if the seller dies before you finish paying off the balance?

Thanks,
Sue

Wow, this thread has gotten quite a few replies :) Anyway, I did eventually find a property manager and yes, unfortunately they are on the east side of Cleveland..the numbers just looked too good to pass up...lesson learned.

Ben,
I'm in Southern CA...and yes, I'd love the contact info for your realtor in case I want to sell.

Thanks.

Thanks Joel and Tony! The information you guys provided was very helpful.

I was asking more about NN-leases; where the tenants pay taxes, insurance, and everything else (utilities, plumbing,etc) except for roof and structure. I was trying to figure out how people usually value estimate the NOI of a retail property b/c it's not every year that you'll have to replace/repair the roof/structure, but you probably will in the future...so I was thinking they probably do something like cost of roof/number of years roof will last to estimate expenses for a year? What I'm more unsure of is if people generally estimate some % of vacancy loss into expenses even if the lease is for 5 years and you're not expecting a vacancy?

Hi,

Is there a rule of thumb for operating expense ratio for retail (non NNN) properties? What if the owner is only responsible for roof and structure? Is there an "average" estimated vacancy loss that you use to estimate operating expenses?

Thanks.

Thanks Bryan. I will check with the bank to see if there is anyway I can pay more to get a fixed rate fully amortizing commercial loan.

Hi,
I noticed that many commercial loans have a 5 or 10 year call; what happens when the loan is called? Do you just renegotiate a new rate for the loan with the current bank or do you have to go through entire process of appraisal, etc to get a new loan? What are the chances that the current bank will decide not to "continue" the loan?
Given the refinance risk, would it be better or less risky to go with fully amortized, but adjustable rate mortgage (with rate cap) rather than a fixed rate mortgage with a call?

Thanks.