Hey everyone, this is a long description so please bear with me, but I’m reaching out because I want to know if you think I’m being unreasonable, and if this is a deal you would consider as an owner.
Description of my situation:
So over the past 2 years, I’ve been very interested in investing in real estate using the buy and hold strategy with multi-family real estate, but starting with SFHs. Since then, I have been focused on saving so I can get my feet wet by primarily using my own money and the banks’. However, I currently don’t qualify for a mortgage due to my tax write-offs for my handyman business and only 1 yr of tax returns on my limited $15k/yr part-time job. So, I’ve decided to add another investing strategy (flipping) and to increase my business income. Right now I have about $25k to play with, and a couple of years of handyman and property management experience with commercial (office) real estate.
Description of Deal Situation
Now the deal that may be ludicrous is a multi-million dollar one with no money down on our end. I’m not a big fan of no money down deals, but the idea came about because I’m trying to solve a problem. The property is a B class office building in an office hub area (a lot of competition), with about 61,000sq.ft., and has a market value of $3m. They have had a 30% occupancy rate for years mainly because the vacant suites could be repaired, but because they are also 7-11,000sq.ft. and are built out to be doctor’s offices. We do have vacant suites with 1,000 to 5,000 sq. ft. available, but the cooling systems don’t work. Long story short, the property needs at least $1m of work considering the way the heating and cooling system is set up, parking lot, electrical work, and a few other things. The building isn't in that bad of a shape, but most of it does need to be remodeled in order to raise the rent.
So because I have a solid relationship with the property manager, and he has over a decade of rapport with the owners, I asked him why don’t they just put money into the place, fix it up, and raise the rents, especially since they own the property outright. He says fixing things up aren’t really their motto, but it’s mainly because they live on the west coast and are busy buying, selling, and sucking out every dime they can. They’re hardworking and good people, but fixing things isn’t really their gig unless they have to.
Now as I was searching my market for multi-family real estate, I saw our office up for sale priced at roughly $5m (way above market value), and a conservative estimate of the expenses. So out of curiosity, I double-checked the expenses to see if they were accurate and then ran the numbers... Despite the high vacancy rate, the NOI is roughly $120,000/yr due to the bank paying about $18k/month. However, it's been confirmed that the bank is building their own building and will be leaving by January of 2021. So once the bank is gone, they will be underwater by at least $100k/yr. It's not my money, but 100k+/yr is a lot of money to be losing! I mean I'm only a little fish, but this is crazy to me.
They received a couple of offers. One for $3m cash and another for $4m with $1m down using a land contract, but they turned down the offers because they want what they’re asking. So when I heard that they turned these offers down and are willing to allow the buyer to rehab and reposition utilizing a land contract, I thought well what if I bought it? So I went to my friend, their property manager, and basically said: "well, I know I'm young and haven't even done a deal yet, but what if we bought it... at asking price? Fix it up, rent it out, and pay them back." He says, "Yea, sure. With what money?"
So, here was my proposal:
Owners are basically selling this place at $81/sq.ft. Every other office building within 3sq. mi, and then some, are selling & priced at a minimum of $100/sq.ft. They are willing to negotiate using seller financing, which means we don't have to get approved by a bank. They've already turned down $3m cash and $4m with a 25% downpayment, which tells me they don't really care or they want every dollar of what they're asking. So, why don't we offer their "asking price", by paying $3m for the building amortized over 30yrs and take out an additional $2m from them at a 15% interest rate. They'd have a 12.5% cash on cash return, and we'd double their NOI. Because remember, the bank is leaving next year, and they'll be underwater once they do. Now to get the ball rolling, we can offer the same or another banking institution to pay for remodeling if they commit to a minimum of $20k/month long-term lease, and we'll sell them on bringing in more customers by converting 11,000sq.ft. into retail space as long-term tenants, which we'd add an additional $15-20k/month. (The location and the way this office is structured would be great for a 7eleven and the like, the manager and city already agrees). We can break up the vacant doctors' offices by turning them into smaller suites, and charge a minimum of $15/sq.ft. In fact, owners can pay construction costs as we need them. Once we have 20-30% equity in the building, within 7-10 years, we'll get a mortgage, and they'd be paid. Worst case scenario, if we default they will still own a remodeled building with a solid cap rate. It's a win-win situation.
Now my friend, who is much older than I and is the property manager, believes it's farfetched because we wouldn't have any "skin in the game", no money down of our own, but can't sweat equity be a downpayment?
I don't know y'all, please share your opinions! If you think I'm an idiot or insane, call me out.
