All Forum Posts by: Brian Adams

All the posts on here so far are spot on. I own a fourplex myself and have worked with quite a few multi-family buyers like @Andrew W. . 

I wrote an article here on BP about fourplexes. It is three months old and the numbers have changed a little bit, but not much. 

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/10185/66309-ki...

There are about 20 4-units on the market right now. Realistically, only 5-6 are properties that I would personally be interested in owning under any circumstances, so you definitely want to be selective. There were a bunch that just came on today that would be great, although I think they're a little overpriced at the moment.

Hello @Rich Wilken - that would be great, please do!

@Marshall Hooper

Yes, for simplicity's sake, I only compared the city populations. The Killeen number doesn't include Harker Heights, Copperas Cove, Nolanville and other areas. If Temple/Belton is included in the "Killeen metropolitan area" as it is in the census MSA definition, the population is approximately 450,000 versus Waco's 250,000.

Hello @Lauren Berryhill

Killeen actually isn't that small a city, depending on what you consider small. Killeen alone has over 130,000 people, which makes it the largest city between Dallas and Austin, larger than Waco, Round Rock/Georgetown, and everything. 

The market - especially fourplexes - have been trending upwards recently just based on median prices, rising over 5% in 2017. That is small compared to hot Austin markets and the like, but favorable. Fourplexes have gotten quite a bit more competitive recently, but there are still quite a few available and a few I am aware coming on the market in the next few months that should be good ones.

I wrote a BP blog post here about fourplexes in the area - I hope it's helpful! If you're still looking for any, let me know as I would love to help. 

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/10185/66309-ki...

Hello @Daniel Ordonez ! Absolutely. I'll PM you.

I'm an agent in the Killeen market. I've worked quite a bit with SFH and multi-family (duplex/fourplex), but will admit I am not an expert on commercial above and beyond those property types, though I've dabbled trying to land a 20 unit apartment or warehouse.

In our area, there are really only three major commercial agencies - Jim Wright with JWC, David Barr with David Barr Properties and Barry Hinshaw/John Reider with Reider properties. 

Hello @Lallu Tappu ! Yes - I'll message you back shortly!

Regarding Killeen and Texas landlord laws, they are very landlord friendly compared to other States I hear about. I've been to eviction courts twice in Bell County. It varies a little from judge to judge, but evictions are generally extremely straightforward in the Fort Hood market. If you or your property manager are on top of things and hitting all the eviction milestones on time, 3-4 weeks should be the maximum duration of the process from late rent to vacant. 

@Thomas Lee

Yes! I can help! Killeen fourplexes are my thing.

The $600 and $500 are both low - the 4-plexes asking $200k+ in 76549 should go for $550/2 bed and $650/3 bed meaning $2400 gross for your typical 3/2/2/3 building (some buildings in that area are 2/2/2/2 or 3/2/2/2 - so keep that in mind when shopping!).

There is a new fourplex listing on Sylvia that pretty closely meets my ideal metrics in a fourplex asking $218k. I haven't checked on it in a couple days and who knows, might already be under contract. Multi-families are going more quickly. Inventory is about half what it was even just a year ago. 

I wrote an article here recently about what to expect in the Fort Hood market - hopefully that helps!

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/10185/66309-ki...

I'm not as sophisticated as coming up with IRRs, but a 6-7% cap rate is realistically what you can expect from an area fourplex, yes, if getting it from the MLS (which you likely will be - few distressed sellers and I don't run into many off market multi-family owners anymore).

Your vacancy should be better on average than 10%, but I would stick with those assumptions just to be conservative.

Fourplexes are going to have better returns than duplexes. Duplexes are more saturated with owner-occupant/retail buyers, and the prices are driven higher. That said, there are some pros. I wrote an article about that on my own website recently as well - what to look for in duplex v fourplex v SFH.

@Bryan Petrinec - Actually, multi-family (Fourplex and duplex) inventory is WAY down just in the last six months in our area. There used to be 100+ duplexes and 40+ fourplexes active at any given time. Those numbers are now half that. I'm having a MUCH harder time finding quality fourplexes and duplexes for sale recently, and have been lucky to find a couple off market or pre-listing ones, recently.

@John Moseley - 2 month's vacancy like what @David Ivy mentioned is certainly possible depending on the time of the year - even longer with some bad luck, poorly marketed or properties in sub-average condition. The median for properties on the MLS between listing and leasing is 40 days. But that math also doesn't take into account the average tenant duration. Conservatively, I would guess 2 years as the average duration, meaning 40 days / 720 days = 5.5% vacancy rate. That is actually fairly consistent with what I've observed with my own fourplex. However I recommend to my investors to plan on 8% vacancy.

The US Census, I believe, calculates our area's vacancy rate at 10%, but I believe their numbers include properties that are not for rent or for sale, which really shouldn't count, so anything higher than 10% seems really high and would indicate something is wrong with the property, not the market.