All Forum Posts by: Christopher Costa

I too am interested in networking and potentially meeting up with other young investors. I recently graduated and am looking into various opportunities in and around Atlanta. Would love to hear from others about their success and trouble. I would definitely go to a meet up if we can get something worked out.

Christopher Costa

@Jack P. This is very helpful. I planned to talk to a few HVAC specialists, but you've given me a lot more to think about in regards to that. Thank you very much. I will try to work with companies to guarantee all 10 units over the course of the individual remodels. I appreciate all the help.

@Jack P. and @Ned Carey

Thank you both for the responses. I appreciate the input. I understand I have to uphold and honor existing leases. My plan was similar to what you both proposed and to let existing leases go to term and then not renew. The building is distressed and old but in a very profitable and highly valued area of my city. With the $10-20k/unit, as you mentioned, I could likely triple or more the appraised value of the complex. My other problem I see is that one of the biggest renovations would be putting in central heating and air. Currently all units have window AC units. I imagine, and correct me if Im wrong, that adding air ducts and HVAC to all units would be easier all together. Some walls would likely need to come down or opened up to put it in. This is the largest single expense for the renovation, likely costing more than a single unit renovation. I also could see a problem with attracting tenants if the whole place isn't brought up to the standard of the rest of the neighborhood. I suppose if I could do cosmetic repairs to the exterior and fix up specific units, I could get past this though. Thank you for your responses. They were very helpful.

Christopher Costa

Hello,

I am in the process of learning about real estate investing and being a landlord. I have identified a 10 unit complex that could be remodeled and rented out for a higher price. This would be necessary in order to make the place cashflow for me in the neighborhood. My question is, how do I deal with the existing tenants? I would need to remodel all 10 units and the exterior of the building so it is likely I would not be able to have tenants for that period. And after the remodel, it is likely the rent will be higher than they are willing to pay. I am fully prepared to find new tenants, but what is the process for turning tenants over like this? Do I just wait for existing leases to finish and then raise the rent or do I just refuse to renew their leases? Is there a process that the buyer and seller of the property can work through in regards to the existing tenants? Thank you in advance for the help.

Christopher Costa

@Marian Smith The complex has 10 units and was built in the early 60s. It has a brick exterior and exposed brick on at least some walls on the interior. I plan to actually keep some of the exposed brick on the interior even though it would reduce energy efficiency. I would be planning on renovating all at once as I don't believe I could attract proper tenants at the moment. I am not sure if I would have to tear out all or some walls. I actually don't know all the details of the interior. I am in the beginning stages of due diligence and was just trying to get a rough estimate of what I could expect on the low and high end so I can run my numbers. I don't know if it will be a total gut job, but it may be close to that. Based off of information here and elsewhere, I think a reasonable estimate would be $300,000 to renovate the interiors, exterior, and add in a central heating and air system. Hopefully the numbers work out and I can move forward on it. It would be a big project, but likely profitable if I estimated everything properly. Thank you.

@Michael Lee Even for a similar renovation as the pictures above? Thats actually better than I was expecting. Im sure there will be unforeseen issues that will drive costs up, but if I can start around $15000-$17000 per unit then I would be in good shape. From some other advice I have received, one of my biggest costs would be installing fire walls between the units. I am not entirely sure what that means, although I think I can figure it out. I will have to do some more research, but thank you for all of your help!

@Michael Lee Thank you for your help. This information will be very useful for me. I think I am planning on doing a renovation that is above the "standard" you were going off of. I will likely need to do this in order to be competitive in my market and neighborhood. I attached some screenshots of a similar place that I was going to somewhat use as a model for my renovation. It is likely that I wouldn't do a renovation quite this high end, but it may be close. Just so I can have a decent range, what do you think the cost for doing something more along these lines would be? I would like to be able to pull a low-end and a high-end range out of all of this. Thank you again for your help.

Chris Costa

Hello All,

I am new to real estate and have come to realize I do not know much about renovation costs. I am in the Atlanta area and am thinking about investing in a small apartment complex with 700 square foot units. The units will likely need a full renovation on the interior to bring them into the modern age. This means new paint, new appliances, potentially repaired or replaced walls, ceilings, and floors, as well as window replacements. I have no idea how much it would cost to do this sort of thing. So my question is, could I get some rough estimates or ranges on the cost I could expect. I know it wouldn’t be exact and I could always run in to more problems, but I just want a ballpark to have in my head when running numbers. If this is too general, where could I find more information on this? Either general renovation information or more exact costs associated.

Thank you,

Chris Costa

@Account Closed Thank you for all the resources. This is fantastic. I will definitely be checking out this over the next few days. I appreciate the help.

@Brian DiMaggio Thats good to hear. It sounds like you are near the Vine City/West End area. Its good to hear positive results from that area. i have definitely been looking over there, but I wasn't sure if that would be the best place to start my investing. How do you think the outlook for those neighborhoods are? I have heard a lot of talk about them being the next Old Fourth Ward or EAV. If thats the case then I would consider investing in those areas before they really explode. I take it many others are doing that too though.