All Forum Posts by: Christian Jones

I'm looking to purchase a couple single family detached homes for rentals in the coming months.  Can anyone suggest Property Managers in the Columbia, SC market?

Thanks, Christian

Hi James.  I run land acquisitions for one of the largest homebuilders in the Carolinas (Lennar).  I believe your land is still a little too far out for the current cycle.  It would be nearly impossible to prove out price or pace here, meaning we would likely not be able to get corporate approval for the investment.  It sounds like timing is also an issue for you.  Please be aware that all national homebuilders, and I would assume solar developers as well, will want enough time in the contract to conduct substantial due diligence, rezone (if needed), and get all required land development permits in place before closing on the land.  At a very minimum you'd be looking at 12 months -- more likely 18-24 months.  We try to limit as much risk as possible while reducing the capital carry.  If you're looking to transact faster than that, then your only option will be private Buyers.

Another alternative, other than the ideas mentioned above, might be to sell part of the land into permanent conservation.  You have a fair bit of floodplain along Cane Creek at the bottom of your parcel that is unlikely to ever yield any development value.  You could reach out to the folks at The Nature Conservancy and they could provide additional info if that route sounds appealing.  

Best of luck to you sir.  

I have a condo in a great part of Charlotte, NC.  I'm relocating to Tampa but I don't want to sell this condo.  I'd like to rent it out furnished because it's easier than moving everything and I would just be putting it all into storage anyway.  I thought about AirBNB, but I'm not sure occupancies are back up from COVID and I know how anyone to manage it.  Long-term rentals seems to make more sense.

Couple questions:

1. Does anyone have a good template for a lease agreement on a furnished rental that they'd be willing to share?

2. How much extra should I charge for furnished vs unfurnished?

3. Should I ask for an additional deposit above and beyond the typical "1 month's rent"?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Christian

Just wondering if anyone can refer me to a good CPA in the Charlotte market with experience in real estate investments? Thanks in advance.

@Sean Boyle  We mainly buy raw land with an eye toward higher density residential. But I will say commercial due diligence follows much the same routine. The idea is to minimize risk wherever possible and we civil engineers specialize in recognizing risk because we've been screwed by every rule you can imagine. On our scale, we check all the boxes. For a flip property you should do whatever you feel is necessary to close the deal and transfer all liability.

We conduct Phase I ESAs during due diligence which are supposed to uncover these. They run about $2k each, so it doesn't always make sense when purchasing a single family house to flip. If an UST is found, the Environmental Consultant will recommend a Phase II ESA, which can cost anywhere from $2-5k and doesn't necessarily get you to the finish line. As part of the Phase II, they can drill borings beside the tank (if it's not too close to the house or under power lines) to better understand if fuel is or was present in the surrounding soil, but they cannot test the soil under the tank itself. Contaminated soil can leach out chemicals every time the water table gets high or even when stormwater travels thru the soil on its way down to the water table. Long story short; we typically hold $30k from Owners at Closing for potential mitigation costs.  Or you could just wait around for Trump to abolish the EPA.

Haha... yes... I'll meet you at Rush at 11am.  See you then.

Lisa... you are soooo right about Elon Musk. He has so many revolutionary ideas and the business sense to back it.  Did you see where Buffalo, NY became the first City in the US to abolish minimum parking requirements just last week?  It's heading in that direction rapidly.

http://www.citylab.com/housing/2017/01/buffalo-is-...

I can do some coffee in the morning. I live in SouthPark. Are you on this side of town?  I'd love to see the site plans you have so far. The 6 spaces per 1k SF is ridiculous.  Never going to hit that mark with surface parking. There is a medical office at the intersection of Rea and Ballantyne Commons that is 3 stories tall so, without opening the UDO, I'll assume that is possible. A 6k SF footprint at 3 stories get's you 18k SF and leaves some additional room for parking. It'll take a very creative solution to squeeze everything you want out of that Site. 

200 rental properties is very impressive. Please tell me you sub out the property management or else you're not getting any sleep. Are you still purchasing aggressively or have the financials stopped working with these elevated prices? The economics for raw land in CLT are beyond unsustainable at this point. Couple that with Contractor prices going up monthly and it's increasingly tough to make a deal work.

@Lisa Hoover  Take a look at this layout (below).  This is illustrating 64 parking stalls, but you'll lose a few for handicap and islands. Have to read the ADA and UDO to determine how many. Regardless, it is almost impossible to get 72 stalls with surface parking alone. You'll need to design the civil first and have the architect design the building to fit the parking, which comes at a premium. Again, parking under the building perimeter, as mentioned by @Account Closed could help you get there. 

If a smaller/taller building is not an option, might I suggest working with the planning department on a conditional zoning. In lieu of the full 72 parking stalls, offer to build a bus stop in front of your sight. That would cost you approx $40-50k but helps solve your parking issue by promoting public transportation to and from your site, it increases the City's public infrastructure footprint, and adds value to your commercial property.