All Forum Posts by: Cole Bigbee

@Account Closed What could you rent the 1,000sqft for that your using to store your belongings? My thoughts are you might could get enough money for that additional square footage to go rent some smaller storage units and still have some money left over? Usually on a 1,000sqft building, you would be dealing with a service type provider (plumber,HVAC, electrician). Most of the time those type of tenants need a place to park vehicles and store materials and you would very rarely see them at the building. I think if your selective with your tenant, you can get a good one that will take care of the building. Hope this helps!

@Account Closed mentioned a lot depends on the building itself. Just so I have a better understanding, your thinking of converting a warehouse into apartments? Is it multi-story or single story? Potential issues that you might want to look into are zoning, the structural stability of the building if it is multi-story (flooring, people, appliance add a lot of weight per sqft).

Depending on what type of construction the warehouse is (Pre-engineered metal building, block, bar joist, or structural) you might have good luck partitioning areas off for contractors, light manufacturing, etc. I've also seen good use of older warehouses being converted into climate controlled mini storage.

@Bob Lett   Is this a metal building by chance? If so, how much office vs warehouse space for each building? Are they sprinkled? From the sounds of the power source, they seem to be some type of manufacturing facility. The eave height of the building will play an important role in rent as well, along with dock doors and location. I can probably give you a general idea of a potential lease rate. Looking forward to hearing back and helping with your deal!

@Dan Handford  Will do! 

Thanks guys! Looking forward to learning more! 

Hey everyone,

Cole here from Tuscumbia, AL. Been listening to BP for over a year and decided to join the site and take the next step in my real estate career. I've only got a hand full of deals under my belt, but I've got a great team and family that support what I'm doing. Looking around the BP site, it's great to see so many people that are alike in the way that they themselves want to get out of the rat race and are willing to help others achieve their goals as well. My main area of focus is commercial metal buildings,used for service type companies or light manufacturing space. Would love to connect with more people in the commercial world. I work in north Alabama with goals to expand all across the southeast.

@Joseph Firmin 

My family owns a metal building manufacturing company and I have been around it my whole life. After going to work for my family I realized that I had quite an opportunity to start purchasing and developing warehouse/light industrial space. The thing I like about it the most is it is really hard to mess up a metal building. They are also very flexible and can be easily added on to, or interiors can be modified without compromising the integrity of the structure. Thanks!

Investment Info:

Office Space commercial investment investment in Muscle Shoals.

Purchase price: $105,000
Cash invested: $5,000

2400sqft metal building with brick exterior. 1600sqft of office space and 800sqft of shop space.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Great location in the middle of town and looked to have been vacated for at least a year.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

It is near a lunch spot I frequent. There was no sign in they yard, so I looked up the owner on the tax assessor's website. It showed the owner as a bank that was located an hour away from the site. After calling the bank and visiting with them, they set me up with a real estate agent they had representing them. Turns out there was a sign in the yard but since the agent was from out of town as well, he didn't know the sign had blew over and grass grew up around it. This deal happened fast!

How did you finance this deal?

Traditional bank financing.

How did you add value to the deal?

The previous owners left the place in a wreck! We gave the building a good cleaning to start. We then added an additional restroom as there too many office and only one restroom. On the outside the parking lot got re-striped and re-sealed. We also added a canopy over the front to give it a better look, while providing some rain cover.

What was the outcome?

It took close to 6 months to get it leased and I got lucky and leased it to an engineering firm.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I worked with the same agent who represented the seller, to list the property for me. He was a super nice guy but him being located an hour away and not really having good knowledge of the area and in the "know" of this particular market did not help me. After 5 months of nothing, I told him it wasn't working out for me. Long story short, look around to see who is the best agent for your particular property and who keeps their ear to the streets. It takes more than an MLS listing to get a tenant

Investment Info:

Industrial commercial investment investment in Tuscumbia.

Purchase price: $100,000
Cash invested: $17,000

This is small building shop that was previously owned by an equipment rental company. The building has 900sqft of office and 1500sqft of shop space with a 1/4 acre of fenced in gravel yard.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

This was my third commercial property to purchase and its size, location, and reasonable asking price drew me to this property.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I live right down the road from this property and travel by the location daily. The commercial agent representing the property was located an hour away, as the owner they were representing had many locations across the southeast and this property was thrown to them. I could tell it was inconvenient for him to come show the property and they were willing to take any offer to the owner in order to get this out of their hair! The initial ask was 125K and were able to settle at 100k.

How did you finance this deal?

Traditional bank financing.

How did you add value to the deal?

We re-sheeted and insulated the shop walls and gave the building a good cleaning!

What was the outcome?

The metal building erector I used to do some of the work wanted to lease the building immediately once his work was completed. I also found out that it was in a location where billboards are allowed, so I did a land lease to a billboard company to place a sign behind the building.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Just because a real estate company has a sign in the yard, doesn't mean you can't get a good deal. You never know what the situation of the owner/owners are and it is free to look!