All Forum Posts by: Chris Wierman

My family has ~45 acres of land near the St Michael Area, 28 of which is tillable / build able and the rest is wetlands and/or unusable.  The land is has tax classifications of Ag Non-homestead, RVL - NHSTD, and Res -NHSTD. Zoning is part single family, part multi-family, and part industrial. I have two primary questions for investors in the St Michael, Hanover or Minneapolis areas:

1) What is the temperature of the market there? I know it was depressed along with everything else in 2008 but has since re-bounded well. Do you see it making big moves in the next year or two? (obvious declaimers about predicting the future are assumed :-)) This would likely be used for new development and be of most interest to a developer building from the ground up.

2) Assuming the family is looking to sell in the next few years, what is the best way to execute on a property this size? I have bought and sold residential properties before, but this is a bit out of my comfort zone. Commercial Agent who can broker a deal with a developer? We have gotten some rough estimates, but don't need to sell immediately.  Any special considerations for the wetlands piece (not sure of its protection status, if any)? Definitely looking to sell the whole lot in one transaction if possible.

Thanks!

Welcome to BP!

Full disclosure, I am still fairly new myself, but I think the most important consideration is whether the numbers make sense. I would consider it a pretty big red flag that suggests you might be paying too much when an appraisal comes back significantly lower than your offer.  I second @Nicole B.'s concerns about your NOI calculation - I would make sure that you run all the numbers yourself and that you are fairly conservative. Also, with the numbers you have stated, it would put you at a cap rate of about 10% - is that typical for the area (or higher or lower)? Answering that question might give you some insight into the low appraisal. Finally, if you are using conventional financing and pay more than the appraised value, you will most likely have to come up with the difference yourself (I have run into this myself, although my spread was more like 5k and I knew the appraisal came in too low).

Assuming you are still interested and everything checks out - Congratulations! - you just received one of the best bargaining chips you could have gotten! You can easily come back to the seller and re-negotiate the price starting at 265k and work your way up from there (a significant discount to what you were willing to pay already).

I second @Joe Bol and @Bill S.'s comments. You are considering a buy and hold strategy, which is well-explained in detail in the beginner's guide under the 'Learn' tab. Taking a look at the Rental Properties Calculator under the 'Analyze' tab might give you a good idea of what costs you might want to consider and what your profit will look like too. Welcome to BP.

@Tom Spaeth Looks exciting! Keep us posted - would love to see the changes as it progresses.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome to Denver and BP.

@Paige Kelsey I see, so no solid leads then? I guess I am not surprised, I know the Springs market is not quite as big and not quite as hot as Denver.

The title says it all - I am trying to find and talk to flippers in the Colorado Springs area. I am interested in flipping in the downtown / Patty Jewett area and would love to get connected with someone who flips in the Springs (and hopefully pick their brain a bit).

The title says it all - I am trying to find and talk to wholesalers in the Colorado Springs area. I am interested in flipping in the downtown / Patty Jewett area and would love to get connected with someone who wholesales in the area.