All Forum Posts by: Dan O'Neill

Does anyone see any issue with doing it myself as opposed to using an outside company?  The property in question is only 3 units, so I imagine it'll be very manageable.

@Brandon Ames

Yes, there is.  It is the Northern MI chapter the the RPOA out of Grand Rapids.  The meeting is every month on the first Monday, alternating between a lunch meeting and a dinner meeting.  The evening meet is at the Elks Club and the I think the lunch meet occurs at the Flap Jack Shack.  The last meeting was an evening one on Dec 5.  

@Gregory DuFour Try the county assessors website.  You should be able to look up the property and find out who the owner is and their tax bill mailing address if different from the property.

You will have no trouble filling a house in Houghton if you are willing to rent to students.  Student rentals can be priced by the bedroom and you will get a higher rent than a non-student tenant.  Just run the numbers and if it works, try to go for it.  I would budget more for repairs in the case of student rentals!  Good luck.

@Neil K.

Hi.  I graduated from MTU in 2004.  I usually get back north once a year in the summer. Are you sure you are able to use a student loan for such a purpose?  Are there restrictions on what the loan money can be used for (room & board, books, tuition, etc)?  Are you living in the property while you rehab it? 

From Michigan's Tenant Landlord Guide:

"The landlord must provide the tenant with certain notices. Within 14 days from the day the tenant moves in, the landlord must provide written notice of the following: a) The landlord’s name and address for receipt of communications regarding the tenancy; AND b) The name and address of the financial institution where the security deposit is held, OR the name and address of the surety company; and who filed the bond with the Secretary of State; AND c) The tenant’s obligation to provide a forwarding address—in writing—within 4 days after the tenant moves out."

A helpful resource: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/Publications/tenantl...

@Tyler Martin.  Welcome to BP.  Hello from Traverse City.  

@Michael Marston, what do you mean by projected NOI? Projected based on current operations? Projected based on where you think it could and should be, or somewhere between the two? The comp provided was essentially useless, containing no income or expense figures. All I can see from it is that someone indeed paid a higher price for a 3 quad property than the 2 quad property is asking for. For all I know the buyer overpaid, or maybe the rents are at market and therefore the higher valuation per unit is justified. Like McElroy says, buyers want wholesale and seller want retail. In this case it seems the sellers want retail without having to go through the process of positioning the property for sale, bringing rents to market, lowering expenses, etc. I am new to this and I am just curious how people view this situation. If both parties indeed recognize that rents are below market, do you typically meet somewhere in the middle? Or as a buyer, would you insist on only offering what is justified by current operations?

The rents on this particular property are probably somewhat low.  But isn't that the point, to buy what it is now because of what you think it could be?  In other words, today is what you're buying and tomorrow is why you're buying.  

In email conversation with an agent about an 8 unit property, I questioned how she arrived at the ask price considering the income, expense and cap rate figures she sent me. The figures and the list price didn't align at all. She answered, not well I think, but also sent a comp to try to help justify. Are comps even relevant for this type of property? From my understanding it is strictly an NOI and cap rate to arrive at a valuation.