All Forum Posts by: Eric Army

Hi Devonte- I love historic mixed use projects-- especially those that revitalize the urban core of our great little cities & towns! These have had a lot of interest in my market, and I've had the opportunity to be involved from the design side. The first question is are you going for historic tax credits? These are worth 20% of your construction cost (but you need to spend more than you paid for the building). Meeting these historic guidelines is often counter-intuitive to some developers (ie you can't expose a brick wall if it was originally plastered), but the t.c. Is often what makes the deal make sense. Some states have an additional 20% state historic tax credit that you can piggyback onto your application (looks like md may). It'll make you want to rehab mills all day! As you're assembling your team, if you're being held to the dept of interior historic preservation standards make sure at least someone on your team (architect, contractor, developer or tax credit consultant) is familiar with the standards & process. I'd love to answer any specific questions. We're outside your area, but if you want some inspiration / projects to ask questions about: http://studiomeja.com/urban-rehab/

Hi Philip- it sounds like you've got a good skill set & time to use it. Any investor should be happy to team up with someone like yourself. 

I recently got involved in a deal where I'm trading my professional skills (architecture) for equity. The trick was putting a value on what I was providing. We ended up going with the value of my design fee as my "cash" stake.

If I was offering a full range of service like you describe, I could see a percentage split-- but If I were the cash partner I'd want to make sure I wasn't offering you more than I could hire a projects manager for. If you haven't already, I'd try to put a dollar value to your time/services. 

Honestly sometimes you're better working for a fee (which you could invest on your own) than trading effort for half the equity/profit.

Hi Tim! 

Congratulations on wiping out the debt! My wife and I seem to be on the same track as you- after we got married, we paid down our student loans & car, and then started investing in 2-3 family's in RI. It's been a good experience so far. We started with a 2 family on a short sale- the units were grossing 1200/mo total when we bought it. We've put about 15k into it (upgrading electrical, boiler, insulating & finishes in 1 unit) and it currently grosses 2k a month. 

It took about 6 months to find the right deal. Don't Rush it!

I think my biggest lesson learned up front was "don't diy". I love fixing up my own place, but found working on the apt to be less rewarding. From a business perspective, if the property doesn't pay for someone else to do its upgrades/maintenance, you've bought yourself a job, not an investment.