All Forum Posts by: Dyrol Harding

Rio

If wires the are running on the outside of the building are not in conduit (metal pipe - required by code in NYC) then they are low voltage/data (telephone or cable). Utility companies (ConEdison) have an easment and are allowed to run service lines behind buildings (usually along the property line) and feed the buildings. Sometimes this gets very messy and you can call Con Ed to clean it up. There must be some maintenance agreement between ConEd and the telephone companies. Anyway, the most important component of the system is the patch block which is sometimes a tan or black plastic box mounted to the back of the building from which the wires are distributed to different apartments. In the interest of your construction schedule you can try to remove them from the building without disconnecting the wires that feed them from the lines that run from the property line. Remember that this is technically their property and you probabely be better off saying you dont know how it happened. I am assuming the building is unoccupied so there will be no service interuption. When a tennant moves in they will call for new service and the provider will come to tone the lines and figure out what is what. 80% of the wireing on the building is probabely obsolete any way, not may people get hard-line telephone any way.

If the wires are coaxial cable (used for "cable") then you can remove them all if the building is vacant because the provider will run new for new service. Hope this helps.

Thanks Kenneth. I will be happy to help with the construction questions whenever you are readt

Norman,

A friend of mine rehabbed a fire dammaged 2 family property in Brooklyn NY years ago (may be 12 years ago). It was a great deal for him in a competitive market for the following reasons:

1) He had, at the time 15 years of construction experience,

2) The city was a week from flattening the building because it was a hazzard so many invesrtors probabely stayed clear of it thinkinking it was too far gone to rehab.

Long story short, he spent about $30K on the building (doing all the work himself and sold the building a couple months ago for about $800k. There are definate pros and cons in wholesaling of rehabbing fire burnt buildings.

Cons - You need to make very good assumptions with your pricing. Repair of structural members such as joists, rafters and studs. Components like electrical or plumbing piping may be partially damaged or may need to be completely destroyed. Since there was a fire there is definately water damage (to get the fire out). So if the fire was on an upper floor the water can seep down to lower floors and damage furnace, water heater etc. Fire damaged buildings also have very strong odors that need to be addresses. So if you are not budgeting for a gut rehab you may get burnt (no pun intended). This obviously depends on the severityand location of the fire etc.

Pros - Because of the cons listed above you will more than likely have less competition. If you cover yourself on the repairs there is a lot more room for you to create value as a rehabber and this translates to profits. My friend ended up renting his 2 appartments for years and cashflowed beautifully. With these properties, depending on the market, you have the option to purchase for less than the land value if you have to tear the house down to rebuild. In NYC it is advantageous to keep at least the facade of the building so it is considered a renovation and not a new building. New buildings get reassessed for higher taxes than a renovation/rehab.

Conclusion - Make sure you are covered on the construction cost. Take an experienced contractor, engineer or someone who can tell you how much needs to be replaced. Could be a great deal but could also be dangerous if you are not euipped to estimate the work or execute the repairs required. Good luck. Please let me know what you decide.

Hey BP community. Have an Architecture background and experience in construction. Looking to learn and apply RE investing strategies and focus on rehabbing full time. Feel free to pick my brain for contruction related issues or for contractors in the NY, NJ area. Would love to help if possible.