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All Forum Posts by: George Yu

George Yu has started 4 posts and replied 149 times.

Post: I just built a 36 unit apartment complex.

George YuPosted
  • Developer
  • Atlanta, GA
  • Posts 151
  • Votes 378

Few people were asking best way to connect professionally. BP is good or Linkedin. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-yu-02364076/ 

Post: I just built a 36 unit apartment complex.

George YuPosted
  • Developer
  • Atlanta, GA
  • Posts 151
  • Votes 378

QUESTION in a DM: 

George,

Did you look into and consider any modular construction? Why or why not?

Are you going to get money from accredited investors in the future to scale faster?

How did you decide on your floor plan? How did you decide on the outside? Are you fully rented now? Do you think the outside looks kind of like a motel? Do you offer any Airbnb/STR / month to month if vacant? Is it all passively managed or has an on site maintenance and leasing?

ANSWER: 

We actually will be testing out using SIP panels on our next dev. We are very much interested in it for energy savings. Yes we may but our developments are under 70 units at a time so we have enough private capital to stay small thats why we like it. 

Floor plan came from trial and error over the last 9 years. Jeremiah took the lead on that. Partner with someone who is open to experimenting. 

LOL they made me choose the paint color and I butchered it because I was too cheap to pay an exterior designer $1500 bucks to do it. The blue wasn't supposed to be that light hahaha. Lesson learned. Dont look at paint card in the store. Go outside in the sunlight!!!!! Feel bad for the tenants......

Yes we are full plus waiting list. Yes it does look like a motel hahah. we are changing that next time. Everything we do right now is more or less an experiment. Its really fun for us. 

No airnbn. We have an in house management lady who works full time. She also manages my partners mobile home parks and their other apartments they built in the past. Shes been with us for about 5 years now

Post: I just built a 36 unit apartment complex.

George YuPosted
  • Developer
  • Atlanta, GA
  • Posts 151
  • Votes 378

@Anthony Rosa thank you i will be talking to the partners about this ASAP! We have been interested for a while and best time to inquire is now since we are in between developments!

Post: I just built a 36 unit apartment complex.

George YuPosted
  • Developer
  • Atlanta, GA
  • Posts 151
  • Votes 378

@Jay Hinrichs thank you for sharing. No I have never been in a cirrus. Out of the budget for me for now :) We did set a company goal for a Baron at 500 units. Its really great that all three of us partners are also pilots so we enjoy similar pastimes because I am 29 and they are 37 and 43. 

Im curious on how you managed your tax liability when you were holding compared to now building and selling. In your experience which do you prefer when regards to tax avoidance? Or have you found some other strategies to make either relatively tax friendly? 

We have installed 16 wireless security cameras on all of our properties. Every door es equipped with wireless locks with pin that we can remotely unlock/lock and change code anywhere in the world on our phones. We have one property manager and she manages a 75 unit mobile home park and 82 apartment units spread over 4 cities. We have local maintanence guys but for the most part we are trying to become the amazon of housing. Automated to the brim. Tenants apply for showing on buildium, once approved are sent a one time 15 minute code to see the demo unit. They also apply online with credit/background. They rarely speak with our PM until move in day. All payments are electronic and cash payments can be made at any 711 or family dollar with paynearme.com. Hoping to be able to manage up to 500 units with same PM relying on process. 

Post: I just built a 36 unit apartment complex.

George YuPosted
  • Developer
  • Atlanta, GA
  • Posts 151
  • Votes 378

@Steve Vaughan we have a 197 unit on 11 acre development that we spent 8 months working on that is now in hold because of similar government BS. Could turn our to be a complete waste of time and we might have to walk away after almost a year of work and $10,000 in drawings and travel. We actually never built two story but was forced to since the bak acre of this lot was in a flood plain so we had to build up in order to get our density. our normal floor plan is single story and we wont buy in a flood plain again haha. Glad to have a comrade in the working class sector! Sent you a connection!

Post: I just built a 36 unit apartment complex.

George YuPosted
  • Developer
  • Atlanta, GA
  • Posts 151
  • Votes 378

@Michael H. Thank you. Each of us three owners invested about 90,000 each so 270k total. That was it. We got that back when we refi

Post: I just built a 36 unit apartment complex.

George YuPosted
  • Developer
  • Atlanta, GA
  • Posts 151
  • Votes 378

@Anthony Rosa honestly thats a world that we are not familiar with. We do have an interest in going that route in the future. We figured that if we can make it work without any help then its only UP from here! You have any suggestions on where to start for tax incentives and partnering with NP? 

Post: I just built a 36 unit apartment complex.

George YuPosted
  • Developer
  • Atlanta, GA
  • Posts 151
  • Votes 378

@Jay Hinrichs america really is. I do a lot of work in manufacturing in China primarily so i'm over there once ever 4 months. China is a sleeping giant we all need to be aware of becuase they are coming for us! No brakes on the roof haha. Mine was on the floor. Didn't have toe brakes either like my 182 now. 

Jay it sounds like you buy and hold and then sell. It hasnt yet occurred to us partners why we should sell. All three of us want the cashflow more so that the lump sum and 1031. Can you share why you chose to sell sometimes? Is it dependent on where yo are in the cycle? We thought about that too but came to the conclusion that by nature of who we were building for, we should do even better in times of recession. Thanks!

Post: I just built a 36 unit apartment complex.

George YuPosted
  • Developer
  • Atlanta, GA
  • Posts 151
  • Votes 378

@Thalia Mena around 1.6 million

Post: I just built a 36 unit apartment complex.

George YuPosted
  • Developer
  • Atlanta, GA
  • Posts 151
  • Votes 378

@Gabriel F. we didnt have good luck with big banks. We go to small local banks in the city that we built in and shoped the loan around. We had to take a personal guarantee as well as the LLC. We put 20% which included the cost of the land that we already purchased. Be repared when you walk into a bank. We know from experience that they like all their paperwork in a row to make their job easier and it makes you look seasoned. Also we purchased the land already and had it rezone and cleared to show them that we were serious. Also recommendations from the city manager as well as few members of the commissioners. We went with traditional stick frame with spray foam insulation and extra wall insulation. Cable got us by agreeing to a rate 8 months earlier then stating that the account manager that made the rate was no longer there and had to reneegotiate a higher rate