All Forum Posts by: Greg Christensen

Maybe a more general question - anyone out there have experience developing new multi-family units?

I've had single family properties for quite some time and have been straddling the fence on buying some smaller multi-family properties.  With the interest rates where they are, and the demand for housing so strong, I've not found anything to buy that fits my conservative risk profile.  I'm not very familiar with development and building costs, so wanted to hear from some experts here to learn how the numbers compare if I were to buy some land and have units built new, vs. buy some existing units and rehab them.  

I understand there are lots of variables, so many "it depends" answers, but I'd appreciate the perspective of those who have weighed this comparison for their own situation.  Some of the pros and cons, and ultimately how did the numbers stack up.  Given I don't see many smaller apartment projects in development, the advantage leans towards buying existing units or going for scale and building new, large 100+ unit properties.

Thanks in advance for insights.

Any reputable general contractors anyone would recommend for a complete rehab job in Ogden, UT?

Long story, but I have a mountain property I’ve had for sale for years. I finally got an offer at about 80% of my asking price, but the offer is contingent on me accepting another property in the same area in addition to the cash. This may sound like a great deal, however there are significant carrying costs with owning land in this mountain resort. Resort dues, taxes, city fees – all add up to about >$2000 per year regardless of the value of the lot.

In this area, there are about 800 lots for sale and very few sales per year. No non-profit will take the land as a donation due to the liability. No individual wants the land for free because of the liability. If I don’t pay taxes and dues I will get liens and potentially impact my credit.

I’m thinking I’ll have to reject the offer unless there’s some alternatives to ride myself of ownership of the contingent lot. (By the way, I already countered to exclude the other lot but the buyer won’t buy my lot unless I take his).

All ideas are welcome!

The home is in the $500k range so differences of opinions on comps can have a big sway.  That's actually why I'm considering the appraiser as the tenant and I have already debated some comps.  he favors the lower ones and I favor the higher ones and there's no comp that's an exact match to settle the debate.  Given the sales price, I'm fine to pay for the appraisal, I just don't want it to come back as a data point against me that benefits the tenant/buyer.  I've even thought about doing two appraisals and taking the average of the two to hedge my bets.

I have a rental that the tenant would like to buy. I’d actually like to sell, but the question comes into play on how to set the price. I suggested Realtor assessments, but the tenant feels those may be inflated. His preference is have a 3rd party appraisal. My concern is similar in that I think an appraiser will be too conservative on the price. I’d like some expert opinions here on confidence in using the appraiser’s number as the sales price, or some other option that is fair for both sides.

@Dmitri L.

Thanks for the  coordination.  I'm traveling this time but keep em coming.

I've heard the importance of a good property manager being stressed consistently, but would like to know if the size of the property management company is a concern.  For example, a PM that manages 200+ doors and has a full time staff and administration vs. a small Mom and Pop that manage themselves and have 10-20 doors.  Any concerns over the latter?  Curious to hear any experiences as I need to make a decision on a new PM and a colleague is advocating a small husband and wife team with 11 doors.

@Dmitri L.

I'm in.  Three weeks out I'll be leaving town for close to a month though and my weekends are already full.  Maybe a weeknight a couple weeks out?

@Account Closed I like your idea to offer a loan assumption to a builder.  I'm going to make some calls on that tomorrow.  The commission option is one I did think about, but with only two sales last year on land, that's not my favorite option.

Thanks!