All Forum Posts by: Damien Hall

@ Joel Yeah it is a mess. It's slowly getting worked out. I don't know if they have any PM certs. I only know that the company's main focus is PMing, meaning it's not a brokerage house providing PM services.

Good question though, because I will certainly ask in the future. Thx!

@Phillip Tell me about it. But the PM does charge a % for larger repairs. They did waive the fee this time.

@ J Scott This is a 4-unit building. Me & my wife own the building.

Update...the PM got another contractor and they are going to recoup the money from the first contractor. I just hope that goes smoothly!

@Marc The PM wanted to pay the contractor in 3 draws so we sent 3 checks made out in the contractor's name. 2 checks have cleared but the last one is yet to clear. Also the PM said that the contractor has not be able to access the units because the tenants weren't present. I spoke to my tenant and he said that he was at his unit when scheduled but the contractor never shows up. He said this has happened a couple of times.

@Phillip I am out of the country.

I received a call from my tenant that a leak is coming into his unit from the unit above. The PM was supposed to have resolved this problem 2 months ago before the leak started. The PM got a quote from a contractor and I made the payment. But 2 months later no work has been done. Is there any liability against the PM?

Taz:

Thx for that!

Should I get the fire marshall and the code enforcement office involved before I make an offer or after. Maybe ask them some questions and possibly get the fire marshall to walk the site with me now.

This is my first commerical project so I'm trying to order my steps and become as prepared as possible. So far I've completed the demographics of the area, I've gotten a feel for the rental market and I've gotten my contractors to view the site with me. What would you advise next?

I want to make sure I'm prepared before making an offer, but I don't want to pull the cart before the horse.

Has anyone ever rehabbed an apartment building? I located a 20+ unit in need of a rehab and wanted to know what to expect. What are some things I should be aware of? Is the process that different from rehabbing a single family home?

P:

Thx for the advice. I'll look into those as well.

Tim, thanks for the info!

Thanks for that Long Time. I will certainly ask the question as to why the owner hasn't done any work to the building. My assumption is that they purchased the building before the area was developed waiting to sell once all of the development was complet. The area used to be a neglected part of DC when I first moved here about 10 yrs ago. I would say in the last 3 yrs or so that area has seen tremendous growth.

How would I go about determining replacement cost? I heard this method can be quite extensive.

If I understand you correctly, once I find a good value I should reduce that number in half and then subtract repair costs. How do I justify cutting the number in half? I don't disagree with what you are saying. It makes a lot of sense, in fact I like that approach. I just want to make sure I have solid justification for the offer price if I get to the negotiating table. I don't want to appear that I am pulling a number out of thin air.