All Forum Posts by: Jack Beach

I realize it’s been a while since I posted here. Will try to answer everyone’s inquiries in one post. 

I had two plots of land in Rwanda and sold them during covid around 2021. I wish I had kept them because land is appreciating very fast there, especially near the new airport as @Benjamin Timungwa has said. There is a plot I am looking to purchase now which is situated just next to it overlooking the new runway. 

Rwanda is certainly going to grow in the years ahead, although it is difficult to finance deals there with local funding (banks, etc.) due to the rates. Last I checked around a year ago they were 13-18% for a 20 year mortgage!!! BUT, many developers are building new homes and selling for under $100K. If you’re looking to do a rental property it may be difficult, but not totally impossible. 

I love Rwanda and will continue investing there into the foreseeable future. The future is very bright. 

@Chilon Eads send a dm

My wife and I purchased the house next door for $250K in 2021, 20% down @ 4.5% APR for 30yrs, $40K put into the rehab, and split the unit into an upstairs/downstairs duplex (not on meters though). Currently rents for $1800 upstairs, $1200 downstairs for total of $3K/month. We cover utilities (electric, water, internet, grass) which comes out to about $300/month on average. Needs about $15K of work to get it looking good on the exterior. Interior is in great shape and tenants love it. Constantly stays filled. We're considering selling it to access capital to do some other deals. Comps would put it around the $550K mark. Capital gains and agents would take about $80K off the top. With the $200K debt, gains + agents, and repairs we're looking at a net of ~$250K.

Question is: would this be a wise move in this market or are there creative options we aren’t seeing? Or should we just hold and ride..

Thanks

Joel Owens the land is still usable, just depends what we use it for. The suggestions mentioned so far are good ones. There is no land we can purchase adjacent to make it larger, unfortunately. McDonald's does not want to purchase the lot, they feel they have adequate parking as is.

@Doug Poff This is great insight.  We are going to review the agreement with an attorney we have in town, possibly might bring that conversation here as well once I get a copy of the agreement itself.  Thanks for these suggestions.  I like the trailer restaraunt ideas alot, and if we can amend the agreement in some way to remove that clause then ideally we want to do a Starbucks or similar.  The location is absolutely pregnant for all interstate traffic and highway traffic to reach the daily-caffeine-fixers out there.  

@Michael Wagner The ATM option is actually a great idea and we are looking into it now.  We're thinking a drive-through may work as the shape is perfect for it.  I'm going to see about the drive-thru ATM and a RedBox or DVD Now on the backside of the ATM unit.  We've got to check with the city codes department on this, but if we are cleared on this C-4 lot then this is a viable option.  Appreciate your suggestion.

@Henry J. It's too small for a convenience store and my uncle owns the Exxon location across the street so we want to stay away from competing in the family there. 

@Lynn McGeein These are good, but too small.  It would have to be a one-bay Jiffy Lube / Valvoline if we did it due to size. 

@Doug Poff good suggestion.  Only thing is that there is a hotel, McDonalds, and gas station right here so the general feel of the area is commercial.  Yes, an RV/vehicle park could work, but it would definitely change that "feel" and the lot could probably only hold 5 RVs or campers.  Not sure if its big enough for it.  Welcome to my world of head scratching on this one...

That might work, but its still somewhat small for that.  It is also awkward in shape... a triangle with one end on the parking one, one on the county highway fence-line, and the other on a cemetery.  

Possible, but there's one across the highway and its not exactly a quiet location.  Not sure about people wanting to leave their posessions in a location so highly trafficked by the McDonalds.  Great suggestion!

It's the "Z" shaped lot, the parking lot being the lower part of the "Z" and the adjacent lot (lower left) is the McDonalds.

My father, two sisters and I have recently inherited a vacant small commercial lot (0.23ac) in Tennessee near a growing interstate exit and are not sure how to maximize cash flow with it.  We currently rent it two months out of the year to a fireworks stand at $1500/mo., but that barely covers the annual property taxes.  The property itself is sharing a parking lot with a McDonalds and we have non-compete agreement with them as well, covering food and beverage sales.  We originally wanted to put a Starbucks, but found out they are not a franchise and we would have to "invite" them to lease the lot.  Besides that, we weren't aware of the non-compete agreement so we couldn't do it anyway.  We've thought of a paper or illuminated billboard, but learned that the city limits extend up to the interstate and advertising billboards are not permitted within the limits.  We've considered a small duplex/triplex for leasing to commercial tenants, but I'm thinking the building codes will require a certain number of parking spaces and I don't believe there is enough room to add the required spaces.  Considered a Redbox stand and some others, nothing seems to be the silver bullet. 

Any creative ideas on what we could do with this piece of commercial property?