All Forum Posts by: Janel Page

@James Ayers Thank you.  My purchase included some training from the seller and another employee. Part of my due diligence was making sure there was an operations manual, even if it needed updated. 

I used to do payroll (quite a few years ago) for a property management co.  But I have no desire to do that work now.  I signed up with Heartland Payroll to handle the processing. There's a bit of a set up for each employee. But then an employee gives me a time sheet and I enter in the hours.  Heartland does nearly everything else.  I enter summary entries into QuickBooks based on their reports and a form and process I created. 

There was already an employee handbook. I knew I'd want to update it and make some changes, but at least there was something. I signed an agreement with seller and on-site manager stating that all the employment terms were to stay the same, and all agreements were to stay in place, but would transfer to the new company. I have experience updating policies and procedures as a previous government employee, so I can work my way through that. It's not perfect, but it's good enough for now, and better than some (many?) employers have.  I do need more experience hiring good employees and managing effectively. 

Financing was with a commercial loan, so I think many things are the same as they'd be with multifamily with 5+ units. I have handled the books for cash flowing companies before becoming an investor, and I've found that to be a good help to me. 

Since buying my first investment in 2009, I've self-managed our rentals and rehabs. For 2019, I've decided to try out a PM company to offload some duties. So it's all been pretty hands-on. We've done a lot of work on our rentals, hired contractors and vendors for help, advertised for tenants, screened them, signed rental paperwork, and handled A/R and bookkeeping. A CPA handles the YE entries and tax prep.  This biz is a lot the same general stuff, but with a different rental contract and an A/R system for storage facilities. Although at the other rentals, I don't have to worry much about people running into buildings with U-Haul trucks. It happens more than you'd think, lol.

@Justin Frank Thank you.  It's nice to meet someone else who invests in storage.  I'd also like to buy another facility :-).

Investment Info:

commercial investment investment.

Purchased a Storage Facility

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Someone I know owns a few storage facilities. I was making plans to buy houses and multifamily properties. My investor friend said I should buy a storage facility. Umm... What...?? I hadn't thought about it before he said something. This is why it's so great to meet with other investors.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

During meeting introductions and networking, I started saying to everyone I wanted to buy a storage facility. In my mind I was thinking, "I will start saying it now, and will have time to do some research on how to find and analyze a good deal." Then an off-market opportunity came up. A fellow investor received an email with a "Request for Offers." After receiving permission, he shared it with me. I didn't have much time to respond, so I did some quick analysis and asked a few friends for a

How did you finance this deal?

Pioneer Trust Bank in Salem, OR. They are a local community bank. They have local folks who make lending decisions on local loans. I've had a good experience with them.

How did you add value to the deal?

Previous owners bought this as a distressed business & property & owned it for about 18 mos. (They sold for another good opportunity.) They did some good things to get it headed in the right direction. We continued on that path. We cleaned out front landscaping bed, removed a fence by front sidewalk, added additional signage to increase visibility. We made some small repairs, added additional ext lighting, upgraded office computer, improved some biz processes, implemented a rent increase.

What was the outcome?

Cash flow is good and improving. We are working up a rehab plan.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I worked with the on-site manager for about 9 months. Then, he gave notice to take advantage of another job opportunity. I decided to work as the manager for several months to really learn the day-to-day operations. I continued to tweak and improve processes and forms as I learned. I gained a lot of experience with the A/R system and with eSign for leases. Now when an employee has questions, I have the answers. I am also better able to analyze future deals and value adds.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Yes. We (as Buyer) did not use a real estate broker. Seller hired a commercial real estate broker to help. This broker did a great job. She was practical, and helped make the deal work well for everyone. I really enjoyed working with her.

I also enjoyed working with the lender.

Link to register (click on an event, then register): https://www.northwestreia.com/Calendar.aspx

I help moderate this round table. We meet up the 2nd Thursday of each month. Topics vary. Networking is encouraged. This is one of many meetings offered by Northwest REIA (www.NorthwestREIA.com).

We generally have 20-40+ people show up to our Salem meetings, with all levels of investing experience. The cost is $10 per meeting, or you can sign up for an annual membership for $150. Please go to the website to register. Northwest REIA is a non-profit organization based in Portland, OR. During August 2018, there are 9 events on the calendar available for you to attend (as of the date this was posted). There are usually at least 6 meetings every month.

In Salem, we focus on networking and learning. We may invite a local vendor or business to present to our group if we feel they have valuable information to share. We have invited LOCAL real estate agents, title companies, an escrow company, a 1031 exchange company, property managers, a property inspector, and others to present to our group. These folks sell local services, but there is no pressure to buy anything, ever. These are local folks who are good at what they do. Sometimes we just pick a topic to talk about, or other times, we leave it open for general discussion. Please do bring questions - and business cards - to swap with others.

Create a FREE Northwest REIA User Account. This will add you to our mailing list to receive future event notifications: Create a FREE Account

Come check us out. If you found this on BiggerPockets - and that's why you decided to come - please let me know.

Thanks :-)

Link to register (click on an event, then register): https://www.northwestreia.com/Calendar.aspx

I help moderate this round table. We meet up the 2nd Thursday of each month. Topics vary. Networking is encouraged. This is one of many meetings offered by Northwest REIA (www.NorthwestREIA.com). 

We generally have 20-40+ people show up to our Salem meetings, with all levels of investing experience. The cost is $10 per meeting, or you can sign up for an annual membership for $150. Please go to the website to register. Northwest REIA is a non-profit organization based in Portland, OR. During August 2018, there are 9 events on the calendar available for you to attend (as of the date this was posted). There are usually at least 6 meetings every month.

In Salem, we focus on networking and learning. We may invite a local vendor or business to present to our group if we feel they have valuable information to share. We have invited LOCAL real estate agents, title companies, an escrow company, a 1031 exchange company, property managers, a property inspector, and others to present to our group. These folks sell local services, but there is no pressure to buy anything, ever. These are local folks who are good at what they do. Sometimes we just pick a topic to talk about, or other times, we leave it open for general discussion. Please do bring questions - and business cards to swap with others.

Create a FREE Northwest REIA User Account. This will add you to our mailing list to receive future event notifications:   Create a FREE Account

Come check us out. If you found this on BiggerPockets - and that's why you decided to come - please let me know.

Thanks :-)

Link to register (click on an event, then register): https://www.northwestreia.com/Calendar.aspx

I help moderate this round table. We meet up the 2nd Thursday of each month. Topics vary. Networking is encouraged. This is one of many meetings offered by Northwest REIA (www.NorthwestREIA.com).  Northwest REIA is a non-profit organization based in Portland, OR. There are usually at least 6 every month.

We generally have 20-40+ people show up to our Salem meetings, with all levels of investing experience. The cost is $10 per meeting, or you can sign up for an annual membership for $150. Please go to the website to register. Create a FREE Account

In Salem, we focus on networking and learning. We may invite a local vendor or business to present to our group if we feel they have valuable information to share. We have invited LOCAL real estate agents, title companies, an escrow company, a 1031 exchange company, property managers, a property inspector, and others to present to our group. These folks sell local services, but there is no pressure to buy anything, ever. These are local folks who are good at what they do. Sometimes we just pick a topic to talk about, or other times, we leave it open for general discussion. Please do bring questions - and business cards to swap with others.

Come check us out. If you found this on BiggerPockets - and that's why you decided to come - please let me know.

Thanks :-)

We had a great meeting last week.  If you missed it, come to next month's meeting. :-) 

For tomorrow's meeting, we will have general discussion and networking again. So, why don't we book more speakers? Well, we have invited quite a few speakers in the past. When we do invite a speaker, they will generally be a LOCAL business person who can teach us something new or who offers a valuable local service to investors. Sometimes we'll ask a regular attendee to talk to the group about something they are doing - like out of state investing, or investing in real estate with their IRA.

However, lately we've been having more general discussion meetings because meeting attendees are really liking this.  We do round table intros where everyone has a couple of minutes to talk about what they do or tell the group the kind of deal they are looking for.  We have a projector and internet access.  So if someone wants to talk about their deal or has a question for the group, we might look it up on Google Street View, Zillow, the county assessor website, etc., in REAL TIME so everyone can see.  This can be so helpful and we all learn something every meeting. 

People like the networking and the general discussion so much, we started meeting 30 min earlier!  If you're curious about our meetings, we're a friendly bunch.  Come check us out!  The link to register is in the event description above. 

We have a REALLY great speaker lined up for this Salem, OR meeting.  Jennifer Martin, CCIM, owner of Mid-Valley Commercial Real Estate, will talk with us about an urban redevelopment project in downtown Salem.  We'll discuss the up-front investment analysis by the buyer, the due diligence, the risks of redevelopment, and some things to look out for.  

Brand new and experienced investors are all welcome.  Don't miss out.  Come learn something or meet someone new and interesting!

Link to register (click on an event, then register): https://www.northwestreia.com/Calendar.aspx

I help moderate this round table. We meet up the 2nd Thursday of each month. Topics vary. Networking is encouraged. This is one of many meetings offered by Northwest www.NorthwestREIA.com).

We generally have 20-40+ people show up to our Salem meetings, with all levels of investing experience. The cost is $10 per meeting, or you can sign up for an annual membership for $150. Please go to the website to register. Northwest REIA is a non-profit organization based in Portland, OR. During July 2018, there are 7 meetings available for you to attend (as of the date this was posted). There are usually at least 6 every month.

In Salem, we focus on networking and learning. We may invite a local vendor or business to present to our group if we feel they have valuable information to share. We have invited LOCAL real estate agents, title companies, an escrow company, a 1031 exchange company, property managers, a property inspector, and others to present to our group. These folks sell local services, but there is no pressure to buy anything, ever. These are local folks who are good at what they do. Sometimes we just pick a topic to talk about, or other times, we leave it open for general discussion. Please do bring questions - and business cards - to swap with others.

Create a FREE Northwest REIA User Account. This will add you to our mailing list to receive future event notifications:  

Create a FREE Account

Come check us out. If you found this on BiggerPockets, and that's why you decided to come - please let me know and I'll keep posting our events here.

Thanks :-)

Janel Page