All Forum Posts by: Jeff Stein

How do you investigate why a building has a high utility bill?

To provide some background, I am purchasing a 14,500 sqft. office building that is mostly empty. The average electric bill $2,200/mo compared to my other office building that is larger at 20,000 sqft where I pay closer to $1,200/mo.

Is there any good way to figure out why the bill is so high? And/or ways to reduce it significantly?

This new building does have an old boiler and A/C but i cant imagine this is the only reason, but I dont know how to go about and determine it.

Local banks and credit unions have always been the best source for me. 

I have used two local banks and one national bank to finance my deals so far. I typically financed with 25-30% down. There terms varry from 2-5 years amortized over 15-25 years. Hope this helps. Feel free to message me if you have more questions.

 I need to start by saying I am not a tax professional nor do I play one on TV. Refinancing does not count as a taxable event. Even though you are receiving cash, this money is still a loan and must be repaid thus not actual income.

@Mayson Madden

First of all, thank you for your service, we need lots of people like you.

Welcome to the site and Real estate as a whole. I am by no means an expert and only started investing 2 years ago and can say I have really enjoyed the ups and downs. 

This may just be my personality and preference, but I think setting goals is the most important thing. What is your dream for real estate?

I'm with other posters here in that listening to the podcast and being on the forums is a great way to expand your knowledge. Start posting questions that come up. I havn't been to any of the local meet ups but I keep hearing good things about them.

@Tato Corcoran I think the most important thing to do is to sit back and identify your goals for real estate investing. Some questions I would consider:

Is this the location you want to own a rental? Many ancillary services such as snow removal, lawn service, electrician, etc. will only cover certain areas of the city.

Do you even want rental properties or focus on house flipping alone?

Tax consequences: If you are in a higher tax bracket, the income from the sale of a property can be significant and so can the subsequent taxes.

I know this is not an actual answer to your question, but I hope this helps.

I currently invest in and around Milwaukee. My current strategy is buy and hold. I use REI as a second form of income so this keeps my taxes lower as compared to flipping houses or doing private/hard money lending.

@Sheree Wegenke Welcome to MKE! I think MKE and the surrounding areas are a great place to invest and grow. Flips sounds like a great strategy for you. I currently own only commercial properties, but always interested in expanding. Good luck with the real estate courses! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

@Matt Nusbaum

I agree with Matt. The most important way to start is identify your goals.

When will you need to access this money you plan to invest?

When looking to find an area to invest pay attention to tax implications. For example I have a high paying W-2 income. Therefore, I avoid taxable income as much as possible ( i.e, note investing or flipping)

@Priyanshu Adathakkar

Thank you for the advice, much appreciated. We thankfully have a very large parking lot that can more than accommodate.