All Forum Posts by: John Franczyk

Has anyone in this forum used Atlas Roofing for roof tile replacements? If so, would you recommend them?

We're in a tighter market now, mid-2023. A previous rule of thumb that was explained to me (which may or may not be realistic) was that in a normal market, if you send out 100 letters or call 100 people, you'll get maybe 10 expressions of interest, 3 possible contracts, and 1 closed deal (i.e. 1% closure rate for every 100 touches). I'm curious - what response/success rate are people having now? I'm at the front end of a marketing push where I'm building a database of 200 addresses in a defined area, with plans to send out a marketing letter to all 200 with hopes of getting one closed deal. Should I expand the database to a bigger number of addresses? For reference, the area I'm targeting does not have a lot of inventory on the MLS right now, but does have a large number of owners that have owned their properties for 10-20 years.

Can anyone recommend a service that can provide a list of 3- and 4- unit properties in a defined area in Milwaukee? I'm not looking for properties currently for sale, but a broader list of addresses of 3- and 4-unit buildings. I don't need identification of the owners or otehr information, just addresses.  Thanks!

PM me if you're looking for a tenant for an apartment in Denver. I can refer a good tenant to you.

This is a postscript to my original post.  After touring the property again, I made an all-cash offer of $82,300 or, in the alternative, an offer with $50,000 up front and owner financing for $61,400 (total - $111,400). The seller rejected both options without a counter-offer. 

I later heard he accepted an offer of $160,00 from someone else who, in my opinion, is overpaying. 

This is an example of a situation where getting no deal is better than taking a bad deal.

I have a track on a house that is a good flip candidate - 2 Br, I Ba, 70+ year old structure with a strong foundation and good systems, sitting on 1/3 acre at the end of a cul de sac. The seller is 70+ years old. He's lived there all of his life.

 The 6 or 7 neighboring properties have all been upgraded to 3-4 BR, 2-3 Ba. The strategy here would be to expand the house with 2 more BR, a great room, and at least one more bath. Neighboring properties are selling in the $350K range. The seller's realtor friend tells him to ask $250K. My best price right now is $130K-$150K, with an expectation of putting $150K into it. I can make the business case for a rehab deal and can get the deal done before year-end. If the seller listens to the realtor, he will go through a slow death of reducing prices until he sells it next year some time.  

The seller needs $50K to get out from under some debt. The rest would be gravy, and I don't believe he needs a big payment to cover retirement living expenses.

How do I approach the negotiation? 

My son would be the commercial tenant. He has an interior architecture/furniture design-build business and wants to purchase a building that can house his workshop, provide him with living space, and generate revenue from other paying residential tenants. He would likely use the commercial space only during daytime hours. I'm helping him to build a business model based on a BRRRR strategy. My concerns on the commercial side are what extra costs will we need to put into the model to account for the fabrication space. We've already baked in amounts for 3-phase electrical service to the shop and dust and fume ventilation (planers like the one pictured generate a lot of dust). I want to make sure we're not missing any costs. Thanks for all the replies.

I'm in the early stages of looking for a building in Milwaukee that has light manufacturing/fabricating space (about 800 sq.ft.) for a woodworking shop, and 3-4 residential units. What issues do I need to consider for a mixed commercial/residential building that I wouldn't need to look at for something purely residential? 

I know people that are putting in offers in Denver that are 10% to 20% above asking price for MLS-listed property. In such a hot seller's market, is there any likelihood of finding off-market properties by driving around and making cold offers?

My son and I are in the early stages of looking for a 2-4 unit building in the 5th Ward/near southwest side of Milwaukee. The target area is roughly a one-mile radius around the corner of Mitchell & 11th. This is primarily a project to get my son into the RE investment world. He is a currently furniture designer and builder. He has already done a lot of window renovation work in some of the older, historical buildings on the east side of Milwaukee and he wants to use this project to expand his horizons into more extensive interior renovations.

The ideal project would be something that does not need immediate work but that would benefit from upgrades and renovations over a period of 3-5 years. He might live in one of the units and house-hack. That decision will be driven by the number of units in the building and the building's cash-flow. The timing would be to close the deal in mid- to late-summer 2021. Due to other commitments we would likely not start looking for a target building until late March/early April. I'm putting this out there now to plant a seed for the near future.