All Forum Posts by: Joseph Wells

Roy - the property has only been for sale for several months, but I believe it has been vacant since 2010. We have similar concerns about the asbestos and are awaiting quotes. 

We are confident that apartments are the best use for the building, and we have a pretty good idea of what our gross revenue will be upon completion, as we own other rental properties in the area. Based on this number, we know what we can spend "all in" to make it a good investment. 

As for why the vendor is not proceeding - I am not certain, but I think he was looking to make the apartments ultra high end, which is very speculative in this area. We are aiming for a more modest tenant - of which there are an abundance in the area.

Thanks for raising these other points. Definitely good things for us to consider. I think most of the systems have likely not been maintained, which is why we want to be able to build a significant cushion into our estimates. 

In terms of financing, we have a mortgage broker doing some research for us. Would you be looking at banks and credit unions, a commercial bridge loan or more towards hard money?

Hi everyone, My business partner and I are currently prospecting a deal which will involve the gut renovation of a 9,000 sf building in upstate NY. It was formerly used for offices but has been vacant for a number of years. The current owner had an architectural study done, and he has plans drawn up (which we have seen) for the conversion to 12 apartments. The building is equipped with an elevator and a sprinkler system. The project will also include an asbestos abatement, for which the owner has a report. We are in the process of getting quotes from contractors and the asbestos abatement company, as well as securing financing. We would appreciate any advice from anyone who has tackled a similar project. Anything from getting quotes to financing to managing the project and filling the units. What should we be looking out for? What might we run into that we aren’t expecting? What troubles did you have? Thanks in advance! Joe

Hi Gita,

Thanks for your reply. That is exactly what happened. The funds were re-imbursed to the tenants and our property manager had to collect physical checks. I'm not sure why that is the case, but Inuit told him they will not process payments that he is collecting on behalf of landlords. 

Hi All,

My property manager has recently started using Quickbooks. He is allowing tenants to pay online, but for those payments, the funds have been held by Quickbooks. Is this a common occurrence? The property manager said he is working on it, but if I could get any advice to pass along to him and expedite the process, I would appreciate it.

Thanks, 

Joe

Thanks, Jay. Our only concern with transferring deeds into the LLC was that the bank could potentially call the loans. Is this a legitimate concern?

My business partner and I started investing this year. We currently have three properties with eight total units. We hold the title to each property jointly, but we do not have any legal entities. 

What is the best way for us to go about filing taxes at year end? Should we create an LLC or LLP now? Can we show all of our income and expenses related to our properties in a legal entity even if that legal entity doesn't hold our properties?

I have kept clean records on everything separately for each property, as well as a running expense tracker of expenses that don't pertain specifically to a property that we own (i.e. inspection cost for a property we didn't end up buying, cost of real estate books purchased, etc.). 

How should we tackle this situation? Thanks!