All Forum Posts by: Michael Gravallese

I just finished a new build. Its a Triplex consisting of (3) 2 bed 2 bath identical units, with an attached 2 car garage I plan to keep for personal use. We just put the 3 units up for rent and I have been approached by a couple of different people looking to sign a lease with me , and then rent the units out through a 3rd party management company doing short term rentals. I understand the insurance requirements needed by both the lessee, and the 3rd party management company. I am not opposed to the idea, but just wondering what else I should consider before I make a decision about this type of arrangement. Any tips, suggestions, concerns or any other advice would be appreciated. The building is in Lantana, Palm Beach County. Market rents are about $2800-$3000 per unit/month. What do you think would be a fair price to lease all 3 units to one person for an arbitrage scenario?

Thanks

@Michael Morelli the city and the CRA is focused on developing the lots they currently are sitting on with workforce housing, or selling off the big chunks to hotel developers. There are homes under construction now for this use south of Atlantic called Corey Isles. They also mandate any lot under 40’ wide should be developed for workforce housing. I’m really not convinced this is legal, but who wants a legal battle? Many of the lots north of Atlantic and west of Swinton were platted in the 1920’s and are 40’ wide or less, so I avoid this area. I try to look for 50’ wide or greater lots to build on and I avoid the historical areas, of which the West Settlers is one, I believe. I’ve had good luck in the Southridge, Sunset Park, Delray Manors, Rosemont Park, Town of Delray, and Del Raton subdivisions. I just finished a house in Carver Park. This is from a development point of view.

If you are buying and holding the criteria is as simple as I would try to get as East as I could, avoid wood frame structures, and I also would stay away from anything that is built with a crawl space, or within a historical district. Obviously the newer construction the better. This is just my opinion of course, and if the deal is good enough, you can weigh the pros and cons, and make your decision. The prices are ridiculous right now and there is a lot of garbage out there, especially in the 33444 zip code. Everyone wants to be in Delray or Boca so I think the demand is going no where but up, just getting tougher to get a deal

Good luck

@Michael Morelli I’ve invested and built a few houses in Delray, why do you ask?

$220 per linear foot

It happened to me a few years ago. I bought 4 lots and there was a pole right in the middle. I called the utility company and they told me it would cost $7k to move the pole. I laughed and asked them why, if they were encroaching my property. They told they had an agreement with the previous landowner. I asked them for the agreement since I could not find anything recorded in the public records and nothing showed up on the title search. After a couple of demands to see the agreement, which they couldn’t produce, a crew came out and moved the pole within a few hours with no cost whatsoever to me.

Good luck!

@THU NGUYEN Equity Trust Compay. No complaints whatsoever, and I’m a pain in the *** to them. They fail to disappoint

@William Eric Schaefer I would just do it. I have a similar building and when acquired it, it needed some of the same things your deal needs. I did the work, stabilized the rentals and now have a nice little asset that I constantly get inquires from other investors begging me to sell it to them at 4x what I am into it for.

Go for it and don’t get analysis paralysis

Good luck!!

@Chris Serger did you ever invest with them? I can’t find any reviews online with anyone who has. Seems good, but you know what they say...

I had a guy on the second floor put a steak in the sink to defrost it and put it over the drain and decided to run the water over it to defrost it faster. Problem was he then went down for a nap, sink filled up since the drain was blocked overflowed and flooded out 2 units below his. Caused about $7,000 worth of damage. He moved out about 3 months later and asked me for his $750 deposit back. I laughed at him and told me he owed me $6250, so what do you want to do? He shook my hand and said, “I hope I can still use you for a reference”

@Russell Holmes if the lots were buildable when they were platted then they are still buildable. Governing agencies cannot just change the setback, lot size FAR ratios, etc. and other requirements and deem the land no longer buildable. I run into this all the time. Usually those requirements are for new plats or when subdividing raw land. The Bert Harris act addresses this, mostly for land you already own, but some aspects touch on the original platting and what the requirements were at that time, and that protects the land value.