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All Forum Posts by: Michael Wallace

Michael Wallace has started 3 posts and replied 8 times.

Post: Self Storage investing!

Michael WallacePosted
  • Posts 8
  • Votes 0
Originally posted by @Danté Belmonte:

Michael,

AJ Osborne and Mark Helm are the best in the business. I see Mike Wagner in this. He also knows his stuff a lot! 

We put an LOI in on a facility up on 31 in Clay. It was 5 years old but only had 35% occupancy... not vacancy, occupancy! The owner had zero idea what he was doing and let a fertilizer store set up shop in the store front in exchange to manage the facility. Needless to say they were doing a terrible job but we saw massive potential. Later we discovered upon further research that the building construction was very poor ( 2-3 inch wide cracks in the foundation that went that length of the building after only 5 years of being built) and that there was 100k square feet of climate controlled self storage being built at the mall right across the street!

With all that said, we dropped our offer by half. Someone else paid double of what we offered. We were not willing to take the risk on as Syracuse is very saturated with storage at this time with more facilities being built (you can look this up on Radius+). B&C has been around for a while, they are great and they own a majority of the market share in this area.

I saw all of this to caution you. If you plan to build you will want what is called a "feasibility report" , that will tell you if there is demand enough to build and what square foot per capita is needed.

I hope this helps!

Yes B & C is huge, my dad actually did business with the owner years back. I think the right location, there is still room for more in the outskirts of Syracuse. I would love to buy an existing facility and value add to it. Im also really interested in commercial and industrial real estate, just trying to find my next deal and go from there. 

Post: Self Storage investing!

Michael WallacePosted
  • Posts 8
  • Votes 0

@Scott Brown I’m always looking! I travel for work all over NYS so I keep my eyes open for opportunities. I’m open to different options I don’t want to box myself in. 

Post: Self Storage investing!

Michael WallacePosted
  • Posts 8
  • Votes 0

@Michael Wagner I’d love to talk more if you’re interested

Post: Self Storage investing!

Michael WallacePosted
  • Posts 8
  • Votes 0

I am an investor in Syracuse, NY, an area with lots of self storage competition and a few large regional players. I believe there is still room for more and I have been researching and hoping for a few years now. I have 3 rental properties now but I'm looking to break into the commercial/self storage sector. I think I may have an oppurtunity to build a facility but I wouldnt really know where to start. Id love to talk to some professionals who have built/bought/managed self storage facilities. I have questions about zoning, land developement, sizes, management and a few others. 

Post: Little fish in a HUGE pond

Michael WallacePosted
  • Posts 8
  • Votes 0

@Damaso Bautista Thank you for the kind words! I think it’s more comparing myself to where I eventually want to be, and the high levels of competition in this area. I’m confident that I will reach and far exceed my goals. I believe I have the right mindset and work ethic to get it done, just need the right network.

Post: Little fish in a HUGE pond

Michael WallacePosted
  • Posts 8
  • Votes 0
Originally posted by @Danté Belmonte:

@Michael Wallace I am a local real estate agent and investor in Syracuse, NY. I also host a monthly local real estate investor meet up (one will be taking place via zoom later this month) as well as I host a real estate podcast. I also syndicate properties in North Carolina. I would love to connect. Let me know if you are interested in connecting!

I actually planned to join that meeting before I posted on here. Id love to connect! Feel free to message me on here.

Post: Little fish in a HUGE pond

Michael WallacePosted
  • Posts 8
  • Votes 0

Hello all,

I am not new to bigger pockets, as I have been a member since 2018 and actively listen to the podcasts, but I am new to posting on here. I bought my first single family home when I was 24 years old, its now one of my rental properties, and was a great deal. I have 3 houses right now for a total of 5 units. One single family, and two 2 family properties. I am in the Syracuse, NY area and looking to network. I currently work as a traveling territory sales manager for NAPA auto parts, and manage all of my units as well. I hope to scale much bigger this year and move into the commercial/industrial real estate sector, as well as fix and flip a few houses a year eventually. I currently have a portfolio of about $400k but looking to expand exponentially this year. I'm looking to start networking with other real estate investors in the area as well as lenders, realtors, contractors, wholesalers, etc...

I bought my first rental property in March of 2018 and have since acquired a second 2 family then moved out of my first house and rented that as well. The deal I'm most proud of is my duplex in Canastota, NY. I bought it as a foreclosure from a bank auction. This was my second investment property. It was built in 2004 but had been vacant for about a year when it was sold. I took a chance on it and paid $105k after a 5% auction fee. I closed on the house and immediately got to work. It needed paint, appliances, a few fixtures and some good ol' TLC. I was still fairly new to the game as this was only my second investment property, but I felt more relaxed this time around. After putting about two months and $5,000 into one unit, I finally had it rented for $1,100 with a 1 year lease. I then spent another month and another $5,000 getting the other unit ready to go and rented that for $1,300 to a long term tenant. When I had that lease signed, I finally felt like I was fully immersed into the real estate game, and I was hooked. Since then I have purchased a new primary residence and rented my first house that I paid $86,000 for 5 years prior, for $1,450 a month on a 2 year lease. I am currently actively searching for commercial properties for long term buy and hold, as well as larger multi-unit investment deals, and fix and flip properties. I'm always interested in meeting new people in the business and connecting with people who have similar goals as mine. I'm excited to start the next chapter in my investing career and hope to soon make this a full-time "job". 

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Canastota.

Purchase price: $105,000
Cash invested: $30,000

2 family side by side house I bought as a foreclosure. Fixed it up and now brings in a gross monthly rent of $2,450

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

I was searching forclosures, found this house and saw the value in it.

How did you finance this deal?

Bank financed, 20% my own money

How did you add value to the deal?

Made some repairs, cleaned it up and got both units rented with great ROI