All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Johnson

@Michael Hassell Thanks man, it does smell like potential, and pee. The porches were serious, but it wouldn't be a costly fix compared to some other things. Thanks for the encouragement.

@Owen Dashner There are more lessons to be learned before a trigger is pulled on this yet. I'm going to try to make a packet/offer to give to the seller. A scope of work, pictures, estimates, and finance stuff. Any tips on that? 

I grew up in Des Moines BTW, glad to see another Iowan.

@Zach Quick

Yeah the utilities are all separate. Some of the apartments however haven't been rented in over a decade so the water heaters are probably bust.

I honestly can't figure out repair and update cost. The contractor I brought in was a past customer from the bank that had a lot of experience and was a standup trustworthy guy. I didn't do much research on him though to see if he does these type of repairs. I just text him today to email me his thoughts on costs.

@Zach Quick

I forgot to measure! Doh! The apartments were very spacious. They were all one bedroom but had both a dining room and living room and a porch.

My thoughts are that if it was fixed up and cat-smell free, it could easily go for 350k since similar sized apartments are going for 275-320k and this apartment has a lot of finer qualities underneith it all. As far as what I would pay for it, my original low-ball of 200k is looking pretty high. I'm honestly discouraged by the cat-smell alone and I have no experience with rehabbing so the water damage is completely mysterious as to what that needs and will cost.

The remodeling and updating doesn't scare me but I'm thinking at least 10k per apartment. I just don't know how much updating is needed for a rental as opposed to a house to flip. I don't want to put in more than needed, but I want to definitely provide an attractive apartment.

I'm really just waiting on my contractor to give me an idea of repairs, rehab, and costs. 

Apt #2

Cat-ladies doll......

Cool wall paintings.

This apartment had the most water damage. I think it was because of poor water management (gutters and such). The owner and cat-lady said the water problem had been fixed, just not the walls redone.

Awesome fireplace mantle.

There was mold on one of the walls. I think it was from condensation from the walls being cold and the weather changes. 

Apt # 1   The cat smell source. D: What's mostly in the bags? Probably trash. What I thought was in the bags: dead cats.

This bathroom had water damage from the ceiling. It seemed that apts 5 and 1 had the water damage so I can assume apt 3 has it as well.

Ok, so at this point the contractor and I had been walking around independantly since I was taking pictures of other rooms. He had peeked inside this room and started walking toward the door. I assumed he was on a time crunch and had his ideas of the apts. I was finishing up pictures on one room and the cat lady led me to the last room. She opened the door for me and I got hit by the stench like a paintcan to the face. I took this picture pretty much to be polite and not throw up on the lady. I'm pretty sure there is cat pee on the floor and vomit and poop and the cat that is/was doing it. I ran out of the apartment gagging to where the contractor was waiting, knowing what I had just seen.

Lots of work to do and honesty probably not going to get these apartments. I want to still figure out the  scope of work with the contractor and make an offer to the seller. Problem is that the owner loves this apartment complex and probably underestimates what it needs to get tenants inside.

Apt # 5

This is the one with the crooked porch.

The kitchen was super outdated and just needed gutted and remodeled.

The hallway when you enter:

A lot of the ceilings had these designs on them. Not sure what to think about them.

Water damage.

Bathroom looked bad.

Porch. All the apts had these and they all looked about the same.

Outside, sorry I didn't take a picture of the front. I was talking with the cat-lady a lot. These two are pictures of the back of the apartments. You can notice the railings are sketchy as all get out. Apparently some amateur "handy" men removed structural supports. This is a big safety hazard for sure.

The second picture shows the ladder to the roof. It's bolted in and my contractor went on the roof. I was much too frightened to go, because... you know... death. He said there were a few holes from a tree branch falling on the roof but overall it looked really good. There are two layers of rubber on the flat parts, but the clay shingles are specialty made and we probably won't be able to replace those. They will have to be redone with regular shingles. I'll post pictures of the roof when my contractor sends them.

Apartment # 6: Starting at the top and best and working toward the worst.

The hardwood floors are amazing, couldn't find anything wrong with them.

The bathroom was cramped and outdated. Needs remodeled and redone.

Really cool mantles in the porch, all the apartments had these.

The kitchen didn't look horrible. It was the best of the all the apartments.

Except that the washer and dryer were in the kitchen...

Alrighty, got a lot of pictures, I'll just post about 25% of them.

Basement: crammed full of junk, but my contractor said the foundation looks great and the joists and stuff are solid. New drain plumbing looks good and the electrical and gas are good too. Most of the water heaters need replaced though since there is rust at the bottom. One is new though.

Then the interior stairwell seemed pretty good. There was a crack on the top floor above the stairwell. Also, there was some drywall outside the 3rd and 4th apts.

More to come, I'll make a few posts...

Found a contractor to come with me, said he'd do it for free but I told him I'd give him $20 because the place stinks. I'm hoping the cat lady will show us all 6 apts. 

I'm going to be bringing something to write down all the repairs needed and be taking pictures. 

Just emailed two realtors for a list of recently sold mult-families.

 Great Idea. I might just use this exactly. 

@Zach Quick I was thinking about that, what's weird is today I'm only being shown apts 1,2,4,&5 by cat lady and some time later the owner will show me apts 3 & 4 as there are more repairs in that one.