All Forum Posts by: Ryan Oldenhage

@Jonathan Emery, @Chad Jarrah & @Andriy Boychuk...I should mention, I haven't used Christian myself as of yet, but I do know him personally and have seen the quality work he puts out.  Additionally, clients of mine have used him and have been very satisfied.  I hope that doesn't discredit my recommendation.  

@Jonathan Emery, yes he does rental turnover as well as small fixes if needed.  He's responsive and true to his word, which I think can be easily overlooked when it comes to the contracting trade, or any trade today for that matter, IMO.  

@Tzvi Ausubel, also, call the local zoning officer, verify the zoning and ask what the largest building/#of units permitted is.

@Tzvi Ausubel, my recommendation before you get too far is to contact a few local commercial builders to try and get a closer "ballpark" number based on what you're looking to build. A few might be Valley Builders, Allied Building and Perdon Construction.  While I think $150/SF is on the low end, it would be best to get some rough numbers first hand before making projections.  Finally a word of advice...building a new commercial building is no small feat, especially if you don't have experience and this is a beginning project for you.  New construction is tough to stay on budget and for a long term hold, may be best to look for a building that you can add value to as opposed to building new.  You won't have the potential lengthy zoning issues and may be easier to keep costs down.

Hi @Andriy Boychuk, Highly recommend Christian Westgate of Omnia Home Remodeling. Website is omnia4245.com 

Hi @Tzvi Ausubel, in this market I would plan on $150/SF being the minimum.  Additionally, what is the existing structure?  Is it an apartment building with 5 or more units, or a residential property with 4 or less?  Zoning approval will greatly depend on the township it is located in, as some townships in the LV are MUCH easier to work with than others.  Feel free to reach out if you have any LV specific questions.  Best of luck!

Nicole Graves One thing that has helped me get over the mental "fear" of losing money on a deal is this...at the end of the day you are investing in an asset which will for the most part retain its general value. There are certainly many ways for you to lose money, both within your control and out of your control. Your money may end up tied up in the property for a period of time, but the chances of you losing all your money that you invest are slim. Especially if you put in the time to research and absorb the information on BP, the chances are much better that you'll be successful. You can learn from so many incredibly successful investors both from what works for them and more importantly from what hasn't and learn from their mistakes. If you do end up losing money from going through a project, the experience and knowledge learned from the project will be worth much more than what you may potentially lose. David Greene , couldn't agree more with your posts. Good work!

I agree with all the above responses that it is very specialized. There is and has been strong industrial growth in my market in Eastern PA, but for the most part it is larger companies doing the heavy hitting. I'm not familiar with your market but here there are 100,000+SF buildings going up, some in excess of 2,000,000 SF. These are mostly all build to suit options being done by developers that have a tenant in place where they are either building for the company to purchase or for a long term lease 15-20+ years. Projects like that obviously make sense for the developers, who already own the land and wait until they have a user in place to build. For the smaller individual investor, I think it's a risky investment unless you are already sitting on land, due to the potential long term vacancies. Tenants have specialized needs and as mentioned, older buildings generally aren't up to spec. Lease rates vary by locality as well. Here, they are in the $5-7/SF NNN range whereas one client I worked with was coming from NC where the rates were in some cases under $1/SF.

Smaller industrial spaces typically lease up faster however, in the 5k-10k range.  Might be a better option if you can find a distressed building, add immediate value and fix up for a smaller use.  There has been an interesting project that was built on spec here where it was almost like industrial units (think strip retail center but for industrial use) in the range of 1k-2k SF each with maybe 200-500 SF of office on the first floor or built into a loft area, higher ceilings with roll up doors.  They have been leased up very quickly and take up a relatively low footprint on a parcel of land.  Location is very important, as is with pretty much all RE.

Great insight, thanks @JD Martin and @Wade Sikkink.  Appreciate the thoughts.

I wanted to get your thoughts on a property I'm considering purchasing...

Cash flowing two-unit property that is currently rented with one long term tenant on the first floor (larger unit) and one tenant on the second floor that may be leaving.  Both are on month to month leases.  The first floor tenant has been there 15+ years and the unit certainly shows it.  Rent is under market for the first floor and less than the smaller, updated second floor.  The long term first floor tenants are disabled and the reason I even mention this is two fold...renovating the first floor unit would be intrusive to their way of life, however, there may be potential code violations.  Also, if I were to consider legally ending their lease after purchase, renovating and re-renting for market rents, it would be extremely difficult for them to find another apartment.  Investor wise, this would make the most sense but ethically/morally it would be a deal breaker for me.  I couldn't in good conscience essentially purchase the place, terminate their lease and put them on the street.  Maybe that answers my question...

The township does not require a CO inspection for a resale.  So maybe just look to purchase, fix any code issues and work with the current first floor tenants as is, until they decide to move (which may not happen based on their rental history)?  At the same time, as an investor I feel like tenants shouldn't determine your investment strategy.  Or am I over thinking this altogether?  Thoughts?

Hi @Luis Rojas, I'm looking into purchasing a property with a potential septic issue as well and was interested if you had any updates on the property you were considering?  Did you end up needing a new system or get any estimates?