All Forum Posts by: Samuel S.

@Drew Sygit Appreciate the advice! I am shocked that commercial is that far behind residential. 

I suppose my next question would then be what is the value for having a subscription to any of the above mentioned databases?  Would they essentially be the same as loopnet? Which database would be best for seeing property ownership?  And in all reality, what actually distinguishes one database from another?  I.e Costar vs Reonomy?

@E. C. "Stony" Stonebraker @Brian Adams

 Thanks a ton for your responses!

Everything you guys mentioned makes send, but I guess I am still very confused:

My wife is currently a residential agent who has access to the MLS. One the MLS, it shows current listings, pending/expired/withdrawn listings, and allows for you to zoom in on a map and click a parcel to see who owns it.

I was under the assumption that this was how the commercial systems worked as well.  I understand that each of the above mentioned systems have a different way to view/ analyze the data, however don't they all have the exact same data? I.e if an owner owns an apartment complex, that apartment complex and the owners information should show up on each system, no?

For instance - I currently invest in 1 county.  First and foremost, I would like to run a report to see every single apartment complex, and every single industrial building within that county.  And also be able to pull the owners contact information so I can send direct mail. Secondly, I would like to see what is currently listed for sale and what has been listed for sale in years prior (withdrawn/ expired listings etc)?

Based on this, and cost aside, would there be a recommendation for which database/ system would work the best?

Hey BP folks,

I am looking at getting a commercial real estate subscription so that I can start researching multifamily/ industrial myself and go direct to seller.

Was hoping to find out who the best company is to go through.  It seems that the general consensus is Costar, but have heard there are others like Reonomy, Crexi, CPIX, etc.

I would essentially be trying to locate properties that are currently on the market, old listings, and properties that may have never been listed, but show the owners information. 

Any insight or pros and cons of each would be greatly appreciated!!  For what its worth, I am located in the metro Detroit market.

Thanks!

Thanks @Rebekah! Very great advice.  I knew that there would be a lot of expense on the employee side.  Definitely think a consultant would be the way to go. Especially since this would be our first venture in the space.

Hey BP folks,

Was hoping I could get some insight into the below deal that I currently have under contract, where we are looking to turn a vacant 27 unit apartment complex (45 beds total) into an assisted living facility. What is most interesting about this deal is that the property used to be a hospital before it was converted to an apartment complex 30 years ago, so it is already equipped with many ADA compliant amenities such as large doorways/hallways, elevator, etc. It also has a great deal of character - large ceilings, tons of windows and sunlight, extremely spacious layouts, etc. 

This property is located in a smaller county (35k population), which happens to be the seat of the county where all the surrounding city residents typically come into for all their commerce needs (shopping, factory jobs, hospitals, etc).  The property is also in a very attractive location, within walking distance to the downtown area, and has an extremely rich history as it is was the historic town hospital. So much so that the city is willing to offer tax incentives to whoever is to come in and make an investment. 

Over the past few years the property has slowly become cosmetically dilapidated due to absentee owner and property management issues. However the building has very good structural bones, and the boiler system, fire suppression, and elevators are all in surprisingly seemly good condition.  

I believe that the highest and best use for this building is to turn it into an assisted living facility, and restore its original beauty.   

I have started doing research on what would be needed to turn a building like this into an assisted living facility, but haven't yet been able to find a solid source for information yet.  I don't believe zoning will be an issue due to the city's apparent willingness to work with the investor.

My main question is surrounding what legally needs to be done to turn this into an assisted living facility (outside of ADA building code compliance and zoning)

1. Do I need to be registered with the state/county? 

2. Do I need to have "x" amount of nurses, nurse assistants, etc on staff at any given time? 

3. What are the main legal/ regulation requirements? 

I know this is somewhat of an open ended question - but I am just trying to figure out exactly what items I need to do into order to make this a legal assisted living facility. 

Any advise would be greatly appreciated!!

Hey BP folks,

So I am looking to get a large parcel (30 acres total) under contract for around 5k per acre, and thinking that it could make sense to try and build ranch style side by side, prefab duplexes.  2 bed, 1 bath, 850 square feet on each side, $900 monthly rent. 

I have read a lot of threads on here regarding this topic, but seems like there is not a general consensus on if the multi family prefab model  makes financial sense.  I presume it's because it all depends on land costs, development/ utility connect costs, and rent comps.

My question is, if you take the above 3 cost elements out of the equation entirely, is there a standard cost per square foot anyone in this space is currently seeing, for just the landed construction costs only? And is there a key manufacturer who seems to be the most cost competitive in this space?

I think this area is only going to grow in the future, but wondering if we are still a ways out in terms of manufacturing efficiencies.

Thanks in advance!!

This is not located in metro Detroit. Just outside. The metro Detroit market is highly competitive and pretty saturated right now. I think this type of deal would be very hard to come by in the metro, unless you are talking the city of Detroit. 

@Jay Hinrichs Thanks a ton for your advise Jay! That is a great idea for the preliminary stage, especially before spending a lot of time and money on something that might not pan out. Definitely going to pursue that route.

And yes, 2-2.5K square footage could run in the mid to high 3's. This is very ballpark, but I have a good friend who is a local builder and he is getting around that cost per square foot on his new builds. 

Hey BP folks,

Was hoping I could get some insight on the below off market land development deal that I am working on. This would be my first development deal, and so I have been trying to absorb as much info as I can beforehand.

There are 4 parcels in this deal, all right next to each other.  The total asking price is $161k for the 29 acres, or $5.5k per acre.

Parcel 1 - 19 acres - asking $59k

Parcel 2 - 5 acres - asking $41k

Parcel 3 - 4 acres - asking $49k

Parcel 4 - 1 acre - asking $12k

These parcels are in a very attractive location, less than a half mile from one of the great lakes in Michigan, and I believe would be a perfect set up for a sub division.  Either just on the 19 acre parcel, or by using the other 3 parcels as a means for accessing and driving into the sub.  Depending on all the variables (builder, square footage, finishes etc), I believe the homes would sell anywhere between 300-450k.  

I have already spoken with the township and confirmed these parcels are zoned residential.  

Potential concerns:

1. According to the county drain commission, these parcels may be located in/near a wetland zone, and I am waiting to hear back from the state on if this is true, and if it will cause any issues.  Although I am hopeful it won't, as there is a very nice subdivision previously built just north of this area, but in the same general plot of land. There are also homes on the same street as the access way to these parcels.

2. This land hasn't really been developed, and a portion of it (maybe 50%) is covered by trees and the like. 

The plan would be to contract a local engineering firm to provide a proposal/costs for the development, such as # of potential lots, any easements, road creation costs, utility connects, etc.  My understanding is once I have this preliminary plan and it is reviewed/approved by the township, I can then either (1) look to sell the entire plan to builders, (2) do some of the initial work myself (clear trees, etc) and then sell to builders, or (3) take on the entire project myself and partner with a builder. 

At this point, I am mostly wondering if there are any glaring issues/ concerns that I am missing? And, based solely on the information I provided (total acreage, cost per acre, potential home comps), if this seem like this could be a very lucrative deal? I believe it would ultimately come down to how many lots I could get out of the total acreage, and what the early stage development costs would be. 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!!

Hey BP folks,

I know there is a ton of info on the forums regarding unsecured lines of credit, but a lot of them seem to be from several years ago.  Also product availability seem to ebb and flow between institutions on a fairly frequent basis. 

That said, was hoping someone could point me in the right direction for who they are using in 2020?  I have heard Wells Fargo and PNC are still solid options, but wasn't sure if there are any others out there.

Thanks in advance for any input!