First Timer...too much too quick?

First Timer...too much too quick?

New to Real Estate · Member since 2021 · 21 posts · 6 votes

Good morning BF. 

Been looking to get in the game for a little while now and ran across a potential investment by pure luck.

Was originally looking at single family residential to start out with rentals.

Commercial deal came in to our laps:

$310,000 purchase price
4 retail store fronts(3 rented to a cafe, 1 to a boutique)
2 apartments rented out upstairs
1 vacant apartment upstairs(biggest of the 3 residentials). Family lived in for years and moved away.

$40k rental income next year
Slighty over $45k 2023 with rent increases in place(were cut back for covid purposes)

NOI is $28k before mortgage

Numbers all seem legit and a good investment.

My question to the seasoned vets is: Would I be going too quick too fast with this many units to manage? The way I see it, it would take roughly 4 single family homes in my area to get back the same return in the same time frame. Cash flow would be slightly more with 4 single families, but we're not looking to get rich quick here and the cash flow on the commercial building would suffice, plus appreciation, paying off debt, and doing small rehab to the vacant property along with renting it out would increase value with additional rent.

I run a business with 40 employees and understand the business side of things pretty well. But I don't know if I should leap into this many tenants without "landlord" experience at all.


I appreciate any feedback you can give!!

Dustin

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TX · Member since 2018 · 154 posts · 92 votes
4y

@Dustin Corbett expenses seem a bit off - 30% expense ratio is low but it could be due to economies of scale. It’s just surprising that between taxes, insurance, lawn care, utilities, etc, it’s only $12k.

I don’t think you are going to fast. My first 4 properties were 4plexes and I bought the first 3 within 6 months. Good luck.

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  • New to Real Estate · Member since 2021 · 21 posts · 6 votes
    4y

    @Silvio Cangianni If this property was in lower Westchester I would have paid cash in 10 minutes LOL. I am in upstate New York now. I lived in the area for many years about 10 years ago. Totally different market up here to say the least!!

  • Real Estate Broker · NY · Member since 2020 · 70 posts · 27 votes
    4y

    All I have to say is WOW, that sounds like a great deal, however, I have no experience in commercial. If I were in your shoes I would be so tempted to jump right in and grow through the learning stages. Might be one of the best investments you make.

  • New to Real Estate · Member since 2021 · 21 posts · 6 votes
    4y

    @LaTonya Clark Without question everything seems to lead to "do it". We are close to the point of putting in the offer. Because of it being commercial and a number of units, I am doing much diligence with attorneys and lender to make sure everything gets put in place prior to offer/closing to ensure all is set up properly before go time. I want a water tight set up from the beginning being that my experience is very limited, frankly ZERO.

    I will keep updates so hopefully people here in this community can learn the good and or bad from my situation just starting out. I will be completely open and up front without fabricating anything for the purpose of transparency. Believe me when I tell you we are going through the "jitters" and "paralysis by analysis" right now. Jumping in will most likely be the best thing to do!!

  • Real Estate Broker · NY · Member since 2020 · 70 posts · 27 votes
    4y

    Well I commend you and will anxiously wait for your updates. But aways remember things will work itself out even if you can't see it now. Believe it THEN see it. 

  • Joe SplitrockPro Member
    Moderator
    Rental Property Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2015 · 9k+ posts · 18k+ votes
    4y

    @Dustin Corbett I owned a 100 year old building that was 6 apartments upstairs and two large commercial units downstairs. The first challenge I ran into was insurance related. We had trouble finding insurance companies what would cover a mixed use building at an economical price. The other thing to consider is 39 year depreciation versus 27.5 means less to offset income. In our case there was some challenge keeping the commercial spaces rented. The building was old, so we had lots of repair expenses. Water leaking from pipes and showers upstairs dripped on the commercial spaces, so that was a pain too. On top of all that, we had a flat roof that was newer and warrantied, but we still fought leaks. I would personally never do a mixed use building again. I would either do all apartments or straight commercial. Colliding the two worlds wasn't ideal in my experience.

  • New to Real Estate · Member since 2021 · 21 posts · 6 votes
    4y

    @Joe Splitrock this may become a hurdle. We are vetting insurances now. And yes the maintenance(or lack thereof) is a concern. The two apartments were completely re-done 4 years ago. We got access to one and it was in very good shape. That being said a thorough inspection will need to be done for us to move forward and will obviously be a part of  an offer we put in.

    As far as the depreciation....were you able to shorten the term if you wanted to? We have meeting with CPA soon to go through this and many other questions we have. 

  • Joe SplitrockPro Member
    Moderator
    Rental Property Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2015 · 9k+ posts · 18k+ votes
    4y
    Originally posted by @Dustin Corbett:

    @Joe Splitrock this may become a hurdle. We are vetting insurances now. And yes the maintenance(or lack thereof) is a concern. The two apartments were completely re-done 4 years ago. We got access to one and it was in very good shape. That being said a thorough inspection will need to be done for us to move forward and will obviously be a part of  an offer we put in.

    As far as the depreciation....were you able to shorten the term if you wanted to? We have meeting with CPA soon to go through this and many other questions we have. 

     Check on the rehab units to make sure they fully rehabbed things like plumbing and electrical. Sometimes they put lipstick on a pig and you are stuck with cast iron or steel pipes underneath. Depreciation, you can accelerate some of it using cost seg studies. 

    Another consideration is that commercial leases are different than residential. Usually improvements are done by the landlord and negotiated into the lease. That could mean extra capital outlay to attract a tenant. 

    Also this may be obvious, but you need a commercial loan due to the commercial space. That means no 30 year conventional. It is probably a 5 year loan with 20 year amortization and 20-25% down payment required. You may also have some challenges in appraisal if they have trouble finding comparable. They may just use income approach or the bank may do their own appraisal since the bank will likely hold the loan. 

    One other issue we had on the insurance was due to both commercial units being vacant. They didn't want to bond insurance on vacant units due to risk. 

    Honestly I had problems at every twist and turn on that mixed use building. Way more than I would have expected. Not to say you will have all the same problems. Maybe I had bad luck or a bad location, hard to say.

  • New to Real Estate · Member since 2021 · 21 posts · 6 votes
    4y

    @Joe Splitrock just met with a local commercial lender. Indeed 20% and fixed rate for 5 years. However we have a local corporation that takes on 40% of the loan with lower rates and lower down payment requirements(if you choose) for investors that are buying properties that house businesses with employees. Promotion of economic development. This is very interesting and may save a ton of money being that their portion would be a fixed rate for 15 years. Meeting with attorney on Thursday. Will keep updates

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