Realtor · Monmouth County · Member since 2020 · 95 posts · 37 votes
My partner and I have been reading a lot recently about how hard it is to buy a property in New Jersey that produces positive cash flow.
We made an offer that has been accepted on a property in Perth Amboy NJ and so this sentiment has us nervous. After running the analysis we see this property is significantly cash flow positive but we can't help but feel that we might be missing something. The numbers are as follows...
Accepted Price: $275K
Units: 6
Rent per unit: $800 ($4,800 per month total)
Vacancy: $480 (10% of Gross rents); Maintenance and Repairs: $480 (10% of Gross Rents); CAPEX: $350; Taxes: $917; Insurance: $833
The tenants are paying for utilities separately so there's nothing budgeted for that. not sure what to expect for common area expenses .
Investor · Beaumont, TX · Member since 2016 · 171 posts · 277 votes
6y
You mention: "Definitely, all the apartments needs cosmetic work and to be updated. This building was built in the early 1900-1920. I did go thru it with my contractor and roof will need to be replaced as well."
So figure ~$40,000 in roof replacement and cosmetic updates for 6 units. How much can you bump rents after the updates?
I don't see a budget for Property Mgmt, so I'm assuming you will self manage, but factor in the time you will need to do showings for lease ups and other things related to property mgmt.
Who does lawn maintenance if any? Did you factor in quarterly pest control?
Class A area or Class C area for tenants? If Class C and the asset is 100 years old, repairs and maintenance will be higher unless plumbing and electrical was completely re-done within the past 20 years
@Sarah Bancob Looks like a good deal based on this info. The purchase price to rent ratio seems suspiciously great to me, though I’m not familiar with your market in particular.
It would be helpful to dig a little deeper. How are you getting your rent comps - is that the current rent rate the units are fetching? What is the age of the property? Are the structure and the primary systems (water, HVAC, electrical, etc) in good shape? How does the price of this property compare to other similar properties, and if it’s different, do you know why?
Investor · Marin County California · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
6y
Could this be a 6 bedroom duplex in which each bedroom is being rented separately? if so, check local law to make sure this is a legal arrangement within the zoning district. If not, the rent should be discounted appropriately.
Realtor · Monmouth County · Member since 2020 · 95 posts · 37 votes
6y
Definitely, all the apartments needs cosmetic work and to be updated. This building was built in the early 1900-1920. I did go thru it with my contractor and roof will need to be replaced as well. no HVAC, electric and gas all looks good. I will go to zoning this week to verify that it is a legal 6 units; so thanks @Account Closed for pointing that out. They are all one bedrooms. I just want to know if I am not seeing something that others can point out before I am out of attorney review I want to be sure I know what I am up against.
Realtor · Monmouth County · Member since 2020 · 95 posts · 37 votes
6y
@Wendell Fong It is a multi family property that has 6 one bedroom apartments. And yes, you are correct I believe the correct property taxes are around $9000 but bc of the current disastrous economy we feel the property taxes will be raised significantly that's why we increased it in our numbers anticipating this to happen so we budget for that.
Investor · Marin County California · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
6y
6 1 bedroom units? How much square footage? Properties of this nature easily become defacto transient hotels if located in undesirable areas. This may explain the amazing paper cash flow. Managing such properties is likely to become a full-time job, though. Pay heed to the general area as well as to the property itself.
Investor · Beaumont, TX · Member since 2016 · 171 posts · 277 votes
6y
You mention: "Definitely, all the apartments needs cosmetic work and to be updated. This building was built in the early 1900-1920. I did go thru it with my contractor and roof will need to be replaced as well."
So figure ~$40,000 in roof replacement and cosmetic updates for 6 units. How much can you bump rents after the updates?
I don't see a budget for Property Mgmt, so I'm assuming you will self manage, but factor in the time you will need to do showings for lease ups and other things related to property mgmt.
Who does lawn maintenance if any? Did you factor in quarterly pest control?
Class A area or Class C area for tenants? If Class C and the asset is 100 years old, repairs and maintenance will be higher unless plumbing and electrical was completely re-done within the past 20 years
Realtor · Monmouth County · Member since 2020 · 95 posts · 37 votes
6y
@Adriel Hsu thank you, I did not even think to factor in pest control or snow removal. There is no grass so no worries there. We will be doing our own managing of the property. This building is in a class C area, so what percentage should we be using for repairs on a property this old? We have it at 10% now. Should it be more?
Lender · Asheville, NC · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y
Have you been to the property yourself and paid for a third party inspection? Getting your own eyes on it and that of someone qualified that you trust is the best way to know what you're working with. The BP calculators are great for making sure you aren't missing any line items. It should be easy to verify market rents and actual rents. Don't settle for the seller stated rents. Ask to see the rent rolls to verify. Asking to see maintenance records will also help you verify if there's deferred maintenance that the seller is trying to get out of. Finally, the seller might just be tired of being a landlord, looking to get out from under the property and whatever debt they owe on it or maybe they're spooked by the eviction moratorium and their tenants have stopped paying rent. It could just also be a good deal. I hope that's the case!
I'm with the others here in making sure you can verify it really is 6 rentals. Does it have any tenants now, or is it completely / partially empty? NJ has very tenant friendly policies (even before Covid), so i would take that into account as well, considering the area. I am an NJ resident and have invested in real estate out of state because of the bigger headaches and smaller pockets investing in-state.
Realtor · Monmouth County · Member since 2020 · 95 posts · 37 votes
6y
@Bonnie Low we did see the property with our contractor. The property is owned by a nice old man who can no longer take care of the property so he is selling.
Rental Property Investor · Northern NJ · Member since 2019 · 672 posts · 677 votes
6y
Your partner made a thread already and I commented in it. Insurance numbers are not right. Taxes will be higher as well. Perth Amboy is not an amazing area but there are worse.
Realtor · Monmouth County · Member since 2020 · 95 posts · 37 votes
6y
@Mark F. The insurance is including flood insurance. The flood insurance in NJ is really expensive. I am not questioning the price of the building because I know we have to put in money to update the units and a new roof as well. Our concern is that maybe we are doing the calculations wrong. Do you think we should put a higher percentage on maintenance and repairs? or on Capex? What have other BP investors done when purchasing an old building? What percentages do you budget in your numbers?
Rental Property Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2019 · 34 posts · 19 votes
6y
@Sarah Bancob
You probably did the math, but $350 per month for 6 units seems low for CAPEX (depending on the what you put in that budget). I put roof, air conditioning units, water heaters, and plumbing all in my CAPEX. I'm in Phoenix, so heating isn't a huge problem. I just take the cost of each of those, and plan to pay for a new roof or AC unit or water heater at the expiration of the warrantee. I just add those costs up over 10 years and divide by the number of months in those 10 years to get my amount I need to set aside each month. It often comes out to about $100 per unit per month, but each location is different. If those items last past the warrantee, then it's extra money in my pocket.
Rental Property Investor · Northern NJ · Member since 2019 · 672 posts · 677 votes
6y
Yup then the insurance makes sense. I dont mess with flood zones as I don't need another x factor in crazy NJ tax environment.
Id still question the price. Is this place currently uninhabitable? A roof isn't much, 20k and a weekend problem solved. Updating the units is different than unliveable units.
If youre not doing a full gut reno and its that old, yeah 10% for repairs, maintenance and Capex needs to be higher for each. Honestly numbers work better than %s. I think 45% for all the above are safe.
What do other BP investors do on old buildings? Budget a bunch of money for stuff breaking.
Realtor · Monmouth County · Member since 2020 · 95 posts · 37 votes
6y
@Kyle Benham Okay I see, now is starting to make better sense and not seem "too good to be true" of a deal. So I will factor in $100 per unit for Capex. Thanks!
Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2019 · 131 posts · 116 votes
6y
You're buying at $45K/door, and average rent per unit is $800. Just running simple math, I know if the average rent/unit is more than 1% of the price/door it should cash flow. In your case it's almost 2% which means it will cash flow very nicely.
Just make sure you know where you are buying. Always check the median household income, crime, and school data of the neighborhood. Generally speaking, you want your median household income to be at least $40K. www.neighborhoodscout.com is a great source to pull this data.