Hello! I am new to the forums after lurking for quite some time. My dad owns a building in NYC that was once his fathers when he came to America in the 1960s. It is in South Queens and is completely paid off, storefront is a nice restaurant and apartment is completely done upstairs. Dad is a very hard worker with two jobs. He has no idea about real estate investing and isn't quite aware of the great investment he has. If you were in his shoes, what would you do with that building, investment wise? Would you take a HELOC out from it to buy more properties? Looking for advice for him!
First of all, your father is very lucky that you are looking out for his best interests! Real estate investing can be overwhelming and that's why BP is so amazing.
That being said, I think you should have a conversation with your father about what his goals/visions look like. Once you guys are clear about what the goals are, you can reverse engineer your success. I also think that your father should be using a CPA/Financial advisor that is intimately involved in the real estate space. You guys cannot use the same advisor/cpa if they don't know how, or are uncomfortable with, using real estate to propel your wealth.
With rates being so low, I personally think it would be a decent move to refinance his commercial property in Queens and use the proceeds to invest in more real estate. This would be an arbitrage play. Now you will have to stay focused on Dad's goals and see if he would want to be active or passive in real estate investing.
PS: I am a lieutenant in the FDNY in Queens so I know the area well.
Timothy’s advice is dead on, the biggest factor would be what his goals are in life..
My father is in a somewhat similar situation he has his small multi paid off but is retired.. I adviced him on getting a HELOC but he wasn't interested he's very conservative not in a stage of life that he wants to start any new ventures.. Also be aware getting a HELOC on a commercial or investment property is a little harder to find but not impossible. Might be easier to do a cash out refi...