Looking for advice ....

[Gerald Kieffer Jr]

I'm considering the purchase of an old 30k+ square foot school building built in the mid-1940's. What contingencies should I place in my offer? Asbestos, lead paint, a sound structure & roof, .... anything else?

Also, once purchased, I plan on hiring a designer and then putting together a group of investors to help ensure a successful build out. Any advice of that aspect of the project would be greatly appreciated.

[Barry Ruby]

@Gerald Kieffer Jr

Gerald, I have developed many different asset types and only one retrofit project.

There is no question that the retrofit was as or more challenging as any project I’ve done.

I suggest that you do a deep dive into solidifying your gross rental income and NOI.

Use your NOI to determine the value of your project and work backwards from that value to determine your "all in" budget by deducting a target profit, commissions and closing costs to define the total budget you have to work with.

Use your budget to determine if the scope of work required in construction costs can be met by your budget.

Doing this as early as possible can give you a good idea of whether or not the deal is feasible and has the potential to save you a whole lot of money and time.

Let me know if you need any help with this