Rehabbing Burned Units | Photos From Inspection Report

[Mario Brown]

My partner and i are in the middle of due diligence on a 36 Unit Apartment building in Spartanburg, SC.  In our opinion, there is tremendous value-add opportunity in getting 2 fire damaged units online as the owner decided not to put any more money into the complex a couple years ago and they have sat vacant. 

Any advice on rehabbing these burned units, things to look out for, best practices?  

I have rehabbed several units before but never fire damaged units.  I have also included all images from inspection report for those that aren't familiar with the overall process...

Thanks for the insights. 

[Linda Weygant]

If the building was built before 1978, you can be guaranteed that those fire damaged units are also asbestos contaminated.  If this is the case, you have to get a professional remediation company to remove and professionally dispose of all contaminated materials.  This can be pretty expensive, so make sure the purchase price takes that into account.

When you go for inspection, make sure your inspector really goes over those fire units carefully.  There can be all kinds of structural issues in there.  

Lastly, a landlord that just quits maintaining the property is an awful person to have to work with, but hopefully they understand the concept of deferred maintenance, how expensive it is to catch back up and are willing to sell the property at a price commensurate with this neglect.

Good luck!  I hope it all goes well for you.