Investor · Fort Worth, TX · Member since 2018 · 83 posts · 24 votes
Hello! I was wondering if there are any expenses I should consider when analyzing an apartment complex. Is it basically the same thing as a small multifamily but you just take the extra units into account, or is it way more complicated than that? Thanks!
Hollidaysburg, PA · Member since 2015 · 327 posts · 350 votes
7y
@Eli Rollins, There are other considerations that you will need to take into account. I would suggest you read and learn as much as you can on the subject. In fact, just type in BP's search bar "apartment/multi-family books," or in Google. After you have read several books/blogs/forums and watched several videos on the topic, you'll be able to answer the majority of your own questions. Good luck!
Hollidaysburg, PA · Member since 2015 · 327 posts · 350 votes
7y
@Eli Rollins, There are other considerations that you will need to take into account. I would suggest you read and learn as much as you can on the subject. In fact, just type in BP's search bar "apartment/multi-family books," or in Google. After you have read several books/blogs/forums and watched several videos on the topic, you'll be able to answer the majority of your own questions. Good luck!
Rental Property Investor · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2016 · 653 posts · 769 votes
7y
It might help to find some commercial listings that have full financial breakdowns. That will give you a better understanding of what bills to expect. Though, it's just a starting point. You may need to handle certain parts of the operation differently, such as utilities, cleaning of common areas, pest control, dumpsters vs garbage cans, maintaining a boiler vs furnaces, striping a parking lot, etc.
Commercial contractors work on different terms and maintenance schedules are different as well. And at a certain point in multifamily it makes sense to have onsite management.
Commercial MFH is not much more complicated than residential. Rather it's a different animal. After you start reading books on the topic as @Matt Crusinberry suggested, and reviewing some of the BP blog posts on the topic, you will get a better sense. Also, you need to start analyzing large MFH by getting the listings from brokers or directly on loopnet and asking for additional details. This will give you a better understanding of what's involved in the evaluating commercial MFH.