First rental and first multi family all in one. Need advice.

First rental and first multi family all in one. Need advice.

Rental Property Investor · Baton Rouge, LA · Member since 2019 · 10 posts · 2 votes

Hey everyone,

I have been actively looking for my first rental to acquire. I recently came across and have successfully gotten under contract a total of 12 doors between a few properties from a single investor. I am now going through the motions of walkthroughs, bank funding, checking out property managers, inspections, quotes for repairs and improvements, and everything else that comes along. As I said before this is not only my first multi-family acquisition but also my very first deal, EVER.

I have done my research and I am combing the forums for other investors past experiences but I wanted to ask everyone that reads this, what sort of advice would you give me for things that I should be aware of and/or should look for on this scale of multi-family units? Even the most obvious of things just post them up, nothing can be overlooked for me as I am obviously trying to minimize my mistakes and come out with as much in place as I can. 

A brief rundown on the properties, 12 doors total and 9 are currently occupied. Of the 3 vacant units, 2 are in need of some flooring improvements before being rent ready, the other empty unit became vacant just a few weeks ago and should be listed to rent in the next 7-10 days. Existing tenants have been in place for as short a time as a few months and a few 7+ years and are all on 1-year leases. Overall the structures seem to be sound (inspection next week should tell us a lot more), and it appears that most of the routine and annual maintenance has been done to AC units and other aspects. 

Any advice or words of wisdom you can share would be sincerely appreciated. I have already given my realtors the request for copies of leases, records of existing funds in place for any types of deposits made by the current tenants, maintenance records of any type, and anything else the seller would be willing to share with me at this time. Enough of my rambling, I am anxious to hear from all of you.

Thanks!

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  • Lender · Springfield, MO · Member since 2015 · 379 posts · 180 votes
    7y

    @Matthew K Patton, Congrats on starting out big. Here are some thoughts from a guy in the lending space in no particular order.

    1. 75% occupancy is going to present a significant hurdle to getting a long term loan.

    2. Properties with deferred maintenance (flooring as you noted) will present a significant hurdle to getting a long term loan.

    3. I would prepare for the need to do a bridge loan on some (the vacant or units needing repair) or all of the pool to assure that you complete the transaction. If you do this, there are some decent upsides as you can take advantage of future value by refinancing on the new value AND you would have a couple of the properties on individual loans which gives you a bit of flexibility in the future. 

    Happy to chat about this. Feel free to drop me a PM.

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