Multi Family purchase versus a condo complex? Same strategy?????

[Chip Lambert]

I just received an offering memorandum for a 24 unit.  It is a condo complex.  They list the annual assessment as a monthly expense.  Will buying a condo complex work just like buying a regular multi unit complex?  How will it affect any value add strategy?  I've never seen a broker submit a condo complex before.  I wanted to get some input from others before I contact the broker.   Thanks.

Chip

[Spencer Gray]

We bought a 36 unit condo asset last year, bought out all remaining owners and dissolved the HOA as @Todd Dexheimer suggested. If you do that, then yes, it operates the same as a regular multifamily with the addition to the above mentioned hoops to jump through. 

I would be cautious to buy into a "fractured" condo complex where some are owner occupied and some are rentals. We were able to have all the units under contract and closed on everything the same day - easier said than done.

 The buyer pool for a few units in a complex vs the buyer pool for apartment buildings is much different - you want to be selling to groups that are buying the whole building. Also, financing can be difficult for fractured condos.