New Member In Minnesota looking for networking and feedback!

[Ryan Maier]

Hi guys, My name is Ryan Maier and I’m from Belle Plaine, MN. I’m 40 minutes sw of MINNEAPOLIS. I’m new to real estate investing and am currently looking to move my retirement savings to real estate. I’m looking at a property in the town I live, which I’ve been watching for a while. It’s a storefront retail with residential on the 2nd floor building right on main street. It’s 6200 above ground sq ft and has a full basement as well. I’ve done my analysis on it and am currently working with my local bank on an SBA loan, but I’m not certain that’s the route I want to go yet for funding the deal. I’m hoping to meet others on here who could give me their recommendations on whether they think this deal is a good one or not. Here are some details on the building and some analysis I’ve done, as well as what I’m wanting to do with it after i purchase: Building info: - Currently it’s vacant - Top floor only has one large apartment (I’m looking to put 3-4 apartments. - List price is $195,000 - Sq ft: 6200 - It’s been on the market for over a year Taxes in 2016 were $4720 - Apartment on top floor has been consistently leased while the building was in use. - There is mold according to the agent - I asked about lead paint and asbestos but agent wasn’t forthcoming (or didn’t know). - Building was built in 1940, all brick - There’s a loading dock and large garage door in back. What I’m thinking (feedback please): - Completely gut the top floor and put 3-4 apartments/condos up top (these would lease for $600-$1000 depending on size). - use back half of the lower level for self storage facility and rent those out. - Lease out the store front half of the lower level to retail or something similar (not a priority since the apartments and storage alone will cash-flow the deal) Operating Expenses: ~$11000 (high estimate) NOI: $26350.00 Debt Expense: $18914 Cash Flow before taxes: $7438.00 Taxable NOI: $4425 I’m not looking to pay myself anything, as I’d just like to hold this as long as possible for my kids and to learn as much as possible for my next deal. On paper, Of course it looks good, but i don’t know what I don’t know, so I’m hoping to get some feedback or questions to ask that I haven’t thought of yet. Open to meeting with anyone in my area to discuss. Thanks in advance!

[James W.]

I think it seems like quite a bit to bite off for a first deal if you plan to convert it to multifamily above.  In that area, I would think you could get residential real estate to cash flow fine.  Below are a few things you should consider.

I would look into the zoning to see if it would be allowable to make the upstairs a multifamily before getting too far into it.  

Who would do the work to convert the upstairs to multifamily and at what cost?  How will you get the financing for that?

How easy is it to rent out a storefront in Belle Plaine?  I would think rents would be somewhat limited, vacancy would be high and it would be hard to find long-term tenants.  I would research rents for the area looking at inventory levels for similar properties if there are others available.

If it has been on the market a long time, there is a reason.  It could be the location, the type of property or the property itself.  I could see things sitting longer in that area in general, but the property taxes are higher than I would have expected as well.  

Some people say going commercial is the best way to go, but it helps to keep things simple starting out as well.