been pre-approved, found agent, have mls listings, NOW WHAT?

Question

Hello fellow  Bp-ers!

I've been pre-approved, and have the mls listing for all the multifamily's in  my desired location.

Now what do I do? how do I get the details about the propertys? (Trash, water bils, etc.)

I plan on doing an owner occupy. From what I've seen the rents are higher in the duplexs vs. 3-4 units. Is the Standard?

James Berry · Answer

In case you're still looking for an answer here, there are a number of ways you can get this additional information.  This is not exhaustive, but here's what I know of and have used in evaluating deals.

MLS Fact Sheet - This is likely what you already have, but for multi-unit listings there is typically additional information about expenses and specific units. Direct from the MLS system is best.

Disclosures - Some disclosures contain a "Multi-unit Rider" which will have some information about expenses and specific units. Just request these from the listing agent.

Financials/Books - Financial reports from an individual or corporation describing the financials of a particular property. Depending on the deal you might be able to get these just by requesting them from the parties involved, though usually with some kind of NDA.  Alternatively, you can add a contingency to your offer requiring these documents.

Schedule-E/Schedule-C - These are the specific sections of a 1040 tax filing which will list the officially reported expenses for a property.  You can try requesting this from the listing agent, and/or add an offer contingency.

In terms of what numbers you can trust, I've listed these from least trustworthy to most trustworthy.  MLS can pretty much say whatever it wants, and depending on where you're getting your data, the completeness can vary wildly.  At the other end of the spectrum, tax filings are what have been reported to the government, so there are bigger issues there if those are incorrect.

I hope that helps.  And if anyone else in the forum wants to chime in I too would be interested in more thoughts on this.

Brandon Barnic · Answer

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