Does anyone routinely get police reports on a multifamily property during due diligence? I wish I had on a recently purchased one in Des Moines. I knew it was going to need $ put into it and some weeding out of marginal characters but was surprised when I found out there were 391 police calls there last year and 112 thus far this year. It's going to take more than I expected to turn this place around. Lesson learned.

Wow, that's really rough. Do most police departments offer that information up freely? I haven't needed that personally, because I invest in my home town (happens to be Des Moines) so I have an anecdotal understanding of the crime rates in the neighborhoods, but never thought about getting real data around it. Best of luck!

@Dennis Tierney That's something I never thought about either.  Sorry to hear about the unexpected surprise.  I just went off the Trulia crime maps previously.  As @Rick Mapes mentioned, was it difficult to get that information and what information did they request you submit to obtain the data?

I didn't know about it but the property management company has a relationship with the police so they were able to get it.

@Rick Mapes  I bought a couple small mulit families in march and found out that the police had been called there on one tenant a handful of times in 2019.  I simply went down to the polk county court house and they printed me off all of the police reports to that address and it cost me a $5.  

During the due diligence process, especially on multifamily it is always wise to make a quick phone call to the police department and check on any reports for the property address. Along with checking on the Trulia site will give you a view of the entire neighborhood with crime facts. 

@Rick Mapes

Look at your States freedom of information act. That information is a public now. You just need to request it. It might not be as easy as a telephone call but you can get the information if you really want it.

@Dennis Tierney thank you for sharing, I had never thought of that. So sorry about your situation...somehow, I think that the good karma you have shared with us will bring you goodness...somehow, somewhere in your life.

@Dennis Tierney

Were you able to get the tenants (with the police report of calls/ visits) evicted or cash for keys to move or something like that?

@Darson Grantham

Were you able to get your one problem tenant ( with the multiple police calls/visits) to move?

It was more than one problem tenant but yes we have been able to clean out the bad actors and the rest of the tenants are grateful.

@Cheryl Vargas yes, she went into rehab and her mom moved her stuff out, so I was lucky!  But had multiple discussions with my attorney so at least now i know the process i need to take to evict here in Iowa.

@Darson Grantham

That’s good to hear it worked out for you.

Is your property in a B or C class neighborhood? I’m asking so I can know what kinds of areas to avoid buying in so that I can avoid problems like what you encountered.

@Cheryl Vargas , I would argue that what happened in my deal could happen to anyone, even experienced landlords.

It will happen more often in C or D neighborhoods though.  Looking back, I would not have purchased the property any differently because I was getting a significant discount on the property.

If a person was buying a more turnkey property with fully occupied tenants, it might be worth considering a background check on each current tenant (if legal) and or requesting that the landlord removes all tenants prior to the closing date.

Inherited tenants can be good and can be bad, but typically the stories about inherited tenants are not favorable. 

Good luck with purchasing your first property!  These are all really good questions!

@Dennis Tierney Very unfortunate to hear this happen. This is why I always stick to B class areas backed up by data. Next time, try to pay close attention to ownership rates, household incomes, and unemployment alongside crime rates in the area. I'm currently developing a software to help investors do precisely that. DM if you're interested in trying it out. And I hope this property is stabilized by now! Hopefully, it's an improving neighborhood..

Originally posted by @Dennis Tierney :

Does anyone routinely get police reports on a multifamily property during due diligence? I wish I had on a recently purchased one in Des Moines. I knew it was going to need $ put into it and some weeding out of marginal characters but was surprised when I found out there were 391 police calls there last year and 112 thus far this year. It's going to take more than I expected to turn this place around. Lesson learned.

 I feel it's fairly obvious when looking at a property if there are going to be a lot of police calls. The neighborhood , condition of the building and the tenants pretty clearly tell the story so long as you're paying attention.