Just closed on 32 unit apartment

Just closed on 32 unit apartment

Real Estate Broker · Flower Mound, TX · Member since 2012 · 58 posts · 30 votes

Hey everyone. Just wanted to share my success. It is a 32 unit apartment located in Dallas. It was built in 1983 and features 14 one bedrooms and 18 two bedrooms. The kicker about this property is that each apartment has its own garage. They are single car garages, but they are really long so you could maybe squeeze two small cars in them.

The property has a lot of deferred maintenance that I will be addressing in the next few months. The roof and gutters are the big thing. There is also a french drain system that is completely clogged up that we will have to clean out. The previous owner had just put in a mix of laminate and vinyl wood flooring throughout the units. The interiors are in pretty good shape, but the exterior is extremely neglected. The units have individual HVAC's and water heaters, about half of which were replaced within the last 2 years. The property management company I hired specializes in the value play. They have their own construction division to do all the work. They are a bit more expensive then the other companies I spoke to, but with all the deferred maintenance I feel it needs the extra attention these guys will give it. This includes a full time manager and part time maintenance person. Management cost will be about 10% plus one apartment.

It is in a section of Dallas called Vickery Meadows. It is a low income, mostly Hispanic area. It has the highest population density in the DFW area with approx. 44 units per acre. The area is in the beginning stages of gentrification with a new Walmart, Sams Club and Target having just opened up nearby. There have also been a few apartment complex's that have recently been torn down in order to build newer nicer complex's.

The purchase price was $850k with $50k seller credit to go toward the deferred maintenance so effectively a $25k per door purchase before figuring in deferred maintenance costs. I was able to get a local bank to finance it with a 80% LTV @ 4.625%. 25 year amortization. It is a 5 year note with a balloon at the end, but the bank has an option to extend for additional 5 year periods instead of re-financing. I wanted a longer term, but banks didn't want to go any longer without a steep rise in rates or larger down payment. Closing costs were $22,269.72 along with $2,100 for an inspection. Total cash in was $183k. Expected NOI (per property managers budget) $82,518.

I'm real excited about his deal. It is my first. I have a few other properties, but those are all partnerships that I inherited. This is the first one I have done on my own and will have control over. It is also my first multifamily, the others are industrial.

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Joel OwensBusiness Member
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Real Estate Broker · Canton, GA · Member since 2010 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
13y

Let's call NOI 82,000.

So at 50% costs gross expected income is 164,000 or 427 a door per month

If landlord pays water 60% gross income is about 206,000 or about 536/door

The 5 year balloon is the killer. I see some banks go 7 or 10 years out at the low rate you have but ltv is 75% and not 80%. My buyers just usually get a seller held second to increase cash on cash but opt for the longer term debt.

The bank option to extend another 5 years does the bank lay out specifically what the options will be or do they leave it wide open?? We make projections on five year term balloons with exits to dump quick if you need to.

I find local banks only do the 5 years as they are worried about future interest payouts to depositors versus rising rates. Regionals and larger banks give more long term debt but are more picky on the property.

How much per door is estimated for immediate capex versus ongoing capex with the property??

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  • Investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2010 · 1k+ posts · 928 votes
    13y

    Sounds great, @David Turner . My one bit of advice would be to watch the PM company doing the rehab work like a hawk. Most PM companies that I've encountered have a very strong Time & Materials mentality and structure, and really don't like to commit to firm job-based bids. They also tend to hire lower-skilled/marginal folks. So this can end up being a blank check for them, and you can end up overpaying, taking too much time, and still have sub-par work. Job bids keep the incentives where they need to be and enforce discipline on the contractor. Hopefully this is what you have in place. I know you said they specialize in turnarounds and rehabs, so maybe you've found the exception.

    Best of luck!

    Also, the insurance is not a closing cost but a prepaid expense, so your closing costs aren't as high as they appear at first blush.

  • Real Estate Consultant · Camarillo, CA · Member since 2010 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    13y

    Good job keeping the emotions in check and letting the numbers do the talking.

    10% does seem high. Seems that you should be able to get an 8% and no units for that size. That is what I am paying on a 20 unit in RGV.

  • Real Estate Attorney, Broker, Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2013 · 207 posts · 58 votes
    13y

    Congratulations! This is great news.

    Glad to hear that it all went well.

  • Real Estate Broker · Flower Mound, TX · Member since 2012 · 58 posts · 30 votes
    13y

    @Paul Khazansky Yes, I agree that the property management is quite high. But this is due to the condition of the property. I talked to a bunch of PM companies, but most weren't interested due to the property size. Most I talked to only due single family/duplex/fourplex. The others manage complexes with hundreds of units. I only found two that were willing to do a property this size. One usually only does single family but they were willing to operate the facility as a single family and just show up as needed. The other (the company I went with) usually does larger properties, but was willing to do this because it was only a mile from their office.

    I'm not paying a straight 10%, its just that the fees end up being about 10%. It is $925 per month to the PM company for their services along with $650 per month for the managers salary. I found out on Friday that the manager isn't planning on moving into one of the apartments, so I will actually be saving that expense.

  • Real Estate Broker · Flower Mound, TX · Member since 2012 · 58 posts · 30 votes
    13y

    @David Beard Don't worry, I plan on making frequent visits to the complex. So far I have been real impressed with the company. They seem to know what they are doing. They have already giving me bids for all the work to be done. They have all their own tradesman on staff so they don't have to call in other companies often. Their labor rate is $15 per hour for maintenance. I feel this is pretty good because it includes licensed HVAC, electricians and plumbers.

    The owner of the PM company has his own apartments that he owns so I am hoping that they take care of my property the same way they take care of his. They also come highly recommended.

  • Dallas, TX · Member since 2011 · 308 posts · 59 votes
    13y

    Congrats on this deal. That is a solid area. You mentioned this was your first deal. Did the bank not put a lot of emphasis on experience? I would love to get into multi's of this size but even if I could raise capital or partner for the downpayment, I feel like banks would not take me seriously due to lack of experience.

  • Mechanicsburg, PA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    13y

    @David Turner

    Congrats of your hard work to find the deal and persist and get the excellent financing. That market between 20 & 100 units is a sweet spot to be in. Bigger than mom & pops and smaller than the reit, hedge funds, etc.

    Great name too.

  • Real Estate Broker · Flower Mound, TX · Member since 2012 · 58 posts · 30 votes
    13y

    @Bryce Y. The bank did consider my lack of experience. I had actually pre-qualified with a couple of banks before I even started looking at apartments. This really helped me to show the broker that I was a serious buyer.

    In my experience, small local banks are more flexible about these sorts of things. It helped that I have a good income and I had a good downpayment plus enough for closing costs and additional reserves. One of the big things that helped, though, was the property management company. Since they were able to see that I had knowledgable, experienced people on my team they felt a lot more comfortable lending to me.

  • New York City, NY · Member since 2013 · 39 posts · 1 vote
    13y
    Hey David, Congratulations on your success and I wish you luck for the future. Thank you for sharing your experience, thanks for posting and thanks for the details. Good to see a fellow Bp'er one step up. Cheers !!!
  • New York City, NY · Member since 2013 · 39 posts · 1 vote
    13y
    Just one thing I'd like to highlight regarding mgt companies. Inspect what you expect and manage them closely. Thanks again
  • Investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2010 · 1k+ posts · 928 votes
    13y
    Originally posted by David T.:
    @David Beard Don't worry, I plan on making frequent visits to the complex. So far I have been real impressed with the company. They seem to know what they are doing. They have already giving me bids for all the work to be done. They have all their own tradesman on staff so they don't have to call in other companies often. Their labor rate is $15 per hour for maintenance. I feel this is pretty good because it includes licensed HVAC, electricians and plumbers.

    All sounds good if your contractor is working from signed job contracts, which contains a detailed Scope of Work. And you should have an independent contractor agreement with them as well. All of this signed off by both parties. And you should get copies of contractor license, liability insurance, and workers comp insurance.

    Now surely they don't have skilled and licensed people at $15/hr! Something has got to be amiss if you're being told this. The lowest PM maintenance rate I've seen in my market is $27/hr, with $35/hr being more common. And licensed tradespeople are almost always $50/hr+, even more if they call in an outside contractor.

  • Investor · Mission Viejo, CA · Member since 2012 · 627 posts · 204 votes
    13y

    What are your plans for when the balloon comes due?

  • Real Estate Investor · FL · Member since 2009 · 53 posts · 4 votes
    13y

    @David Turner Great Job! Inspiration for first timers trying to get into multifamily. Keep us posted with more success stories. Congratulations again!!!

  • Investor · Santa Rosa, CA · Member since 2012 · 402 posts · 96 votes
    13y

    Congratulations David, how did you educate yourself in the multi family niche?

  • Jacksonville, NC · Member since 2013 · 23 posts · 2 votes
    13y

    Sexy sexy sexy...Love it love it love it

    1,000 kudos my friend on successfully completing your first deal ! That's HUGE!

    I can feel how hard you were cheesing when it was finally yours :D

    cant wait to hear your future successes

    Lots of love

    Ashawndra :3

  • Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2012 · 75 posts · 3 votes
    13y

    Hi @David Turner

    Very excited and nervous at the same for you!

    I think the nervousness comes from the fact that I one day would like to get into Multi Family Apartments too!

    A lot of great questions asked, but I wanted to add to them:

    1) Could you please include more details on your estimated cashflow? (Including, taxes, insurance, rental income, trash, sewer, water, etc.

    2) What is your exit strategy? Like someone else said, what are you planning on doing when your balloon payment is due? Shop around?

    3) Do you have a traditional (9am - 5pm) full time job? Do you think this investment will take up a lot of your time?

    4) Do you have any pictures? :)

    ps. $15 an hour including HVAC etc sounds really low,but $15 an hour for just the maintenance guy sounds right tho.

  • Real Estate Broker · Flower Mound, TX · Member since 2012 · 58 posts · 30 votes
    13y

    @David Beard Per the operational budget maintenance labor is $15 per hour. Now I am sure they have some extra profit built in with the cost of materials. And thats only for general repairs. Any capex is billed per job which is going to require more of the skilled laborers. I'm sure that the monthly PM cost comes into this too.

  • Real Estate Broker · Flower Mound, TX · Member since 2012 · 58 posts · 30 votes
    13y

    @Stephen Masek When the balloon comes due I may sell or I might refinance. If the value goes up enough it would be nice to sell and put the proceeds into a bigger apartment complex.

  • Real Estate Broker · Flower Mound, TX · Member since 2012 · 58 posts · 30 votes
    13y

    @Russell Ponce I read a bunch of books. The best ones I read were Steve Berges's "The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartments" and David Lindahl's "Multifamily Millions".

  • Real Estate Broker · Flower Mound, TX · Member since 2012 · 58 posts · 30 votes
    13y

    @Ace A. My budget is as follows:

    $224,400 Scheduled Gross Rent

    -$17,400 Vacancy/Write offs/Loss to Lease

    -$6,900 Employee unit (looks like the employee will not be using this so we should save this.

    $4,140 Late fees/Application fees

    $204,240 Effective Gross Rent

    -$2,424 Administrative

    -$1,850 Marketing

    -$9,000 Manager Salary

    -$16,900 Maintenance Salary

    -$1,166 Workman's Comp

    -$2,331 Payroll taxes

    -$18,914 Repair and Make ready

    -$1,200 Service contracts

    -$11,400 Management Fee

    -$540 Pest control

    -$780 Electric (common areas and office)

    -$3,060 Trash

    -$19,020 Water and sewer

    -$10,316 Insurance

    -$23,211 Property Taxes

    -$122,112 Total operating expenses

    $75,803 NOI

    I do not have a 9-5 job. I left the corporate world a few months ago. I do not feel it would have hampered me though. Most of my involvement is through email with the occasional phone call. I visited the property maybe 5x before closing. I think that my involvement from here on out is totally up to me. The manager will provide me with monthly reports by email and that is all I have to do. They are taking care of everything else including paying bills, setting up utilities, they even fired the sellers manager. I plan to be more involved though. I will be visiting at least once a month just to keep them on their toes. I'm also making sure I am kept abreast of all goings on.

  • Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2012 · 75 posts · 3 votes
    13y

    Wow, thanks for all those numbers @David Turner !!

    Now, please don't take this as I'm criticizing, I'm just trying to learn, so I have these questions.

    Below is the numbers you gave me. I took your schedule gross rent and not the Effective Gross Rent. Is the 10% PM fee part of the Maintenance Salary, Management Fee, and Manager Salary? If so, that is more than 10%.

    Also, what are your estimates for service contracts? Is that repairs above maintenance? like HVAC, Roofing, major plumbing, etc?

    Base on those numbers, I have your cap rate at 9.23% and your NOI at $74K, or am I wrong?

    Sorry, did not have time to do cash on cash return.

    Don't mind the highlighted items, I was just keeping track of PM fee's and trying to figure out to ask you.

    ** Also, where is the mortgage?

  • Real Estate Broker · Flower Mound, TX · Member since 2012 · 58 posts · 30 votes
    13y

    @Ace A. Thats not exactly right. First off is the management fee isn't 10%. I just stated it was because it ends up pretty close to 10%. I based that off of the management fee and the managers salary ($11,400+$9,000=$20,400 which is approx. 10% of the effective rent of $204k). The employee unit is not a cost, but a loss of income. Hence why it is included in the effective gross rent. The application and late fees are an additional income.

    The admin fees are a number of fees including phone, licensing, office supplies, bank fees and credit/background checks.

    Maintenance salary is a repair expense, not a management expense.

    Service contracts do not include capital repairs. Capex are not part of NOI. Service contracts security patrol and landscaping. I don't know the exact break down.

    Mortgage is not included in NOI so I didn't include it. It is around $3,500 a month.

    Hopefully we will be able to bring a lot of these expenses down over the next few years.

    Somehow I messed up my NOI in my previous post. It is $82,128. After the mortgage payment it is about $40k left over.

  • Investor · Santa Rosa, CA · Member since 2012 · 402 posts · 96 votes
    13y

    Thanks David. The idea of purchasing cashflow is inspiring, my son will hear about it early and often. Happy for your success, take care

  • Rental Property Investor · Louisville, KY · Member since 2008 · 342 posts · 123 votes
    13y

    Good job, I would love to buy some multis at some point. Maybe a few years after buying more SFH's. Thanks for sharing.

    If the rent is about $585 per unit, average, I know actual numbers vary, but are you charging extra for the the garages? Even at $50 a pop that would be an extra 20k a year. You could even rent them to non residents as storage units if only 50% or whatever of your tenants want a garage. If applicants are backed up I would consider charging extra for the garage.

    Have you looked into sub metering so the tenants can pay more of their own utilities? I have even heard of the LL charging tenants based on SQF a portion of the utilities although I doubt that would work for a large complex but maybe if they are divided into 4 unit buildings and metered separately.

  • NV · Member since 2012 · 144 posts · 6 votes
    13y

    Hi David,

    What area do you think you will be able reduce your expense on in a few years?

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