All Forum Posts by: Anthony Chara

What part of Ohio are the properties located in, @David Barnett? I might be able to recommend a couple good companies for you to research for a comparison.

All of the above. Mail letters, craigslist, local, regional and national brokers, loopnet, REIA meetings, apartment association meetings, etc.

Make sure you check out the crime statistics in the area. Try www.crimereports.com and www.spotcrime.com. No matter what they say, sometimes nothing shows up, you should still contact the local police dept. and ask for the community relations dept. Tell them that you're a RE investor looking to invest in the area and you want to know what type of crime is in the area. Many will either direct you to their own website or print out a report and email it to you.

Most states will have their State RE Commission approved contracts online that you can download. Usually at no charge. As @Jonathan Towell suggested, you can also write down the details on a sheet of paper. I would take it one step further and take it to you Title Company who might be more than willing to transfer those items over to a contract for you.

Awesome story Arnie, thanks for sharing. I wish my parents had gotten me into RE. Mine were 'red light' parents. The only stories I heard from them about RE were the bad ones. Somehow I still managed to buy my first home when I was only 22, but didn't buy my first investment property until I was 31. Been going like gangbusters ever since. I guess I have some catching up to do!!

Hi @George Wines, once you join the Meet-Up group, the site information is revealed. Yes, they do rotate every other month between I-25 and Arapahoe Rd. on the south to I-25 and 104th on the north.

@Daniel G., you can't 'pass on' the cost of the survey to the seller. That's something you have to negotiate with the seller. I'd start by asking them to pay for all of it and if they don't agree to that, ask them if they'd split the cost. Ultimately, the cost is yours since its your bank that may require the survey. Something else I've negotiated as well, is getting the seller to pay for the survey upfront, but I reimburse them at closing. This way, the initial cost comes out of their pocket and they can use the survey with other buyers if your deal falls thru. If it doesn't fall, then you reimburse them back at closing since it's now your property and your survey.

All looks fairly standard above, but it really comes down to what you negotiate. I agree with @Joel Owens too. What does the PSA say about who's paying for the Title Policy? I usually ask the Seller to provide a survey as well.

I hold a monthly luncheon for Apartment Investors. It rotates between North and South Metro Denver. There's lots of networking and learning. I have a guest presenter each month that talks about their area of expertise when it comes to investing in apartments. There is no fee to attend, but we do recommend that you buy yourself lunch and a drink so we can keep getting our meeting rooms for free. 

Check out my Meet-Up page for more details and to register for a luncheon. 

http://www.meetup.com/Apartment-Commercial-Investors-Luncheon-of-Metro-Denver/

Hey Chris, here are answers to your questions above:

1-You just use the average 'Per Unit Price' just to get you in the ballpark. However, you can talk to Commercial Brokers or Appraisers in the market to get a much better feel for the per unit price. And, yes, you are correct. If the average price in the area is $25K per door and your subject property has all 1 bedroom units, then your Comparable price would be lower. Again, you're just using this information to get you in the ballpark. Assuming you get it under contract you will still need to have an appraisal to confirm or disprove your assumptions.

2-I personally don't know any good GC's that don't over-charge for their services. That's why I suggested you partner with a good rehabber in your area. They usually already have their own crews lined up to do work at reasonable rates. On the other hand, using a GC that will give you a very high estimate is extra ammo for you to knock your offer price down.

As far as what you can and can't do before submitting your LOI, that all depends on the seller. Some sellers prefer that you walk the property before putting in an offer. Some won't let you on the property until you have a signed contract. Either way is fine, but you don't want to take too much time before going under contract doing 'Due Diligence' work and end up losing a great deal, because you tried to analyze the deal to death before putting in an offer.

Lastly, I'll be in Cincy this coming week speaking at REIAGC. Perhaps I'll see you there?