All Forum Posts by: Blake Morgan

@jessica 

@Jessica Duckett and @Tiffani Baggett, thanks for the recommendations. I am willing to talk to anyone who may have advice or services to offer, so if you could send me info for Bagget Prorety Solutions that would be great. 

@Jarrod Cook I will contact you directly. Thanks for the comments. 

@Natalie Schanne I would like to have some other properties given to me in the future. There is s trust set up for me and my brother that contains a couple houses and... honestly I'm sure the extent of it. My brother, who is still in college, has passed on these apartments so the offer has come to me. I think my dad is just offering the buildings as a way to pass down a piece of the family business that was passed down to him. A recent offer, mentioned in the first post, is what has triggered him offering it to me. 

I will see about getting the information on processes, systems, books, etc. The simplicity of the way the business has beeen run for so many years may actually complicate my getting of the information. My Dad literally does everything. Plumbing, electrical, hvac, roofing, turnover, screening tenants, showing the apartments, collecting rent, etc. there are very few times when a contractor is called to fix something. Due to his do it all nature, there may not be a good accounting of everything, though I do know that he keeps very detailed paper records it may be a pain to go through and organize... at this point I just don't know. 

Thanks for the input. I'm very impressed with this community, it looks like I came to the right place for help. 

My dad is generally against the idea of hiring a management company. It doesn't sound so bad to me, but I am inexperienced. I wonder if it is a generational thing, the amount of work he has personally put in, or a real knowledge of managed properties in the area. 

I grew up working in the apartments and helping him with repairs, and upgrades so I have some familiarity with the buildings and general maintenance requirements. I think he would mentor me if I choose to go this route but I don't think I want to sacrifice my career and degree so soon after starting. At the same time I would like to find a way to allow these apartments to continue to create long term income. I am interested in real estate but at this point it's feeling like these apartments would be a whole job to themselves, and not something supplemental. 

@Wade Fisher

These are not his only properties. He and his brother (some jointly some separately) own a couple shopping centers, other apartments, a few houses, etc. Landlording is his life. He only pays himself $600/month from the company that owns these two buildings, sometimes he will draw more when it is needed. I did a double take when I heard this as well haha. I didn't go to school for business so I don't know too much about it, but there is a web of companies that manage the various properties, we are talking about one of those companies. 

@Joseph Gozlan Thanks so much. I will mull this over and see about setting something up with a CPA/attorney. 

@Thomas S. Thanks, at this point, that is the direction I'm leaning. His businesses have afforded me many comforts that I am so grateful for. I just want to make the best decision I can so I appreciate the inputs. 

Thanks for the responses guys.

@Steve Vaughan I'll bring up the 1031 to triple net commercial as something for him to ask his accountant about.

@Joseph Gozlan at this point he is not asking me buy this. He only takes $600/month from these properties. I would be more than willing to pay him much more than that to run the properties but he really wants to step back, and his body is breaking down from so many years of physical labor. Do you know of any management companies in Birmingham? Would once a month be enough of a check in frequency? 

Hi everyone I'll try to be brief and give the pertinent details.

I'm being given the option to take over two apartment buildings from my dad. He is thinking about selling the buildings for around 1.6 mil but will give them to me if I want them. The buildings contain around 30 one bedroom units and bring in $180,000 per year in rents. They are located in Birmingham, AL and were built in 1962. My dad has run these apartments, managing and maintenance, for decades but is now looking to scale back his work load. I'm 24, have recently graduated, and am almost a year into my first job in Atlanta which I like and would like to try a career in.

Right now I see this as a lot of potential money, but also a lot of risk. The apartments are pretty cheap and basic so it's generally lower quality tenants, the buildings are old but pretty well maintained, one has a nice view of downtown.

Does anyone have knowledge of the Birmingham market? Is there a way to hire a company to manage and maintain the buildings while I retain ownership and part of the profits? What about hiring people for those tasks in the existing structure of the holding company? Is this too big or risky of a situation where I should just let him sell and be done with it? Since I'm not putting any money in, is this a good investment of time and energy?

I know this is my personal decision but I feel like this is a very generous offer and I want to explore the options and hear some opinions. Thanks