All Forum Posts by: Jeff F.

@Shane Potter - Welcome to BP. Look forward to seeing you around the forums & Around town. 

Here's our meetup info:

https://www.meetup.com/Cheyenne-Real-Estate-Invest...

hi @Jerry W.

I still havent increased the income quite  yet. There are 2 units on the market, and they were listed right before christmas. I'm hoping to have leases in place by mid month. The PM has told me that they are getting quite a few showings a day each, so I'm optimistic.

Another Update: 

After the enjoyment of finding out the gas wasnt connected in the studio and getting a new plan lined up, I found an electrician and had them complete the work. They finished yesterday and now all it needs is a fridge and a stove and it will be good to have someone occupy it.

I did have to go with electric heat and I have to pay all utilities so I'll eat that until I can change that (hopefully early next year) and get everything going there. Once It gets the fridge and stove it's ready to go.

The other one (huge 1br) my contractor moved to after the gas happened in the studio is almost done and the finishing touches have been put on it and should be ready to rent as soon as early next week.

In other news, I saw this coming a few months ago and acted on it, but after all these renovations: 

• siding
• some windows
• rehabbing 3 units
• additional plumbing/structural work
• appliances

I've run very low on cash. 

I got in touch with the bank, and they have valued it at 285k (bought for 165 1 year ago), and I'm pulling some money out to finish the remaining units. I feel like this is a fair value for what I've done already (approx 75k of repairs) and most of the HUGE stuff has already been done. Aside from turning units, there's only the electrical metering that needs to be done, though I'll likely do some work on the yard and replace some/all of the windows. 

Hopefully, I'll get the rest of this completed in early spring.

@Nathan Gesner

5 months behind on rent? That's not behind, that's just flat not paying because nothing happened. a friend had that happen to him, and he had to go to small claims court to get his money back. 

Glad you got a nice appraisal - im having a valuation done this week. It appraised at 250 when I bought it for 160, so im hoping more than that this go round.

@Nathan Gesner

I got them down about as low as I could go. I know the seller inherited the property, and didnt want to bring any money to the closing table, he just wanted to get rid of the problem. I believe they walked away with just over 5 grand at closing. (The person that owned the property prior to inheritance died, so there was likely a lot of knowledge lost there)

As far as the sub floor rotting - that was something I didnt know until I purchased it. It was more like an "as-is" deal, and I knew what I was getting into for the most part. Some of the stuff I wasnt aware of and could not have known prior to starting rehab work. 

As far as expenses, here's about where I am (I'll do a full work-up at the end of the year, as well as the end of the project)

siding and replace broken windows: 26k

rehab: 45k or so

Lost rent: this is tough to gauge, because there were 4/7 full when I bought but none of the 7 were in rent-able condition (in my opinion) so I knew they'd be empty until the rehab of that unit happened. it's been about a year of having 3 empty, so i'd say losing approx 1400/mo  x 12 mos = 16,800. I dont really count that as a loss because putting a tenant in there in that condition would likely be a low quality  tenant and a poor addition. All that said, every bit helps. 

Another month, Another update:

When we last left off the studio was almost done, and I was getting ready to rent it. 

Surprise, it's still empty! 

When my contractor was finishing up he went to hook up the stove and realized there was no gas to it. He went outside and found out that when they redid the gas lines (old owner) in 2016, they put only 6 meters on there, and never bothered to put one to the studio. They cut the gas pipe and never re connected for whatever reason. This prompted a few days worth of calls to the city and the old plumber, both of whom told me absolutely nothing citing "privacy". I even applied for a new gas permit, which I have yet to hear back on (3 weeks later).

I had a plumber out and he said he could get it done but he recommended cove heating, which is all electrical. I called 3 electricians and had them come out, and as seems to be typical in this town, 1 of them bothered to provide me a bid and tell me how much it'd cost. I went with that one, and they are coming in and putting in 220 for an oven, and cove heating in mid December.

So unfortunately I put 10k or so into this unit, and I've had it sitting empty, ready for someone to move in for about a month.....Oh well. Once it's ready, i'll probably put it up for 600 or so, because I've got to pay all the electric bill, and eating even a heat bill from a small apartment in wyoming in the winter is not my idea of a good time.

All the while, the contractor that i've gotten is working on the next empty, and it should be done this week. it's looking really, really good. I'd move in there if it wasnt up a huge flight of stairs - it really looks that good, and it's a huge apartment. Im thinking i'll put that up for 675 or so. I'll get some pictures when I do the final walk-through.

Hopefully by the end of the year or early jan, I've got this thing producing another 1200+/mo. Then it's on to the last vacant one, and then i'll start removing the tenants 1 by 1.

I've also talked to the bank to get a construction loan for the last few units, and that is in process. I'll keep updating as that happens.  

hey @Dave Peterson

We have a meet-up group, you should join.

https://www.meetup.com/Cheyenne-Real-Estate-Invest...

Oh man, So much has happened with the studio since I last posted 3 weeks ago. The unit was almost done save for the bathroom and kitchen, and at that point it was mostly done.

I wanted to see if we could move the shower, as it was connected to a claw foot tub and attached to the side of the wall that has a ceiling height of approx 4.5 feet. A "case" was built around the tub, and when my contractor popped open the access panel it smelled awful. At some point (likely > 2 years ago) a cat had crawled in there and somehow gotten stuck, and died. And was just left there to stick to the floor.

Thankfully I didnt have to deal with that thing.

However, that did open up a disaster with the tub, as nothing would now fit and eventually had to pull it out, find a small (rv) size shower pan, and put in a false wall and plumb more stuff in. Even me, as a 6' tall individual the showerhead goes go about my mid chest. It's not the best, but it was the best of all available options. Unfortunately, like all things this cost more money, and was about 2k more. I'm not terribly far over budget for this unit (I think i've spent 8k and budgeted 7k) but there are a few other things I'd like to get in there soon-ish (new heater, new appliances). 

The unit came out pretty good, and Im going to have them list it for 575 and see what happens. Here are a few pictures of the bathroom/kitchen:

Hi @Kristen R. - This is not on 12th, it's over by the capital building. 

Nice Work @Austin Fruechting - How'd you find the deal?