All Forum Posts by: Ken Bradley

Ideally, the Post Office keeps leasing it as a Post Office. 

Noticed a post office near me is for sale and still has some years left on a NN leas as well as two 5 year options.  Building looks great and is in good condition...interior of course, is your typical rural post office with a suite of boxes, manned desk and your typical ramshackle disorganized US Mail back room.  Any thoughts? Concerns? Bad experiences?

Just did a cursory look on Zillow and saw a couple of houses between Old West Point Rd and 389...not your traditional student rental, but might be better for a family rental.  Me personally I wouldn't feel comfortable with anything at Highlands Plantation or the multi-family down Louisville...but obviously somebody owns those buildings and saw them as a good investment.

Interested in this thread...Basit, what Guy is talking about is not his residence, but a rental property currently in his name. This is the same situation I have and my CPA says just leave it in my name and get insurance. However, I am not realizing any of the depreciation or cost of upkeep on my taxes because my wife and I make too much money. Seems like it would be better to place it into an LLC with my next house and take the depreciation and upkeep as a loss against the income...looking for any thoughts

Just wanted to say hi all...I am a semi-newbie, long-time podcast stalker and just signed up for bigger pockets. I have 4 rental houses right now and I'm here to learn more because my results thus far have been a real mixed-bag. We are relocating from Brandon, MS back home to Mobile/Baldwin County as I retire from the military (so, have a little knowledge about investing around military communities). Looking to do my first BRRR very soon...oh, and I'm also a Professional Engineer and posted in the commercial real estate forum about Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessments...so I could help out in that arena if anyone needs it....thanks!

Brent, semi-newbie here, but I lived in Starkville from 2005-2010 and had a rental house there up until last year. A ton of new apartments and condos were built in the last 5 years and there are still a few more planned. MSU also changed their student housing policy to require students to live on campus for a certain period of time since they invested so much in new student housing. But on the positive side MSU has seen a tremendous amount of student population growth and Starkville just isn't that big and they cant all fit on campus, much less the increased support staff. Just off-hand, looks like there are some older homes on the MLS right now that would be great rentals...Are you going to manage the property yourself? I had zero luck finding a decent property manager.

Sam, let me see if I can address this.  I'm assuming you mean a land survey...it takes the legal description of the property and verifies boundaries, easements and structural footprints (can also identify utilities and fllodzones).  If you have a recent survey, (say last couple of years) and your lender does not require it to be updated then you should be good to go.  A Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment looks at all available records to determine past property use, any record of spills, accidents or action that incurs a long-term potential hazard to health or the environment. One other term you will see is a Property Condition Assessment or PCA.  This looks at the physical condition of the property, leaky roofs, pipes, HVAC, electrical and generates a Property Condition Report (PCR)...hope this was helpful

Thank you so much Michelle! And Michael, just my opinion...if you already own the property you're already committed, so I wouldn't bother with it.  The purpose of a Phase 1 is to identify potential CERCLA liability...since you already own the property you own any potential CERCLA liability already.

I think you're right Roberto...and 2k is a fair price for a Phase 1.  In my previous job we tried to analyze market rates for the assessments we performed and they were all over the map.  Anywhere from $1500 to $8500 for a standard commercial property (with a few distinct outliers!)...so absolutely shop around.  Also, if you have a more complex industrial site it will cost more. Also, another thing to be leery of is the up-sale.  There has been a considerable degree of consolidation within the engineering world and Phase 1's are simply not that appealing to larger firms...unless they see it as a method to provide a Phase 2, which can be very open-ended. And legitimately if you are purchasing a property where you are accepting a potential risk, do the Phase 2 and attempt to quantify the risk you are accepting. 

Brant,

    I think you hit on some of the rationale for not performing a phase 1.  I know some lenders require it and there is no way around it in that case.  I assume some investors have never had an issue and choose to roll the dice.  The issues are not just gas stations.  And assuming that your neighbor had one done and therefore you will be ok is definitely a bad idea.  ASTM E1527 is the standard for Phase 1's and it is very specific that the assessment is for that parcel ONLY. I.e. only looks at issues on the parcel and all other adjacent potential RECs are identified as Environmental Business Risks.  So, the risk may be on an adjacent parcel and the investor was convinced it would not effect his parcel.  Or in some cases an investor decides that the risk is worth it.  

     Also, I think some people simply look at a vacant parcel and say "there's nothing out here, I'm not paying for something to tell me there;s nothing here." I have a great example near Spanish Fort.  There is a community north of Spanish Fort called Perdido. If you just drive around you'd say there's nothing there but some country homes and a school.  However, in the late 60's there was a MAJOR train derailment there and it took 52 years for the final cleanup of the benzene in the groundwater.  

     And one final note is I don't think a lot of people understand that the EPA fines entities based upon their ability to pay.  I.e. even if a prior landowner created the issue you as the new owner could pay the bulk of the cleanup costs...crazy I know, but that's the way it works and that's why a lot of folks just perform a Phase 1 regardless.  

Kind of a long answer, but hope this helps.