All Forum Posts by: Steve Olafson

I think that is a better option.  Ask him to carry 75% of the deal for 2 years.  Let him know that you will attempt to cash him out as fast as you can but don't handcuff yourself to 6 months.  Lenders like to see stability. 

Hey Anthony,

I see you are from Tucson.  How is the market doing down there?  I am assuming that values are going crazy like Phoenix.

I have been on a couple of other forums in the past if you have ever visited other sites.  It is possible that my name was mentioned in Vollucci's book "How to Buy and Sell Apartment Buildings".  I went in on a couple of deals with him and then went out on my own.  My business exploded for a while and he referred to me as his star pupil.  At one time I think he asked me if he could use my name in a publication.

 Even though the tough times, most of the investors saw the efforts that I was still putting into the properties.  Not very many of them were able to put more money in while times were tough.  But the few that did were rewarded handsomely.

Fear is what keeps us from moving forward...

Have you already reviewed the title commitment?  That is more important than the closing documents.  You need to make sure that you have all the endorsements that you want/need.  You also need to make sure that the exceptions listed by title are items that you can live with.  This is where an attorney will be worth the money to you. 

Like the others said, it depends upon your experience.  Closing documents mainly involve insuring that the costs/credits are all allocated correctly and that your name is correct on the title.  If you do it yourself, read every document and understand them.

I will never buy in a bad location again.  I did a couple of times but the issues were too severe.

My manager was hit over the head with a fire extinguisher after he served a notice to vacate.  Same manager was attacked by a machete wielding person who broke through our large glass window to get at him.  He was a vagrant that did not like being kicked out of the vacant apartment that he had broken into the night before.  The maintenance person found a person dead on his living room floor.  The police came in and took a chainsaw to our kitchen cabinets for some odd reason.  They said they were looking for "stuff". 

On another property I felt a need to drop to the floor when the red shirts started shooting at the blue shirts.  My property was on the news for an ice cream truck driver that was shot to death in our parking lot.  Turns out he was selling drugs.

It took me three months to evict a group that was selling drugs out of their window.  The police told us they could not do anything without proof.  We had lots of proof but no one would accept it coming from us.

That was early in my apartment career.  I only buy in decent to excellent locations now.

I wasted half an hour trying to upload a picture. 

If you are in a decent location:

- wood or vinyl plank floors

- granite countertops

- 2 tone paint

- washer/dryer hookups

I get the granite done for about 650-900 dollars for kitchen and bath.  I install vinyl plank because water does not harm it.  It is $1.5 per foot and we install it ourselves.  Not cheap.

I never project farther out than 5 years at a time.  The plans and projections can be modified and/or changed along the way.  Many of my investments are for 1-3 years.

You can plan on 10 year holds through financing but projections would not likely be accurate.

 It depends on the area.  Some areas have much more volatility.

There was a period not long ago when the majority of the listings in Phoenix were at or close to zero caps.  That was also the time that the best deals were available.  Imagine that....  Excellent deals offered at zero cap rates!  I bought 14 small properties at this time.