I’m looking at a 16 unit apartment bldg. Since I’ve never done one that big, I thought I’d ask around to find where the land mines are.
Anything I need to be especially mindful of?
No landmines, same thing as a smaller building. Make sure the units are separately metered, check for deferred maintainance, keep a tight leash on routine maintainance because if it gets out of hand it will effect more than one unit.
I forgot to have those stupid rubber washing machine hoses changed to the steel ones in a 38 unit building. Ofcourse it busted when no one was home and the water went down 2 floors. Along with replacing drywall, insulation, carpet and carpet padding- I had to buy a tenant a new computer and pay him a thousand bucks for his “lost information”.
if the owner “doesn’t keep records” (red flag) how can you tell if maint has been neglected, other than just eyeballing it?
Maybe the owner doesn’t keep records but they still may have current contracts of services being provided. (pest control, termite treatment, HVAC tech, etc.) If the owners a DIYer, I’d automatically assume maintainance has either been totally neglected or was substandard workmanship. When you inspect each unit, ask the tenant about the quality/ frequency of maintainance provided thus far and common complaints- they will tell you everything.
Develop a checklist if needed to evaluate each unit. I’d make sure to include checking ALL electrical outlets, light fixtures and switches, (don’t want a fire or someone to get electrocuted) turn on the water in the sink, tub and washing machine for a few minutes along with flushing the toilet a few times to find a leak from the wax ring. Water causes a lot of $damage$ very quickly in a multifamily building. I prefer to install sliding doors on a tub/ shower instead of a shower curtain because tenants love to leave the curtain on the outside of the tub and soak my floor. Appliances should have atleast a few extra years in their life or get seller credits. If the building has fireplaces then that’s a whole new chapter on stupidity.
Thanks Danny.
Working on 65 unit , 37 units, 34 units, what is the question?
JOHNNY Q
I think his question was: Anything I need to be especially mindful of?
Not how many deals were you working on ;D
Sorry.
No, you’re really not. :
Give me credit. Trying to play nice.LOL