Mike’s Apartment Blog

Most people who read this blog and haven’t seen a post in a couple weeks, might think that is because nothing is going on.  Quite the contrary… it has been a madhouse.  Lots has been going on lately and unfortunately this blog suffers.  But, I want to keep ya’ll in the loop (where I can of course).

Cirese Court – Still waiting on the inspection from the city.  They are dragging their feet, which never really made sense to me.  That building was a drug den before we took it over, now it has come together quite nice.  The city seems determined to charge us and delay us wherever possible.  I think this is how difficult neighborhoods get started.  The good news is we are taking this delay to get licensed to run ATR (Alcoholism-To-Recovery) Programs there.  This will allow us to accept grants from the city government, effectively doubling our cash flows.

New Apartment Deal #1 – This is an apartment I have written about previously.  Talk about your on again, off again relationship.  This deal got away from me earlier, when another buyer offered a higher asking price.  They defaulted on the sale (chickened out).  Now it is back in my lap, which we have negotiated a decent deal on involving some seller financing.  I think this is a good opportunity since there is significant value-add.  We are still in the negotiation stage, so I need to keep details fairly secret at this stage.  When we close, I can afford to be more open.

New Apartment Deal #2 – This is a deal in my backyard.  An owner has found himself in trouble with the operations of his building.  We are attempting to partner with him, cut a deal with the bank, and bring some cash to the table.  The resulting upside will come through stablizing the building and holding until rents rebound.  Unfortunately, this may take some time as the Phoenix-metro area is not expected to rebound until 2014.  Again, another deal in which we need to respect the parties involved and maintain secrecy.

New Business – Yes, I decided to help a friend take on a new endeavor.  He is starting a company and needs help in understanding the business side of things.  He is excellent on the core functions, but knows that if he wants to grow this thing, he will need to build it properly.  For this, he has asked my help.  I don’t want to scoop him and give away the premise, but sufficed to say, it is a great opportunity for him and I am helping in return for a small piece of the company.  Goal is to build this business around him, so when it becomes successful I can sidestep the craziness and be bought out (for a premium, of course).  Apartments are my thing, but I can’t resist helping good people get things started!

Guys, opportunity abounds.  If you are in the real estate investment business, now is the absolute best time to take advantage of depressed asset prices.  I am scrambling to grab everything I (and my investors) can.  We may not see another opportunity like this for a long time, if ever!

There it is.  With all the things that are going on, I am lucky my wife still wants to stay married to me – I am going to have to put in some serious family time this upcoming week.