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Filed under Apartment Building Listings, Investing in Multi-Family, Market Conditions, Uncategorized · Tagged with apartment building sales, multi-family investing, cash flow multi-family real estate, cash flow property for sale, investing in multi-family real estate, multi-family housing, real estate

Capital Improvements vs Maintenance
Tenants often request that windows or flooring be replaced and expect that this is a routine repair. There is a distinct difference between capital improvements and repairs. Generally speaking, capital improvements can be passed on to tenants, so it is important to communicate with them about the differences before undertaking major jobs that may increase their rent.

Maintenance and repairs are the biggest single costs associated with apartment building ownership. Any typical semi-modern apartment building has literally hundreds of moving parts and wearing out items that require constant upkeep and attention. Maintenance activities can include everything from lightbulb replacements, door closer adjustments cleaning, painting, patching and sanding surfaces, sticky doors and windows, weeding, irrigation repairs, elevator maintenance, sprinkler testing and other generally minor tasks that are performed on a frequent or ongoing basis by a handyman or owner. (more…)

Filed under capital expenses, maintenance and repairs, Property Management · Tagged with cost basis, deductible expenses, investing in multi-family real estate

I had the privilege of seeing John T. Reed speak in Mill Valley this week at the Bay Area Wealth Builders Association. He is a widely read Harvard MBA and West Point graduate who has written numerous books about investing in real estate. His presentation was primarily to promote a new book of his entitled “How to protect your life savings from Hyperinflaton and Depression“. It was interesting to hear him describe how you can actually have both of these seemingly opposite economic states almost at the same time, or quickly moving between the two financial axioms. (more…)

Filed under Interesting People I meet · Tagged with bay area wealth builders, hyperinflation, inflation, jack reed, apartment building sales, investing in multi-family real estate

I had the pleasure of listening to Richard Knudsen talk about the apartment market in the Bay Area at the local IMF meeting. Richard is an extremely knowledgable veteran broker who is respected by many in the industry. Later I met with Richard to discuss the multi-family housing market and brokerage business in general. Below are the slides from his talk, please take a look at slide #6, it speaks for itself.

Presented By: Richard Knutson, CCIM

Apartment Forecast 2012 for the San Francisco Bay Area

Filed under Investing in Multi-Family, Market Conditions, Property Management · Tagged with capitalization rate, investing in apartment buildings, property management, east bay apartment broker, cash flow, bay area wealth builders, investing, job growth, apartment buildings in the bay area, cap rate, apartment building sales, commercial real estate, purchasing commercial real estate in the san francisco bay area, cash flow multi-family real estate, cash flow property for sale, investing in multi-family real estate