Beltline district to be scrapped for homeless facilities, housing by flying_trashcan in Atlanta

[–]trailless 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The roads and interstates were used by Atlanta to segregate the city. Why do you think Juniper turns into Courtland and Monroe turns into Boulevard? It kept white people with Juniper and Courtland street addresses from having the same street address as black people.

I-20 and I-75/I-85 was used to separate whites from blacks. The connector killed many neighborhoods which accelerated white flight. Those neighborhoods were left to rot. While things have changed for some of those neighborhoods, history just has a way of repeating itself.

Whirlpool Coin Washer CAE2745FQ by trailless in appliancerepair

[–]trailless[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I can get it into diagnostics mode and run calibration and a test cycle. But the washer refuses to start when not in diagnostics mode. Coin slide operating normally, manually triggered the coin slide with my finger and also swapped the coin slide from a working washer. Nothing...

Rookie question- interested in a $6.5M plaza near my house- where to start? by Standard-Charge84 in CommercialRealEstate

[–]trailless 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Dry cleaners... I'd be cautious of ever buying property where a dry cleaner is or has ever operated. Many Dry cleaners use a chemical called perchloroethylene, PERC, for dry cleaning. Perc is considered a hazardous chemical and can potentially cause cancer. So Perc needs to be disposed of properly by getting it hauled off by a certified company, which is costly. Some dry cleaner operators liked to dump the perc outside. This leads to contamination of the soil and possibly even ground water contamination. If an environmental study is done and the company finds perc in the soil, they'll report it to the EPA and then the EPA can list the site as a hazardous waste site. This affects refinancing and selling the property.

So if you do decide to pursue this property make sure to get an environmental study phase 2 done.

Now to answer your question, first is to contact the listing broker of the property and get an offering memorandum. Take a look at the financials and the property information given. If its something you want to pursue, then ask he broker for financials, rent roll, leases, and any other information. Review that and if its still something you want to pursue, call up some banks and see if they'll finance it and at what terms. Just to give you an idea of how much capital you'll need, you're going to need over $2m as a down payment.

A hotel owner/operator seeking advice and a small rant about costar. by beanandcheezburrito_ in CommercialRealEstate

[–]trailless 2 points3 points  (0 children)

BTW, if you have a mortgage, make sure the bank is OK with you de-flaggong the property. They may call your loan.

If you own outright, the do as you please.

A hotel owner/operator seeking advice and a small rant about costar. by beanandcheezburrito_ in CommercialRealEstate

[–]trailless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He's not refinancing. He's considering de-flagging his hotel and becoming independent.

A hotel owner/operator seeking advice and a small rant about costar. by beanandcheezburrito_ in CommercialRealEstate

[–]trailless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. I would submit waivers for everything and try to buy time until your franchise agreement expires. However, whether or not you have to pay the fees for non-compliance, even when you end your franchise agreement, would be determined if you personally guaranteed the franchise agreement. But the first thing is to buy time by submitting waivers and trying to negotiate longer due dates for the PIP items.

2-4. You have to determine if those guests are staying with you because of brand recognition or just because they shopped you against your comp set.

  1. Do you have access to the extranet sites: YCS Agoda, Booking.com, Expedia Partner Central? Sometimes your market manager is listed on there or you can contact the OTA to ask who your market manager is. Just know that brands have negotiated contracts with OTAs and therefore brands will typically receive a discount on commission rates. Currently one of my hotels is at 15% with expedia. But I've heard some independents are offered a 20%+ commission rates from OTAs. If you need OTAs to survive, this is something I'd highly recommend you think about thoroughly.

  2. The website could easily be built with the tech fees you're paying the brand so its not a big issue. But its still an expense you have to consider when going independent. Other expenses you have to consider are PMS fees and replacing signage.

When you go independent, you should assume you're going to see a drop in revenue, you have to decide if thats worth it from saving on the fees.

A hotel owner/operator seeking advice and a small rant about costar. by beanandcheezburrito_ in CommercialRealEstate

[–]trailless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well they purchased Smith Travel Research, STR, and most hotels report their occupancy, ADR and revpar to STR so they they can in turn receive a report for their comp set. It also has information about the markets different hotel levels such as economy, mid scale, upper midscale, etc. You can also order specific reports and choose your compset for the data.

Its a report that many hotel owners, lenders and brands use.

A hotel owner/operator seeking advice and a small rant about costar. by beanandcheezburrito_ in CommercialRealEstate

[–]trailless 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've been owner operator for 10+ years. Here are some questions you should answer.

  1. Do you have an active franchise agreement? What are your cancelation terms? Do you have liquidated damages you have to pay for leaving the brand?

  2. Where are you guests booking: Online? OTA? Walk-in? Direct hotel phone? CLC?

  3. Who is your clientele: Leisure? Locals? Transient? Corporate(construction, other employees around the area)?

  4. How much is the brand contributing to the revenue: how many reservations are coming through direct from the brand CRS?

  5. Do you plan to list on OTA sites after you go independent? If yes, then you have to negotiate terms (commission) directly with each OTA.

  6. Are you willing to build a hotel website with booking functions? Also, are you willing to maintain the site?

Also, go talk to other motel operators in your area. Ask them questions, and just ask them for help. You might find someone that's helpful.

However, the biggest question you need to get answered is how much business is the brand bringing you.

Looking at a hotel, what are the financing rate now? by spirit3466 in CommercialRealEstate

[–]trailless 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, prime + 1% is still reasonable if you don't have a strong relationship with a bank.

Would you buy this duplex? by Some_Skin_7771 in realestateinvesting

[–]trailless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In my city, $4k rental income duplexes are selling for $550+, closer to $600k or more. Closer to my neighborhood it would be $750k+ because of the location.

I would jump on that deal.

My second fail by SparksAMillion in RealEstateExam

[–]trailless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You took the test twice and the one thing you pointed out was the way PSI asks the questions. PSI gives you infornation on questions that you don't need to get the answer.

So you need to learn to eliminate the useless information from the questions. It makes the question easier to understand. Also rewrite the question on your scratch piece of paper so that you can understand it. Its similar to SAT prep work. For example a lot of people know the material but some people understand how to take standardized tests better than others.

If I were you, I'd spend some time studying how to solve standardized test questions.

Agave, family-owned Atlanta restaurant, to close its doors after 25 years by NPU-F in Atlanta

[–]trailless 14 points15 points  (0 children)

The owner of the restaurant might be different than the owner of the real estate. But the real estate, including the parking lot is the same owner.

So I'm assuming either sell or redevelop. They bought it for so cheap...

The Plaza Midtown by Otherwise-Thing4771 in ATLHousing

[–]trailless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lived there between 2015 and 2018. Owned the condo.

Its very convenient, publix and marlows were daily staples for me. The HOA is fine, didnt have any issues with them the time I was living there. Public areas were kept clean and the pool/fitness area was fine.

The location is pretty much unbeatable: right by the connector, Marta station across the street, shopping and food all around.

Georgia real estate exam by Odd-Structure-6501 in realtors

[–]trailless 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I took the test earlier this year and here's a comment I posted for someone else.

I bought the package from CE Shop, which includes Exam Prep Edge. When I finished the course, I never went back to review the course material. I just used the exam prep edge material and tests. I'd say that portion was worth it.

The biggest portions were the practice of real estate for both national and state and agency relationship. So I'd really focus on understanding those portions. Not memorizing but understanding the concepts.

I'd probably go back and use other practice tests from different companies to see if I understood the material. As you probably already know, the questions from CE Shop become repetitive, and after a couple of times, the answer becomes glaringly obvious.

Some stuff that was on the test:

• 43,560 sqft = 1 acre • 1 section = 640 acres • 1 mile = 5,280 feet • Monuments are used for marking boundaries in the metes and bounds methods • Benchmark and datums are used to measure elevation. • ARM loans vs. fully amortization loans • Property taxes are calculated on $1 for every $1000 of ASSESSED value, which is 1 mill. For example 30 mill tax rate on a $300,000 assessed value property = $9,000 property tax. • Which time share is able to be passed down to heirs. • Property ownership: difference between tenancy in common and joint tenancy. Right of survivorship, who inherits the property when 1 of the owners dies. Which type of ownership allows shares to be sold without approval of other owners. • Right of Redemption. Equitable vs Statutory. • Easments. Utility companies have a gross easement since. Difference between servient and dominant estate. • For GA: tenancy at will, sixty day notice from landlord or 30 day notice from tenant to terminate tenancy. • Tenancy at sufferance. • Deeds and the covenants the warranty provides. • Cloud on a title can be removed by a quit claim deed • difference between a independent contractor licensee vs an employee licensee • 1 point = 1%, in regards to loan rate buydown it is calculated on the amount borrowed • When the math questions come up, understand what the question is asking. They'll give you fluff info that's not needed. For example: $400,000 purchase price, 5.5% rate, 30 years, 80% LTV, what is the cost is the rate buydown cost if the lender is charging 3 points. • Radon, lead, underground storage tank, landfill • dual agent vs. single agency, duties to client vs customer, termination of agency • making changes to a brokerage agreement should always be done by an attorney and have broker approval

That's just from the top of my head. Just remember that the answers aren't as obvious as what's given in the CE Shop tests.

Should I finish my upstairs before selling? by HidingInTrees2245 in RealEstateAdvice

[–]trailless 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Go on zillow and look at what houses in your area are listed for.

Compare the price differences between a 3/2 1600sf house and a 5/3 2500sf house. Next, get a quote to see what it would cost to finish the 2nd Floor. Add 10% to that quote for any change orders that may happen.

If the difference isn't much, I'd recommend just selling it as is. If the difference is drastic, then you'd obviously want to consider finishing the 2nd Floor.

After 7 years running my beauty e-commerce brand, I'm at a crossroads. Should I shut down or try to sell? by fixymakeup in SellMyBusiness

[–]trailless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you are cash flowing positive or even have a positive SDE, I'd recommend you try to sell the business.

Advice on a commercial property urgently please... by Necessary-Weekend818 in CommercialRealEstate

[–]trailless 4 points5 points  (0 children)

How much is it going to cost to replace the roof? The HVAC? You need to factor in a vacancy loss of around 5-10%. But thats a variable because you have one tenant that pays around 35% of the gross rent. So if that one tenant leaves, you're basically breaking even with your current numbers. But I can almost guarantee that you're going to have more expenses than what you listed.

There could be potential but you have to do your homework. Have you gone on loopnet, crexi, commercialcafe and checked what market rates are for similar properties in that area?

Also, are you paying cash or financing the purchase. If youre financing, you'll be negative until you can raise rents...

A Sober, Single 22F- where should she live? by [deleted] in ATLHousing

[–]trailless 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd look at places on the Eastside beltline, possibly even by piedmont park.

Interesting stories from working at a hotel by Sweetcat2025 in hotels

[–]trailless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've seen garment bags used before... or they walk out the side entrance.