Turn-Around Apartment Help
Do You Have a Troubled, Under-Performing, or Distressed Apartment Building?
Reason #1: Bad Property Management – hiring an ineffective property management team spells disaster for your apartment. Nine out of ten property management companies are not very good at what they do, compared to the 10% that are. Inept property managers are the number one reason why apartments fail. Being a poor business leader, not being a people-person, being disorganized, not being good motivators, not being a problem-solver, and having inadequate information systems – these are just a few qualities of a property manager who’s not going to be successful managing your property.
Reason #2: You Made a Bad Deal – let’s face it, real estate investing is very attractive and can potentially create a ton of wealth for you over time. But many new investors got too excited and didn’t have enough knowledge when they jumped in. My mentor of old once truthfully told me that when emotions go up, intelligence goes down. If you made a bad deal, two things most likely happened – one, you didn’t go a good enough job of checking the facts and verifying information about the property and the area, and two, you overpaid for the property and after the mortgage is paid, cash flow is non-existent.
Reason #3: The Danger of Cruise Control – you may have done everything correct leading up to closing on your deal, but you forgot to do one thing afterwards: mind the store! Sorry to burst your bubble, but investing in apartments requires some overseeing on your part. It is not an entirely passive venture (although some people may incorrectly say so). Putting your investment on cruise control is just asking for trouble. There is not a huge amount of work here, but would you give someone a suitcase of yours that’s filled with thousands of dollars to manage and then never check up on them? Of course not, but some do and it’s because of a lack of knowledge on their part. The good news is that this knowledge can be learned and procedures can be put into place to help you steer the ship successfully.
Yes. We are turnaround experts. And here are the four stages that one must go through:
Stage 1: Problem Analysis and Rescue – who and what is the cause of the problem? Here, we also take quick and decisive action to stop the bleeding or at least slow it down.
Stage 2: Estimation and Mapping – a diagnosis is made and a turnaround plan is carefully put together. This will include dealing with the unpleasant negative cash flow situation, deciding whether to keep the current management, working with the lenders involved, and taking a hard look at the sales and marketing strategy.
Stage 3: Renewal and Repositioning – the business plan is implemented here and the stage is set for turnaround. Lots of energy is exerted in this stage! Hold on!
Stage 4: Stabilization and Exit – although not out of the woods yet, we are headed in the right direction and the operations are running full steam ahead. Shortly, we are out of apparent danger and ready to enter the growth mode.
Mind you, this explanation is simplified, but this is the exact process of turning around a failing apartment building investment back to life. Each individual stage is specific to the property and its challenges. Turnaround times range from several months to 2-3 years, depending on the goals set forth.
#1: Up to this point, you’ve been unsuccessful with your plan. It’s time for plan B. Plan B is best developed with objectivity and from a completely unbiased and fresh perspective. It’s time for you to bring in outside experts.
#2: We have the resources and know-how to get the job done. We’ve been where you are in our investing career and have bounced back stronger. We can do the same for you. We can help with loan workouts to avoid foreclosure, help you put management systems in place to nurse you back to profitability, and help you make the tough decisions that are necessary to rescue struggling apartment investments.
#3: Being cheap can be very expensive to you. Hiring outside experts will be the most cost effective way to quickly save your apartment investment from complete failure, foreclosure, facing your money partners, and being on the hook for bank debt with no way to pay them back.
Quiz: How Healthy is Your Apartment Building?
Signal #1: Mortgage, tax, and insurance payment are greater than 50% of your collected income.
Signal #2: Unoccupied units are remaining unoccupied for 90 days or more
Signal #3: Appliances and unit parts are being taken from vacant units to be used for normal maintenance
Signal #4: The property’s curb appeal is poor
Signal #5: Typical property bills are not getting paid on time
Signal #6: Tenants are leaving (high turnover) and current tenants are not renewing their leases
Signal #7: Property’s occupancy is lower than the market’s average for more than 90 days
Don’t wait. You have too much to lose. The Apartment Consultant is here to help and serve. Give us a call today for a no-charge consultation: (415) 657-3397 or Click Here for further info.