Multi Family Analysis

Commercial real estate in Upstate NY is on the move! Investment properties, particularly multi family, are increasingly in demand. Apartments are a favorite since there will always be a need for a place for people to live. This provides stability and predictability to investors. Multi family have an average vacancy rate of 5%, whereas a retail building could potentially be a 100% tenant should the single tenant relocate. The multi unit structure allows owners to cover expenses even when there are vacancies, providing owners with peace of mind. Another big incentive is the income from the property qualifies the mortgage, which allows an investor to purchase a property that he/she could not qualify for using solely their personal income. It is crucial to understand the income and expenses of the property to be profitable, to qualify for a loan, and to overall be successful with your investment. Analyzing the current numbers is a great first step and yet that is often where agents end their investigation. The more important steps are retrofitting those numbers to reflect your expenses and add in any expenses that were not presented (such as an owner who does their own lawn care and snow plowing, but a new owner will need to pay.) In many scenario’s, numbers presented are based on estimates of what the property can eventually perform instead of actual income and expenses. While every property is unique, the key elements to analyzing multi family units remain the same.