August 2013 Apartment Numbers

The results for August for the Houston apartment complex have just come in from the management company and things continue to go well. Occupancy stayed at 94%, the same as July, but total revenue increased to $199,600. Net operating income hit almost $94,000, which was almost $4,000 higher than July. Cash flow for August also increased just a bit over $25,000, also an increase over July. This is the highest monthly cash flow number this year.

Expenses were normal with the exception of a one time $4,000 expense for tree trimming that was required by our lender. Our losses due to bad debt, which had ballooned to over $22,000 last month, dropped back down to just under $10,000, which is still higher than average, but at least it's moving in the right direction. Rent concessions almost doubled from last month. Since occupancy stayed the same, it looks like my predictions of a stronger rental market last month might have been a bit off.

Nevertheless, the property is performing nicely now and our net income figure is about $14,000 higher than budgeted for the year. Management hasn't made any mention of it yet, but I think the property is beginning to look like it might be in shape to be put on the market towards the end of the year.

Two Loans Closed

My hard money loans numbers 25 and 26 have been paid off. Both of these loans went the full 1 year term. The borrower has paid off the loans, but I'm not sure if it was from selling the properties or from refinancing them to convention mortgages.

Things seem to be slowing down. My partner manages about $6 million in hard money loans and he currently has close to $1 million sitting around waiting to be invested. Our biggest borrower is not borrowing as much as he used to. He thinks people are paying too much for foreclosures these days. Because he specializes in bad neighborhoods, he wants to make sure he doesn't overpay, so he's becoming more selective about the properties he buys. Also, the inventory of foreclosures is starting to shrink a bit.

July 2013 Apartment Update

The numbers for July are in and things continue to improve. Occupancy is at 94%, a 2% drop over June, but total income for the month rose to the highest level of the year, just shy of $197,000. Expenses rose by about $2,000, but the increased income more than made up for it. Total Net Operating Income for the month was just under $90,000 and Net Income (i.e. cashflow) was about $24,000 - both of which were the highest for the year. The cashflow amount was up about $4,000 over last month.

Management is touting the trend of increasing profitability, of course. Our Net Operating Income is the highest it's been since 2009. But looking at the figures, I'm a bit skeptical as to if the improvement will continue or even stabilize. Compared to last month's numbers, I notice a couple of things:

1. The Bad Debt loss doubled from $11,000 to $22,000.
2. Rent concessions decreased from $8,000 to $6,000.
3. Other Income increased from $27,000 to $40,000.
4. Apartment Turnover costs rose from $3,000 to $4,000.
5. Property taxes increased by $2,000.

Others figures stayed relatively the same. What I'm curious about is item 3 above - what exactly caused the increase in Other Income? Digging in deeper, I see the biggest change in Other Income over June is that in July we received $9,000 in lease buyout payments versus none in June. We saw increases in other categories as well (including a $3,000 increase in utility income), but lease buyouts was the biggest increase by far. Obviously, this is not likely to be a recurring income stream.

If we look at the numbers, we might be able to read between the lines and get an idea of what is going on at the property. Rent concessions decreased. That points to a stronger rental environment. Bad debt, apartment turnover costs, and income from lease buyouts rose. Those items points to non-paying tenants moving out, either on their own or due to management becoming more diligent in enforcing leases. The occupancy dipped slightly, so that also supports this outlook. I would guess management is seeing more desirable potential tenants becoming available as the rental market strengthens and they are stepping up their efforts to replace unprofitable tenants with profitable ones.

At least, that's my take on it.

Hard Money Loan #28 Started

The funds from my last loan that closed have been reinvested. This one is a single family home in San Pablo, CA. It's not in the best neighborhood, but the house itself isn't too bad.

The house was bought at auction for $151,000. Our loan is for $94,500, giving us a 62% loan to value ratio. The buyer plans to put $20,000 in remodel work into the property. We estimate the after repair value to be $190,000.

The property is a 1,050 square foot single family home, 4 bedroom, 2 bath. It was built in 1954 and has a single car garage. It sits on a 5,800 square foot lot. Behind the house is a raised train track and beyond that is the San Pablo Bay. Comps sold for between $160,000 and $170,000 within the past year. The $160,000 comp sold in one day and the $170,000 one sold in less than 1 month. There was only one other home recently for sale and it also sold very quickly. As a result, our borrower is going to try to get top dollar and will list it for $225,000.

The pros of this deal are:

1. It's a short duration. The rehab is mostly done.
2. There were multiple bids at auction for this property, meaing other investors thought it was a good deal.
3. The area is a seller's market right now.
4. The LTV is 62% - much better than our normal 75%.

The cons:

1. Elevated train track behind the house. Could be very loud, but the borrower says inside it isn't bad.
2. Not the best neighborhood.

This loan is going to be a very short duration. The borrower did not ask for a loan until about 1.5 months after he purchased the property. (He needs funds now to move on to another property.) The rehab work has now been completed and the property should be listed in about 7 days. The borrower put in a new water heater, carpet, and garage door, along with other miscellaneous items.

The borrower works with our biggest borrower and has had about 7 loans with my partner in the past. He's paid all of them on time.

June 2013 Apartment Results

Things continue to look good at the apartment complex in Houston. Occupancy climbed 1 percent to 96%. Total rent collected was almost $165,000 - the highest total since 2009. Total income stayed around $192,000, the amount it's been hovering around since April. Expenses were normal and there were no large, unexpected expenses during the month. The best part is that the net operating income was almost $87,000 for the month and the highest figure year to date. Total cash flow was $19,000 - also a highest year to date figure.

Digging into the details of the financials, I can see rent concessions dropped by $6,000 over May, although write offs of bad debt increased by a similar amount, so that was a wash. Administration expenses dropped by $2,000 and utilities expenses dropped by $3,000. Everything else stayed pretty much the same as in May.

Compared to the budgeted numbers, we are looking good. Our income numbers for the year are $11,000 over budget, expenses are $36,000 under budget, resulting in a net $25,000 income over budget for the year.

Things are looking good and I'm becoming more hopeful that we will be able to sell the property at a significant profit towards the end of this year or beginning of next year.