Convert Motel to Apartment

[SGBoise]

Hi everybody,

Has anyone experienced converting motel into apartment. I'm looking getting into that just because in my area 4plex are in demand and are in low inventory so they don't cash flow well at the moment. With motels you can 20+ units and convert them to studios. Get rid of the expenses such as maids, the manager, etc and it should cash flow.

The biggest problem I can think of is the kitchen. Most motels there is the initial expense of putting in kitchens unless it has one already.

Has anyone done this before, please share your experience. What problems you had to overcome and was it worth it?

Thanks

 

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[SteveO]

The biggest problem is usually with the utilities as they are typically master metered. Master metering becomes a big issue when the resident does not need to pay for heating/cooling. They tend to be real wasters.

You pointed out the kitchen issue. It would definitely be cost prohibitive is there is not adequate plumbing for the sinks and electrical supply for the ranges.

The look and feel of the motel does not usually fit the model of what a renter is looking for. They are usually just parking, building, and pool.

 

[Chris R]

As a side suggestion - maybe consider converting them into practice space for musicians. Rent them by the month. This way, you won't have the regulations required for residential, and can keep within business code and regulations.

Many people think that musicians are broke, but the truth of the matter is is that something that is going for $XXX.XX per month is generally split between several people, many of which actually share space with other bands, & most of these guys are married with kids and have jobs and look at it as something to do with their time that's an alternate to bowling.

Although you may need to get a variance from the city, for the most part, creative wording can get that done.

 

[SGBoise]

Is this something you would have to get a permit from the city?

 

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[SteveO]

Is this something you would have to get a permit from the city?

Which part? You would need a permit for any major modifications to the building that involves tearing into the walls for plumbing and electrical.

 

[Vespasian]

As a side suggestion - maybe consider converting them into practice space for musicians. Rent them by the month. This way, you won't have the regulations required for residential, and can keep within business code and regulations.

Many people think that musicians are broke, but the truth of the matter is is that something that is going for $XXX.XX per month is generally split between several people, many of which actually share space with other bands, & most of these guys are married with kids and have jobs and look at it as something to do with their time that's an alternate to bowling.

Although you may need to get a variance from the city, for the most part, creative wording can get that done.

Great suggestion.
I remember when we were looking for something like this 10 years ago and only ended up with a smelly and dark basement room we had to share with 2 other groups. You just have to pay attention which kind of groups you attract (alcohol consumption, drugs, vandalism).

 

[Chris R]

Is this something you would have to get a permit from the city?

Was this question in reference to a residential use or a commercial use? Because from the commercial side of the equation, cities are generally going to want you to have what is known as a certificate of occupancy. There may be a way around it with your particular situation, but that depends on a couple of key things. But a c of o basically states that your use of the property complies within the guidelines that a city has outlined for that particular use.

If the rehearsal hall idea idea is what you were referencing, and something you'd be interested in pursuing, I think it would be fun to walk you through it right here on this thread, step by step.

 

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[Chris R]

Great suggestion.
I remember when we were looking for something like this 10 years ago and only ended up with a smelly and dark basement room we had to share with 2 other groups. You just have to pay attention which kind of groups you attract (alcohol consumption, drugs, vandalism).

Yes, in a commercial situation, when renting month to month to musicians and artists, the first thing you need is a room number on each door. This serves as an address. And when you have the one or more people sign your rental agreement, that outlines things like no illegal activities, you make sure that room number is on the contract.

This is what protects you from that possible liability issue.

You're asking for trouble without individual addresses.

 

[Blueskies4me]

As a side suggestion - maybe consider converting them into practice space for musicians. Rent them by the month. This way, you won't have the regulations required for residential, and can keep within business code and regulations.

This is a great idea for a lot of artistic / creative groups. Cool...can't wait to see how this works.

 

[Get Right]

Converting a motel to an apartment building is a "change in occupancy" in most states. This would require bringing the building up to current code in most states. That may require different fire separations, structural reqs., egress, plumbing, electrical, etc. You would also be subject to FHA regulations.

You might also have to set up some form of HOA or common area maintenance plan. Who pays to A/C the halls etc.

Could be challenging, but a little due diligence might save (or make) you a boatload. Call your local jurisdiction to get the skinny.

 

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[Blueskies4me]

Oh! And always buy with an exit strategy in mind. You don't want this to be a cool little endeavor that you can't even give away...ask some investors...hey if I did this and it was making "$XXX" month with management would you buy something like that?

 

[Danny V.]

I am actually putting together a budget and design with Architects here in Miami for a Hotel/Condo. It will be a fully furnished 1/1 unit about 500 sq. ft. each sold as a condo but tiered to buyers in South America. Thus, it will be a vacation home for 1-2 months of the year. For the rest of the year, that will have the association contract with a Hotel Concierge to rent them out. The parking garage is being sold to a management company, and you guessed it the restaurant on the ground floor will be sold as well. There isn't enough room for a ramp up to the second floor of the parking garage so there's 2 car lifts and double stackers. Now the area has no parking so the Doctor in the building adjacent wants to pay for underground parking so his outpatient facility can use.

The main issue with Condos is the warranty when sold.

Get a contractor on board to budget the Hotel to be condo with a kitchen and one without a full over &fridges, independent meters, upgraded HVAC (fan coils or splits), insta-hots if needed independently, etc.... If the building is old then any new construction may require that you must upgrade all aspects from ADA to fire sprinklers, smoke evac., etc. to code.

Get a contractor to budget the project. They will do it for free as long as your serious. And lastly, do a soft sale to see the interest.

 

[Chris R]

This is a great idea for a lot of artistic / creative groups. Cool...can't wait to see how this works.

Hi Blueskies, thank you. This was something I did years ago, and it was quite successful, and passive. As a matter of fact, it is still going today, and is quite scalable. But thanks again though

 

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[SGBoise]

This was something I did years ago, and it was quite successful, and passive. As a matter of fact, it is still going today, and is quite scalable.

I would like to hear more if you are willing to share. That's an amazing idea. Especially if you don't need to put to remodel to add a kitchen.

Do you ever people complain about noise?

 

[Chris R]

I would like to hear more if you are willing to share. That's an amazing idea. Especially if you don't need to put to remodel to add a kitchen.

Do you ever people complain about noise?

everybody asks that question! And it's always usually the first one. And thank you complimenting the idea, because that's what I'm about. i pass on a lot of solid ideas, until I find that one that really hits me hard as far as something that fits in with who i am. and i've come a long way with being more selective of my ideas to better fit in with where i'd like to be in 5 years.

with that said-

there's 3 options to take with soundproofing. 1. Leave it at two sheets of drywall with no insulation and let the bands sound proof. 2. Blow in insulation which will give some sound proofing 3. spend the money and put the acoustic foam on the walls.

what i did was I just left it at two sheets of 5/8 drywall with nothing but framing. And You could be in your room surrounded by bands playing and obviously you're going to hear everyone. But, believe it or not, you can watch tv and have a conversation while this is going on. AND, as soon as you started playing, all you will hear is yourself.

But, here's the kicker-

When you stand in a room that's just drywall, and clap your hands, the walls are very much alive. They more or less echo back at you. So, many bands choose to deaden this natural reverb down by soundproofing the walls their own way. which in most cases is carpet and acoustic foam.

It isn't anything really to be concerned about. And also, motels have carpeting which will also eat up a lot of sound. I myself just left it at concrete floors.


The thing is, with a motel set up, you can charge a premium because each room is individually heated and has its own bathroom. Commercial with this type of use does not require a kitchen.

AND i am willing to share more but I need you to do me a favor first, which is go down to the city planning department, and talk to the guy or lady behind the desk, and ask to see the file of all the work that was done on that site throughout history. And write down in a notepad everything.

This includes dates that work was done, and what was done. Which company did the work (or who pulled the permit) and who the owner was at the time.

Deal?

EDIT: and one more thing, i'm going to want you to upload the file here so we can all take a look (blocking the address out if you want and anything else you may consider revealing - if leaving the address doesn't bother you, that's fine too - doesn't matter either way)

 

[SGBoise]

AND i am willing to share more but I need you to do me a favor first, which is go down to the city planning department, and talk to the guy or lady behind the desk, and ask to see the file of all the work that was done on that site throughout history. And write down in a notepad everything.
This includes dates that work was done, and what was done. Which company did the work (or who pulled the permit) and who the owner was at the time.
Deal?

That's a deal but I'll take a rain check on your offer. This motel ended up being in a different city about 50 miles out. I'm going to keep looking for another motel.

If anyone else is interested go for it.
http://www.laskacompany.com/business-info.asp?i=284

 

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[Chris R]

That's a deal but I'll take a rain check on your offer. This motel ended up being in a different city about 50 miles out. I'm going to keep looking for another motel.

If anyone else is interested go for it.
http://www.laskacompany.com/business-info.asp?i=284

Just out of curiosity - may I ask why 50 miles is enough of a deterrent to shut this off? Because once the project is complete, the furthest you have to travel is to your mailbox to get the checks.

If you don't mind, let me give you some background on me, and what ultimately made me face everything that I was afraid of.

What I learned years ago was that comfort was my enemy. Even today, I still struggle with this. But when I first saw a rehearsal hall and how cool they were, I realized that the east side had BETTER musicians than the west (lol) which is where this rehearsal hall that I saw, was. the east side needed one because when I was practicing in the one on the west side, I was driving practically 50 miles to get there 2-3 times a week. So, of course I dreamed about it and started doing numbers in my head and I even started driving around through commercial zones and industrial zones and mixed use zones, as I learned, the three of these "zones" all had different pricing structures. Commercial was generally the most expensive and industrial the cheapest and mixed use would fall somewhere in the middle. All was based on location obviously. So, what i eventually did was put an ad in a paper that I knew the musicians read just to test the market and see if this was even needed, and my phone went crazy. SO, I knew the customers were there, but it wasn't enough to push me to that point of taking a risk, where I would be spending my money.

Anyway, after a very long time of procrastinating and making excuses, a very good friend of mine, a guy i used to go to the shooting range with every weekend, was shot in the head by his girlfriend while he was sleeping and killed. (I'm not from the best of areas) but this shock made me realize that first off, I'm never going to get the money back that he owes me, and second, life is too short to not take chances.

But this still wasn't enough.

SO, a couple months later I get a call from my best bud's mother asking if I had seen her son because he was missing. She said something like she'd been calling him and decided to go to his house and his side door was wide open and his dogs were all running in and out. By the way, his dogs were all named the same thing "Weezer" it made it easy. Anyway, four days later I got that phone call and my buddy took his own life. And what really sucks is the cops said that there were struggle marks of him trying to get out of what he'd gotten himself into.

This was my breaking point and was enough to make me take that risk and spend that money and sign on that dotted line.

I think his struggle became my fight, if that makes sense. But this is where i found my motivation and i did things that made the excuses useless because I was already way beyond what ever power any excuse held over me.

 

[SGBoise]

Damn that's a tragic story. You're right I'm looking for comfort.

I'll do some research before passing this up.

 

[Chris R]

Alright, cool. I just ask that you bring the info here, so we can all take a look. I'm not interested in the property if that's your worry, and I highly doubt anyone else would be either. What i am interested in though is trying to work through this here so everyone can have a look in real-time at a process.

And by the way, if you choose to take this on, from this point forward, understand that you have the final decision on everything, mentioned or not, physical or other, including all money and/or time spent. And every thing I or anyone else says or contributes, is only just that. But you are the one who makes all of the decisions, and nobody can be held liable for anything mentioned here in regards to this process experiment, whether it's out here in the open or by private communication. Any failures, losses, or anything that didn't workout in your favor, unforeseen or otherwise is on you 100%. If you go up on a roof, and the roof caves in, that's on you. So you gotta be smart and aware of all possible issues.

If you're good with that, "like" this post, and we'll move forward.

 

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[SGBoise]

What i am interested in though is trying to work through this here so everyone can have a look in real-time at a process.

Agreed, your guidance through the process would benefit others.

I'm going to do some research and post what I find.

 

[Chris R]

Thank you. I truly appreciate you having some faith. I noticed you're not an INSIDERS, even though I have pushed the INSIDERS in the past like a shill, I'm really not. Totally up to you, because obviously it costs $$, but the Jack Edwards call that's coming up will most likely benefit your learning curve as well because it's going to be about brick and mortar business, which is pretty much what we're trying to accomplish here. It's just a suggestion that I do recommend, but I wont say anymore about it.

Ok, you took the first step that I think deserves some rep. SO, you are going to get 1/4 of whatever my fastlane bank is at this moment. Rep Transferred.

So whenever you get that stuff from the city, let us know. Thanks - chris

 

[healthstatus]

I would like to hear more if you are willing to share.

If it is close to a college or bus line, housing for college students. Rent by the semester. Some ancillary services could be offered as well.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Yes, in a commercial situation, when renting month to month to musicians and artists

This is a great idea. Along the same lines, you can make them also small offices and rent them to small business, entrepreneurs. (Accountants, real estate agents, etc.) Sometimes you just need a public presense vs the home office.

That way you also avoid the kitchen remodeling thing.

Other than city rezoning, I don't see many barriers to this conversion.

 

[AllenCrawley]

This is a great idea. Along the same lines, you can make them also small offices and rent them to small business, entrepreneurs. (Accountants, real estate agents, etc.) Sometimes you just need a public presense vs the home office.

Or a place to just get away from the home. Distractions are more plentiful in a home office. I really like the artists/musician angle and the entrepreneur angle.