ESU Inspection

We had a good project this weekend.  We spent a day doing an inspection tour of our next project, ESU apartments. (name subject to change)  This is a 96 unit, 12 building complex that was formerly married student housing for Emporia State University.  It was shut down due to changing demographics – married student housing also is simply not looked at the way it was in the past.  I happened to see this property when we were doing a property trip to our Courtyard property.  It is just up the street, and externally appeared to be in very good condition.  My immediate thought was “hey, let’s buy this one, too!”  I can’t take full credit of course, as my partner had already seen it and had the exact same thought.  Great minds think alike, you know.

We had planned for a full day, walking each individual unit plus a couple of basements and support buildings that are part of the property.  Luckily, we were able to move faster than anticipated and not spend as much time in the July Kansas heat.  It’s certainly not the South where I grew up or the middle eastern deserts where I spent too much time, but it still makes for a long day.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that most units were in excellent condition, needing only minimal cleaning to be rent-ready.  This sped things up tremendously.  The flipside is that a small number of units had pretty bad problems from the humidity, lack of airflow, and a few broken pipes to boot.  Overall the infrastructure is going to need some work, primarily due to lack of maintenance and that fact that the utilities shutdown means that the property will no longer be grandfathered in and must be brought up to current code.  If we can get the property for a good price, the large amount of rehab shouldn’t be a factor except for time, and this will be a good earner of a property to add to our portfolio.

It was very educational to see what sort of maintenance concerns can exist in a property and how to spot them.  We learned an awful lot about the complex, both from the actual inspection and in talking with the ESU maintenance staff who were on hand to unlock and later re-secure all the doors, most of whom had actually worked on the apartments before they were shutdown, as well as the minor maintenance that was performed afterwards.  It’s vitally important to walk and get to know your property.  Take every opportunity to do so!