How to buy a warehouse

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too. If it doesn't start out that way, anybody who has been buying stuff at auction will just expand into that kind of space. Maybe be DRAGGED kicking and screaming into it by all the "neat stuff".

It's a disease we are all familiar with.

Jon

4K sq ft is not enough space to let it out, except to one tenant, probably. But, maybe that is what you had in mind. In some areas, much larger properties are available for a song, and if you can buy it for a song, then the taxes will be based on that sale price, at least for the first couple years. There are a lot of properties, like the clerestory factory building I mentioned in an earlier message, that VERY few established businesses want. But, to possibly split up and have a couple startups use, it could be just perfect.

Jon

Good point, Jon. The space I rent for my electronic assembly business is set up for 3,000 ft increments. We rent 6,000 ft. All the spaces can have walls knocked out to expand to another 3,000 ft. or rebuilt to reset the footage. The building is metal with concrete floor. The land lord usually has the units all set up for 3.000 ft.

Ig, Each unit you rent must be set up for a rest room that is ADA compliant. Must have some off-street parking, Obviously must have water/sewer, etc. If each unit had an office space, that is a plus. Should have individual phone lines already installed which can be used as part of a security system for each space.

Expect to have conflicts between renters if you have more than one. Even the best renters can irritate the other. Yes, your insurance will be a lot of money, but will go down for a rented unit as the renter will have to have insurance to make you whole in case of a claim.

If you are going to mange the unit yourself, you will spend a lot of seemingly wasted time showing the unit to potential renters. We have looked at lots of other buildings and each visit takes about an hour, plus driving time. Even more time if the potential renter sees something of interest. The worst impression you can make is to say you don't know something about your very own building.

Paul

A big factor here will be how much managing you want to do. One tenant, you can write the lease so they pay pretty much all expenses, and most of the maintenance and repairs. Look up triple net lease... More tenants, you will need to spend more time and energy running the place. Flip side, if one tenant quits, you pay everything until you find a new one, or you hardly notice it because it is only 10% of your income.

Stuart

My experience from common rentals have not been good. We do have three vacation rentals, but in that case, one week's occupancy pays for more than a month's mortgage, so it is good. You just have to balance the numbers and see if it is right for you. I'd advise consulting a professional who can tell you the advantages and disadvantages, and plug in YOUR numbers. It's not right for everyone, but it's not wrong for everyone, either. If you can make more than your payment, and have the payments cover the mortgage and upkeep, it is a positive situation. It can go anywhere on the map from there.

Steve

You can't hide the real reason from the long-time readers of this group. The real reason is you have run out of room in your garage and you need a place to store your new stuff.

Paul

Thank you for putting it so delicately, Paul.

Steve

Just like work expands to fill the time allotted, "stuff" expands to fill available room, and then there's always the driveway.

Steve

Stuart, this is very much on the mark. Thanks. Tomorrow me and my whole family are going on an Amtrak trip to California, once we come back I will start researching deeply.

Re: needing space for stuff. I actually manage with the garage and backyard. For personal messing around, I would much rather have space next to my house rather than a warehouse somewhere. The warehouse is really meant to be a way to get monthly rent checks. Maybe later in life I will use one for my own purposes, but not now.

i

I knew a guy who bought a piece of property he thought was a steal. Come to find out, it was previously a gas station. It cost him a lot to remediate the property, and with all the remediation, he broke even. After about five years. Research the property in question. If you buy a EPA cleanup site, the government won't want to hear any whiny stories on how you didn't know.

Steve

I am going to San Jose, CA.

i

When in San Jose, visit Weird Stuff Warehouse.

There used to be a whole BUNCH of interesting places in the south bay area. I think Halted Specialties is still around at 3500 Ryder St. in Santa Clara.

Mike Quinn is at 401 Mccormick St in San Leandro. They used to be on the Oakland Airport, then moved a couple blocks away.

Triangle Machine has apparently closed. It was a totally awesome place, with tables of ballscrews, servo motors, etc. just filling the place!

Those are the only ones I knew of in recent history. Some years ago I used to make almost yearly trips to Berkeley, and would rent a car and take a whole day to tour all the cool places. If you are interested in old computers, the Computer History Museum is a total blast. They have all the computers I learned on, including some quite unusual machines from the 60's.

Jon