My first commercial deal in the works. 18 unit Appartment complex

What are thr rent rolls? Meaning what does the prop produce in gros monthly dollars and what are your projected expenses. (Mortg's.taxes, ins, maint etc.)
Hard money will rip your face off as far as % and payments are involved.
Private money or a JV partnership might be the way to go. Most all lenders will want to see some skin in the game, so the question is how much of your ouwn $$ will you throw in.
I am hesitant to say look at conventional means, but hey it is worth a try...Jan

There are several things about this property that make it look like a retail "deal." As I've said before on other posts, REI's don't want a retail priced property, they're everywhere! This would certainly be a deal to run with if you were going to MAKE $200K. But, if you have to PUT UP $200K just to get the place, and it's already priced at FMV, your ONLY chance to make a profit ANYWHERE is going to be the rents vs. expenses. If the expenses are low, and the rents haven't been raised in forever and a day, you could probably clear a couple grand each month. Maybe. An individual partner or a commercial loan may be your only viable options here. HML's don't like "buy and hold" where their money will be tied up for years or decades, and the ones who do them will bleed you dry with more interest and fees.

You have to make sure this is the right choice for you. If you've never done a deal before, an 18-unit is an ambitious, even aggressive, target. Making your 1st deal an apt. complex? Also ambitious, even aggressive. Not trying to talk you out of anything but, if they already fixed up the place and it looks great 100%, they're trying to make their fortune selling it. Do your due diligence on rents vs. expenses - you may very well find that this place is only going to make the seller rich, not the buyer, whoever it may be. If they priced it at retail, have no motivation to sell immediately, and show no flexibility on terms, you may want to pass on it.

Plus, whoever puts up the $200K is going to want a few things you may not be willing to give up: Total control of the deal and the building, all profits redirected to him, authority to refinance without your permission anytime he wants, etc., etc. They're also going to ask, "If I'm putting up the $200K, what do I need you for?" Not being rude, but it's true. If you're not putting up at least half of that money yourself (and why would you?), you may find yourself signing up for more work, and a lot less money, than you envisioned at first. Keep us updated on what you decide. Best of luck to you...

First thing, why are they selling? Have they owned this complex for a while or is it a flip gone bad? Selling a SFR for retail that a buyer falls in love with and will occupy is a whole lot different than asking an investor to pay retail for 18 units. It's a lot easier to put a deal together if you know what problem you can solve for the seller. Second, no motivated seller, no deal. Third, what do you want out of this deal. Do you want to hold long term, or flip to an investor that will hold long term. How can you solve the seller's problem and have a viable deal for yourself? Why is the occupancy rate 66%? That would seem to indicate a problem...bad management or bad property? A lot of times occupancy rate can give some perspective on the rents being charged. Too low an occupancy rate, rents are too high. No vacancy rate, rents are too low. If you are happy with the cash flow, better to be on the low side of market rents and have 100% occupancy than be on the high side with 66% occupancy. First thing you should do is have a plan, a reason to get involved with this property. Then it's just a matter of a math equation and plugging in the numbers to see if the property fits your plan. If it doesn't pencil out, something has to change. Once you answer the above questions, then is the time to see if getting creative with the financing is even a viable alternative.

Thanks for the advice from everybody. This building would deffinetly have to be a buy and hold situation. The reason they are wanting to sell is, they want to retire and move to Texas to be with their kids. I see what everybody is saying and right now with the numbers that are on the table its probably not something that I should do. Im pretty sure the occupancy rate is so low because the owners/managers don't do any marketing to fill the vacancies. The rents for the sizes of apartments and area of town are pretty good, and in fact probably a little low for some of the 2 & 3 bdr. units. I had an idea about how to possibly come up with a down payment for the building and would like some input. Im wondering if in theory if it could work for any deal. Since ive never worked with the banks before i'm not sure how. I thought about offering the sellers a contract that would be closer to fmv then a cash deal, but still give me some room, in exchange for control of title contingent upon giving them a large deposit within a certain period of time (?), so that I could take control of the building, get the occupancy rate up to around 95% and then refinance the building with the bank to give the sellers their money down. I think that would allow me to get the money I need at the best possible rate & with payments that would still allow a mounthly cash flow. What do you think? Is this idea something that is even possible with a bank?