Originally posted by Bonnie:
Does anyone know roughly how much it will cost to get an architect to draw up plans for 4-5 units/townhouses on a block of land?
Thanks in advance

There are a lot of standardized plans that are available for ~500 a unit. Unless the lot is irregular I don’t recommend hiring an architect at all.

I think retail properties would better suit you. The tenants (ie. pharmacies, McDonalds…) are extremely unlikely to trash the property and are usually a pleasure to deal with.

If I sell this property at a 5.0% cap rate, I can increase my capital base and acquire a much larger property.

Originally posted by byronent:
Why would you want to sell them to the tenants?

Byronent
Adelaide SA

I can make the case to them that owning is cheaper than renting (beacause of the low interest rates). In essesnce I will sell the property for 5.0% cap.

Any idea how much value strataing could unlock? Could I make a case to the tenants ownership (with the very low mortgage rates) is cheaper than renting? Many of them have been there for a long time)

The trap is vacancy. Office properties are extremely cyclical. If the property goes vacant the landlord must pay all expenses out of hi or her pocket and can in some cases be forced to default. Retail properties are considerably more secure. Even with an eight year lease, a tenant can become insolvent and default