A few years ago I worked with a buyer who left Wall Street soon after the 2008 Crash and landed in the Florida Keys. He wanted to use his business acumen to purchase a business and live the good life in Key West. I will call my buyer "Wilbur.
Wilbur told me he had an uncle in New Jersey who owned a bar. Wilbur initially wanted to buy a bar. That would be the perfect after Wall Street job. Few bars are actually listed for sale in our MLS. I nosed around and found one, got the sales package, and sent it to Wilbur who scrutinized. Then one day Wilbur asked me '"Who do I buy my napkins from?"
I told Wilbur he could buy his napkins from whomever he wanted. He did not believe me. In New Jersey bar owners had to buy everything from specific "vendors". I immediately envisioned Tony's Napkin Store operated in back of Bada Bing.
As I recall the asking price for this particular bar was over four million dollars. Wilbur said he could raise the funds. He submitted an offer that was way too low to be accepted. It wasn't accepted. It was ignored. I initially viewed this as a learning episode for Wilbur. I can see him not believing a realtor who sells houses. I don't think he trusts anybody.
Time passed. We looked into other ventures including another cash business - a laundromat. I remember the day we looked a the property. Two other potential buyers looked before and after us. It went under contract a few days after. Two things happened on this deal. First, Wilbur could not make sense of the numbers the listing agent had provided. I learned a long time ago that many cash businesses have two sets of books - one for Uncle Sam and second for their eyes only. Laundromats are notorious for that. This laundromat also had a small Cuban coffee and sandwich window that generated a lot of income. He could not see himself making cafe con leche Cuban coffee and sandwiches - he was from New Jersey. Second, Wilbur was slow in responding to a very well located and attractive property. think that place went under contract the first week it was on the market. He who snoozes loses.
An agent in my office was getting ready to list a very well located cash business that catered to tourists. We did a couple of site visits just to see the volume of business the place did. Wilbur was impressed with the number of transactions he saw, but being a numbers guy, the numbers the seller provided did not make sense. We both assumed unreported transactions. Wilbur was prepared to copy the seller's business mode but he out what he did what he did or how much money the seller actually made. Wilbur submitted an offer which the seller did not counter. The business was sold to another investor. It is a very popular tourist attraction.
One day several years ago a new MLS listing popped up that really excited me - a trailer park on Stock Island. As I recall the trailers were actually annual or monthly rentals. The owner was selling the trailers along with the park. The listing touted the profitability of the trailer park as a going enterprise. I immediately did a Google aerial view and saw that the property was located on the water. Visions of houses with boat docks appeared in my head. I scheduled a visit. Wilbur asked a lot of questions. I fished for potential sales price info. I got Wilbur to talk to a real estate attorney to explain the process of removing the trailers and developing the near two acre parcel. Wilbur was a worry wart. He could only see down side. He could only see hiring plumbers to fix toilets and patch roofs. He couldn't imagine rubbing elbows with the people who lived there whereas he wanted to rub elbows with the patrons of the Old Town bar he lost. I kept advising Wilbur to buy the property and sit on it. I said it had immense development potential. Someone else could be the developer. All he had to do was buy the property and sit on it. Wilbur declined.
Someone else bought the trailer park and the trailer park next to it. I assume the new owner hired a land planner and real estate attorney to get government approvals remove the former trailers and develop the ground to the point where it is today. The trailers, trees, years of debris are gone. Fill dirt has been added. The waterfront appears in the distance. Wilbur saw collecting rent from people who live in trailers. I saw long term profit. Wilbur got a real estate license. In Key West. Yeah Wilbur!
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