Union City Mixed-Use

Blackburne & Sons is pleased to present this first mortgage secured by a mixed-use property consisting two buildings totaling in 6,050SF on a 3,750 SF parcel, located in Union City, New Jersey.

The borrower is refinancing this 100% occupied three-unit property in order to pay off a $290,000 note that matured in January 2020. The cash out will be used to upgrade the boiler systems, electrical systems, and to upgrade the water meters in the apartment units. These upgrades will allow the apartments to be on separate meters, and to be paid separately by the tenants. The remaining cash out will pay off some personal debt and recoup funds spent on recent renovations to the property.

Hudson County, a county in the U.S. State of New Jersey, lies west of the lower Hudson River, which was named for Henry Hudson, the sea captain who explored the area in 1609. Part of New Jersey's Gateway Region in the New York Metropolitan area, Jersey City is its largest city and is the county seat. As of the 2019 Census estimate, the county's population was 672,391, making it the state's 4th-most populous county, which is an increase of 9.0% from the 2010 United States Census. Hudson County is the geographically smallest and most densely populated county in New Jersey and the sixth-most densely populated county in the U.S. During the latter half of the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries, Hudson experienced intense industrial, commercial and residential growth. Construction, first of ports, and later railroad terminals, in Jersey City, Bayonne, Hoboken and Weehawken.

Union City, New Jersey contains 1.283 square miles and is situated west of Manhattan across the Hudson River and directly north of Jersey City. Given its proximity to New York City, Union City has the advantages of being near a large city, but also an atmosphere of a smaller city of many diverse neighborhoods. The development patterns in Union City have generally followed those of Hoboken, which borders the city on the southeast. Since 2007, the city has seen an increase in the number of mid and high-rise residential developments. ESRI estimates Union City has 195,479 households in 2020, which represents an increase of 3.9% since the 2010 Census household estimate of 188,118 households. The number of households in anticipated to increase to 198,946, or 1.8% by 2025.

The median household income in Union City is $45,636 ( a 5.09% annual growth), the median property value is $317,600 (a 7.22% annual growth) and the homeownership rate is 19.7%. The economy of Union City, NJ employs 35.3k people. The largest industries in Union City, NJ are Health Care & Social Assistance (3,996 people), Accommodation & Food Services (3,727 people), and Retail Trade (3,585 people), and the highest paying industries are Finance & Insurance ($72,313), Utilities ($64,583), and Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services ($61,083).

Built in 1900, the subject property is a mixed-use property that consists of 2 buildings on a single tax lot. The first building (commercial building) is a single-story building that contains 1 commercial unit and is located on the front of the site with frontage on 22nd Street. This building contains 3,200 SF of gross building area, of which 1,600 SF is above-grade building area. This unit is leased for $2,500 per month and lease ends December 2021. This tenant is using this unit for storage, as there are very few storage units in this area.

The second building (residential building) is a 2-story building that contains 2 residential apartments and is located behind the commercial building, at the rear of the site. Each apartment has 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. The building contains 2,850 SF of gross building area, of which 1,900 SF is above grade. Each apartment is leased for $2,000 per month and the leases expire December 2021. The buildings are separated by a landscaped courtyard.

Recent renovations to the apartments include refinished wood flooring, new interior paint, new molding around the walls, new tiling in the second floor apartment, new kitchen countertops in the second floor apartment, and landscaping. The borrower spent approximately $37,000 on upgrades in the past year.

Altogether, the improvements contain 6,050SF of Gross Building Area (GBA), of which 3,500SF is above grade.The property is situated on a 3,750 SF site in the Multiple Use (MU) zone along the northerly side of 22nd Street between Kerrigan Avenue and Summit Avenue in Union City, New Jersey. The subject property is legal, non-conforming improvement. The subject property’s current use is permitted to continue as it was established prior to the effective date of the original zoning ordinance. Even though the property is underbuilt according to its allowable bulk, expansion of the subject property is not legally permitted.

The borrower purchased this property in December 2017 through a Sherriff’s sale for $325,000. He put $65,000 in escrow but was unable to get clean title due to an underground storage tank at the property. He had to get the tank removed, soil samples done, clean-up, and was finally able to close on this property in January 2019. He got a short term one year loan that matured in January 2020. The current lender filed a Lis Pendens in January 2020 when the loan matured. The borrower has been paying this lender $2,000 per month over his current monthly payment in order to keep extending the loan and to give him time to refinance.

Blackburne & Sons ordered a Phase I Environmental report on this property and it came back with “No further assessment is recommended at this time” as well as recommendation that the oil observed in the open 55-gallon drum during the site inspection be removed and disposed of in accordance with all local, state and federal regulations. Additionally, it is recommended that all debris be removed and containers be properly stored, labeled, and secured in accordance with aforementioned regulations. The borrower did have the drum removed and debris removed. We also have a letter from the State of NJ Environmental Protection dated July 2020 stating that no further action is necessary.

The borrower holds title through a Limited Liability Company of which husband and wife are 50/50 partners and will personally guaranty this loan. They report a net worth of $573,287 and have mid-credit scores of 616 and 631. The husband is a Chief Pilot and flies a helicopter for a private family, and wife is a homemaker. Their 2020 personal tax return reports $218,407 in adjusted gross income, and in 2019 they reported $253,268 in adjusted gross income. The LLC tax return for 2019 reported zero income and $56,153 in expenses. Tenants did not start moving in until late 2019, early 2020 thus the reason why there is no income reported on the 2019 return. In 2020, the LLC tax return for the subject property reported $35,700 in net income, after adding back mortgage interest and depreciation.

We hired a local MAI appraiser who valued this property with an (AS-IS) appraised value of $630,000. A local broker was also engaged who performed a drive-by opinion of value (BPO) and values this property at $700,000 (AS-IS).

You should spread your mortgage investment portfolio out among lots of different deals. If you have $300,000 to invest, you should invest $10,000 to $20,000 in 15 to 20 different fractionalized first trust deeds. For example, if the deal is a $300,000 first trust deed on an office building in Boise, with a $15,000 investment you would own 5% of the loan. By spreading your money out into a bunch of different deals, you are achieving the diversity of a fund without the failed fund sponsor problem. If you are extremely wealthy, you could double (or even triple) my suggested investment amounts, but be careful about pouring too much money into a single deal. We once had a whole building fall into an old coal mine. Ouch.
Be wise and resist investing in any first trust deed yielding more than 9%. I would personally never invest in a first trust deed with a double-digit yield. The payments slowly grind the borrowers into the dust.
Blackburne’s Law theorizes that a portfolio of 8% and 9% first trust deeds will outperform a portfolio of 11% and 12% first trust deeds over a seven-year term. Only our wisest (and eventually the happiest) investors listen to me.
You can also buy some of our smaller deals in their entirety, but I only recommend this if you are richer than Crassus.
It is very easy to lose money in hard money first mortgages, so fight-fight-fight against the temptation to invest in high-yield deals. As Nancy Reagan used to say, “Just say no.” But if you choose 7% to 9% first mortgages, I predict that you will be very, very pleased.
During the S&L Crisis, commercial real estate fell by 45%. Within three years, values reached new highs. During the Dot-Com Meltdown, commercial real estate fell by 45%. Within three years, values reached new highs. During the Great Recession, commercial real estate fell by 45%. Within three years, values reached new highs. Some time in the next decade, we will have another opportunity to snatch up prime commercial real estate at a huge discount. You will be terrified, but when Blackburne and Sons invites you to join a syndicate to buy a nice commercial property at a 35% discount off its prior high, just remember that the best time to invest is when blood is running in the streets. Why not when real estate has fallen by 45%? You’ll never catch the very bottom because historically the bounces off the bottom happen much too fast. Bounce-soar. You will be terrified, but just remember that the best time to invest is when blood is running in the streets.

Blackburne & Sons Realty Capital Corporation--For more information, contact George Blackburne, IV
555 University Ave., Suite 150, Sacramento, CA 95825
Telephone: (916) 338-3232 * Fax: (916) 338-2328
Real Estate Broker -- California Bureau of Real Estate -- License Number 829677 -- NMLS Number 103430
Publicly advertised to California residents only under California Department of Business Oversight business plan permit.
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