As the job market in Tucson continues to grow, investors in the multifamily home market remain optimistic. To add fuel to the fire, apartment occupancy is increasing steadily, making Tucson a sought after area for real estate investors.

In recent months, a number of complexes have been sold. One of these is the Coronado Villas in Tanque Verde Road. The complex, consisting of 432 units, was bought by Tokola Properties from Oregon for a whopping $43 million. San Francisco based Prime Residential was the seller in the deal brokered by the Tucson office of Berkadia.

Art Wadlund, the senior managing director of Berkadia explained that Tokola was looking for a quality property in Arizona. They recognized that the accelerating job growth and increasing apartment occupancy in the Tucson area presented a prime opportunity, as Coronado Villas is located within a growing multifamily market.

Coronado Villas, built in 1994, consists of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The units include a washer/dryer and wood burning fireplaces. Community facilities include three swimming pools, a fitness center, a clubhouse and spas. Saguaro National Park east is only a short four-mile drive away.

The Tucson real estate market also recently received a boost when Lima One Capital, based in South Carolina, entered the local market. John Warren, Lima’s CEO noted that they offer loans only to multifamily property investors and house flippers. The loan types offered are “FixNFlip” loans for investors rehabbing homes over a 13-month period and multifamily projects loans for property owners and investors over 30 years. Warren added that  Phoenix and Tucson have always been well-balanced markets, making them prime investor areas.

Loan details:

• Rental30

The 30-year loan is aimed at landlords who want to refinance or buy single properties. The minimum amount that can be borrowed is $45,000 and rates start at 6.5 percent. Lenders need to have a credit score of at least 630 and the loan-to-value can be maximum 75 percent.

• FixNFlip

These loans are made over a 13-month period and both interest rates and origination fees decrease as the investor makes more flips. Flippers can borrow up to 70 percent of the loan to after-repaired-value (ARV), or 90 percent of the loan to cost.

• Fix2Rent

This short-term loan can be used by investors to buy and rehabilitate a property. Once the property has been fixed, the load can be converted to a Rental30 loan.

Other commercial deals recently done include:

• Vista Palmilla Apartments, 57 units for $1.7 million.
• Medical space on First Ave, 7,152 square feet for $1.8 million.
• Land along with improvements on Fifth St, 52,100 square feet for $1.7 million. The site will be redevelop for affordable workforce housing.
• Land at the northwest corner of Shannon roads and Cortaro Farms, 9.25 acres for $1.6 million.
• 4,910 square feet leased in the Wilmot Professional Plaza.
• 1,450 square feet leased at 2351 N. Alvernon Way.

The Tucson Real Estate information used in this article was compiled from broker records at the Pima County Recorder’s Office.

Find out about investing in Tucson real estate at TucsonRealEstateInvesting.com