Possibly purchasing my late friend's turn key darkroom / studio....

[Kodachrome25]

Does his estate/will/last rights dictate anything in terms of how it is to be sorted? I'd look into that before getting all hot n' flustered, TBH.
Do you and your wife have a house, or do you currently rent? Is this property zoned as "inhabitable" according to local code? I mean, if you guys are currently renting, you could(if all the stars aligned) turn your monthly rental payment into a mortgage payment, of sorts. Just an idea of course, that's IF the space has enough going for it to make it a home in addition to a work space...

A friend of mine, when getting his little(now not so little, he's done well) fabrication/welding business started approx 5 years ago(right in the thick of the banking sh**storm) couldn't afford to pay for both an apartment AND rental space in a business park for his shop, he(against my suggestion) put himself up in his shop. He was the only employee, so he lived where he worked(literally), but after busting his a$$ for 9 months straight, building a customer base, he finally got himself out. Not ideal(and against his rental agreement), but it worked, and he's now just bought a home with his wife.

Moral of the (above) story: REALLY look at where you want to go with yourself. It sounds like you pretty much have your stuff ironed out, but do the numbers, see if it's even in the REMOTE possibility of being "turn key", despite having all the bells n' whistles that the doctor could afford... A single, $4,000 sale will only cover a month or two mortgage payments, so you'd better have customers out the door, cash in hand(no net30/60/90) eager to buy, unless you have other income channels that can support yourself and not keep you in ramen-only land

We rent in a county subsidized 2 bedroom for now, pretty inexpensive and are looking at playing the housing lottery before our incomes climb too high which leads to the other topic, we do very well together in terms of income. I do have to check to see how this property ownership would affect our eligibility to play the local housing lottery though, although I suspect they don't count business ownership as a disqualification, only an adjustment of owned assets.

My buddy who is a very good realtor in town is going to run the numbers this week to see what the place is worth sans gear, improvements. Basically at this point though, the commercial assessor who is a family friend says the family would jump at the chance to sell this as a package so who knows, this could turn out great.

[brucetaylor]

You need to do your homework and determine the approximate fair market value of the commercial real estate. You should be able to determine that easily. It is unlikely you'll be offered the real estate below fair market, that may even be established in the estate instructions. Tenant improvements rarely have any value, so plumbing, climate control, vents have little effect. Zoning, location and square feet are what determine price. The equipment would be worth perhaps 50 to 60 % of used retail, the cost of selling the equipment is high, it would likely be sold at a wholesale price to people who would resell it (even if that's you). However, if you're in a good economic area and it sounds like you are, it would likely be a good real estate investment regardless of what use it is put to. You could always rent it or sell it later. The other step is financing. That may be quite a hurdle, this is commercial not residential and requirements are different. But sometimes the seller will finance short or long term. This may be a good opportunity to own some investment property. I think your wife is right- go for it.

[Kodachrome25]

You need to do your homework and determine the approximate fair market value of the commercial real estate. You should be able to determine that easily. It is unlikely you'll be offered the real estate below fair market, that may even be established in the estate instructions. Tenant improvements rarely have any value, so plumbing, climate control, vents have little effect. Zoning, location and square feet are what determine price. The equipment would be worth perhaps 50 to 60 % of used retail, the cost of selling the equipment is high, it would likely be sold at a wholesale price to people who would resell it (even if that's you). However, if you're in a good economic area and it sounds like you are, it would likely be a good real estate investment regardless of what use it is put to. You could always rent it or sell it later. The other step is financing. That may be quite a hurdle, this is commercial not residential and requirements are different. But sometimes the seller will finance short or long term. This may be a good opportunity to own some investment property. I think your wife is right- go for it.

When you connect with a community like the one I am in you make allies and never enemies. I have a few people going to bat for me right now in figuring what the current and even the long term value of this property is completely independent of my intended use for it. That simple math will be done by Tuesday, that will pretty much be 90% of what I need to know. If this fails to line up as I would want it to, I will look into getting the sinks and stick to plan A.

That's all I can do, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take, I am going to do my best to make this a positive outcome. It would suck to see my friend's amazing workspace get ripped to shreds.

[Tin Can]

Good luck.

I think you will end up with it.

Without you, they need to strip it out, remodel, stage and then sell.

That will cost money and time. The gear is incidental to everyone except you.

And they know it.

Enjoy your new space!

[DennisD]

When will the estate be listing the property for sale ? Let the family know you'd like to know the asking price ASAP. If they are reasonable and the price aligns with your research, you might be able to deal directly. Once they sign with a broker, the sale will be subject to a substantial sales commission.

If you're in a "hot" market, the property will easily sell in "as is" condition. That is what the estate would prefer. The family would probably not be advised to spend $$$ to demolish the improvements and remodel for sale. The new owner will make any necessary changes. OTOH, if the market there is slow, the darkroom will be a liability on the sale of the unit.

If you're truly bent on buying the real property, your ability to finance depends on your having a solid (ongoing) income statement. You'll need several years of supporting tax returns. Also, for commercial property, interest rates are higher than residential. Someone suggested getting terms from the seller (good idea), but the estate lawyer may advise against that for tax reasons.

Were you to go for the property, your final deal would, ideally, include all your friends's photo equipment, I.e. darkroom, cameras, etc as part of a favorable negotiated package sale price. Keep in mind the value, present and future, is primarily in the real property.

The photography stuff is only of value to you or another photographer. And values are on the downtrend. Despite what certain pieces of photo eqpt may be worth individually, there are definite costs ($$$, time, effort) and difficulties disposing of anything & everything.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Knowing the area I would say go for it! The work of yours that I say is excellent and I think that if you do not feed your passion then what is the point of life? We all take chances but I feel this is a great opportunity. The location is great and hell I retire next month and June and I are going to travel so I'd love to come and check out a world class darkroom! Good luck but I say go for it. My .02

[thomasfallon]

The darkroom and systems have no value to anyone in the market besides you. Most buyers would just clear it out. The commercial space is pretty easy to get a value based on comparable sales. The family may prefer a quick sale rather than holding the property. If so, they will require an attractive price. On comparable sales, how long were they on the market? A good accountant can advise you if this makes business sense for you. If it does, get a commercial real estate person to help you with the purchase negotiation. Take the emotion and personal relationships out of it.

[Corran]

He purchased the 680 sq. foot space in a business park in our extremely expensive resort town for about $345,000 in 2005.

Ultimately it's up to you and I have little to no input.

But...

It occurs to me that simply taking all of the darkroom equipment and putting it somewhere not in an expensive business park might be the more reasonable thing to do, even if you have to rebuild the "turnkey" system in a new place. While the site looks beautiful, I can't imagine sinking $400k into it?! Surely you could get all of that equipment simply by removing it and preparing the space for proper renovation as the "payment." Surely there is a location somewhere close enough that would work just as well that isn't nearly that expensive?

I mean, it's New York so I understand property value is a bit [lot] different, but the shed behind my house that I use as a darkroom is twice that size and my entire house is only worth 1/4 that.

[Kodachrome25]

It occurs to me that simply taking all of the darkroom equipment and putting it somewhere not in an expensive business park might be the more reasonable thing to do, even if you have to rebuild the "turnkey" system in a new place. While the site looks beautiful, I can't imagine sinking $400k into it?! Surely you could get all of that equipment simply by removing it and preparing the space for proper renovation as the "payment." Surely there is a location somewhere close enough that would work just as well that isn't nearly that expensive?

I mean, it's New York so I understand property value is a bit [lot] different, but the shed behind my house that I use as a darkroom is twice that size and my entire house is only worth 1/4 that.

If I make a post like the one I have, I have to expect to reveal at bit more about my self, location, means, etc.

So we live in downtown Aspen, an 8 minute walk to one of 4 ski areas, 55 restaurants, real estate is on par with the Hamptons, Beverly Hills. Several friends of mine have net worth's in the billions, I can take a photo out my apartment window right now that will show you about a dozen homes on the hill above worth well over 200 million all told.

For the two clients / contracts I have that are near assured year on year that have been going strong for about ten years, that is 75K minimum I make if I do no marketing, no pavement pounding, anything. In order to keep them, I have to at least stay within 10 miles for various reasons, twist my arm. My wife makes almost double what I do working for one of the nation's largest healthcare providers and is an utter rock star, is constantly being recruited for higher slots in the company. She works remote and travels a bit, her uniform at home is often her pajamas, twist her arm. She can work anywhere there is a decent airport nearby and make the same amount of money, Aspen or Tulsa, OK.

Everything is great, except for the points of entry into free market homes, 250K per year in most places you are considered upper middle class, here it is *just* going to get you into free market housing. So my wife and I are at a crossroads. I can leave here, we can live in another town have a nice sized home with a basement or other great space for a darkroom, but those contracts go bye bye as does the amazing potential for making at least double that with other revenue streams in photography in the town I am in ( was easily that pre-recession when I marketed and did more ). I would likely be doing everything and anything in another town to earn that kind of income in photography and I sure as heck would not be skiing, hiking and climbing like I do now. I'd be doing weddings.

I already have three complete enlargers for doing my own work and holding small workshops. The only thing I would want from the estate are the sinks, I am set otherwise. The business plan, the type of work I do, the whole reason for even being a photographer can only work for me in a place like where I live, so 400K for a place like that I can ride my bike to in the Summer and drive 2.5 miles to in the Winter is pretty much golden to me.

Then my wife and I can either be happy at the income level we are at and bid on county subsidized housing that I no longer have to worry about not having enough space for a darkroom ( $200-$500K ), or we can really get our incomes cranking and get into a free market condo to the tune of 1.2-3 million...that *might* have room for a small darkroom.

You make sacrifices throughout life, I don't regret the ones I have made to live the life as a photographer I have had to make here, but as I get a little older and want more out of my dwelling and career situation, I have to consider all moves I can make in an educated and well thought out fashion, including exiting photography as a job, life and passion if we choose to leave the area.

So here I am, an opportunity in front of me, I don't know what the numbers will be but I have my suspicions. Things could certainly be worse in my life, but I want them to be better, I have literally been working the past ten years to shift to doing fine art and workshops. Using my friend's outstanding space to do that would be fantastic on so many levels, an ideal use of the space really.

All I can do is try....

[Kirk Gittings]

I think you are asking the right questions. In the short run all that is important is will it pay for itself somehow. Hope it works out.