All Forum Posts by: Michael G.

@Jon Ree

Thanks!   Wishing you the best with your own properties!

@Janel F.

Re: Trash & Snow: We put it in the Lease that they are themselves responsible to clean up after themselves.  We also have a serious discussion with them about it (amongst other things before they move in) The idea is that we want the Tenants to think of their Apts as their "homes."

If the building ever gets a $25 summons ticket from Sanitation (it happened once) we then bill it to the tenants in equal share. (1/3 each for a 3 family) and send a sternly-worded email.

Re: Legal obligations - I know of no "legal" obligations to curb the trash on behalf of the Tenants that would supercede what was specifically agreed to in the Lease.  If they want to live at a nice place, they'll do it. (And they do) If we get a ticket, we always pay it promptly, but then recover it from the Tenants. 

If  you can cite any reliable source that says otherwise, please lmk.  

https://www.trulia.com/voices/Rentals/who_s_responsible_for_curbing_garbage_landlord_o-440628

Staying on topic:  Who wants to share a Brooklyn-based roaming "Super" who is reliable & trustworthy, knowledgeable & experienced, and has tools & a car? 

@Mark Lucido  @James Bynum

Thanks Gents for the update & heads-up.

I think I may try this Deposit-only card out for one of my Tenants.

@Scott Williams  No to the trash - Tenants are grown ups and are expected to act like it. They are all collectively responsible for bringing their bins to the curb on the designated day and also shoveling after a snow storm ....  (These are 3-4 families, not 12+ family buildings so the work is really not burdensome... It's the same as if they were homeowners and had to do it themselves..)

When I go there, I don't mind doing it if it needs to be done, but hell if I'm gonna do it for them on a regular basis.  (This is explicitly explained to prospective Tenants before they get the honor of moving in to one of our properties.)

@Eric A. If you are anyone reading this knows of someone (another "Pedro") who might be interested, please message me!  We could all chip in make it worth his/her while....

Please keep your ears to the ground on this!   (& direct people to this thread - Perhaps we'll get some take-up in the future...)

@Daniel C. 

Are you smokin sumtin?? 

If you let this Tenant that you complain so much about stay on a Month-to-Month Lease after her existing Lease expires, I may well go down there myself just to kick your  butt !  (as a fellow Landlord, in a tough-loving way, of course)

When her Lease is up, Get the deadbeat Tenant OUT!  Period.   Do NOT renew. NO Month to month. Out!

You're asking for trouble if you keep her in.  Consider yourself warned. 

BP moved my thread for some reason. Please now use  THIS URL: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/721/topics/45...

Hello Fellow NorthWest Brooklyn Landlords!

We own & manage a few Multi-Family properties in NorthWest Brooklyn (Park Slope, PLG-Lefferts, Bushwick) which I've been managing without issue for the last several years myself.

Now that these properties are well-stabilized and pretty much on "auto-pilot" I'd like to think about outsourcing the day-to-day and month-to-month maintenance of these properties.

We've thought about subbing out to a proper "property management" company but we really don't need help collecting rent or expenses (this is all done electronically online) or even finding new Tenants on the odd occasion when we have an Apt turnover (we use Brokers for that) ...

The only thing we'd like to outsource are the one-off maintenance requests... Ex: If a tenant calls up to complain that their drain is broken or running slow, or that a light fixture needs replacement, or to spray the Apt with insecticide, or to fix a broken door-lock or window frame, or anything of the like such as the fast repairing, touching up, painting & cleaning needed during a turnover between Tenancies...

For the last 3 years we had a trusted Brooklyn-based 'handyman' named Pedro who we sent out to our apts as-needed and he handled their needs very efficiently, but alas, he is moving out of state this week and now we're in search of a new trusted 'Pedro...' (They're hard to find! )

The problem for us is that since we only manage approx 10 units which are fairly well-run and low maintenance, there simply isn't a lot of work to allocate.

Pedro charged $20/hour but we only needed him for a few hundred hours of work each year earning him approx $5,000-$7,000 extra per year. ( He worked as a part-time super for a few other much larger buildings so this was welcome supplemental $$$ for him)

If you manage properties in the area (say anywhere in the area loosely bordered by Sunset-Park, up to GreenPoint to Williamsburg & Bushwick, down to Lefferts/Flatbush (see red-circled area in map below) let's create a little 'union' to share a part-time roaming Super !

It would be win-win for everyone. The part-time Super would be happy to get significantly more hours, and we would all get someone reliable that we know & trust who understands basic plumbing, basic-electric, carpentry & painting to handle our tenants' needs as they come-up.

• Do you already know someone like this?
• Do you think they would want more work & more money?
• Do they have their own car and their own tools?
• Are they on Venmo, Chase-Quickpay or Paypal (to make it easy to pay them...)

If so, it could be a great fit!

Feel free to respond here, or DM me to discuss further!

Looking fwd to a great partnership! Thanks for reading !

Brooklyn R.

Would the people on this thread mind if I drew your attention to this related thread?

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/721/topics/456718-brooklyn-landlords-want-to-share-a-part-time-roaming-super

We're also seeking to share a part-time as-needed roaming "Super" in the Brooklyn Area so it might be a good fit or a win-win for all!

Thanks!

BR

Quick update to everyone who participated on this thread to share that 3 years later, we are still with the same Daycare Tenant, at a much higher but mutually acceptable rent, and all seems to be working out well. 

Patience and understanding sometimes does pay, perhaps!

@Eliot M.

My advice would be to spend a little bit of $$$ to spruce up the neighbor's property (with their permission, of course, but since you're spending your own money to benefit his property, I can only assume he(she) will be ok with it) 

You'll have to stage the neighbor's house as well as yours... Basically, it'll cost you a few thousand $$$.  Spend a little money installing some temporary doors, windows,  take down the all the boards, cut the grass etc...

Then, raise your selling price by $35-40K, sell your home,  and smile all the way to the bank.

You're welcome!

There are a few limited cases where Zillow Zestimates are fairly close... But of course, there are far more cases where it is completely off the mark.   My spidey sense tells me that it would be a fair compromise for Zillow to allow homeowners to completely remove any display of the "Zestimate" if they chose to do so...

Of course, however, this would lead to an "adverse selection" problem where when the Zestimate was too high, nobody would request removal.  As much as we all hate mistakes, nobody complains when an error works in their favor.   Humans are congenitally unable to apply objectivity, fairness and universality to their various plights.

Then the entire Zestimate complex would be systemically biased towards estimates which are too-high.