All Forum Posts by: Dillon Y.

@John M. I own a duplex on the line separating Burlington City from Burlington Twp - it's on the Twp side.  Township has great schools and folks look for those.  Burlington City, on the other hand, is having a lot of money dumped into it by institutional investors trying to make it the next hot small town.  Both City and Township have good and bad parts - I still manage myself so I drive the areas and use sites like Craigslist to triangulate and identify the good from the bad areas.

@Joe P. is hitting the nail on the head in regards to setting tenant criteria and not veering away from it.  My criteria are relatively strict for South Jersey standards and early on I saw an average of 8% vacancy each year (or about one month each year vacant) because of it.  But now that I understand this, I build it into my numbers when evaluating new properties.  These same tenants that are harder to find are also more reliable, do less damage to the properties, and stay longer with less issues so I'm seeing my vacancy averages start to drop - I'm currently below 7%.

Give me a shout if you want to chat more about Burlington - I'm happy to share what I know.

@Jake Toyberman

Hi there Jake. Good to meet you and agree with you wholeheartedly. “Takes one to know one.”

See you around!

@Lenny Almanzar

Have you been running numbers on properties you see online? Are you subscribed to SJREIA’s marketplace email?

Shoot me a DM if you’d like to get together sometime and chat. I’d be happy to run a couple numbers with you for properties out there now.

@Davey Seidenfeld Late to the party here, but I'm an agent here in South Jersey focusing on investors.  Give me a shout if you're still looking for help or just want to chat about the markets here in South Jersey.

All the best,

Dillon

Hey there @Lenny Almanzar have you gotten any further feedback other than this post?  Gloucester City is very hot right now, as are parts of Camden which doesn't have as bad of a rap as it used to.  The stretch along White Horse Pike has its pockets.  I've got a property in Lindenwold (in and of itself not great) that delivers roughly $200/unit each month in cash flow.

This post is kind of old, but if you're still curious, give me a shout and I'd be happy to show you some stats for the major areas / ones you're specifically interested in.

Dillon

@Bjorn Ahlblad Hilarious.

@Ehab Habib The critical question to be answered here is whether the tenant is complaining about legitimate issues.  Is that the case?  If so, then you have ... legitimate issues to resolve!  If it is not the case, I might hew closer to James' recommendation but with a bit more tact (no offense).  You want to understand your tenant and why he is acting out.  With that information, you can anticipate your tenant more, and as James noted, educate him on what warrants reaching out to you.

Hi @Hozona B. & @Jake Davis

Glad to see some fellow Burlington City / Twp folks.  I own a duplex right outside of city limits - LOVE the Brickwall Tavern in town - if you've never been, do yourself a favor...

First, let me share my "demands" that have served me well through about 3 years of renting my duplex right there in Burlington:

Applicant must have current photo identification and a valid social security number.

Applicant's monthly household income must exceed three times the rent. All income must be from a verifiable source. Unverifiable income will not be considered.

Applicants must receive positive references from all previous landlords for the previous 5 years.

Applicant may not have any evictions or unpaid judgments from previous landlords.

Applicant must exhibit a responsible financial life. Credit score must be a minimum of 600.

A background check will be conducted on all applicants over 18. Applicant’s background must exhibit a pattern of responsibility.

Occupancy is limited to 2 people per bedroom.

All of those requirements come direct from a BP book, though I forget which one.

It looks like you dropped the price recently, down to $1100, which covers my next point - $1300 is kind of high for that area.  That's about $1.30/sqft.  The larger side of my duplex, which I think most would prefer over a condo, is 3/1.5 and maybe $1.10, $1.15/sqft.  Not a perfect comparison, but you get the idea.

@Jake Davis where I diverge from you is in hiding anything from a prospective tenant up front - don't do this!!  You will end up wasting huge blocks of time showing this property to folks who aren't qualified.  Spend more quality time with folks who are legitimate and interested - spend less (or no) time on those who are not.

Instead, I might recommend dropping your credit score requirement down to 600 and seeing what that does.  I've even come close to dropping it to 580 (which some mortgages will accept) when my units sit on the market too long.

Hozona, if you'd like to chat more about strategy more, shoot me a private message.  I'd be happy to discuss!

Dillon

@Guevara Mike

Depends on your landscape. Are you hurting for renters? If so, then sure, but put clear guard rails in your lease around notice to vacate, etc.

If you like the guy and want to rent to him but could probably get a renter easily on the open market, I would see about negotiating with this guy for a higher rent per month to make up for the uncertainty of mo2mo.

Most landlords want a 12 mo lease or longer- creates stability. If you can’t get stability, get more $$$.

@Guevara Mike

Agree with the other folks on this post. I’m a self-described cynic with a capital C but anybody who offers *up front* that their son is going to be in the property a good amount of time sounds like they are trying to tell you (without telling you) that their son is going to be the main tenant. May not be the case, but like other folks said, do your due diligence. Anyone staying in the unit for extended periods of time should be considered a tenant and must go through the same screening process.

Good luck!

@Mariyah Trammell

1. Take a class based on how best you learn.  @Kevin Miller told you what works best for him - you've got to discover how it is that you learn.  Do you need an in-person class because it keeps you accountable, or do you prefer an online course that will allow you to learn at your pace and learn during odd hours (like late at night)?

2. Real estate is a lot of sales and marketing.  Classes teach you more about law and ethics (so you don't get in trouble), but no class is going to teach you the business skills needed to be a self-motivated, self-employed salesperson.  The good news is the skills needed to be a real estate agent are often the same sort of skills that are  transferable across many industries.  You can learn about real estate sales and marketing specifically by googling things like "best strategies for newcomer real estate agents" and just open 312803802358 tabs in your web browser and start reading.  Or you can learn about standard sales concepts like "filling your pipeline" by googling that phrase instead.  Both of those methods will eventually lead you to books, podcasts, networking groups, etc.

3. Learn your area by doing what @Leah Stuever and Kevin both recommended - just start searching on Zillow, Realtor, etc. and start to understand why prices go up or down, what areas have high taxes, which areas have better schools and which don't.  Going to open houses gives you a chance to speak to other agents and ask them any/all questions you might come up with.

Good luck!