All Forum Posts by: Gargi Keeling

@Richard Purdy put at least some of it into an interest bearing account so you have a cushion. 5% is easily achievable with many savings banks. Apart from the obvious advice to find cheap properties to buy with hard money, why not consider house hacking by renting properties and then subletting or doing Airbnb, if the municipality allows it? You can run the numbers and see if it works out.

We've been having a lot of difficulty with a section 8 tenant that was already living in the property we acquired less than a year ago. We have done our best to remediate issues but the place is filthy and occupied by six people. So we cannot make all the repairs until they move out. The tenant demanded an inspection from the housing authority and given that we can't remediate all the issues, they are no longer subsidizing her housing.

So she put herself in a bad position and now has to move out. We gave her more than sufficient notice and she is delinquent on her April rent. We would like to get her settled into a more suitable property but she claims she can't find one. Can somebody help us navigate this situation so we can move on?

By the way, before you assume anything about us, we fully remodeled the downstairs unit and have a wonderful tenant in there.

@Mike Bonomo Did you ever find an eviction attorney? I'm looking for one in upstate NY, too. Section 8 tenant was given notice and hasn't moved out, failed to pay this month's rent and now threatening 'court'. Looking for a good, effective referral.

Hi Nick - Looks like you put a lot of effort into the rehab. I'm from the area and I'm surprised you paid so much but did you really get it appraised for $525K? Wow - I guess central NJ has changed since I left! 

I'm looking to buy a place for my parents in the area - can you share your private lender and contractor info w/ me? You can see my local investment on my page. TNX

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $160,000
Cash invested: $44,000

UNIMPRESSED w/ our buyers agent and lawyer. So many details of the property were not disclosed (flaws, rehab requirements, tenant details). And they didn't give us any security deposit for the current tenant in the closing. Now the tenant needs to leave and they are understandably upset that they won't get their deposit returneThis place needed work

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

We have family in the area so we have some boots on the ground. And price point is feasible with cash flow potential. Don't expect a lot of appreciation.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Searched on Zillow, got recommendation for realtor from my realtor in NJ. I told my NJ realtor about the poor service provided by this agent.

How did you finance this deal?

Standard mortgage loan

What was the outcome?

We know the area through family, got handymen and contractors in there for rehab. Solved water issues promptly, etc.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Trust and verify. We should have dug deeper into details like security deposit. And we shouldn't have trusted out agent w/ the walkthrough.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Yes, standard realtor - wasn't forthcoming about property details and tenant situation.

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $160,000
Cash invested: $44,000

UNIMPRESSED w/ our buyers agent and lawyer. So many details of the property were not disclosed (flaws, rehab requirements, tenant details). And they didn't give us any security deposit for the current tenant in the closing. Now the tenant needs to leave and they are understandably upset that they won't get their deposit returned.

This place needed work. One unit occupied (Section 8 tenant) and other was vacant, dilapidated. We rehab'd the vacant unit and rented to a very responsible tenant w/ their mother (who unfortunately, smokes....even when we prohibited this in the lease). Section 8 tenant is struggling w/ payments and has 5 kids to support. The place is filthy and unsurprisingly, infested w/ roaches. We can't fix the roach problem until they move out. Hopefully they will find another place so we can start over.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

We have family in the area so we have some boots on the ground. And price point is feasible with cash flow potential. Don't expect a lot of appreciation.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Searched on Zillow, got recommendation for realtor from my realtor in NJ. I told my NJ realtor about the poor service provided by this agent.

How did you finance this deal?

Standard mortgage loan

What was the outcome?

We know the area through family, got handymen and contractors in there for rehab. Solved water issues promptly, etc.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Trust and verify. We should have dug deeper into details like security deposit. And we shouldn't have trusted out agent w/ the walkthrough.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Yes, standard realtor - wasn't forthcoming about property details and tenant situation.

I'd appreciate if someone could share a template for notice to quit. Our tenant is a long term (10 year) tenant and I acquired the property earlier this year. After many repairs and remodeling, I'm trying to raise rents to a bit under market rate. Upstairs tenant agreed to increase but downstairs didn't. They are both on month to month.

I tried negotiating a lower rate but that wasn't low enough for them so I am giving them until Feb 1 to get their next place lined up and move. I feel that I am being very generous but tenant has been a bit difficult in the past so I'm not sure how she will react. I want to make sure I'm doing everything by the book and happy to be a bit generous to make this go smoothly.

I usually get electronic signatures for everything but it seems like I should send via certified mail, too. Appreciate a proven template to do this! I'm already losing a ton on this investment so trying to avoid legal fees. TNX

@Natalie Schanne Sorry for missing your post. To be honest, this 'deal' I got has been a money pit due to old infrastructure / deferred maintenance. I've sunk $15K into the property since purchasing earlier this year (roof, siding, dry rot, electrical, water heater, you name it). And the rents are way under market and tenants routinely complain about potential rent increases (I haven't raised rent yet).

I definitely have to raise the rent to make this financially feasible. I'm planning to raise as of Feb 1 and give notice of increase / new lease terms soon (they are on month to month from previous landlord). 

Re: 1031 exchange - right now this is my plan for deferring taxes so it makes sense. But we may not will these to our heirs (but rather charity) so not sure if we need the exchange to defer taxes or note.

Regarding princeton numbers - those prices seem to be for condos / townhouses so we have to factor in HOA. I like Princeton (lived there) and appreciate the higher rents and professional clientele, but not sure I would get these numbers. Do you think otherwise? tnx

@Sapir Taib very unlikely in that price range unless your definition of silicon valley includes the adjacent areas such as Santa ceuz county and East Bay. If you are interested in Santa Cruz county, let me know.

@Daniel Lempa My duplex is also in South Jersey and I just got my roofing and siding repaired by a very honest and decent contractor. Contact me directly and I'll share the info. I also have a roofing contact from my prior South Jersey property.