All Forum Posts by: Chris Masons

Unplugged is not gross negligence...  You need to prove that they broke it, or caused it not to work. How old is the fridge? Perhaps the compressor quit in which case you can just have that part replaced....

good luck..

thx,

Chris

Pearce,

Aside from lender disallowing this, how would you deal with the tax implications IE. short term capital gains tax? Also I believe the sale needs to be "an arms length transaction" which this is not....

Sounds like what you are currently doing is the best option.

best,

Chris

@Nathan Arceneaux

Thank You... I am 43 now and bought my first property @ 23 so been at it for awhile. It truly is a labor of love for me for the most part....

While I have a good amount of leverage in this low rate environment I feel like money is just so cheap to borrow and it makes sense to leverage these amazing low interest rates....

When I first started in 1997 I bought a 4 family and my rate was 7.875  I cash out refied a single family investment property @ 4.25  from 4.75 and pulled out 44k  My payment only went up ~170 bucks

These truly are great times to be investing...

regards,

Chris

Hi Nathan,

Some sound advice here... I too work a full time job in NYC (live in Jersey have an hour + commute each way) also have 2 kids and currently manage ~ 25 doors myself... Yes it is overwhelming at times and things can get crazy, however I am just not ready to hand things over to a PM just yet....

I am all about trying to maximize cash flow now so that I can retire early and put around in my pickup truck and cut the lawn at my properties and collect the rent to keep me busy lol  My goal is be done with W-2 income by 55 60 the latest... At least that is the plan - subject to change!

I have a mix of condos, multis and single families all of which throw off + cashflow. I am first and foremost about monthly cashflow and tax benefits... equity, appreciation are secondary but almost come automatically when you have cashflow and you buy right.

What I do isn't for everyone but I have somewhat of a nice system that allow me to manage pretty nicely. I have a great network of Tradesmen that  I reply on as I definitely do not deal with leaks, and other issues that arise but I field every issue that arises as I need to know what is going with my property at which time I than delegate.....

Do what works best for you. Try to manage yourself and if it gets too much hire a PM to oversee your property just be sure to screen and interview and get references before hiring a PM.

Good luck!!

Chris

Linda pretty much nailed it here....  I work for a National CPA firm as a Sys Admin and I constantly ask my Tax Department for advice and what Linda says echos what I was told pretty much exactly...

Only way around this would be perhaps a 1031 exchange but this may not even work as it is not a straight sale but a lease option to buy which greatly complicates things as there are strict time lines to adhere to with a 1031 exchange...

regards,

Chris

Hi Tyler,

I self manage ~ 27 doors here  NJ and while YES, I collect monthly reoccurring passive income which I have built up to rival my W-2 income it is not truly passive but by no means is it a full time job (or anywhere close) either.. Unless you farm everything out to a management company it will never be truly 100% passive. a management company will eat away at your profit which can really hurt you when you are first starting out but that is a another whole subject that can be debated....

I have always said and will say this again, your tenants can make or break you. The tenants IMO are more important than the house. You can have a bad house and great tenants and you will get by. If you have a great house and horrible tenants, LOOK OUT, you are in trouble.....

Good luck.. Real Estate is a fantastic way to build wealth, and build residual passive income, as well as  learn the ins and outs of home ownership. It definitely is not as simple as some make it out to be, but once educated and you have a good business plan the sky is truly the limit!!

Good luck!

Chris

Hi,

I am UC to purchase a 1927 English Tudor here in NJ.. Not for investment but to live in. Windows are original steel single pane Casements....

I can only imagine how inefficient they are. Has anyone had any experience with making them more efficient without replacing them?

Thx in advance!!

Chris

Nick,

An easy solution would be to give the tenant a discount on the rent to compensate for an increase in his gas bill....

Just take a look at the average bill for his gas bill and compare it to the others although this may not be the best comparison it is a way to get an idea and range...

Another solution I see here is to add a 5th gas meter (assuming you don't currently have a 5th) and 5th water heater dedicated to washer, for the owner.

But your situation begs the question to be asked is there a dryer? Is it gas? If yes where is it connected to? If only 4 meters than one tenant is paying to dry the clothes also unless you have an electric dryer....

A lot of the older 4 families have crazy lines tapping off tenants Etc...

Good luck but you have a few options to fix it don't lose too much sleep over it...

regards,

Chris

Cash flow is King in my book... If you have cashflow appreciation should hopefully follow.... If you have appreciation but no cash flow you aren't maximizing gains....

Cash flow allows you to take money off the table every month similar to a dividend being paid out.. Every month of cash flow you receive you are reducing your risk as you are pulling money out....

Appreciation is a bit harder to control (not talking about forced appreciation here) just market appreciation which comes and goes with cycles.

I always look at it from a cash flow perspective first  and foremost  and appreciation and equity generally follow closely behind... If you look at it from an appreciation standpoint first it is tougher to get cash flow to follow easily...

Just my opinion,

Chris

If they returned keys and left the premises  that is considered abandonment in NJ. If were me I would take back full possession and not wait on the basis of abandonment...

Chris