All Forum Posts by: Chris Masons

I would skip the Air BnB and try  and find a long term tenant yourself VS short term high turn over tenants.

If there is a stove there now it may be legal and allowed to stay there, you'll have to check.

I live din a mother/Daughter in NJ for 12 years and rented out the in-law sweet which ended up paying 3/4 of my mortgage.

Anyway, good luck as it sounds like a great home!

Chris

Sounds a bit fishy to me but you never know.. Here in NJ if there is a raid of this nature and the Police or a specialized DEA type outfit enters the abode they need to leave paperwork showing that they had this right to enter the premises and or search or seizure.

And yes Joel is referring to a very long thread that took place with another Air BNB incident in which the tenant refused to leave and she had to go through hell to get them out finally and gtet reimbursed, which in the end she did I believe.....

The more I think about it the more I would need proof to belieev that thsi actually happened.

So, how it works is Air BNB gets paid from the tenants and then they in turn pay you after tenant leaves?

good luck,
Chris

Hi  guys,

Hope everyoner is well. This may be my first post in 2015!!

I have a house I have an offer in, that based on how it is configured (pretty oddly) it will end up being a legal 2 family with 2 1 bedroom units. 1st floor has LV,1 bedroom, kitchen and small office/study. 2nd floor has 3 rooms and bathroom. of the 3 1 is a kitchen and other two are truly bedrooms with closets..

This house was once a single family but was converted to a 2 fam as a result of the housing shortage after the war.

This is an estate sale and house is in great shape built in 1920 with beautiful dark chestnut trim throughout, high ceilings, nice size basement that will go with the first floor.

Has anyone ever owned a 2 family that consisted of 2 1 bedroom units?? I like the house and it has alot of character however the configuration is little odd. If I was to make it a 3 bedroom, (2 on 2nd floor and 1 on first)  the 2nd floor t would be no living room and or dining room and kitchen is very small so on of the 2 bedrooms upstairs will serve as a living room and or living room/ dining room combo.

Just curious on peoples experience with this type of property as it will be the smallest 2 family I would own.

thx in advance!

Chris

Hi Jessica,

Long as the lease states everything you mentioned no need to send out an additional notice.

I would make an effort to call them first and formost and find out what is going on. If they have never been late maybe something serious is going on? Anyway I would reach out to them and when you speak to them remind them that as per signed lease the total outstanding balance is XXX(rent) plus a 25.00 late fee.

FIrst things first give them a call and speak to them.... If you are unsuccessful in reaching them and it gets to be past the 10th I would follow up with a registered letter informng that it is the 10th and you have not heard from them or received December rent so you have no choice but to file Judgement for possession based on non payment of rent. Not sure in PA what the actual filing is called but here in NJ it is called Judgement for possession.

good luck,

Chris

good luck,

Chris

HA! Yeah that is about the most unrealistic comparison I have ever seen. Apple at 1.00 in the early to mid 90's, sure how easy it is to say yeah I will throw 200k into this fairly unknown and unproven company. And we are talking 200k dollars back in 1994 dollars I might add!!!

For every grand slam that that would have brought, there are thousands upon of thousands of penny stocks to go belly up. I have played the penny stock game for awhile and it is very very difficult to get it right consistently.

I'd be curious to see if anyone besides those on the inside actually put that kind of scratch money into Apple in 93, 94, not to say that nobody did as I wouldn't be surprised if there was a few crazy bastards that did this.

Jay, you need to make more realistic comparisons and not these ridiculous far fetched dreamer plays as they mean nothing.

regards,

Chris

Brian,

I think sometimes the management and aggravation that comes with RE causes people to stop early or not pursue it but overall long term I think it is well worth the stress and aggervation that comes along with it at times.. The positive definitely out weight the negative in my opinion!

I was once told this about investing in the stock market and I think it somewhat holds true to RE holdings as well....   "it's not about timing the market, it's about time IN the market"

regards,

Chris

To add to David's post, in edition there are tons of ways to increase your yields in Real Estate due to the many tax advantages given as a RE investor. Esp. one who has a Real Estate Professional Status.

One of the few if only asset class that truly and (LEGALLY) allows you to show a paper loss yet in actuality produce a gain. Not so much investing in the Dow, S&P Etc... When you sell or receive a dividend you are being taxed whether it be as ordinary income as a REIT dividend is taxed, or at the more favorable rate of 15% on qualified dividends and of course when you sell the usual capital gains tax.

In edition to my RE holdings I own a fair amount of REITS,MLPs, BDCs and quality blue chip dividend growth companies - all of which contribute to my passive income. I feel diversification is the key here. When I am 65 or 70 I will probably sell off some of my RE holdings and probably take bigger positions in the stock market for truly passive income later on in life,but for now with the tax advantages and my experience as a RE investor I do much better percentage wise on a yearly basis. Real Estate all the way for me if I had to choose one! Where else can you get a stranger to pay off 75 to 80% of your asset?????

regards,

Chris

Jay,

You are a funny guy. Asking me for sources, credentials, Etc. Lets back peddle for a second.. You are the one that made the bold statement and I quote  "Hedge Funds single handidly brought RE out of the ashes" I think that you would at least have sited your sources and credentials before making a statement like that.

Again,I am simply saying that statement is untrue. Yes they played a part as did the Government, as did the federal Bank, as did the low interest rate environment we have been in for the last 5+ years along with Private Equity jumping in and becoming Landlords.

So as you can see it is a combination of a lot of different things that has helped to get the RE market on more stable footing.

As for me being a Real Estate investor and being a simple barrier to enter, wasn't it you who said in a previous post to refrain from personal attacks???? That sounds like one to me.

Ps. for the record I work a Corporate day job in NYC as a network engineer if you insist I post my "credentials" as you put it......

regards,

Chris

This statement is not only ridiculous but just simply untrue. Please try and stick to fact rather than opinion when making a bold statement such as this.

Chris

Hi Kendall,

Whether You are dealing with hard assets such as RE or stock in real companies both can cause you to lose ALOT of money just in very different ways.

The key is to know what you are doing. The fact that RE is a hard asset doesn't necessarily protect any more so then owning shares in a blue chip company that has been paying continuous and increasing dividends for 25 plus years for example. You need to know your market and companies you are investing in. RE gives you more control over your asset but owning stock in the right company at the right time can make you ALOT of money VERY quickly. There are pluses and minuses to both.

People will always need a place to live but if you buy at too high a valuation or over leverage yourself you can find yourself losing everything and fast. There are plenty of stories you can read about. 

I use my RE income to invest in the stock market to help diversify my income portfolio a bit.

There are many ways to make money in the various markets. I happen to prefer RE but I wouldn't say one is better then the other and also have a nice portfolio of income producungf securities

thx,

chris