All Forum Posts by: Ingrid Nagy

Our r.e. taxes and heating costs have gone through the roof. Years ago I consulted with an atty who told me I had several options - apply for a hardship stay (rent controlled bldg). If successful the local municipality would allow a deviation from the rent control ordinance and would permit a landlord to increase each tenant's rent for a specific term and for a specific dollar amount per unit. In our State we are required to provide an annual income and expense statement to the Tax Assessor. I was curious if anyone has ever done this and what criteria was used to make a decision.

The agent phoned me to let me know the rehab is complete on Monday. New paint, flooring, kitchen and bathroom. Price was raised by $30K. I'm going to take a look next week and see what they've done.

QBooks runs about $189 and I haven't had problems with it. Doing prop mgmt full time, its not as detailed as the ones that cost thousands that I've used at work. QBooks is good for someone with less than 100 units. You can separate your companies: i.e. ABC Co. has 20 units; DEF Co. has 2 units, etc. You can run each company as a separate checkbook or consolidate all the companies as one for tax purposes (in case some ownership entities are LLC's, corporations, etc. requiring separate tax returns). You can print your tenant bills at a touch. The expensive programs give you inventory control on supplies/materials, time control for employees, etc.

I believe? that he's saying that if I rehab a kitchen that I'd pay a contractor normally $8000 to do and choose to do it myself for $2000 and my time, that I am giving the government 35% of my $6000 profit instead of writing off that $6000 paid as a repair cost/capital improvement.

Doing your own repairs vs. hiring out is a personal choice. I don't find fault with either. For myself, however, I don't normally make $200 an hr. in my full-time profession. Therefore, if I know how to gut & rebuild the kitchen, have the time, make the time, etc. I earn the $200 an hour instead of my contractor.

My kids are totally fascinated by this show and watch it frequently. Kids don't quite understand the concept of "real estate" and it upsets me when they tell their friends this is what our mom does. I watched the show beginning to end actually one night. It made it all appear so simple. This particular episode actually showed the builder/homeowner having the lawn "spray painted" green (dead lawn) the day before an actual scheduled open house. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Many people complain about federal subsidized housing. I have success with it and prefer it over conventional tenants. Yes you do get a few bad apples now and then. However, your rent is always there on the first of the month. 99% of my tenants pay their portion on the first as well. The annual inspections that are conducted by the government to assure "habitable" housing make us landlords stay on top of things and make tenants clean up their act. Tenants, once approved for subsidy, don't like to risk losing it. I find that with Section 8 I retain many tenants long term.

Repairs and replacements, no matter who does them, can become costly, especially when they're not expected and not budgeted. In my situation, I have a part-time resident Super and there's no way he can meet the State mandated 60 day deadline alone. Yes I did earn some respect in the process and had the opportunity to finally meet some of my tenants.

I just use Quickbooks Pro. It's inexpensive and does the job. I bought a program called Tenant Pro but have not used it. Anyone want to buy it cheap? Cost me $1000 and never touched it. The large firms that I've worked for use Yardi, MRI, Skyline.

Thank you all for the input. Yes Tiffany - my dad is in NE PA. Seems that all but he and 4 neighbors have signed on (dad's an old timer). He says it's like a windfall to those folks many of whom only paid $100/acre for their farms. The latest offers are $2700/ac, 5 yr option with 15% royalties. I will definitely check into that paper. Thank you so much

Colin, do what you feel comfortable with. Large or small - both have risk factors and both have potential. If the right opportunity is there go for it. I began with 1 unit, 2 more, 6 more, etc. etc. Just keep in mind the bigger the building, the bigger the cushion needed. Bigger bldgs and age of buildings dictate whether you need more maintenance, an on-site Super etc. You can estimate expenses using criteria you learn around this site - just remember that in bigger bldgs major components - boilers, elevators..are costly items.