All Forum Posts by: Jacob P.

Hi guys,

We've invested in townhomes up until now, but currently have an accepted offer on a condo.

I just received financial statements for the last 2 years. I don't know exactly what to be looking for, but generally speaking it's not looking super healthy.

It's a 15 unit, older building. Converted to Condos 20 years ago.

They ended last year with $20K in the operating fund, after declines of $5K and $10K in the preceding years. They collect about $50K in fees per year.

There were no extraordinary expenses over that period. The bulk of it was management, Insurance, Fuel, etc. with maybe on average $5 to $6K in various repairs.

Obviously the decline in reserve accounts is a big red flag, and I'm wondering if it's enough to potentially walk away from this deal?

I've started my investing career focussing on houses, but recently came across a condo whose numbers look good (in terms of expenses vs. potential rental income).

One piece of the puzzle that I'm not really sure about though: I know that financial health of a HOA is an important element to consider, but I also don't know what "healthy" really means. Can anyone give me some rule-of-thumb kind of figures regarding what a condo HOA should have in reserves, spend on an annual basis, etc.?

That makes sense. I had never even heard of an estoppel, so that's super helpful advice too. Thank you!

Hi there,

I'm sure this is covered somewhere in the BP forums, but I wasn't able to find a thread, so I figured it would be worth asking.

I'm an buy and hold investor in NYC, working on acquiring my second property.

Something that I gather is a bit different in NYC compared with many other cities: Properties with tenants are generally less desirable in NYC. Because of strong tenants right laws, evictions are much lengthier here than in most of the rest of the country, and investors are weary of purchasing a property with a tenant that might not pay and then be part of a lengthy eviction process

Having said that, I am looking at a deal that is looking fairly good, but that already has a tenant in place with a lease. We are in the early stages, so don't have a ton of information, but the broker claims she is current and pays on time, and as we move forward, we should theoretically meet her in person so we can see her unit.

I turned to BP and took tons of advice when we were looking for a renters for our first NYC property. However, I don't know what can be expected in terms of background checks etc. for a tenant that already lives in a property. If anyone has any insight, I'd love to hear (and in particular if anyone has any relevant NYC info, that would be great too.)

Thank you!

@Alex Puleio Since he already owns the property, I would worry less about ROI, and more on what the market will support. In addition to rentometer and Craigslist, check out StreetEasy.com, a listings site specifically for New York, and see what comparable buildings are renting for in his area.

I think the comments in this thread have been spot on. 

There is a ton of office space being developed in Bushwick right now, so that means you'll have more and more renters looking at the commute time to Bushwick, Williamburg, or downtown BK rather than Manhattan.

The east corner of Bed-Stuy, also known as Ocean Hill still has some sales right on the edge of $850K, so that could be worth looking at, but @James Northrup is correct in saying that you'll pay a lot less per square foot in Cypress Hills. I don't know a ton about the rest of East New York, but that's probably a great place to start your search. Go see some properties there and while you're at it poke around the rest of ENY to see how it feels.

Thanks guys.

For what it's worth the seller did pull permits for all of their work.

The Romex line goes directly from the junction box into the ground (and at some point enters the house in the basement). Maybe I just have low expectations for inspectors, but I don't really fault them for missing this item.

When the electrician was here he identified and exposed the romex by removing some of the dirt around it. We saw a small amount of smoke coming from where he unearthed it, and for a moment I saw a small bright point of bright light (before the electrician ran in to shut of the breaker). Several in the thread have pointed out that they didn't think the romex alone could be causing the problem, but my (admittedly uneducated) guess of what is happening is that the line has already degraded and is exposed to the earth, and occasional moisture which is causing the issues.

I contacted the sellers construction manager today (he did some other work on our punch list and was an all around good guy), and waiting to hear back from them. In the meantime the estimate came back from the electrician at $1400: Job description "locate and cut Romex cable in the basement that feeds the A.C. units underground. Install a junction box in the basement and re-feed the two A.C. condensers in the backyard. Underground Romex will be eliminated. Proposal doesn't include painting or patching. Repair of drywall will be done by others"

Based on what I've read in previous posts, I'm considering getting a 2nd estimate, but am also hoping that we hear back with good news form the construction manager tomorrow.

I will keep you posted with updates. Thanks again everyone for the insight. It's all been extremely helpful

Got it guys. All of this feedback is super helpful.

The discussion on the inspector is very interesting. The circuits were not tripping when the home was inspected, and I do think it would be a very long shot to pursue anything with them.

I am certain that this wiring was done during the flip, so the work was performed by a contractor hired by the seller.

@Tom Mole Thank you so much for the insight. Your assessment also lines up a bit with what @Wayne Brooks mentioned. I'm not an expert, but from my observations/conversations with the electrician, I believe that the issue is that the Romex has been exposed to the elements and has degraded. I will definitely take you up, Tom, on the offer to send the estimate your way, and would love to hear your thoughts on it.

For what it's worth, the electrician who assessed the issue (and will be providing the estimate...)  is licensed and comes very highly recommended.

Thanks for the insight guys.

We did have an inspection, and this was not caught in it, unfortunately. 

I can see how there would be no obligation stemming from our sales contract to handle this. However, common sense tells me that one should be able to hold someone who hires a contractor that does work that breaks legal code accountable. Am I off target here?

I'm a couple months into owning a rental property in NY. Bigger Pockets was a huge getting it nailed down! Now I've got my first post-purchase question.

The home I purchased was a gut renovation flip. To make a long story short: Our tenants reported that the main circuit breaker has been tripping with some frequency, so we brought an electrician out today.

He isolated the problem: romex wiring outside the house going to the central A/C unit. We have to re-run the wiring inside PVC or galvanized pipe, and will need to punch through some walls to make it happen. I'm waiting on an estimate form the electrician, but based on our conversation, I wouldn't be surprised if it comes in around $2Kish.

One thing that the electrician noted is that using Romex for exterior electricity is "illegal" for outdoor electricity in NYC. I don't know the specifics of the code here, but I am very inclined to reach out to the seller and ask them to handle this fix. I'm thinking that I would have some leverage based on the fact that their wiring did not seem to be up to code, and I figured that a friendly reach out might be better at this stage than going super in depth into their legal obligations, etc.

If anyone on the forums has any thoughts on this, I'd love to hear!