All Forum Posts by: John M Chludzinski

Usually, the real estate attorneys work on transactions - then they will answer questions about your specific tenant, your specific buyer, etc.  If you want info on general business practices, there are far lower cost options - and more detailed than an attorney consultation ever could be for small scale investments.  There are some very clear, detailed books, for example.   If you want to PM me, I can suggest some resources for landlords, investors, etc.

Hi, Ani:

We manage a number of condos in Central Jersey, and can tell you that you can do a couple of tweaks to improve the situation - 

Drop the American Home Shield warranty.      

Add the gas appliance coverage for just the furnace and hot water heater at $12.00/month from PSE&G.  This will keep the tenants from griping about no heat or hot water at midnight. The rest of the AHS warranty has not much usefulness.  Savings = $38/month

We typically expect a vacancy of one month rent per every two years per unit, so you can reserve $78 per month.  Your $90 is fine, though.  

Drop any capex reserve.  

From your $90 per month repair budget I would expect to be able to replace one appliance a year ($600) plus pay one plumbing and one electrician call per year.  That is sufficient. AC or furnace replacement is typically $2500 to $4000 per, so with reasonable usage you should be able to cover those too out of repairs. ($4000 over 25 year life divided by 300 months is $13.33, so $25 per month should be good on that.)  Then just repaint the unit in between tenants and you are good for a decade.

In most cases, a reasonable repair guy only costs half the "warranty" or service contract charge over a year.

Feel free to reach out for further details.

If you are still looking for an attorney, try Henry Chudzik in East Brunswick. I have used him for years for my self and my clients.