All Forum Posts by: Jon A.

Quote from @Jon A.:

Quote from @Johann Jells:

Quote from @Jon A.:

Not true! NJ courts have no patience with non-payment. If a tenant shows up in court without the rent and whines about maintenance or pest issues they WILL be evicted! Talking from experience here. 

That said, in 25 years of doing this and 12 units, I've only had 2 evictions, both of legacy tenants. Choose your tenants wisely! Use your nose, and do it yourself rather than trust an agent. I just had a tenant leave owing me 2 months, but it was not a court battle, she had some class and just left. And that was the worst of the whole Covid era, I had like 80% turnover but no one else stiffed me.

 Doesn't Jersey have good cause eviction?

Yes. It's tough to evict for anything but non-payment, lease renewal is mandatory with potential judicial review of a big enough rent raise. But choose your tenants well and that's not an issue, is it?

Quote from @Jon A.:

Not true! NJ courts have no patience with non-payment. If a tenant shows up in court without the rent and whines about maintenance or pest issues they WILL be evicted! Talking from experience here. 

That said, in 25 years of doing this and 12 units, I've only had 2 evictions, both of legacy tenants. Choose your tenants wisely! Use your nose, and do it yourself rather than trust an agent. I just had a tenant leave owing me 2 months, but it was not a court battle, she had some class and just left. And that was the worst of the whole Covid era, I had like 80% turnover but no one else stiffed me.

Quote from @Bob Stevens:

Quote from @Jon A.:

Quote from @Ryan Spearman:

Hi, 

I am a property investor in New Zealand with a portfolio of mainly small multi-families.

I will be selling off some of my individual units in about a year's time which should give me approx US$640k. 

As I have learned essentially all my property investing knowledge from the BiggerPockets podcast I can't help but come back to the idea of multi-family investing in the US. We don't have anything like that asset class here in NZ, 12 units are about as large as you can get. Even that is uncommon.

I've spoken to lenders in the states and I can only borrow 60% as a foreign investor. This gives me about $1.6 million to play with.

I have no ties to any particular state and a year to do my research. I imagine I can narrow it down to an amazing deal within that time.

Where should I buy? How big?

I'm looking for a classic value add, well cash-flowing property, that I can eventually refinance out a decent chunk of my capital while retaining a sizable cash flow.

Any and all advice would be welcome. I need to find a full team over there that I can lean on. I'm really hoping to develop long-lasting professional relationships in order to establish myself as an international property investor.

Thanks in advance

Ryan

 I can't imagine managing an apartment building from such a distance without having substantial infrastructure (i.e. lots of employees, maybe a local office). You might consider commercial properties where the landlord generally has fewer responsibility. A triple net lease.
In terms of locale, one thing I've not read about in the comments is climate change. I would not recommend buying near water or in the vicinity of a flood zone. If looking at the sunbelt, consider that those areas will have serious water shortage issues in the coming decades. Probably only the largest cities will have the capital and tax base to address that issue. And, as usual, probably only the wealthiest neighborhoods in those larger city will actually get assistance from the government.

 I know dozens and dozens of investors from overseas that have never even been to the city where their house is and are not involved with anything, Team handles all. Heck I only go to Cleveland twice a year, during the warm months all is handled for me. 

Agree. Leverage comes in way more forms than just financial. 
Most of the cities and towns I invest in in NZ I would go to less than once a year. 
Any decision I need to make as the owner can be done via email. If it’s a real disaster I might actually have to talk to someone on the phone

Hi, 

I am a property investor in New Zealand with a portfolio of mainly small multi-families.

I will be selling off some of my individual units in about a year's time which should give me approx US$640k. 

As I have learned essentially all my property investing knowledge from the BiggerPockets podcast I can't help but come back to the idea of multi-family investing in the US. We don't have anything like that asset class here in NZ, 12 units are about as large as you can get. Even that is uncommon.

I've spoken to lenders in the states and I can only borrow 60% as a foreign investor. This gives me about $1.6 million to play with.

I have no ties to any particular state and a year to do my research. I imagine I can narrow it down to an amazing deal within that time.

Where should I buy? How big?

I'm looking for a classic value add, well cash-flowing property, that I can eventually refinance out a decent chunk of my capital while retaining a sizable cash flow.

Any and all advice would be welcome. I need to find a full team over there that I can lean on. I'm really hoping to develop long-lasting professional relationships in order to establish myself as an international property investor.

Thanks in advance

Ryan

The extra complicating factor is going to be looking for a relatively turn key deal. In a competitive market it's important to be nimble and get off-market deal flow. Sometimes that means buying a distressed property and doing renovations, sometimes that means being ready with cash to buy out a distressed owner. The MLS, if that's where you're focusing, hasn't been a great source for turnkey cash flowing deals for a good few years now.

Quote from @Nate Monson:

Hi @Edwin De leon New York is certainly a state that seems to favor tenants. That being said the main city that has been truly a problem for landlords is Albany. No eviction should be labeled easy, but outside of Albany evictions aren't as troublesome. 

1) All things being equal, yes buying in states with less restrictive laws is better. But this there are obviously more dynamics at play here.

2) I'm obviously biased being in NY, but there are plenty of ways to safely invest here. It depends on your goals. The WHY is that most markets here are stable cash flowing markets. 

3) The simple answer here is good systems and processes to avoid having a terrible tenant in the first place, including making sure management is aligned with your way of thinking. There's no magic wand to wave to fully prevent a bad tenant even in good land-lording markets. 

4) Short answer here is: YES. Absolutely can make a difference. 

5) There are some horror stories of course. Shortest I've been is 3-4 weeks before COVID. Now a days in Albany it can be a 2 month process on average. 

If you'd like to talk about the market up here please don't hesitate to reach out!

 Agreed. in my experience the tertiary markets of upstate new york are a lot more like the Midwest and evictions aren't so bad. Where i am they take 1-2 months.