All Forum Posts by: Jordan Blit

I appreciate the reply. Brutal

Hello folks,

I'm looking to open a HELOC on my NYC condo so I can utilize the equity I've built. The mortgage recording tax is nuts to begin with but to have to pay it on a line of credit seems really crazy to me. Is there any legal way around it?

-j in Williamsburg 

This is a lot of great info. Thanks so much @Les Jean-Pierre and @John Hickey. I was thinking if I could get a few friends together to pick up this building in bushwick on bankruptcy auction tomorrow it could work out nicely. It sounds like making the commercial space work wouldn't be too terrible given your advice. I saw one of the apartments though. They are fairly recently renovated but the work is not good at all. At this point that is more of a concern. The tub in the bathroom was pitched about 5-10 degrees down towards the wall. I could just imagine what was going on behind the walls. Yikes.

I think I will go to the auction for the experience but I might have to pass this one up. I may be more inclined to gather troops and act on the next one that pops up though.

Wow that sounds pretty fantastic. What was the condition before they came in? May I ask what general Neighborhood in Brooklyn?

Thanks Les—This is about what I thought. 

In this particular case the space would be leased out. There is a basement that they could use for storage if needed (the basement looks as you would expect a BK mixed use to look, pretty gnarly but functional).  I'd say the area is "up and coming." Everything is individually metered.

The commercial space is pretty bad looking. I would say it needs to be gutted, but maybe just plumbing and walls is enough to get someone in there to polish it up. I guess that's what I get hung up on. Would I want to re-build the bathrooms only to have a restaurant come in willing to pay to have them moved somewhere else?

I may take you up down the line on that offline discussion. 

If you were to pick up a small building with a few residential units and a nice sized commercial store front on the first floor how would you handle getting that store front ready to rent? What is the most common practice if the space is in major disrepair? Would you complete gut-renovate it with your own resources or is it more common to let an incoming business do it?

My strategy is to secure a line of credit on the equity in my current home and use that to buy and hold a rental property under my name before transferring it to an LLC. The next step in the plan is to pay off the line of credit with a traditional 30yr mortgage once the property is paid for and occupied. The mortgage will then be paid for by the rent made from the property.

Seems like a solid plan to execute but I'm getting hung up on the order of some of these events. Do I get the mortgage before transferring the property under the LLC? I know there is the 'due on sale' clause that could be a possible threat here so what is the solution? If I transfer the property right away to an LLC it could take a year for the LLC to qualify for the mortgage as I understand it.

Does anyone out there have any ideas on the most efficient way to get the ball rolling? Am I missing something in my plan?

Hello! I am a computer animator based in NYC. I have consistently been managing freelance contracts for the past 12 years for top studios in the area. I've also readied countless new recruits into my industry teaching at the School of Visual Arts for the past 8 years.

In 2009 I purchased a condo in Williamsburg Brooklyn where I have been living ever since. It was a great deal and the market here has really blown up. I'm not really gaining anything however as I'm still living in the apartment while paying it down. There's no doubt I have plenty of equity and I feel I'm obligated to make use of it.

I'm interested in leveraging that equity to invest in some buy and hold real estate. I'm hoping to learn a lot here at BP!

Cheers!

-j