All Forum Posts by: Kilby Browne

I was at a bunch of open houses the last two weekends in New Jersey close to NYC and the joint was jumping. People coming and going. I even saw a NYC yellow taxi outside and that means NYC money is out looking for property. No slowdown yet. 

I am looking at making an offer on a small multi family in New Jersey. The listing agent wants me to acknowledge on the offer that there are tenants in place. I don't  want the tenants because they are paying under market value and my numbers would not work. The agent said the tenants are month to month, but I am concerned. 

Any thoughts on how to handle this matter?

I am a real estate agent in NYC and New Jersey and without going too deep please be careful.  Individual owners, especially if you live on site are held to different standards. In NYC we use 40X as a general rule of them. What applies for one candidate applied to all. I run credit reports and there are services like NTN that produce a meets. does not meet or conditional meet. This is a combination of credit score and income. There are so many fair housing violations for realtors that I can't go into. Family, source of income, race, etc.In NYC all we can do is ask if the voucher covers the rent. If it does we really can't run credit and try too qualify on income.

I'm happy to chat offline of you would like to connect. But please be careful.

@Jeremy Wilson Medina - happy to connect and share any knowledge that I can. I'm based in the Jersey City area.

I live near Jersey City  very close to Manhattan. Many people in NYC don't consider house hacking, but they will still live in rental apartment buildings and have no control over the apartment next door. I'd rather deal with a tenant that needs a repair than a condo neighbor that is noisy, inconsiderate and that I have leverage over.

Caleb, I don't know if you have access to the MLS, but I'm happy to send you listings to help you with comps in the area and set a good price. Let's connect.

Where is the property located and why would it hard to find good tenants. The Manhattan rental market is on fire and so is a lot of Jersey City and Hudson County. 

I'm a realtor and I would say is whatever the reasons are for accepting or denying just make sure that they are applicable across the board. If you treat everyone the same it's the best.  The Fair Housing laws especially on NYC are quite extensive. Good luck.

Hi Justin, It's nice to meet you. I am an agent in NJ/NYC and live on the Union City/JC border. Let's connect.

HI, I am a realtor and I'm glad to comnect. I live in dowtown Union City on the Jersey City Heights border. If I can give you an opinion without interfering with your currect agent I am happy to do so.