All Forum Posts by: Mark Del Grosso

Congrats on jumping in. The water can get rocky but hang on, get as much education as you can, and press on.

@Corey Demuth It sounds like a good system to me.

Rock on!

If you don't find one in Buffalo, I know one in Lockport. He probably goes to Buffalo.

Sorry I can't be more help.

Once you get past say 30 year old properties condition of the property has less to do with the age and more to do with the previous owner. I have a 150 yr old mansion that was converted to 15 units in 1937. It is a beautiful building that was owned by the mayor of my town 150 yrs ago. It doesn't require any more maintenance than my other properties.

So I tend to agree with those that say the neighborhood is where the A-D rating should be used.

@Bao Nguyen  Don't spend too much time comparing yourself to others. In RE there are multiple ways and multiple definitions of success. Find out what works for you. Your skills, your time constraints, your risk tolerance all play a part in what will work for you. 

I too am a buy and hold investor that has a full time job. When I get home from work I change my clothes and get to work on my properties, AND I LOVE IT. You see I come from a hands on trade (tool and die maker) and now have a desk job (Engineer) and enjoy both. My wife works many evenings and my kids are grown so it works for me. But I know that many would hate it.

I did this so my wife and I can retire early ( in two years) at 56. 

Good luck to you.

I also came into RE by accident. I don't mind taking calculated risks but to quit my day job (which I actually like) and open up a business was way to risky for me. RE was something that I could start out slowly and grow at my pace. Not to mention the financial rewards seemed to be a safer bet.

My dad owned a used car lot for decades. And many years did very well but at the end of his life he barely had enough money for the funeral. RE just made more sense to me.

Never borrow money when you need it, and only borrow money when you don't need it. RDPD

I can't speak to NJ but my county health dept has been going section by section in my city with warning notices of exterior suspected pealing lead paint. Two of my properties were targeted this year. And the letter clearly states that scraping and painting over is a acceptable solution. However if you do nothing they will come back and actually test the paint. If positive it will have to be professionally remediated.  Where I live 95% of the homes were built before 1970. 

I painted and passed their visual test. But when they get to another of my properties that I know is bad, I will have it sided which is also acceptable.

I have never told a applicant WHY they didn't get approved. I just say it's been rented.

I had a young girl try to press me on why and ask if it was because she was pregnant. I didn't know she was. I just continued that it was rented and that if another unit came up I could call her.

Of course it didn't have anything to do with her boyfriend who had obviously lost a fight judging by the shiner he was wearing. He never came inside the apartment but stayed outside on his phone telling another guy about how he was going to get even.

I actually WANT to see how the kids behave before they move in and dismantel the place for me.