All Forum Posts by: Marie-therese Tai

@Matthew Baltzell, not much time, pretty much the end of the month is when it's a problem. They won't move, it's priced below market , I think they know they wouldn't get something within that range, I priced in low because this is one of the less salubrious areas

@Nathan Gesner You're absolutely right

@Bin Chen Yes, I've already been to housing court with one bad tenant, it was a nightmare, the only smart thing I did was refuse to renew the lease, this tenant is month to month, if push comes to shove I'm hoping it will make it a teenier bit easier to get her out. I just can't afford the hit right now

@Roy N. Great idea

@Nathan -It's NYC  - a tenant favoured state, and the building has no conventional  mortgage 

@Tyler, thank you , I checked at rentometer, and it confirmed that they are getting a deal,the problem is like I said I am not sure what to increase the rent by for an additional person, but I thank you for your suggestion

My tenant wants to move in his pregnant girlfriend, what is an acceptable additional amount to charge ? . I havent raised the rent in the almost 3 years he has lived there , he currently pays $1K/mo for a large studio. I don't want to gouge him, it's Brooklyn , in an area that is slowly regentrifying, but rents are expensive and I suspect I'm actually below market rentwise

My tenant wants to move in his pregnant girlfriend what is an acceptable additional amount to charge ? . I havent raised the rent in the almost 3 years he has lived there , he currently pays $1K/mo for a large studio. I don't want to gouge him, it's Brooklyn , in an area that is slowly regentrifying, but rents are expensive and I suspect I'm actually below market rentwise

@Michael Plante the month to month tenant sometimes goes up to three weeks, the most recent trick is to pay a portion so she is supposed to pay $1000 on the first she paid $400 on the 11th. Every month I have to email her , and she never responds directly , she pays what she wants when she wants. The other tenant also pays late , but he's better because he makes an effort to communicate and he pays it when he says , its just that instead of paying on the first he pays on the 23rd

I have a small two unit property in a bad part of Brooklyn. I have had two tenants there for the last two and a half years. My problem is that they both keep paying late. One of them is month to month the other is on a lease. I am tempted to evict the month to month tenant , the problem is that New York is a tenant favorable state , the city  will pay to defend a tenant against the landlord, which means that I could be tied up in court for months . It took me eight months to get a prior tenant out, and he only left after the marshall's notice, I didn't recover a dime and it cost me over $6K in legal fees. My question is ,should I evict this tenant knowing I will be take a huge financial hit , and if not does anyone have any tips on how to make tenants pay on time. I have tried charging a $25 late fee but this doesn't seem to phase this particular tenant , she just ignores the late fee

I could come up with $4000 if I had to, I'm self employed , and with two kids in high school one heading to college in the fall, I'm very conscious of the bills, I have an emergency fund, a years worth of living expenses,it's also the money I'm hoping to spend on real estate when the market cools off. My dad put me through college, and I'm hoping to do the same for my kids , but like most middle class families I earn enough to put myself out of the running for financial aid for the kids and not enough to cover college out of pocket, I've been saving for college since the kids were born - and guess what ? the 529 plan for my son will about cover a year of college and dorm at a State Uni, solution ?- community college for 2 years , and then a transfer to a 4 year. I agree with the posters that a lot of the problems are prioritisation issues, I see folks come in the office wearing $400 shoes, their kids in designer outfits and they boast about it, but they don't have a dime in the bank. My older kid still can't save to save his life, money runs through his fingers like water, my younger kid is much better. I shop at Walmarts, buy stuff on sale , and drive a car that is 8 years old and paid off, and I fully intend to drive it another 5 years and then give it to my kid