All Forum Posts by: Mark F.

I think you should rent to her. Why? Because it is obvious you need to hire a PM and are an inexperienced landlord. She's going to burn you and you'll learn a valuable lesson about sob stories. Everyone has one and they're worth about a nickle.

Many years ago as a young cop, I pulled over some older guy who had no license. He gave me a sob story how he was a veteran and my Sgt came on scene and was wondering why he wasn't in cuffs yet. I told him he was a vet and I was thinking of letting him go. He laughed at my ignorance and I think you know what happened next. 15 years later I can chickle at myself for how gullible I was.

You'll do the same if you stick with this.

You need to seek out Nothern NJ content along with general RE learning. Why? Investing here is unlike most areas due to some of the things you've mentioned. Jonathan Greene is a good source, specifically his YouTube shorts. He's been on the BP podcast a few times. Shawn McEnteer puts out specific Nothern NJ YouTube content as well.

Also go to NJ meet ups. You'll get a sense of how the market is and the investors up here are. I can't emphasize enough how different it is to invest here that the rest of the country perceives.  I've read numerous NJ specific threads, when BP had a good NJ forum which they've since gotten rid of and refuse to reinstate, and a lot of responses would be from out of state and the advice just didn't apply.

Cash flow is tough, not impossible, to find but our appreciation and rent raises are generous. House hackers like myself are rewarded and it can change the trajectory of your financial life. Property taxes are obviously high but picking the right towns can help tremendously. Landlord/tenant laws are unusual and most LL are unaware, especially town by town. Yet there are counties that are more LL friendly than others (hint- it's the ones that are purple, not overwhelmingly blue). Vacancy rates in our area is insanely low; you can rent out a decent place at market rate in the middle of winter, I did. As you can see we have pros and cons. I can handle the cons so I like investing here.

Reach our with specific questions. Good luck.

Where in Northern NJ? I play in that area and I assume this is more west, rural part like Sussex or Warren county. Prices and population are much lower than east Northern NJ.

Disagree. I've spent 15 years (and continue to this day) in C- and D neighborhoods for work and have zero desire to invest in them. Low appreciation and a much higher rate of tenant drama/problems. I'm acutely aware you can make money but the time/stress value is too out of whack for my personal investment philosophy.

I'll pay (and plan on continuing to) a higher premier for solid B neighborhoods and a more normal class of tenants. I know no class of tenants are without some drama but I also know C/D/ neighborhoods have more. Maybe also that I have a decent paying, very stable W2 job that I thoroughly enjoy so I can park my money into higher priced assets.

I'd invest in funds/syndications/stocks before I throw any money towards them. If your counter argument is that some C neighborhoods gentrify into A and B, I'll happily miss that boat still.

Lol bed slats? I wish I was there for this. You can easily put bed slats back since they obviously weren't attached or just velcroed in place. This is a literally a nothing burger. He isn't hitting up a lawyer. And even though there was no context behind Henry's post, do what you can to get the tenant out. Guy sounds like a tool. Leave them on a m2m lease and keep raising rent.

Why doesn't the tenant just go under the bed and put the bed slats back in place.

Your work is not unreasonable as long as it's during the day (9 to 5) and on weekdays. When else are you suppose to get the work done, or are you not supoose to fix issues? I'd tell her nicely tough sh*t as it's necessary work. Plenty of houses and apartments around the US get work done for days, weeks and months. People adapt. Let her take the lease out early option. I've filled units during the winter months with no problem. If people left over this stuff, there would be a ton more of tenant turn over.

I've lived next to projects that go on longer but again, they worked during normal business hours and only M to F.
 

I had this issue years ago, as my dog was barking non stop at night when I wasn't home. I worked night shift and my roommate didn't bother to call my dog in after leaving the dog door open. Instead of anyone telling me, I came home to a citation from the local cops. While I understood the neighbors frustration, I was pissed they didn't at least inform me and let me resolve the problem first. Obviously it wasn't an issue on my days off. They apparently put up a no bark device and it did f all of nothing. Our relationship didn't get any better.

All this to say, talk to the neighbor by note or stopping by. If that doesn't work, call the local cops or code enforcement. They can issue a citation.

Quote from @Justin Loutfy:

Good Morning, 

I have a handful of non performing notes that I would like to sell, but this is a bit new to me.  Anyone have experience in this arena? 

JL

Paperstac.com is a great place to start. Also there are a few Note buying and selling groups on Facebook too.

But I thought investing in C and D class areas was worth it for OOS investors looking for cash flow?

You should post this anytime someone comes on here asking about investing in low income areas as well.

Quote from @Andres Ospina:

Just curious if anyone is doing MTR in the north jersey area? My areas seem to be very strict with STR options, but more liniment when they are 30 days +. Wanted to connect with people doing MTR in the North Jersey area to see what their experience is.

I know a guy who does just that. @James Hwang