All Forum Posts by: Mike A.

Why have you not filed for an eviction against her as a hold over tenant? You have to serve her two notices, and then hire a lawyer to start the eviction process. What city/town is the tenant and your building located in?

2 Votes

Upstate New York, New York

Quote from @Nathan Gesner:

Quote from @Mike A.:

Sadly we're moving away from TenantCloud as they are now going to be charging $1.25 per ACH transfer. Since we have dozens of tenants, this is not going to go well. We've already informed the tenants of the fees, and many are pretty pissed. I understand CC fees, but ACH fees are not being received very well.

Why do you guys use?

ACH fees are pretty common. Is it really worth your time/effort to switch software over this?

Personally, I eat the ACH fee because I want to make it easy for my tenants to pay rent every month. I have almost 300 renters paying via ACH and it's worth every penny. As a Landlord, can't you afford to eat $1.25 a month in exchange for the comfort of knowing payments are on time? The cost of mailing a payment via check is $0.60 plus the time it takes to deposit it in the bank. ACH is cheaper, easier, and faster.

Yes.

300 units x 1.25 = 375.00 per month or 4500.00 That's a lot of money to cover.

0 Votes

Why do you guys use?

3 Votes

Quote from @Henry Lazerow:

I have sold over 30 million of 2-4 units and seen many patterns. 1brs in C class areas are awful you will have high turnover, vacancy, etc. But 1br in class A/B+ areas are great you get single professionals and professional couples who pay on time no issues and often pay rents very close to the price of 2brs. They also tend to be lower vacancy as less supply of 1brs other then the high end new construction 1brs which tend to be very pricey.

I would say this is an A/B area. Most homes around are 1m +.

0 Votes

Jersey City, New Jersey

Quote from @Nathan Gesner:

Quote from @Mike A.:

An investor friend of mine offered to sell me his vacant four unit 1-bedroom building. All the tenants moved out and he fixed each unit up. He and his wife want to get out of the landlording business, and asked me if I'd like to buy it. I'd normally jump, but I've owned 1-bedroom units before, and granted, it wasn't Edgewater, NJ, but it was other areas which seemed hard to fill. the price is 1.2m for the four unit building as well

What is the rent income? Expenses? What would it sell for on the open market? Too many questions.

Expenses would be around 6400 a month, income would be between 1800 - 2200 a unit. Or, 7200 - 8800 per month. Upscale area as Edgewater, NJ is directly across from Manhattan. Not a public listing, but he's owned the building for 30+ years and it's on River road. Net could be 800 - 2400 per month. Rentals for one bedrooms seem pretty strong. I live 15 minutes away, so I do not have to hire a real estate agent to show the units. The building has been vacant for about 6 months as he renovated each unit.

0 Votes

Jersey City, New Jersey

1 Vote

Jersey City, New Jersey

Quote from @Steve Schulman:

Quote from @Mike A.:

We just took over a vacant 3 unit apartment building in Weehawken NJ. The laws in Weehawken, NJ aren't too clear on what we can rent the units out for. The building was delivered vacant to us, so since we're the new owners, are we able to set the rates at market? Any advice on steps would be appreciated.

Hi @Mike A. I do not believe the unit being delivered vacant changes much. You will have to start with previous registered rents for the 3Fam; however, you should be eligible for some type of increase on those registered rents. Non owner-occupied units and 3+ Family homes are subject to rent control in Weehawken w/ typical rent ordinance allowances from CPI index, water & property tax surcharges, capital improvement increases, etc. Hoboken allows 25% rent increases if the tenant moves out after 3+ year lease term, I believe Weehawken is the same. Make sure you request a legal rent calculation w. the rent board to see allowable increases/what new rents you can charge. Also, make sure you register your rents yearly; especially if using an LLC, the municipal will catch you.

Worth noting, if this is your primary residence you can reset rents to market value after two years of occupancy. This is huge and the ultimate value-add, especially in a market like Weehawken and Hoboken, which also allows you to decontrol rents. If you are not moving in, I’d highly consider it; even more so if the legal registered rents you find out are way below market. I have a client under contract who’s house-hack purchasing a 3Fam w/ bonus unit in Weehawken and doing this right now. This is an easy value-add, opportunity and great way to get rents up and in turn your property value up, with essentially little to no work. Hope this helps!

Hi Steven, Thank you for chiming in. I'm actually moving into the bonus unit of this building for the foreseeable future. It's a legal three family with a bonus basement which has two rooms, kitchen, bathroom and two egresses. One unit has been empty for close to a year, the other two left a few months ago. The previous owners have not registered the rent units with the city. I recall asking that question prior to submitting the offer. Would you know how I could go about having the basement unit converted into a legal unit? The building is completely vacant right now and has been for about four months. We're going to be renovating each unit and the previous owner and agent said we can renovate and receive market rate rents.

0 Votes

Jersey City, New Jersey

Wasn't sure. Do we have to register the apts. vacant with the Weehawken Rent Control Mafia? 1st time in Weehawken, just want to make sure we do everything right.

0 Votes

Jersey City, New Jersey

0 Votes

Jersey City, New Jersey

All Forum Posts by: Mike A.

Mike A. has started 58 posts and replied 245 times.

Post: Dropping TenantCloud due to increase in fees. Who do you use?

Post: Problem Teannat In upstate Ny

Post: Dropping TenantCloud due to increase in fees. Who do you use?

Post: Dropping TenantCloud due to increase in fees. Who do you use?

Post: Would you buy a 4-unit apt building w. only 1bed units(Edgewater)

Post: Would you buy a 4-unit apt building w. only 1bed units(Edgewater)

Post: Would you buy a 4-unit apt building w. only 1bed units(Edgewater)

Post: Took over a vacant building in Weehawken, NJ. Need some advice

Post: Took over a vacant building in Weehawken, NJ. Need some advice

Post: Took over a vacant building in Weehawken, NJ. Need some advice