All Forum Posts by: Robert Mack

I'm working in NYC but not for a commercial leasing company, I do research for a non-profit in NYC. I follow some of the office leases and here's a list of some of the commercial leasing companies in NYC we get office listings from:

Cushman Wakefield
CBRE
WPG
Hartz Mountain Industries, Inc.
Studley
BLOOM REAL ESTATE GROUP LLC
GVA Williams
Vornado
Vortex
Newmark Knight Frank
Tishman Speyer

I'm sure there's more, but those are some that I could think of off the top of my head. I would google them and see what kind of opportunities they have for Commercial PM's.

Msedwick, what would you recommend for someone looking to be a commercial PM, how can you get your foot in the door?

I was also thinking about going that route; Commercial property PM or another position for a commercial leasing company. I also am from NJ, Bergen County and young so I have time on my hands, but would like to start sooner than later.

I have talked to sunnyskies on here, and she is the one who suggested working for a commercial leasing company to gain experience evaluating and analyzing properties. Working in the accounting department was also something she suggested. Try to find her on here to read some of her posts and contact her; she was very willing to offer help and had some good advice.

Where in NJ are you from?

You can also post it in the General Investing forum under the Data files directory... I think that's the name of the post..

http://forums.biggerpockets.com/viewtopic.php?t=18823

It'll be easier to find for the BP members and more people will be able to see it!

Thanks Jeff.

I'm in Bergen County, the Hackensack area.

Where in South Jersey are you exactly? What counties are you looking to wholesale in...?

The more info you give us the better.

I'm in North Jersey, but I have seen some people here from Central/South Jersey. Also look for a Real estate club that's near you, those are great for networking.

I think Josh is going to create subforums in the near future for each state which should help us connect with local investors better....

Scott Cook (trustone on BP) is someone to talk to on these forums, he seems to have experience in college rentals, and has said that rentals within a mile of campus do very well.
The vacancy, as I said earlier for my landlord has been 0% since 1992 and in my college town the rents seem to be around $430 a person. So the more people you can legally fit in a house the more rent you can charge, and the rent usually goes up around 3-5% a year.

I am currently looking for a rental, have found some that should cash flow but I am holding off to find better deals in this market.

That article from the WSJ also had some good advice... schools with rising attendance, in big cities and who don't guarantee housing to all students is a big one.

Hey Mike,

I've been reading your blog and its good motivation and also some entertaining stuff.

As for finding good deals that follow the 2% rule or higher... I live in an area (northern NJ) where it is very hard to find deals like this with avg. home prices being around 300K at minimum.

What would you suggest for people wanting to own rentals and living in these types of areas.. invest away from home or don't invest in rentals....

Here is a link on the subject from the Wall Street Journal Real Estate section.

http://www.realestatejournal.com/buysell/tactics/20070321-kim.html

Also check my my past posts on the subject.

I am also looking to get into student rentals. My old landlord from when I attended Rutgers University said his 10 rentals haven't had a vacancy since 92.

Where are you located?

When I asked an agent I have sending me listings on the MLS, if he can send me expired listings this was his response...

"No, the expired listings are one of those informational "assets" that I don't think would be prudent to share."

Maybe if you can find someone who is listed as an active agent but has essentially "quit" being a RE agent; they still may be able to access the MLS....

Here's a good article in this months Real Deal magazine.

http://ny.therealdeal.com/articles/buyers-use-classes-to-gain-an-edge

They give information on seminars that Propertyshark.com is giving for investors, brokers and other RE professionals. There are some other interesting articles in the magazine too about education and short sales.