All Forum Posts by: Sam K.

Is submetering water atypical for New Haven area? I have talked to an agent and a landlord in the area and both claim landlord is expected to pay for water in that market. If not, does anyone recommend a watersubmetering option for a duplex? Someone suggested True Submeter; anyone have any experience with this product?

Has anyone had any experience with the real estate agent Jack Hill in the New Haven CT area? Thanks

Does individual LLCs under 1 Series LLC have liability protection from each other? I am getting conflicting answers on this and wanted some clarification. If the individual LLCs under 1 Series LLC are not protected from each other, what is the advantage of forming the Series LLC in the first place'? Why not just have all properties under 1 LLC, and form a 2nd LLC once equity in the 1st LLC gets too much to cover?

Congrats! Was wondering what repairs you did for 62k? Also how many beds per apartment? Thanks 

Looking for an investor friendly brokerage licensed with CT & NY to sponsor me for a RE salesperson license. I have passed the NY exam and want to get a CT license as well soon after.

thank you. 

How are you determining ARV and Rent when analyzing deals? Listening to the podcasts and reading posts, this process gets mentioned all the time but seems to always get glossed over.

For ARV comparative analysis, I have been using median of $/sqft of similar sold properties within the same neighborhood (defined by major roads/freeway, zoning, school district, major geological features aka river and zip code). However, this method does not take into account the size and value of the lot. I have tried determining the ratio between the value of the land and the value of the house itself by going through the tax assessments but the net result is wildly different from the previous stated method.

For determining rent, i have been using services like rentometer.com and only using data from the same neighborhood. The range of data is fairly limited without going back to 3 years of rental history... which I think is making the net result fairly unreliable. Also, i want to know if you think $/sqft matter more or number of bed/bath matter more in setting rent.  

Would love to get some guidance on the nitty gritty. Not looking to become an appraiser, but it would be good to refine and systematize this process. 

Just to clarify a bit more, when you market your property for lease to students depends heavily on other competing products out there in the market tailored to those same students. So if you are competing against the university's campus housing, you should find out the university's campus housing timing on renewing leases so that you may compete appropriately.

Check out podcast #140 with Bill Syrios. 

He has some good insights for student housing. In particular, he talks about marketing timing for student housing heavily depends on how the University's housing contracts are structured. (ie some universities asks current students to renew their lease as soon as January for next school year's living arrangements)

In addition, you might want to research on the city's zoning code on student housing; most cities restrict the number of unrelated individuals living under the same dwelling, but allow for more if qualified for student housing. (ie you can only rent out the house to 3 people normally but can rent out to 4 if the house qualifies for student housing) I dont know much about the timing required to get that qualification from the cities but perhaps someone in this forum might know. 

@Jason Lee Thank  you for your info, very helpful. I hear a lot on the podcast and forums about value add via converting 2BR to 3Br and wanted to confirm those assumptions. Do you see a point where this strategy of adding functional space reduces its value factor? If so, where is that tipping point? (Ie is converting a 2BR to a 3BR more bang for the buck than converting 4BR to 5BR?)

@Filipe Pereira Thanks for sharing your story! Very inspiring! 

It's good to know you are finding good properties  between Hartford and Springfield. With the new opening of the Springfield MGM, I have heard through some news channels that people that have migrated out of that area are moving back for the new job openings. 

I must concur architecture is a tough profession that requires a lot of you, but can be rewarding if you have the passion for it. With the construction boom after the '08 crash, that industry had been pretty good to me. With an architecture background, how has it benefited you in your past deals? Are there properties that have been passed up by others but you were able to benefit from due to your industry knowledge?