All Forum Posts by: Frank Gucciardo
Frank Gucciardo has started 9 posts and replied 158 times.
Post: Question on Asking Seller for Utility Bills

- Highland, NY
- Posts 169
- Votes 130
Originally posted by @Brandon Ingegneri:
If you are holding this property long term, sub meter everything you can. If you have to spend the money to do it with the gas and have the means to... do it. This will be a substantial investment, but it will pay dividends down the road. In my experience, you are not able to defer the sewer or water on to the tenants by sub metering. If anyone does have experience in getting that done, I would absolutely love to hear how you went about it because I would be all over that.
Your from New York, so I am assuming that National Grid handles the utilities. This is hands down one of the worst run companies, and they have hiked gas rates recently, but the previous owner should be able to get all of his bills sent out, or at least produce the checks that he cut over the past year. If he can't, Im sure the numbers aren't what he says they were. Sounds like a cool property. Good luck.
Thanks Brandon
I was able to get the bills right from the electric and gas company and the owner sent as well. Everything with the electric is sub-metered already (despite what the RE Agent told me initially). Water has to be paid by the bldg owner. The heat/hot water will have to be figured out later.. will have to determine if it makes sense to just up the rents or pay to get furnaces and hw heaters for all the appts (what is the ROI).
Central Hudson is the power/gas company.. probably no better than National Grid :-)
I'm going to post up the deal analysis in a different post.
Thanks for the feedback everyone
Post: Question on Asking Seller for Utility Bills

- Highland, NY
- Posts 169
- Votes 130
Originally posted by @Justin Tahilramani:
@Frank Gucciardo - Yes - she should provide you with proof of expenses. Make sure that you confirm (and re-confirm) with the electric company that they units can be sub-metered. Also - how much will it cost?
She pays the commercial utilities too? They probably have long-term leases.....
Thanks. I've asked my agent to make the request. He is also asking for approval to review the terms of the assumable commercial loan with the bank.
It was unclear about the commercial utilities (except water which she pays in full). We have another meeting at the property early next week with my GC. I plan to dig deeper in this meeting.. trying to get my ducks in a row today/tomorrow.
Post: Question on Asking Seller for Utility Bills

- Highland, NY
- Posts 169
- Votes 130
Hi All,
I'm currently looking at a 5 family (with potential for a 6th on the top floor) and two commercial storefronts (1 restaurant and 1 clothing store) in my town. I'll come back with the numbers later. What I'm looking to find out it is - would it be acceptable to ask the sellers agent to produce the last years worth of gas and electric bills? If not, what is a better way to validate these #'s.
Right now the building is partially sub-metered and she is not charging the tenants for any utilities (Gas, water, or electric). I don't think I can sub-meter the water and will have to live with that. The Gas and Electric is my principal concern. I will sub-meter the electric for sure. The problem with the gas is that the entire building is run off of 1 furnace so that may not fly. If I can recover the electric cost then there is tons of value here (electric is expensive in my area).
Thanks in advance for any advice or past experiences.
Post: 1st investment… Local or out of state?

- Highland, NY
- Posts 169
- Votes 130
Mike, welcome aboard. I'm posting a link to another thread about NY and the hudson valley. I'm by no means an expert but I'd be very cautious about investing in NY now. I'd love to hear anyone else's thoughts on the subject, especially about the hudson valley.
Post: Hudson Valley / Connecticut areas to invest

- Highland, NY
- Posts 169
- Votes 130
Tim, welcome aboard. I live up in Highland and have been looking in the same areas for a couple of years. I have yet to find a deal good enough to pull the trigger on. My biggest concern is that NY State is loosing population at a rapid pace due to a harsh business climate and the worst tax burden in the country. Very soon, if not already, the housing inventory is going to be much greater than people looking or housing, rent or purchase.
Also, I wouldn't touch newburgh with a 10 ft pole. I grew up in the town and the city is an absolute war zone. The school district is a mess as well.
I'd love to hear from anyone with a different outlook than mine. Maybe I'm just jaded from it having here.
Post: first duplex deal looking for feed back...

- Highland, NY
- Posts 169
- Votes 130
Originally posted by @Gustavo AL:
i think so too, @scott nipp but how are you still getting 600 cash flow a month. if all my expenses, i.e.. mortgage,tax,insurance,(20% for vacancy) of 2400 rent i still get 870 cash flow???
were is in math wrong???
I always account for vacancy at 10% to be conservative. You have to figure that you will have at least one month of vacancy per year. I also account for pm whether I'm going to do it or not. This will allow me to switch to a pm down the road when I want to sip drinks on the beach :-)
Post: Homepath Question on House Already in Negotiation

- Highland, NY
- Posts 169
- Votes 130
Sorry, meant to mention in my above post that I am looking to hold and rent this property. I'll post my #'s later on once I had a chance to tweak them.
Post: Homepath Question on House Already in Negotiation

- Highland, NY
- Posts 169
- Votes 130
ok, I finally got to look at the SFH and it was a complete mess.. probably a 50K rip to the studs rebuild, mechanical, the whole 9 yards. I'm not comfortable with that level of work and finance commitment just yet and the rental as an exit option #'s just wont work.
However, we also looked at a duplex in a nice part of town, 3bd/1.5ba and the #'s are very nice. one side needs some cosmetic and appliances and the other needs some work (there was a leak at one point and the ceiling is a mess).
Question - To do this I'm going to pull funding from a few sources (401K, Savings, CC, mortgage). If there is sufficient equity (and I would make sure there was before I make an offer) how quickly can I do a home equity to pay back my 401K and CC? Is there some seasoning that needs to happen or is it really up to the lender since it would be a conventional loan?
Post: Homepath Question on House Already in Negotiation

- Highland, NY
- Posts 169
- Votes 130
Originally posted by @Andrew Syrios:
Fannie Mae properties fall out of contract all the time, so it's possible it will come back. But if it's "under negotiation", that means it's too late to get them to go highest and best.
From everything I've read that's exactly the case. Fannie and the prospective buyer have traded offers several times. It would be bad faith to accept a second buyer in the middle of that process.
Still going to see it on Saturday along with a property that looks to cash-flow better anyway.
Post: If you can invent a time machine - what will you tell your younger self so you won't make that BIG real estate mistake

- Highland, NY
- Posts 169
- Votes 130
Originally posted by @Ben Leybovich:
Start sooner!
This.. Don't wait until you are almost 40