All Forum Posts by: Sid Leibowitz

Hello Eric. I said that I did not disagree that modular was a "logical" decision however; for a variety of reasons that I will not go into here, the modular may not be zoning or code compliant where you may want to build especially the fire code and to check with the zoning and building departments in your desired area in order to not waste time or money in "assuming" that you can achieve your vision. There are still areas in New York City where you can not erect modular. Suburban areas surrounding NYC are not governed by NYC. NYC are the  boroughs. If you are zoned for modular in your area of NYC then by all  means go for it. All I said is check with the local municipality. 

Hello Will. Nobody ever said that being a landlord is a profit center or that it is a walk in the park. I feel that your post has conflicts. You state that the Owner (you) not the Tenant (Them) is responsible for pest control? This is a red flag in yur account. Are the students a corporation or LLC? Who is the Owner, Who is the tenant(s) One individual or entity must be held responsible for all tenants unless the group is a Corp or LLC. If one or more moves out who is responsible for the rent? Did you accept a lease with 5 independent women in the same apartment? Are they of legal age to sign a lease in your state? Do you have deposits from 5 individual women collecting interest in escrow? You sent numerous professionals to act on your behalf to remedy the condition. Why, if They are responsible? If this is a net lease you should not have done that. Did you also close the openings that allowed the bats to enter or is that still open? You have LICENSED pest control contractor receipts, dates. Do you or they have photos of bats? It sounds like this is in your favor on the surface if you are writing accurately unless you went to remedy and it the lease is a net lease that the tenant is responsible for the remedy hence a NET lease. You should tell your problem to a local real estate attorney and get the facts in order. I feel that your account is a little cloudy and you do not want to be in court with damaging evidence and stumbling at around. This could cause you to lose your case if you do not have the facts documented properly. Once you are questioned and you do not present the case properly the judge will make a snap decision and you could lose and not for any other reason than bad presentation. Good luck with it. Find an attorney to help you sharpen your presentation skills.

David. I have relationships also in the local Zoning and Dept of Buildings. You can not convince a City change its Code. This is a committee. Are you on the architectural board of a small town or a large city? Your posts appear to be from a smaller (town) municipality where the mayor has lunch the deli down the street. I agree that a modular may have cost advantages. I do not agree that you can erect them just anywhere you like and that the materials are code compliant. There are zoning and code issues in many areas that can not be circumvented so, anyone can save money by erecting these wherever they like. Perhaps in your area they are legal. There are many where they are not. 

Diana. I agree with Mark. The realtor is not working for you. They work for the seller. It may not make any logical sense in your analysis. The real estate is working for a commission and the hugest selling price is how they establish the commission. If there is a lot of interest and competition, logic is out the door. I have seen fixers break comp records. It's location, weak inventory and the uniqueness of the elements of the property and the vision of the other bidders that drives the bidding war.

Hello Gregory. The New York City building code did not allow for Modular homes in the city limits. Fireproofing is a major issue in materials as well as plumbing utilizing ridged piping, not PEX, BX  cable and not Romex are some of the issues. The building inspector must be able do periodic inspections throughout the building process. The walls have to be open for these inspections on site. I believe Boston and Los Angeles are the same codes. 

I love pets however do not have those any longer. I have come to understand the liabilities and this is just one incident. I had a cat years ago that used to jump on the bathroom sink and turn on a tap for a drink. How cute. She always had water available however, she liked to play an turn on the tap.  One day she closed the trap and turned on the hot water. The hot water was running over the sink at a faster rate than the overflow and flooded the bathroom and the floors below. 12k later we fixed up her great adventure. Loved her. Really. No more cats when she passed.

IMHO I would not be thinking of buying real estate at this point. I would start by taking a real estate salespersons course which should cost about 300.00 with the study guides. The coarse is easy enough and takes about 75 hours and may vary from state to state. You will get a new perspective and the education will be valuable. You will find the advantages of flipping vs becoming a landlord. and you may even move forward and become a licensed real estate sales person which will give you exposure to properties in your area that are on the market and give insight to geographical areas. There is a lot to discover. You may be able to make money by selling houses to obtain more working capital. I started with buying stock on a small scale before advancing into buying real estate and went for my real estate license at the same time. Talk with a financial adviser about buying stock and then real estate and get there opinion.   

I know you do not want to hear this however; ultimately you are liable at this point at least on the New York point of view. You can take an action against all of the parties however;  you will find that there will be diminishing returns after the smoke clears. Through the original factory warranty you will start your discovery. They may use terms as licensed or authorized dealer or licensed plumber. Through the warranty you will find that the unit would probably have to be installed by a licensed plumber and or the installer would have to be a licensed dealer as well and that the warranty may not be able to be passed to the next owner. The original plumber may have to had the installation inspected by the building department in many states. It may even be installed illegally altogether by the last home owner or handyman and not a licensed dealer or plumber. Your home inspector may even have a part of this faulty installation by passing this installation in an inspection report as well as the lawyer who accepted the report that he used for the closing. I would take the hit and find  licensed plumber and start entire process over and install "something" appropriate to local building code and obtain a fresh warranty.  This is from practical experience and not my personal opinion. I have been on this road before. It is more cost effective to start over than to unravel this and try to find a faulty party through the court as the court would tell you the same as well as an attorney if he is honest and experienced. An experienced ad ethical attorney would probably not be interested in trying to retrieve the costs of your debacle as it is hours in discovery that he would bill you for. 

David. Although, modular homes are a logical idea, many municipalities prohibit the use of modular homes as they are not built to some building codes and standards in many areas. this may include electrical, plumbing or construction design. My uncle once had a large beautiful house in Massachusetts built that could not be utilized in my area in New York. While it looked like a properly built home it, could not pass my local building specifications. 

Hello Paul. Hiring an architect or engineer is an expense that not many investors want to incur. Where I agree with using a sealing stain on brick is NOT a great idea. There are stains that are developed to safely change the color of brick and not seal them.  An investor can do research on his own without investing money into the brick staining process to obtain a positive result. I have met many architects that do not understand anything about staining brick. I was just trying to clue in that slapping a coat of paint often creates a condition that is permanent and that brick should not be painted or ideal way of changing the appearance. Thanks for your observation. So many watch these flipper shows on TV and get crazy ideas from them. The newbie thinks that these shows are real and its easy to just buy and flip to make a profit. These are the ones that show a full kitchen renovation for 15K and painting brick for curb appeal.  LOL