All Forum Posts by: Jon Lafferty

I agree with @Beth L.  that sparkrent is a great way to collect rent online. I do wish they had the ability to use something other than a bank account. Some of my residents only have cash, I guess I'll have to stick to snail mail and money orders for those folks. 

@Dana Chen I have had the same problem since upgrading to ios8 on a 5c. I am trying to get used to using the site on my iPhone again, not too bad.

hi @Tom Austin welcome to the best place on the Internet for REI information. I am a buy and hold investor in South Jersey. We have an ineresting market that can be profitable if you do your homework and make sure the numbers are right. Check out the local REIA meetings as they are a great opportunity to learn and network. Look forward to seeing you around. Best of luck

Jon

Great discussion, I invest in an area that is primarily in an A or AE zone however I noticed one of my properties that was in an AE zone is now in a B zone. I hadn't heard of B and C zones before. After reading a bit it seems anything in B or C zone it is not mandatory to carry insurance. I guess at this point I need to take these maps to my county and see if we can make some changes before my policy renews. For me this will save at least 1k per year per property so I am pretty excited.

Very nice @Dawn Anastasi . You continue to be an inspiration to many folks on this site. It really shows with patience and really scouting out an area you can find a niche market and farm it for long term success and profit. 

@Trevor Ewen you got it NJ. I have properties that I've purchased for 30k renting at 1k and still only cash flowing 400 / monthly. Thats what property taxes can do to your cash flow. Once a year you can request a tax adjustment with the township. In my experience this has only lowered my tax bill a few hundred dollars in each instance. This is one of the reasons I just cant ignore out of state investing 

I enjoyed reading this post and I think alot of what has been said is very valid. I invest in what I would call C areas for SFR. In my experience one thing I have absolutely found to be true is that sometimes in these areas you need to 'win' over your tenants. What I mean by this is when you are lower income many times you are essentially one issue or disaster away from not paying your bills. I need my tenants to know I will team up with them and provide them a superior product and in most cases much better than what is found in the area but I need them to be a part of my team as well and that means if it comes between rent and the cable bill you pay your team first.

I think communication is key in this regard and find it is much more effective than in my B areas. Tenants in B area just want to be left alone and don't need as frequent communication. My guess would be that most successful low income PM's have this down to a science.

Hello and welcome to the site @Account Closed 

I also invest and live in the South Jersey area. I lived in west depford for 8 years and loved it. So what strategy are you focusing on in REI? buy and hold, flipping, wholesaling? We have a fairly active REIA for south jersey as well.

Good luck and I look forward to meeting you in the future.

@J. Martin I can make it on Monday, I may be a little late but  better late than never. Looking forward to meeting everybody.