All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

I grew up in Schenectady, and I'd like to add some anecdotal evidence against the "can't do that here" attitude, specific to Schenectady.

I know a few real estate investors in the area. One is my father. He started in the 80s with a duplex in downtown Schenectady - house hacking way before it was cool. Got demoted at work, said screw this and focused on real estate. Fast forward to today, he has almost 200 units in Rotterdam and a shopping center. He gets some crazy cash flow and is looking at if he wants to liquidate anything to retire.

A friend's father started the same way - a duplex downtown, but a different approach. He was a firefighter that wanted it more passive, not another job. He slowly bought a few building in downtown Schenectady. A couple years ago he sold what he had and bought a house in Arizona to retire early.

So it can and has been done there, even with all the high taxes and other excuses. But its a long game. Learn from the successes AND the failures, and best of luck to you.

Hi @James Qiu She did ask me, but I'm more inclined to let them figure out who pays what rent with the understanding that if it comes down to it, she is responsible for it. I agree with letting the bf be her problem.

The lease doesn't allow long term visitors, and I have a feeling he will move in regardless of my permission, or worse she might want to terminate early, but I could just be a "nice guy" and allow him there.

@Corby Goade Thanks, thats good to know its a simple addendum. I'll have to look it up

@Samantha Klein Thanks for the response. Adding him to the lease is probably the way to go.

@Nicholas Cook Good point. If anything happens between the two of them, it would be a lot easier on my end if he is not on the lease - the apartment is still her responsibility. But I have cleared it with her. She obviously wants him to move in, and I'm glad she came to me about it instead of him just "visiting" and then never leaving. I'll make sure they both understand the responsibilities that go along with it and that all parties must agree to everything.

I have a tenant who is three months into her lease. She's been great so far, pays on time, quiet, no problems. Her boyfriend lives out of town and has spent a few weekends. Again, no problems. I live in the other half of the duplex and haven't noticed an increase in noise or anything else.

He got a job in town starting next month and wants to move in. I have no problem with him moving in.

My question is whether its worth it to add him to the lease. To start, I gave him our typical application and it all looks good. Now, is it necessary to actually add him to the lease? And if so, how do I go about doing that?

I appreciate any input.

@Dan Ward Thanks for the reply. I should have specified that this is on a wall - part of the rear wall of the house and a small entryway on the porch. It is wood and had been painted previously. In hindsight it was a very hot, humid day that we painted and it may not have dried completely. That is probably the problem. From what I understand my best option is to scrape away wherever it is bubbling and repaint. I'll just make sure I do it on a less humid day this time.

@Dan Ward This is a great thread, over the course of several years! I've learned a lot.

I do have one paint problem I'd like some advice on. Last summer we painted a porch. It had paint on it but was in rough shape so we washed it and put a few coats of exterior paint on it. Now, every time the sun hits it in warmer weather it bubbles up. It doesn't crack or chip but it forms what look like squishy air pockets, some as big as 2" by 4". Later in the day when it isn't in direct sun and on cooler days the bubbles go down and it looks great. So what could we have done wrong? And is there a relatively easy way to repair it without scraping it off and repainting?

@Elias Camhi I love real world data for these sorts of things. Rules of thumb often don't change with the times, the economy, or the region.

I did do some quick math with your numbers though, and I extrapolated that about 52% of your tenant pool stays 1 year and greater (correct me if I'm way off base here). That 48% that leaves at or before a year is a little scary, but that does seem to balance out with 15% staying over 5 years. I then took that data and calculated a weighted average of what a property owner would pay with 10% rent and one month's rent at turnover. So they would pay 18.3% for the 48% that left around year one, 14.2% for those that left around year two, and so on. I ended up with a number right around 15% of rent per month paid to the property manager.

@Russell Brazil I know you have some experience with this, so you can check my math too!

Bottom line, I agree that @Nick S.'s 18.3% isn't quite realistic, but its a bit closer and more conservative than the 10% he was originally considering.

@Ralph R.

That post has been removed... but now you have me curious haha

@Ralph R. While I appreciate the point of your post, I think comparing it to flying a leer jet is a bit extreme. I'd say for most beginner landlords with a SFH or duplex its more like a 16 year old with a learner's permit learning to drive on Grandma's 10 year old Hyundai. Sure, expensive accidents could happen, but with a licensed driver with you, like a mentor or even just books and the internet, getting out there and doing it is the best way to learn. With only a few units, even while making mistakes like too much vacancy or under priced rents, having a PM just doesn't seem cost effective if you're willing to do the work yourself.

Of course I'm assuming Chris hasn't just purchased a 100 unit complex

Welcome to BP. I'm also in Syracuse. Buy and hold definitely seems to be the way to go around here. I haven't seem to many people flipping or even wholesaling. There's a BP meetup every once in a while, so set up some keyword alerts and see if you can make the next one!