All Forum Posts by: Ahmed Saad

@Aneisha Christie as said above you will need a commercial loan from a commercial lender. It's possible to grab the deal with 25% down but more likely you will need to put down a higher DP based on the low rent roll of the building. @Jaysen Medhurst brings up an AMAZING point about the reserves. Given at it is all RS you will need to have a very good lawyer and get due diligence done on the property. Any tenants on govt programs? You will need copies of all the leases and the DHCR history. Legal rent vs preferential rent. You will also need to see the current rent history and bank statements. #1 HAVE THE TENANTS BEEN PAYING RENT??? Violation history both DOB, ECB and HPD. You are entering deep waters here and although the price seems great this is not the type of asset you can get into (or out of) easily. Where in BK? Sorry I am rattling off lots of things but getting into a commercial deal will require you to be familiar with all these and more. Lenders will not lend easily if you are unfamiliar with these. Good luck! Anytime you want to talk more let me know!

I own a property in Corona. I personally would not invest further in the neighborhood as taxes are exceptionally high and the delta in rents will not cover you. Additionally, with the way things are now, you cannot evict a tenant for non payment. If you are house hacking that will make for a very unpleasant home situation. If you want to be relatively close to family look at nearby neighborhoods with older housing stock that have lower tax rates. I see a lot of listings in Glendale and Middle Village which are nice neighborhoods. You can get something with parking and drive to Corona if you want. What's your budget? If you plan to house hack save yourself some headache and don't even think about a 2 family. Go for a 3 or 4 family. That will cover your taxes and most of your loan.

Need more info. Where in BK? Occupancy? What kind of work?

Dragonetti Bros

I am having trouble imagining what you're talking about but just seal up any cracks/holes. Try not to use the spray foam. Literally grab a few bags of steel wool from Home Depot or the like and tear off chunks until the gaps are sealed. If there's a big hole behind the oven or fridge, you can get sheet rock or the steel wire mesh. If you need cement, they make small pre mixed buckets of cement (small) and you can use that.

Tenants need to let you in to do the repairs. Give written notice of day/time and you're good to go. If someone doesn't let you in that's a different issue. Try to make the number of times you need access minimal. One time to inspect and take note of all holes/gaps etc and identify what materials you need. Ideally this time is with the exterminator. Second time to do all the repairs. 

What neighborhood?

The advice I give is the advice of an experienced owner-operator in Brooklyn. Understand that maintaining the property free of vermin is your responsibility. That said follow these steps and you will be fine. Ignore them at your peril.

1. Hire a licensed pest control company. Don't hire one of the big guys, hire someone that does the work himself and owns the company. I can recommend one or 2 offline if you wish. They are the boots on the ground and tend be be better than a big company that just employs some schmuck who doesn't care.

2. Walk the property with them. Have them show you the possible points of entry. With mice it' ALL about closing points of entry. If the problem is as bad as you say, you have multiple points of entry and breeding. Close all the open areas and fix things that need to be fixed (think holes around radiator pipes, behind the stove, door sweeps). Fix them ASAP. This just needs a handy man.

3. Pest control really only works when the whole property is treated. Make sure you secure access to the whole building. Make sure trash areas are kept clean. Make sure no trash if left in the hallways. Explain to the tenants they are NOT to store garbage under the kitchen sink. 

4. Do monthly service. As winter approaches the problem will get worse, not better.

5. If you ignore the above, the tenant can call HPD which will, I promise you, be much much much worse than paying $100 month for an exterminator. You will be on the hook for the exterminator, whatever repairs HPD will require you to make, AND the tenant can stop paying rent claiming the premises are not livable. And you cannot recoup lost rent. AND you cannot evict them for non payment. And you will not be able to do a single thing. I don't even know anything about FEPS but if it's a govt program it will make everything worse. 

6. Welcome to being a NYC landlord and I promise you the advice above is worth it's weight in gold.

7. Oh, and where there are mice, roaches are not far behind. Make sure you get the property treated for roaches.

8. Also, it might be worth it to let the tenant have the cat. It is a genuinely good deterrent of mice and you don't need to pay of it ;)

I picked up a 4 family in Queens and need to do some fairly extensive renovations. Upgraded electric, new plumbing, HVAC, new kitchens, bath etc. It's definitely a bigger job than I've done before. I reached out to a few GCs that are either too busy (either don't call back or take forever to call back), or are not experienced enough to navigate the job smoothly. I've exhausted my personal contacts but want to work with someone referred.

Does anyone here have a recommendation for a GC in the boroughs? Has anyone used buildzoom for a referral? If so can you describe your experiences; both positive and negative.

Thanks!

When I was 28 I was single and w/o kids. If I had the mind to get into real estate investment like yourself I would hit up Philly. Brooklyn is outrageous and, although it's where I am, it is NOT where I would be if I was in your situation. Philly is a very cool city with a lot going on and it's very affordable. You could grab a duplex, triplex, or ideally a 4plex and house hack. Demand there isn't so great as to preclude you from purchasing via a FHA loan.

Do NOT buy a SFH/condo/coop.

@Gervon Thompson do not beat yourself for the student debt and do not let ANYONE else beat you up for it. Consider it the investment cost to get you to where you are today. Holder of a degree. EMPLOYED with a solid job. 

The piece of advice I have for you that differs from what I glanced at above (if someone else said it forgive me) is get your side hustle in some kind of real estate repair service: specifically plumbing or electric. Those trades are vital to any real estate professional starting out. Find a licensed plumber or electricians office and VOLUNTEER to work weekends or evenings. Do you have a valid NYS driver's license? So many worker's don't have a license or at least one in good standing. Offer to drive the worker to sites in exchange for education. I cannot stress the value of this type of education enough! Daily rates for one-off plumbers/electricians can go around $400. 

Good luck!

@Mike Harris If you're buying in the boroughs it's likely going to be 33% down. There are several reasons for this. 

1. You will need a commercial loan which is based on the income of the property.

2. Based on that, you will have a higher interest rate than a conventional loan.

3. Likely trading cap rate of between 4.5% (in a nicer area of Brooklyn) and 6/7% for a less desirable area/property.

4. Therefore your DSCR would be outside the banks parameters if you put down less than 30%-33%