All Forum Posts by: Ahmed Saad

@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%

Some banks specialize in lending in renovation properties and work with investors. If you're in a position to refinance, you could refinance them into the LLC ownership structure thus avoiding several of the pitfalls mentioned earlier.

I know it’s busy season but maybe @Basit Siddiqi can assist? He’s very knowledgeable.

@Costin I. these are great! I'm in the midst of organizing / reorganizing my structures and this will be very helpful.

@Alex Furini Thanks for the shout out! Funny story about the oil vs gas thing. I had a gas boiler completely break down in one of my properties during a deep chill about 5 years ago. I called my trusted plumber to install a new one and they said the earliest they could get there was in 3-4days. I have an oil burner in my home. One night it went down around 8pm. I had the service people there by 11pm. 

TL;DR Oil companies ALWAYS want you burning oil and will do whatever they can to get you up and running again! (this obviously excludes any environmental /personal concerns).

Definitely not NY. There are way too many people doing it, and doing it at a professional level. Find a place you're familiar with that has less competition. More importantly, find people you can work with and learn from.

In my limited experience, I found that if you go through a "local" construction supply store you can negotiate bulk pricing with them. They tend to sell limited quantities in one-offs, but if you're going to help them move some product, then they can assist with the pricing. Also, it all significantly depends on your level of finishes. Some products like Viking stoves never get discounted (not that you're putting them in rentals). Paying cash usually helps save you sales tax cost plus whatever you can negotiate.

Thank you for your replies gentlemen! I'm familiar with friends of mine renting out their own apartment for some extra cash (which as a landlord I cringe at). An agent I know of mentioned that a landlord he knows has had a nice run with STRing some of his units. 

@Doug Pintarch Good luck and congratulations! I just don't have the bandwidth currently to manage them myself. 

@Scott Wolf Thank you for the verification re: recent rent laws. 

@Luke Carl I certainly don't want any trouble with the law... however I will take you up on your offer! I will send over some specific questions. Thank you!

I'm interested in discussing short term rental (STR) opportunities in NYC; specifically Brooklyn and Queens. Do you operate a STR or have knowledge of the subject? I would love to learn more about your experiences. Anyone who is an experienced operator but may not have the properties or capital to start doing it themselves.