All Forum Posts by: Anders R.

Thanks all for the great feedback and advice! @David Irwin congrats on having pulled that off w/o a broker!  @Nick Thomas good point about the signed agreement @Joshua Janus @Mohammed Rahman yes, the reason for wanting to work with a broker is the unknowns and making sure I cross all the t's, dot all the i's etc.  @Dwayne Poster good advice, I'll definitely be reaching out to my attorney as a next step.

Thanks again!

I've been meeting with a property owner who wants to sell and would like to do a cash deal.  Based on a back of the napkin calculation of the possible selling price and monthly costs, etc, the property would cash-flow.  I've gotten to know both him and his wife over the last several months and they say they are both getting old and just don't want to continue being landlords. 

There is obviously a ton of due diligence I would want to do before moving forward, but one top question I have is whether or not I want to get a broker involved.

 I'm not really concerned about the broker commission, I'm more just not sure what might happen after I inform a broker about an off-market listing in a super hot market. 

Any thoughts or insights would be highly appreciated!

-Anders

Hi Everyone, I have a condo in Jersey City that I am considering renting out. Does anyone have recommendations for a good rental broker in Jersey City?

That negative cash flow value is based on the expected income for all three units.  However, yes, I would be living in one of them, so so I would be "paying" a portion of the rent myself.

@Joe Villeneuve - thanks for your insights.  I totally get that I can't predict the future, but it seems like a limited amount of educated speculation may not be a bad thing.  In my case, I am expecting the property to have a positive cashflow within three years.  During that time, while house hacking, I am basically paying an effectively higher rent for my own unit, which I am happy to do in return for the personal value I will get from being able to house hack in a neighborhood I enjoy living in.  To me, a worst case scenario is if I realize in three years that my analysis was incorrect and I will not get positive cash flow. I guess considering that I am bullish on the market longer term, that is a risk I am willing to take.  Thanks again for your input!

@Eric Hajdu - thanks so much for this insight.  So my current goal with the property is wealth storage, building equity, and long-term appreciation and less about generating income. Good to be aware that the units might take longer to fill.  Thanks again!

@JD Martin

Yes the gross rent includes fair market rent for my unit as well.

I am currently preparing to put in an offer for a 3-family property in a highly desirable neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY.  Based on my numbers, the property will have a slight negative cashflow for the first 3-4 years, after it is projected to cashflow.  Since I am doing a house hack, I am fine with that, due to that I can easily carry the negative balance myself.  Would love to hear any thoughts on this.  I've included a link to my analysis.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

@Jonathan Greene yes, definitely considered living in one of the basement units myself.  However, since I am doing a  house hack and only plan to live in the unit for maybe a year or so, I would be back to square one when time comes to move out.  Renting as part of the first level unit might be an option. However, in many cases, these basement units are not up to code, eg bedrooms with no windows.  Thanks for your input!

I am currently shopping for a multi-family rental in Brooklyn and Queens, NY.  This will be my first investment property.  I plan to do a house hack.

I regularly tour properties that are listed as a "legal 2 family" but which also have a third basement unit not mentioned in the listing description.  On one hand, this makes sense, since that third unit is needed to make the (very expensive) property cashflow.  However, let's say I go ahead and rent out one of these basement units.  What type of liability or legal issues may I be setting myself up for?  Would a tenant in such a unit be covered by my umbrella insurance policy?  (Eg. let's say they sue me for whatever reason, or let's say they cause damage to the property.) What about tax/accounting considerations?  Other legal concerns?

Bottom line question:  Are MFH with "unofficial basement units" something I want to get myself mixed up in?

Thanks in advance for any insights!